DAVE & GARY HEYWOOD

OF LAINDON

1st Open L&SECC Bergerac 2011

by Keith Mott

Two guys I’ve known and respected since the early 2000s is the father and son partnership of Dave and Gary Heywood of Laindon. I first met the two Essex lads in 2002 when they won the L&SECC Yearling Derby from Tours and came to my home in Claygate to have their first Classic winner, ‘Diane’s Choice’, photographed for an article. Dave and Gary have become racing pigeon legends in Essex over the last few years winning countless top honours in the very best competition including: three times 1st open L&SECC, four times 1st open BICC, twice 1st open Combine and of course 1st open NFC Fougeres in 2009 with their champion blue chequer hen, ‘Celebration Lass’.

Dave and Gary have had a good 2011 old bird season and finish it off by sending ten birds to the last L&SECC race from Bergerac (465 miles), clocking five on the day of liberation, and recording 1st, 13th, 26th, 29th and 31st open. The Classic birds were liberated at 05.45hrs into a no wind situation at the Bergerac liberation site, turning south westerly between Poitiers and Nantes and westerly over the channel. A steady race was expected and the anticipation of day birds for this 450  miles race turn in to reality, with 54 first bird verifications being recorded on the day, and some members getting more than one pigeon home on the day. Dave and Gary Heywood hit the ‘jackpot’ by recording five on the day of liberation and four more by Sunday evening! Their winning pigeon was their good three year old Hartog blue cock, ‘Bergerac Dream’, and he has been an outstanding pigeon raced on the widowhood system, winning five premier positions in the first 20 open with the L&SECC and BICC. This game cock was given three channel races on his build up to his Bergerac win and was rested for four weeks prior to the marking. He is 100% Hartog, being a son of the champion breeder, ‘John Joe’, who is the sire of many top racers and grand sire of two 1st open National winners. The partner’s second bird from Bergerac was clocked soon after ‘Bergerac Dream’ to record 13th open and was another premier widowhood cock by the name of ‘Young Brian’. This three year old blue pied cock has previously won four top prizes in the Classic and is son of the champion racer ‘Gary’s Lad’, winner of 1st open BICC Falaise, 2nd open BICC Gellainville and 1st Federation Blandford, when mate to a gift De Klak stock hen from the late, great Brian Long. 

The Heywood's loft is 25 years old and is a 48ft continental style structure, with six sections, tiled roof and open bay trapping for the ETS clocking. The partners maintain that the ETS is the greatest thing to happen to pigeon racing in recent years! Dave maintains the most important factor behind good loft design is dryness and says pigeons don't like draughts. He likes deep litter on the loft floors, having tried it several times, but it makes him chesty, with the dust. Dave and Gary race 42 cocks on the widowhood system and say theirs is a dry system, as the cocks only rear one youngster at the beginning of the season. They are paired up on the 25th January and after rearing are not repair, being on the system for the first race. The cocks are given about five training tosses, through to the south coast (60 miles) before the first Federation race, but are only trained prior to Bergerac during the season, and the rest of the time just exercised around the loft for an hour, twice a day. The partners are only interested in Classic and National channel racing and use the Federation inland racing for getting the birds fit. They like races where the birds can be clocked on the day of liberation and say Tarbes at 570 miles is about the limit. They are fed on V.L. Super Widowhood Mixture and during the racing season are given a lighter feed from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning for the Federation training races, but not for the main events from France. The Heywood’s use ‘Norban’ products in their successful pigeon racing system, which is supplied by John Norris and rate it the best on the market. The cocks are only shown their mates on marking night for the all the races through out the season. On their return from the race, the cocks get their hens for about an hour. Generally the cocks get two or three channel races before going into the longest events and are never re-paired for these races, at the end of the season. Gary told me the partners tend to rest their birds between races for longer than most fanciers and maintains, right or wrong, it is highly successful in their racing system. Dave and Gary have been racing the Widowhood system since 1985. The main families raced are John Gerrard’s Hartogs, with several other winning families crossed in. 

