Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past & present

The RPRA Southern Region Show

I recently had my annual phone call from my good of many years standing, Ron Lacey, reminding me about the forth coming RPRA Southern Region Show, to be held on 27th November at the usual venue in High Wycombe. I have been associated with the Southern Region Show for many years and have derived great pleasure judging at this great annual event through the years. This great event is one of my favourite one day shows, which is now held at the Hazlemere Community Centre, near High Wycombe. In recent years the Community Centre has proved to be a first class venue for this major event, having two large halls for the show and charity pigeon auction. My good friend, Ron Lacey, former President of the R.P.R.A. Southern Region, has run the show in recent years and prior to that Val and Tony Viccars were the show secretaries. I have attended the show most years, since it started at Ascot Racecourse over 30 years ago and in recent seasons have booked the judges for the racing classes for Ron. Years ago I used to show and won many firsts with my racing pigeons, which I always considered a good achievement, with the ‘red hot’ competition at the Region show.  After Ascot the show moved briefly into Basingstoke and then went to Slough for ten years, being run by the great Bob Arnold. I always remember Bob telling me that he had been in pigeons all his life, being taken tenderly into a pigeon loft at the age of ten days old, by his father, in 1920. Bob was a wonderful man and put a lot of hard work into the Southern Region Show through his many years as show secretary. My ol’ mate, Ron Lacey, took over the job of show secretary several years ago from Val and Tony who had to step down because of ill health and I must say, Ron is doing a brilliant job. Ron told me he was President of the R.P.R.A. Southern Region for 14 years until he had to pack up through ill health. He has been in the sport for 60 years and likes only long distance racing.

Last year’s show held at the Hazlemere Community Centre turned out to be one of the best ever, with 610 plus birds entered. There was the usual auction of gift birds and the funds raised by the show and sale were donated to the Diabetic Association. I auctioned the 30 gift birds, which raised £300 and I must say they were a great daft of birds, including some quality stock birds donated by A. J. Brooks, son & Turner.  Judges for this years show were, Show Racers: Phil Mott, Bob & Anthony Besant, R. Harris, M. Neale, Ron Lacey and Keith Mott: Racing Pigeons: Mike Horner, Steve Wheatley, Les Petty, P. Crawford, Ron McCarthy and Colin Carter. It was a great pleasure to have my good friends Bobby Besant and his son Anthony judging along side us last year. Although they have judged racers many times through the years, including at previous Southern Region Shows, this was a new experience for Bobby, as he had never judged Show Racers before. I must say he did a great job!

Ron McCarthy of Rhymney won Best in Show with a wonderful Silver Chequer Hen and she is a daughter of his Champion ‘Blue Boy’, winner of BIS at the BHW Blackpool Show in 2006. Ron tells me this brilliant blue Show Racer cock has won a first at Blackpool for the last three years and has now bred a BIS winner at the RPRA Southern Region Show. Ron won Best in Show at the 2009 BHW Blackpool Show for the record fifth time with a wonderful young dark chequer Show Racer cock, now named ‘Colin’s Cracker’ and he was bred by Colin Carter of Churchdown. He was bred from a cock loaned from Ron McCarthy which is also the sire of Ron’s Champion ‘Blue Boy’ winner of BIS at the BHW Blackpool Show in 2006 and the dam of ‘Colin’s Cracker’ was Colin’s good dark hen, winner of many firsts including ‘Champion Hen’ at the Edinburgh Show, plus is dam of many winners. Ron McCarthy had one of his best Blackpool Shows ever in 2008, also winning BOS, four fists and lifting ten BHW Trophies.

Piero & Jan Obertelli of Ashfield

Some people know him as Piero the Italian pigeon racer, others call him the ‘Italian Stallion’, but for the 30 years that I’ve known him he has always been Peter Obertelli!

These days he races his birds successfully at his home in the Midlands and competes in a hot bed of pigeon racing, including being a fellow member of the very strong Sutton Central Flying Club with the great Ron Vardy.  Ron and I first met in the mid 1990’s when I visited his loft with the Many Miles with Mott’ video film unit and he was a brilliant pigeon racer then, and is still a brilliant fancier today! Peter Obertelli has enjoyed an outstanding 2010 season winning 37 club positions including: five times 1st club, eight times 2nd club, five times 3rd club and 20th Federation Salisbury (2,261 birds), 2nd, 7th, 12th, 14th Federation Newbury (1,659 birds), 5th Federation Vire. This year Peter purchased a small team of youngsters to race, from the successful South Normanton loft of Shane Leyton, who has been a premier fancier in Derbyshire for many years. The youngsters raced well for the Obertelli loft, but one, a blue white flight hen now named ‘The Leyton Hen’ was outstanding and won several top prizes. After she recorded 6th club Newbury, 1st club, 20th Federation (2,261 birds) Salisbury racing in the Sutton Central Flying Club, Peter got her ready for the Derby, Burton & District SR Federation Grand National Race, which is the big money end of season race in the Midlands and is flown Vire (300 miles) in France. This season’s race turned out very difficult, with only 13 birds being clocked on the day of liberation and Peter’s game hen, ‘The Leyton Hen’, recorded 7th open. Another premier young bird for Peter in the 2010 season was ‘The Italian Stallion’ and he won a list of club positions including 1st club, 2nd Federation (1,659 birds) Newbury.

Piero Obertelli was born in a small village north of Malan called, Piacenza, near Morfasso and the family house was built in the Italian mountains, and on a good clear day you could she the Swiss Alps. Peter is from a big family, with six brothers and five sisters, and tells me, only one of his brothers was also interested in pigeons and that was Renato, who was a very successful fancier in the London area a few years ago. When the family lived in the Italian mountains the older brothers chop down trees for logs for the house fires and to sell, plus they lived off the cattle, sheep and poultry they kept. The young Piero used to hunt for Fox and Badger in the mountains, which often got him into trouble with his parents, as he should have been working in the woods cutting trees. He kept a few Fantails when he was a lad and started racing pigeons when he came to the U.K. in 1976. He bought a house with a nice long garden in Hounslow, near Heathrow Airport, and very soon erected a pigeon loft. Peter recalls the premier fanciers locally in the 1970’s were Jack Knowle, George Burgess, Brian Goodwin and Eric Hurley. At that time pigeon racing was his passion, but still enjoyed hunting and quite often went shooting Pheasant and Hare.

On moving up to the midlands in 1990, Peter and Jan packed up the pigeons, but aquired a field near their home in Sutton-in-Ashfield, and started keeping a few chickens, sheep and of cause Jan’s beloved Horse. Peter restarted with pigeons in 2004 and the lofts were erected on the field, which has proved to be an excellent enviriment for the birds. The field is complete with stables and has housed Jan’s very successful Show Jumper for many years. Jan is very interested in the pigeons and helps out any way she can, including stitching up and repairing broken legs on the damaged birds. She is very good with the pigeon having a vast experience of looking after live stock, after many years in Africa working with wild animals. In recent years most of her time has been taken up looking after and jumping her Horse at big shows, but unfortunely last year she lost him with a sudden terminal illness. Peter’s several lofts at Sutton-in-Ashfield are set out in a square, with a slabbed area in the middle and he told me, the most important factor of his set up is all the structures are built at least 2ft off the ground. There you have it the Piero Obertelli story! I’ve enjoyed doing this week’s article, as Peter has been a good mate for a long time.