“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT

Phone-In Auction Sales Review 2015

The month of October was very busy for me; as I ran three fund raising Phone-In Auction Sales on three weekends on the trot. The sales were run on same lines as the Phone-In Auctions I ran for the London & South East Classic Club several years ago, which raised nearly £20,000-00 for the transporter fund over the years.

The first was for the Three Borders Federation in aid of our transporter fund and this took several weeks to arrange. Although the Federation had purchased a vehicle to start the 2015 racing season, the committee were looking at fund raising to offset the £12,000 debt incurred by this very necessary purchase. The Federation chairman, David Lebby, kindly gave the Federation a £12,000 interest free loan to purchase the new vehicle. I offered to organize a Phone-In Auction Sale and obtained a draft of seventeen ‘world class’ 2016 youngsters to have the phone in auction, to help raise funds for the Federation’s transporter. My good friend, Dom McCoy, then added six more youngsters of their equal, to make it very special event. This was a ‘golden’ opportunity for the general fancy to obtain young birds from some of the very best lofts in the world of pigeon racing, sprint and long distance. Lot 1, a youngster donated by Brian & Thelma Denney of Strensall was the top priced bird and it was purchased by Clive Powell of Wales. ‘Mr Long Distance’, Brian has one of the best long distance lofts in the world today. He flies 748 miles from the NFC Tarbes Grand National and has won Section K many times, including 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th open. Brian clocked Ch. ‘Brian’s Blue’ on the day of liberation from Tarbes (748 miles), to be the longest flying pigeon clocked on the day ever in the NFC. A brilliant fancier! This was a rare opportunity to get one direct from this Strensall loft. The grand total for the sale was £2,270-00 and after expenses for advertising etc. the Three Borders Federation finished up with £2,000-00 clear for the transporter debt. I would like to thank Dom and Claire McCoy, and Mike Charlton for all the great help over that very busy weekend.

The third sale was on the weekend of my 65th birthday, which made the climax of the Phone-In a bit manic, as Caroline, Mark, Claire and the five grandchildren were over on the Sunday for the birthday celebration. Jo Cuthbert, Matt Bentley and my god daughter, Kelsey, also visited Claygate on the Sunday evening for the sale and to wish the ol’ boy Happy Birthday. Jo wanted to raise some money for the S.U.D.E.P Charity (Sudden unexplained death in Epilepsy) and the Seizure Alert Dogs Charity and I offered to do a sale to help out. Our Jo is raising money for two reasons, the main one being Libby Phillips, the six and a half year old she has worked with since she started Nursery aged three. Libby has a rare form of Epilepsy which means she is in the 30% that cannot be treated with medication because it just doesn't work. The other reason is because Jo came in contact with a fellow pigeon fancier, Ross Sheridan, who tirelessly supports these charities; his daughter was also one of the 30% that could not be treated and sadly passed away aged 26 due to S.U.D.E.P. With her parent’s blessing we named the sale, ‘The Libby Phillips Charity Appeal’ after this wonderful little girl. I obtained another wonderful draft of ‘world class’ 2016 youngsters and the top priced was Lot 14A donated by Keith & Betty Mott of Claygate. The 2016 youngster was purchased by Trevor Taylor, the good looking member of the Slight & Taylor partnership of the Esher club and it is inbred to our champion Brian Denney stock cock ‘Sasha’s Boy’, the breeder of Federation winners and is grandsire of Champion ’Noble Dream’ winner of 1st open BICC, 1st open International Agen (10,510 birds) in 2015. This wonderful stock cock was bred by Brian Denney and is the sire of ‘Half Crown’ the dam of the Agen International winner. The ‘Libby Phillips’ sale raised £1,730-00 for the two charities and several cash donations have been donated since the Phone-in and this extra money will be held over to be added to another charity event Jo Cuthbert has arranged for next spring. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the editors of the pigeon fancy press for their support with the advertising of the ‘Libby Phillips’ sale and a massive ‘thank you’ to everyone who supported both my auctions. Thank you!

Jo Cuthbert of Dunstable.

 One of my most favourite people in the pigeon world is my close and dear friend, Joe Cuthbert, who is not only one the keenest pigeon racers I’ve ever met, but she is also one the nicest fanciers I’ve ever met. Betty and I think the world of our Jo! She wears her heart on her sleeve and would help anyone out, most times to her own detriment and financial loss. She is the former secretary of her local north road club, Houghton Regis and also helped out local fanciers with the training of their pigeons. Nothing is too much trouble for our Jo, when it comes to helping someone out! Jo has worked very hard with her birds in the 2015 racing season and has enjoyed a brilliant old bird season, winning eight firsts in the club, and many top positions in the Thames Valley, including, 1st, 2nd Federation, 1st, 3rd Federation and 2nd Federation, 3rd Combine Thurso (480 miles). Brilliant pigeon racing for a young girl, who works full time at a school and races on the natural system! Her good friend, Nye Williams of Shepperton, bred her 3rd Combine Thurso dark cock and the two 1st Federation winners were bred by Peter Briars and Terry Haley. Well done to Jo!

