Keith Mott

ON THE ROAD

Extraodinary Animals 

I had just returned from France after convoying the London & South East Classic Club birds to Alencon last week and I received a phone call from the Channel 5 TV producer, Aneeta Chana, asking if they could come and film me with the birds for the current running ‘Extraordinary Animals’ series. Well I’m an ol’ boy now and it takes me about a week to get over my convoying trips to France with the Classic birds, but I told Aneeta that I would agree to do it as long as they could make my eyes up to hide the black tiredness rings! Only joking! The lads turned up on the Wednesday for a full afternoon shoot and I must say, I really enjoyed filming, especially when they dragged my wife, Betty, in for a shot.

They asked me questions on the history of the sport, pigeons in the war, record speeds and distances, and we talked in great length about my work with the British Homing World and London & South East Classic Club. Mike Reilly was the Director on the day and he originally comes from Glasgow, although his family comes from Ireland. He has been working in television for 12 years and has been involved in the Generation Game, Fifth Gear, and has worked with Lenny Henry ans Ali G. ‘Extraordinary Animals’ is a new series of ten programmes staring on Channel 5 at 7.30pm on Tuesday 20th May. Mike tells me the pigeon programme will be number eight or nine, but he will let me know the date so it can be published in the BHW. I was talking to the camera man, Luke Atkinson, and he told me his camera costs £25,000 and the super duper lense cost another £25,000. Luke originally comes from Ealing, but now only lives about five miles from me in Molesey and he has been television for 17 years. He is a freelance cameraman and has worked on many premier programmes including the highly successful Bad Girls series. Our sound man for the day was Lisala Dolo and in his nine years in the job has worked on Tonight with Trevor McDonald and Life of Grime. As useral I was busy in between takes with taking my photographs and own personal filming. They were very interested in the pigeons and were very pleased with their footage.

London & South East Classic Club “Forum”

Peter & Leon McMahon of Brighton

Peter and Leon McMahon are firm supporters of the north London Premiership football team, Arsenal, and the father and son partnership have named their pigeon set up, ‘Highbury Lofts’, after the ground where the football team play. They live on the south coast at Brighton and in recent seasons have put up some brilliant performances in National and Classic events, including 1st section A, 26th open N.F.C. Pau (4,085 birds) in the 2002 season. The partnership fly a magic 517 miles from Pau, in the south of France and have won the Pau Diploma of Merit with the London & South East Classic Club, for a pigeon that records three positions in the first 50 in the open result. Their Merit Award winner is their good blue chequer pied hen, ‘Highbury Queen’ and she flew Pau five times, recording 3rd, 12th and 19th open in the L&SECC. A wonderful performance! Peter and Leon had a brilliant season in 2002, recording: 1st section A, 26th open N.F.C. Pau (4,085 birds), 3rd section A, 59th open N.F.C. Saintes (3,887 birds), 21st section A, 200th open N.F.C. Nantes (10,150 birds), 10th section A, 293rd open N.F.C. Guernsey young bird National, 9th, 40th open BICC Pau, 33rd open L&SECC Bordeaux and in their club, the Brighton and Worthing 5 bird club, the partnership won the old bird average, ‘Ace’ fancier and ‘Ace’ old bird. Brilliant positions won at the very highest level of long distance pigeon racing!

Peter McMahon was born in London and at the age of 14, moved down to Brighton on the south coast. He became friendly with a lad at school named, Aron Palmer, who had pigeons and the young Peter soon caught the pigeon bug, after several visits to his mate’s loft. His first birds came from the streets and Brighton pier, followed by some racers from local fancier, Bill Knight, who now lives in New Zealand. At that time the late Bert Collins was the best local fancier and was outstanding in the long distance events. Peter moved to his present home in Lower Beverdean, near Brighton, in 1987 and started racing pigeons obtained from F. Fowler and K. Abbott, both local fanciers, and Louella Pigeon World. His first loft was 12ft. x 6ft., two sections and he won major prizes from the outset, including 2nd open Combine Niort, 138th open N.F.C. Pau, 75th open N.F.C. Bordeaux, 21st open L&SECC Dax and won the Federation inland racing. Peter says in those days he hopper fed farm beans and raced on the natural system.

