Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past and present

FRANK BRISTOW OF HORBLING

It was no surprise to read the news in the BHW this season that Frank Bristow had won the biggest prize in north road racing, when he recorded 1st open North Road Championship Club Lerwick (1,699 birds), lifting the prestigious ‘King George Cup’. I visited his brilliant loft in the little village of Horbling in Lincolnshire with the ‘Many Miles with Mott’ video camera a few years ago and was very impressed with fancier and his pigeons. To win this wonderful 500 miles race has always been on Frank’s pigeon agenda since starting up in the sport 50 years ago. The 2008 NRCC Lerwick National was a hard push home in a south west wind, with 39 game pigeons being verified on the day and Frank’s winning velocity was 1100 ypm. Frank Bristow’s winning pigeon, a four year old blue chequer cock now named ‘Kezie’, was bred by Brian Barnes of Lytham St Annes and was raced on the widowhood system. This champion cock has won several times previously and Frank named him ‘Kezie’, as it was his late grand father’s nick name many years ago. It was great to hear of his wonderful Lerwick win, well done mate!

I think Frank's loft set-up is probably one of the best I've ever seen. The lofts were not only excellent but were full of pigeons of the highest quality. Frank's L-shaped, brick double-storey loft was built in 1976 and is not only very pleasing to look at, but is very practical, with a lot of thought put into the design. One half of the top floor is for the widowhood cocks, which are housed in four sections and the other half is taken up with young birds and widowhood hens. The 55 pairs of stock birds are kept on the ground floor. The racing sections have grating floors with the widowhood racers being trapped through open doors and the young birds through sputniks. The stock birds have very spacious living quarters and can get out in a big wire flight in the summer months.

Frank has been in the sport for over 50 years and when it comes to breeding winners he never relied on so-called individual strains. He pairs the best to the best regardless of origin, but the main base strains that formed his impressive family are Janssen, Wildemeersch, Haelterman and the super line from Albert De Groote which was mainly of the famous D'Hondt family. When he finds a certain breeding pair are producing above-average race birds, they remain together; others are given different mates for a couple of seasons. Frank is adamant that in today's fierce competition only the best will keep you at the top. While we were in his stock sections, he showed me many top breeders, including the retired racer 'Sammy', a wonderful Wildemeersch pencil pied cock which had won 1st Northallerton (110 miles), 1st Morpeth (166 miles), 1st Berwick (209 miles), 1st Fraserburgh (337 miles) and 1st Lerwick (563 miles). This old cock took my eye as soon as I walked into the loft. The Wildemeersch hen he is paired to had also won many 1st prizes racing. The breeders are usually mated around Christmas time and Frank spends several days making sure the pairs are suited to each other. His breeding birds normally rear two or three rounds of youngsters, but all the pairs are separated towards the middle of June. 

Frank likes racing at all distances and has won the federation from every racepoint on the north road, including Lerwick. He had won 268  first prizes between 1990 and 1998 and had won the section in the North Road Championship Club from Perth and Berwick. One of the top birds in the race loft was a Staf Van Reet pencil pied cock which in the 1998 season won 1st Perth, 1st Thurso and positions from Morpeth and Berwick, to win the East Midlands RPRA Region Middle-Distance award. Another ace in the racing section was the D'Hondt blue chequer cock 'Prince Albert', 1st Section North Road Championship Club, Berwick, when raced paired up as a young bird, and winner of many prizes as an old bird on the widowhood system.

