ON THE ROAD

with Keith Mott

It’s that time of year again, April and May, the dreaded months for constant hawk and falcon attacks and losses of racing pigeons at the loft and on the road while in races and training. I think with the warmer weather after the cold winter months the predators are on an intense hunt in these months to feed their first young of the year. I had a phone call from Fred Dickson of Cramlington in the north east of England recently and the sparrowhawks are hitting his birds every time he lets them out of the loft for exercise and in April they killed his Champion ‘Five Times Bourges Cock’. This wonderful Eric Cannon cock had flown Bourges (581 miles) five times, recording several premier positions in the Federation and bred several Bourges winners, including 1st Federation. Fred has had two more birds killed at the loft since the ‘Bourges’ cock was taken! When will all end? Peter Taylor of Guildford has lost three birds at the loft in as many weeks and his disappear while out on exercise at the loft. Peter lives a couple of miles from Guildford Cathedral and a few years ago it was reported that two pairs of Peregrine Falcon lived there. I think they are taking Pete’s birds, as he loses several every year! The Cathedral is on the A3 road at Guildford and all the London fanciers train down that road through to Portsmouth. The birds come up on the London / north Surrey line, pass through east of the Hogs Back and go over Guildford on their way home from tosses down the A3. Thousands of Racing Pigeons must pass over the area of Guildford Cathedral and many must get taken every month! I include a photo of my good Eric Cannon blue hen ‘Foxwarren Eventually’ who scored several times, including a top position in the L&SECC Bergerac race. She was killed by a sparrowhawk a couple of weeks after scoring in the L&SECC Pau (552 miles) Classic for the second time. Enough said!

Spelthorne S.R.F.C. Breeder / Buyer

I recently received some info about the Spelthorne Breeder / Buyer sale, held in mid-April at the club’s Sunbury HQ, from the organizer, Terry Smart. Our Terry is the ‘king’ of the Futurity Sales since he started doing the very successful London & South East Classic Club sales in the early 1990s. He puts so much time and hard work into the Spelthorne sales, which must now rate as some of the best held in the Three Borders Federation area. The first sale and open race held in 2012 was an outstanding success, but the second held in April far exceeds that sale.

From reports in the local area the 2013 Breeder / Buyer Sales have not been that well supported to date, which is quite understandable in the current financial climate. Not so for that little club down there in Sunbury on Thames, they may only have about nine members, but  WOW, they do know how to put on a great sale. Tuesday 16th April was the date of the sale, the Spelthorne Sports and Social Club was the venue and the event was well advertised by letter and a half page advertisement in the BHW. The sale started at 20.00hrs and the big hall at the social club was packed with fanciers from all the London and Southern Counties area. Terry told me, ‘boy was there some quality birds on show, 87 of the finest youngsters you could feast your eyes on. We have a no paper promises policy in this club, all birds had to be in the pens. There were birds from all over the United Kingdom and most of them from some of the finest fanciers in the country. Welsh National winners, Midland National winners, National Flying Club winners and just about every Classic Club winners you could imagine. To add to that, we  even had birds from Ronnie Coleman of County Louth in Southern Ireland. He had phoned me to ask if he could try his luck and then shipped three birds over the Irish Sea at no cost to the club. A true gentleman! The Tumley Stud in Devon was well represented with three fine youngsters’.

The auction started bang on time, after the auctioneer Terry Smart had made a request to the packed hall, that although the birds in the sale were premier quality, purchasers should not to put these young birds into the stock loft, as they have been donated to the sale to compete in the Open Race from Yeovil on 14th August, and the donors deserve the chance to win the prize money. After getting that off his chest, Terry was on his way! He may not have raced pigeons for almost 20 years, but he certainly had not lost any of his banter, he had the first 50 Lots sold in 70 minutes. Then it was raffle time, well the table was one mass of prizes, all donated by members and friends of the Spelthorne South Road Flying Club. A big ‘thank you’ must go to the Windsor partnership of Mr & Mrs K Hitchcock & Son who not only supported the sale but brought a bottle of Champagne for a prize. Then taking centre stage of the display was a beautiful pair of squeakers donated to the Spelthorne Club raffle by M & Mrs John Diamond from Britney Ferry Mid Glamorgan. These birds were taken from their stock loft with others donated for the sale, the day before by John Keywood when he visited the loft in Wales. The nest pair was the first prize in the massive raffle and was won by a young lady who does not keep pigeons. That did not deter her! She promptly walked over to the most hard working member of the Spelthorne Club, Les Penycate and asked him to race them in the Breeder / Buyer on her behalf. With the Raffle completed it was back to the task in hand, the auction of the last 35 lots and Terry finished that job by 22.00hrs. 

There were many bargains to be had at the Spelthorne sale, with prices ranging from £20 up to £145. Four birds exceeded £100, the top priced bird being bred by the top small team distance flyer in the area, Ray Hammond of the Godalming Club. ‘Razor’ donated a super blue hen bred out of a Combine winner and a Classic winner. Next came a super bird from the top Liverpool Amalgamation winning loft of J. & P. Weeder and that partnership provided the top priced young bird in last year’s sale. The Three Borders Federation 2012 ‘Individual Points’ Champions, Honey & Grandson of Mitcham were next supported the sale and their donation was the third highest price, with that magnificent long distance ‘Ace’, F. & M. Hough from Macclesfield Cheshire the fourth highest priced youngster. A vote of thanks to ‘The Italian Stallion’, Peter Obertelli of Mansfield, who went to a lot of time and trouble to acquire a draft of youngsters from premier Midlands fancier for the Spelthorne sale.

At the final count Terry tells me, ‘the sale has made the magnificent sum of just under £3,500 and from that there will be a deduction of 15% for Club funds, entry fees for the sale birds in the Open Race, advertising, printing, carriage costs and postage. The Spelthorne South Road Flying Club is pleased to announce that the Breeder / Buyer Race will be flown in conjunction with the Spelthorne Young Bird Open Race on Wednesday 14th August from Yeovil (code 4176) and will pay the following six prizes to both the Breeders and the Buyers. First £500, Second £300, Third £200, Fourth £125, Fifth £60 and Sixth £50’. Well to Terry Smart and the hard working Spelthorne members on yet another great sale!

That your lot for this week! Just a last reminder that I have changed my email address, replacing the old wanadoo address with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Don’t overlook the 1!

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