The McMahon pigeons have been raced on the natural and widowhood systems for the last three seasons and Peter told me the widowhood pigeons flew the best in the 2002 season. This season will see him race12 widowhood cocks, 12 celibate yearling cocks and 12 celibate hens. He pairs his widowhood pigeons at the end of February and they are allowed to sit six days on eggs, before the hens are taken away, and then are repaired at the end of April. The cocks go to their first race and on their return, the hens are taken away, and they are on the widowhood system. The widowhood pigeons race the programme on the system and then are repaired again for the last major races of the season. The birds are rested for two or three weeks before Pau and are only fed on maize for the last six days before the race. When on the widowhood the hens are not shown to the cocks on marking night, but are left together for about two hours on their return from the race and Peter likes his birds to have a seven hours fly out of Nantes (257 miles) on their build up to the Pau races. Peter’s ‘Highbury Loft’ is 32ft. x 8ft., with four sections and a pan tiled roof. The very smart loft has air vents at the roof level only and Peter tells me, he isn’t a deep litter user and cleans out regularly. The birds are hopper fed all the year round, with Cranleigh No. 1 mixture and P40 pellets. The race team is never broken down. They are trained up to 40 miles, from all points of the compass and the old birds first race of the season is from Bihorel, with the B.I.C.C. Peter likes Pau (517 miles) best, but has timed in from Palamos and Perpignan.  The loft houses 12 pairs of stock birds, which are paired up on 14th. February and the main families kept are Wanroys, Van De Wegan, Janssen and Jan Aarden, which mainly came from the Ponderosa U.K. stud at Weymouth. Peter has one or two birds from his good friend, Reg Sarre of Blackpool, each season and he bred the McMahon’s ‘39147’, winner of 26th. open N.F.C. Pau in the 2002 season. This game slate blue was bred from a K. Abbott / Janssen cock, when mated to Reg Sarre’s best stock hen. Peter keeps about 40 young birds each season and trains them from the north and west, starting at 20 miles. They are raced natural to the perch, mostly with the Brighton and Worthing 5 bird club from Guernsey, in preparation for the young bird national. Peter has no interest in the darkness system, as he says; he is only looking for pigeons to fly Pau as two year olds. During the week, Peter, has very little time with his pigeons, as he works as a slaughter man and has a 50 miles drive to work every day, arriving home late every evening.

Peter told me his most thrilling experience in his time in pigeon racing, apart from the clocking from Dax and Pau on the day, was when ‘Highbury Queen’ won the L.&S.E.C.C. Pau merit award. Another high light was in 1990, when his good blue chequer, ‘Gunner’, won 2nd section, 4th open N.F.C. young bird national and lifted a new motor car. He shows his pigeons some times in the winter months and has won Best in Show at major events. Peter is a good worker for the sport and in the 2003 season will be on the clock committee and I.C. for the N.F.C. and L.& S.E.C.C. He is also press officer for the Brighton & Worthing 5 bird club, which is one of the strongest clubs in the south of England. It really is a very hard club to win, with premier long distance fanciers like, John McGee, Fred Hall and John Puddephatt in it’s membership. Peter likes latebreds off his best racers for the stock section and practices inbreeding and line breeding, but not to close. Congratulations to the McMahon partnership on their brilliant 2002 season racing in the National Flying Club.

Hagilouka and Couch of Twickenham 

This week I am going to feature the Middlesex partnership of Andy Hagilouka and the late Ken Couch who were one of the most consistent Pau racing lofts in the London and South East Classic Club for many seasons. Both these fanciers were very single ­minded in the approach to racing pigeons, with the Pau Classic being their main aim each season. Their performance from the London and South-East Classic Club Pau race were outstanding winning 1996 – 18th Open Pau; 1997 – 36th Open Pau; 1998 – 3rd Open Pau (on the day of liberation); 1999 – 8th, 46th and 59th Open Pau and, of course won the London and South East Classic Club Pau Diploma of Merit Award with the champion hen, ‘Miss Consistent’ who had been in the first 50 Open positions three times to win the award.