The partners raced their 80 youngsters on the darkness system, but quite often only race them lightly. They maintain the “dark” doesn't affect the birds in latter life, because he won 1st open BICC, 1st open Combine and 1st open L&SECC with yearlings. Dave and Gary train the young birds well up to 40 miles for three weeks before the first race and twice a week during the season. He feeds heavy twice a day and races to the perch. The young cocks get only three races, being saved for the widowhood system and the young hens go over the channel, racing the full programme. Dave says he hates young bird racing and the family take their holidays in July which is not conducive for successful racing with youngsters, although they have won 1st open NFC and 1st open L&SECC with the babies. 

The last London & South East Classic Club race of the 2010 season from Guernsey proved to be yet another difficult race for the 1,200 young bird and old hens, which had to battle home in head winds. This last classic of the season was a carbon copy of most of which went on before, with northerly winds prevailing nearly every weekend and producing one of the hardest seasons we have every experienced. Losses were very heavy that year and the babies even seem to have bad races on good days! The convoy was held over, with the winning pigeon flying into Essex and only recording 1249ypm. The Essex partnership of Dave and Gary Heywood won the young bird classic with a darkness Van Der Mere / Kees Bousa hen sitting ten day old eggs and she was bred by John Gerrard. Dave tells me his young birds this year have been coming great and have taken some premier prizes, including in the NFC young bird National race. The Laindon partnership have won many major positions in National and Classic racing through the years and have won the British International Championship Club four times, including twice 1st open National in one season. The father and son pigeon partners won 1st open BICC Bihorel in 2002, 1st open BICC Falaise and 1st open BICC Tours, both in the 2003 season. Dave and Gary also won the L&SECC Tours yearling derby in 2002 and put the icing on the cake, of a brilliant season. 

As I've previously stated the Heywood's have put up some wonderful performances through the years, but the 2002 season was one of their best, winning 1st open BICC Bihorel, 2nd open BICC Gellainville, 13th open BICC Bourges, 1st and 5th open London & South Coast Combine Tours, 2nd and 16th open L&SECC Tours (2,459 birds), 1st open L&SECC Tours yearling derby and flew only three inland races, recording 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Poole, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Fareham (young birds). Brilliant pigeon flying! The partners Tours yearling derby winner was their good blue chequer pied cock, “Diane's Choice”, named after Dave's wife, who is a great worker at the Heywood's loft. He was bred from a cock obtained from a local fancier named, Norman Flint and a Massarella / Jan Aarden hen. On his build up his classic win he had three inland races, Alencon, Le Ferte Bernard, then in to the Yearling Derby and was raced on the Widowhood.

Dave Heywood had his first pair of pigeons when he was five years of age, being a gift from his uncle who kept tumblers and fantails. He says as a youngster he was interested in football and tells me Gary is a very good footballer, as well as being a major part of the pigeon racing partnership. Dave was born in south London and started racing pigeons in 1968, winning his first race from Newark in 1971. His first loft was a 12ft.x 5ft. open fronted structure, and he raced in the Old Pride of Laindon club. He says his biggest mistake in the early days was overfeeding and overcrowding his small loft. Dave says the late, Tommy Tomkins, was a great help to him and he obtained some outstanding Savage / Barker pigeons from him to start off his racing. The Heywood's brought in the Bill Growden Busschaerts in 1982 and won 1st open London N.R. Combine Stockton (young birds), with them in the 1990 season. The Laindon loft has always been successful on the north road, but turned around south several years ago. Dave is only interested in channel racing and maintains that on the north road old birds can fly the programme, but on the south, pigeons can't race every week and fanciers have to pick their races and save the birds. 

Dave is retired steel erecter by trade and says the partners couldn't race pigeons for many years without his wife, Diane's help, as he worked long hours. The 20 pairs of stock birds are kept at Dave’s home and these are housed in two big lofts, with flights. These are paired up the same time as the racing cock, so eggs can be floated and the partners like to bring in new birds every year and these are normally direct off champion pigeons. Dave told me, his families of pigeons race well up to 450 miles and his biggest thrill was in 2001, when he had the only bird on the day in the clock station from the N.F.C. San Sebastian race and recorded 106th open. A great pigeon racing partnership!

It was a great pleasure to see Dave and Gary come to Claygate again for the third time after their Bergerac Classic win to have ‘Bergerac Dream’ photographed. They are two of the sports gentlemen and pigeon racing legends of Essex!