Frank's main family are the D’Hondt of Semmerzake. D'Hondt, a great Belgian fancier, won 1st Open Bourges National 60,000 birds in 1997. Frank races his pigeons in the Peterborough Central Federation, which covers an area of more than 3,000 square miles and has several very strong competing clubs. He has won every average and award possible over the past few years, often taking up to the first six positions in the organisation! He races both cocks and hens on the widowhood system. They are usually mated at the beginning of January and are allowed to rear just one youngster or sit eggs which have been moved from the better pairs. The race team are then separated until the beginning of April, when they are re-paired and allowed to sit eggs for about eight days before going on the widowhood system. During this period they will receive five or six training tosses to a distance of about 25 miles. After this initial training no further basket work is given with loft exercise and regular racing keeping the whole team in super condition. Frank races on the basic widowhood system with the racers seeing their mates on marking night, and on their return from the race. He goes into great detail when it comes to feeding his team and uses commercial racing mixtures, usually mixing at least three different types together. His young birds are raced on the darkness system and are paired up to be put on a semi-widowhood method. The Bristow loft enjoyed an excellent season racing in 1999, winning over 30 firsts in the clubs and being premier prize winner in the local Federation. A wonderful performance!

BHW Blackpool Charity Auction 2009

The RPRA asked us again this year if we would like to donate a pigeon to the 2009 BHW Blackpool Charity Auction and as in previous years we were very happy to help. We are donating GB 2007 N 02705 a blue hen and daughter of our Number 1 Eric Cannon Stock Pair and this hen has already produced several useful 550 mile racers. We have donated several birds off this pair to the Blackpool Auction in recent years and they have raised good money for the charity, but I think this hen will be the last one off Pair 1, as they are coming up nine years of age and are probably come near to finishing. This beautiful blue hen is bred from the very best of Eric Cannon’s Pau National bloodlines, being bred from a son of Champion ‘Culmer Channel Queen’, when mated to a daughter of Champion ‘Culmer Bess’, the two N.F.C. Pau merit award winners. The hen’s parents are our Number 1 Eric Cannon stock pair, ‘Culmer Superstar’ and ‘Culmer Lane’, and are one of the premier Eric Cannon stock pairs in the world today. This blue hen will found the purchaser a wonderful family of long distance pigeons. 

SIRE: ‘CULMER SUPERSTAR’ Blue Cock: Bred by Eric &Pat Cannon.

Sire of winners and is a son of ‘Culmer White Flight’, winner of many positions in the N.F.C., including 1st Section A. 14th open NFC Pau, when mated to Champion ‘Culmer Channel Queen’, winner of 23rd, 29th, 98th and 183rd open NFC Pau and winner of the NFC Pau merit award, also 346th open Young Bird National. This wonderful hen is a daughter of the champion stock cock ‘Culmer Producer’, who is a son of ‘Culmer Pat’, winner of 27th, 80th, 104th open NFC Pau and dam of 1st open NFC Pau for G.Stovin. ‘Culmer Superstar’ is a full brother to’80993’, highest priced young bird at Eric Cannon’s dispersal sales, being sold for £520.

DAM: ‘CULMER LANE’  Blue WF Hen: Bred by Eric & Pat Cannon.

Dam of winners. A daughter of the stock cock, ‘93177’, a half brother to Champion ‘Culmer Channel Queen’. The parents of ‘93177’, are the champion stock cock ‘Culmer Producer’ when mated to a direct daughter of ‘Culmer Expected’, winner of 22nd, 27th, 103rd and 231st open NFC Pau. The dam of ‘Culmer Lane’ is Champion ‘Culmer Bess’, winner of 6th, 26th and 170th open NFC Pau (540 miles), 47th open NFC Pau / Saintes, winning the NFC Pau merit award. This brilliant hen was top priced pigeon at Eric Cannon’s dispersal sales, sold for £2,300. Champion ‘Culmer Bess’ is a daughter of the premier Mike Spencer stock cock, when mated to ‘Culmer Joan’, winner of 1st section A. 12th open N.F.C. Pau, who is a daughter of ‘Culmer Rose’ winner of 30th, 56th, 131st, 389th and 541st open NFC Pau. ‘Culmer Lane’ is a full sister to the dam of Champion ‘Night Flight’, winner of 1st open Saintes / Pau Grand National in 2003, for Mark Gilbert.

We really have looked at one of the best this week. Frank Bristow is an absolutely brilliant fancier! I can be contacted on telephone: 01372 463480. See yer!