Hagilouka and Couch raced 24 pairs on the natural system, pairing up in mid-March with the long-distance Channel races in mind and had an open loft all the year round, winter and summer. After the racers had reared a pair of youngsters they were put on pot eggs and training began with a 50-mile toss, then the birds got two chucks from the south coast every week through the racing season. The racers were hopper fed mostly beans and just before Pau were given single-up tosses from the south coast. The normal build-up for Pau was one inland race, then one short Channel race and then into the main event, sent on chipping eggs or a small youngster. Ken said they don't like to give the team too much racing before Pau, as it takes too much out of them and doesn't help their chances at 550 miles.

The late Kenny Couch had been a fancier for 60 years and started racing with his late father, who was a premier Channel flyer in the Barnes area, winning many top positions including 15th Open Nantes National Flying Club. He maintained that Federation racing as we know it, is on its way out and the way forward is Classic and National Channel racing. Kenny also said families of pigeons are old fashioned and the modern game is based on just good pigeons from different lofts. The partners maintained that the main factor behind their outstanding success from 550 miles was feeding good beans and peanuts and the open loft their birds got every day.

Their loft was full of class, long-distance pigeons with the premier bird being the champion blue pied hen, 'Miss Consistent'. This Cattrysse pigeon had won 1993 – 2nd Club, 34th Open Combine Nantes, 1994 – 1st Club. 7th Open Combine La Ferte Bernard: 1995 – 1st Club Bergerac (on the day); 1997 – 36th Open London and South-East Classic Club Pau; 1998 – 3rd Open London and South-East Classic Club Pau (on the day) and 1999 – 46th Open London and South East Classic Club Pau. This brilliant hen was bred by George Caller from Cattrysse pigeons obtained from Rod Berry of Ashford and was one of an exchange kit of youngsters with Andy Hagilouka. 'Miss Consistent' won the London and South-East Classic Club Pau Merit Award in 1999 and Andy said she liked to be sent to the long distance on a two day old youngster. Another outstanding hen at the Twickenham loft was 'Chris's Girl' and she won 1st Club Nantes (twice) and 1st Club Bergerac. The star of the 1999 season was the blue cock, 'Kenny's Boy', winning 8th Open London and South East Classic Club Pau and he was bred down from the best Deweerdt and Johnny Wills bloodlines. The loft had won countless club firsts Channel racing through the years and in the London and South East Classic Club 13th Open Guernsey (Young Birds); 9th Open Angers (Yearling Derby); 24th Open Guernsey (Young Birds) and 22nd Open Nantes (Yearling Derby). A brilliant loft of Channel racers!

The loft was in Andy Hagilouka's garden and he had been in the sport since he was ten years of age when he started keeping a few fantails. Although he was raised in Brixton, London, his family are all from Cyprus and said he was the loft manager and Ken was the main trainer, enjoying his runs down to the south coast. He first started racing in the Effra School Club in Brixton and can remember winning 1st Club Avranches when he was a young lad. Andy moved into his present address, in Twickenham when he married his wife, Chris, in 1975 and started racing straight away. He had been a very good fancier in his own right, winning from every stage through France, lifting the Continental Average many times and said, all his life he has only been interested in Channel racing. He said, to got pigeons out of the long distance you must feed Cyprus potatoes! Andy and Ken joined forces several years ago and decided from the outset that they wanted to race from Pau (550 miles) and the rest is history.

Andy and Kenny kept only two pairs of stock birds, their retired best racers, and bred about 40 youngsters each season. They raced the young birds very lightly on the natural system to the perch and they tried a few on the darkness in 1999 but thought the system was rubbish and can affect the birds badly in later life. The young birds got well trained from the south coast and only got one or two races in their year of birth. They were hopper fed a first­class mixture of beans, peas and maize and as yearlings had to race from a 300 mile racepoint in France. The partners liked their two-year-old pigeons to race from Pau (550 miles). Andy said he rates Johnny Wills, George Burgess and Eric Cannon as the best Pau racers. The partner's natural racing loft was very homely and quiet, with the inmates looking very happy and all trapping into sputnik bay-type traps. These two gentleman were great workers in the sport, with both of them being on the London and South-East Classic Club committee for several seasons and Ken was the chairman of the Three Borders Federation.

That’s it again for this week’s article! I hope my readers have enjoyed our look at two L&SECC Pau Merit Award winning lofts. As you read this week’s effort we will be driving through France convoying the L&SECC birds to Tours. All the very best to every one on that race! My contact phone number is: 01372 463480. See yer!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT