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K M Tributeto George Kimpton

 

A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE KIMPTON

by Keith Mott

 

I was very sad to receive a phone call giving me the bad news that George Kimpton had passed away on 18th October after fighting bad health for several months. Georgie has been a friend of my brother, Phil, and I since the early 1970s, and he really was a great bloke, always happy and willing to help anyone in need. I’ve known Georgie for many years and he would help anyone in trouble. The sport’s ‘Mr Nice Guy’ and also a very good pigeon racer! I for one, and I’m know many others, will miss him at the shows this winter! Condolences to the Kimpton family from Betty and me.

 

George Kimpton first became a pigeon fancier at the age of 14 when he spent most of his time in his uncle's loft learning the ropes and watching the birds coming from races. George had been in pigeons for 40 years and whether it be racing or showing he was always the man to look out for. With some help from Harrison Bros of Richmond and Jim Emmett of Hounslow, George started racing on his own when he got his first house in 1971. George said the performances of Charlie Harrison in those early days drew his attention to the sport, winning four water races out of five and 1st S.M.T. Combine in one season and in 1965 winning Champion Young Bird at the People Show. George's first club was Richmond & District where he raced Barker pigeons but with little success. His first loft was an asbestos 8ft x 4ft shed with a piano trap and his early mistakes were overfeeding and training in bad weather.

 

The 1983 season saw the Kimpton pigeons win many top positions racing and showing including 1st West Middlesex Federation Blandford, 1st West Middlesex Federation Exeter and 4th West Middlesex Federation Weymouth. George's very smart loft was 22ft long, made up of three sections and had open door trapping. He maintained the most important factors in good loft design were good ventilation, freedom from damp and open door trapping. The loft housed two pairs of stock birds, twelve pairs of racers and thirty youngsters were bred every year. All the old birds were paired up in early March and raced on the Natural system as George liked to race cocks and hens, with water racing his main interest. He raced only South Road with the Chiswick & District, National Flying Club and Inverness 2-Bird Club, and for many years flew two main families, J. L. Roberts of Marple and the old Dooran family.

 

In the early years one of George's main stock birds was the six year old pencil pied hen 'Janet' and she was only raced as a young bird in 1978 winning 2nd club Blandford and 2nd club Weymouth, before being put to stock. This great hen was the dam of four 1st Fed winners and had won twenty-nine 1sts in the show pen. 'Janet' had won two 1sts at West Middlesex Federation shows and B.O.S., and had scored several times at the Old Comrades and RPRA Southern Region shows. One of 'Janet's' daughters was the dark chequer pied hen '77' which won 1st West Middlesex Federation Blandford as a young bird in 1983.

 

George said his most thrilling experience in pigeons was when he won a first at the Old Comrades, but his biggest disappointment was entering four birds in Olympiad classes at Birmingham, the Old Comrades and Southern Region shows, winning several 1sts and top awards and then not having his birds picked for the 1983 Olympiad. His families of pigeons raced really well right through to 450 miles and showed really well in the winter months. His son, Fred, was his pigeon partner and he was a good pigeon man and a great help with the management of the birds. The partners fed a first class mixture and said it kept the birds' weight on. The birds were trapped with Red Band conditioner. The Kimpton birds, old and young, got 25-mile training tosses every day weather permitting and their favorite racing condition was sitting eggs 10 to 12 days.

 

Another of the Kimptons' best birds was the 8 year old Jim Emmett blue hen 'Emmett One". She had won many top positions racing including 25th Section, 36th Open Nantes N.F.C. and 76th Section, 399th Open, Pau N.F.C. in 1979 and 1st club Exeter. 'Emmett One' was retired to stock at the end of 1981 and had bred many useful birds including the blue hen 'Cash' which won 4th West Middlesex Federation Exeter and was 3rd Champion Y. B. at the Old Comrades in 1983. Another good daughter of 'Emmett One' bred in 1983 was 'Daylight' and she won as a youngster 4th Ashford Weymouth Open, 2nd club Plymouth, 3rd club Weymouth and 3rd club Guernsey. Another of the Kimpton's best birds was another Jim Emmett blue hen '53' and she won 1st London Federation Rennes, 16th Section, 326th Open Nantes N.F.C. for George and Fred.

 

George said he was interested in eyesign but knew very little about the subject, although he was learning all the time. In his opinion the eye men pick a pigeon on its good eye after it has won a race not before. George was clock setter and Federation delegate in the Chiswick club and president of the Inverness 2-Bird club. If he could have passed a law to benefit the sport he would have put a ten-bird limit per member per race. He didn't like it when fanciers voted against a top flier joining a club, just because his competition was strong. George told novices to get their feeding right, don't train in bad weather and listen to any good advice from a local man who wins out of turn. The Kimptons said that Jack Newell of Feltham was the top local fancier because he had won from every race point and was always willing to help the newcomer to the sport and give advice. The Kimptons had put up many great performances but one that George was very proud of was when they were 1st, 2nd, 3rd club Bergerac (448 miles) with the only three birds recorded in the club in race time. Another great performance was in 1979 when the partners sent two birds to N.F.C. Nantes recording 36th, 272nd Open to win £525. Another of their best racers had been put to stock, a chequer cock 'Midnight'. He had done well racing and in the show pen. His wins included 1st club Niort and 1st club Bergerac. The partners' other Federation winner of the 1983 season was the mealy '74' which won the West Middlesex from Exeter.

 

George said fanciers breed far too many youngsters and to avoid fly aways he let his youngsters out late at night for exercise around the loft. He loved showing his racers and was very successful. His advice to starters on showing was keep your loft clean at all times; use a deep litter of wood shavings 3ins to 4ins deep; keep an eye on your birds for bent feathers, if this happens, steam over with a boiling kettle and keep the loft sprayed out with Duramitex and give regular baths through the moult. He never bred late breds and said he liked deep litter as it worked for him. He would have stopped imported pigeons because he thought there was far too much money being made out of it. When selecting producers George liked the pigeon which sat right in the hand, with good tight feathering and wings to fit the tail nicely. A great judge of pigeons!

 

KEITH MOTT.