Jo has now become one of our leading writers in the pigeon fancy press and she always says the first time we met was in the mid-1970’s when I visited her dad, Arthur Maycock’s loft in Hersham, but the first time I can remember was in the motorway services in 2007. Peter Taylor and I travel up to the BHW Blackpool Show on the Friday every year and in 2007 we made our usual mid-day break at the first motorway services past the M6 Toll, where we sometimes meet up with a few of the pigeon lads. We had a meal in the ‘Little Chef’ and ongoing to the desk to pay, a beautiful young girl came up to me and said, ‘Excuse me, are you Keith Mott?’ I was a bit surprised as it’s usually ‘old boys’ that come up to talk to me. I was delight when she told me that she was, Joanna, the granddaughter of the late Hersham legend, Charlie Maycock, and was now racing pigeons her own right. It’s so refreshing to see young people coming into our sport! Her late father, Arthur, and Charlie were regular Federation winners for many years up to the early 1990’s and were legends in the Surrey pigeon fraternity.

Charlie & Arthur Maycock of Hersham.

 One of the premier lofts right through the 1970’s and early 1980’s in the Surrey area was that of Charlie and Arthur Maycock of Hersham. I visited the father and son partnership in mid-October and they had just enjoyed a great 1976 season, recording 13 times first, 10 times second, 14 times third, 2nd Hersham Open from Weymouth (245 birds), 2nd London Coly Open from Wadebridge (349 birds), winning the London Coly ‘Brooker Gold Cup’ and many premier Federation positions. On my arrival, Arthur invited me down to the loft, which at that time was undergoing extensive alterations. Charlie said the loft was too high and wide, and the birds were hard to control. The ‘L’ shaped loft was 30ft. long, 4ft. wide at the young bird end, widening out to 5ft. at the other end where the old birds were housed. The Maycocks kept 30 pairs of old bird racers, bred 50 youngsters each season for racing and no stock birds were kept. The inmates were trapped through open doors and a sprinkle of sand was used on the loft floor after every clean out. The main families raced were Blackaby / Putman and the Newman / Cattrysse pigeons which were introduced in 1976. The partners didn’t do much training, as the birds raced mid-week with the London Coly, but they got training up to the first Federation race, when it all stopped and the birds got an open loft all day, weather permitting. The team was paired up at the end of February, although they were paired a bit earlier in 1976, which was very successful for the Maycocks.

The first pigeon we looked at on my visit, was the favorite of the loft, ‘The Mealy Pied Cock’, and this handsome 1969 bred pigeon had won three Open races and seven firsts in the club. He had bred some really good winners for Charlie and Arthur and his sire won £1,000 racing. In fact the next pigeon we handled was a strawberry mealy son of ‘The Mealy Pied Cock’ and he had won £500 racing, which was a lot of money at that time, ten firsts in the club, and 2nd Hersham Open from Weymouth in the 1976 season. This cock was the same stamp as his father in the hand, medium-deep and had been flown through to the longest race from Bergerac (460 miles). Another premier pigeon at the Maycock loft at that time was the 1967 bred, red chequer cock, ‘Red Splash’, and he was a champion racer and bred Federation winners for the Hersham loft.

Charlie had been racing pigeons for 50 years at that time and was a firm believer in changing his methods with the times. Charlie started up with a pair of Bob Chitty pigeons and won his first race from Templecombe in the old Walton club. He only sent one pigeon to this, the first race he competed in. The loft had won the Federation many times through the years and had been in the Combine result out of turn. The partners best performance at the time was 1st club, 2nd Federation, 2nd open London Combine Rennes and they came home and found their grizzle cock bathing in the garden! Arthur told me, the basket was the only pedigree they were interested in. They were hot on feeding their birds, with inland racers being fed on the tin, with a good mixture and the channel racers on the hopper with extra beans and peas. Many outstanding pigeons were bred at the Maycock’s loft for other fanciers and good winners were always being reported to them.

To say that Charlie and Arthur had a good season in 1978 would be an under statement, as they won three firsts in the very strong Surrey Federation. The partners won 1st Surrey Federation (2,013 birds) Plymouth, which was the longest young bird race, with a Barker dark chequer cock, which they named ‘Pinocchio’. The 1978 Bergerac race, 460 miles, proved a good race for them, recording 1st, 2nd, 3rd. in the Molesey club and 3rd in the Hersham club, with four birds clocked on the day of liberation. Another of the 1978 Federation winners was a nice dark hen purchased at the 1976 Surrey Federation Transporter Auction, being bred by the Federation President at that time, Stan Chandler, and she won from Exeter with 2,699 birds competing. That great season produced some outstanding performances in the S.M.T. Combine for Charlie and Arthur, recording 11th open Vire, 47th open Angers, 11th open Bergerac and 27th open Vire (young birds). The Maycock’s third Federation winner of the 1978 season was a blue hen named, ‘Joanna’s Pet’, and she won from Weymouth against 3,330 birds. A brilliant loft performance!

Charlie’s daughter, Josephine, took a big interest in the birds; in fact, she purchased £150 worth of Newman / Cattrysse pigeons for the partners in 1976. She clocked the London Coly birds in on Wednesday afternoons. Arthur didn’t like showing much, so Charlie and Josephine went off to the shows in the winter months and were very successful. Charlie told me at that time that he admired a successful small team man and maintained that many good fanciers don’t score in the Federation and Combine because of where their lofts are situated. Charlie and Arthur Maycock, one of the great Surrey partnerships of the past!

Well that’s it for another week! I can be contacted with any pigeon ‘banter’ on telephone number: 01372 463480 or email me on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)