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Midland Show Racer Society - 30-01-20

 
 

 

“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

 

Midland Show Racer Society.

 

The Midland Show Racer Society was formed in 1970 and the first A.G.M. took place at the ‘King’s Arms’ pub in Sutton Coalfield and amongst those present were A. & A. Baugh, who are still members today. The first secretaries were Mr. & Mrs. Clive, with Harry Showell as the President and the first shows were held at Weeford Village Hall, which became the Societies headquarters. Angela Noyce had been the secretary since 1993, with only two years break when Phillip Crawford did the job in 2002. The only original member left in the society today is Tony Baugh who is still showing, under the name H. Baugh & son. Angela maintained the society had enjoyed excellent showing in good company over many years, so it’s no wonder the club had survived all these years. The Midland Show Racer Society had 20 members on its books, but not all them showed at the club’s shows, that was left to a small band of fanciers, who keep the society going. At that time the show had been staged at Shipston and had attracted a good entry every year. The society had its own trestles and show tabletops, which were made by Phillip Crawford and his father, John, and the workers had the show set up in no time. Fanciers came from Wales and Scotland to compete at the Shipston event and three of the Best in Show winners had gone to the Championship Class at the B.H.W. Blackpool Show. Angela said, if her memory served her correctly, she thought the societies first champion was Jimmy Fitzpatrick’s famous red hen.

 

 

In the winter of 1996 I was invited to judge at the annual Midland Show Racer Society Show held at the local high school in Shipston-on-Stour, and I must say, this was an excellent venue with the show being staged in the gymnasium. The hall had a high ceiling and gave very good ventilation and light for judging the 500 birds. As I recently stated in another article, I bat for both sides and get as much fun from Show Racers, as I do from racing pigeons. Alan and Angela Noyce were the show secretaries for the Society, and I must say they did a wonderful job on the Show Racer scene. Best in Show at the Midland S. R. Society event was a red Show Racer, owned by Society Chairman, Led Petty of Aylesbury.

 

 

National Young Bird Show Nottingham.

 

The 150 mile drive up the M1 motorway to Nottingham in early November, to judge at the National Young Bird Show, started my 2015 judging commitment and I must say, I was looking forward to it very much, after my lay off from judging in 2014. I left home at 06.15hrs on the Saturday to make start time at Rushcliffe Leisure Centre and picked up my ol’ mate, Terry Haley, on the way, and after a little problem with the Satnav we arrived at 09.30hrs, half an hour before the start time. Nottingham pigeon racer, Matt Bentley, lived locally and he came over to the show with Jo Cuthbert, to score for Terry and myself. Jo came around with me and I’m not really sure that she enjoyed it, as I went into my ‘sergeant major’ mode, as I do when I’ve got seven classes to judge, shoot footage for my new video and take photos for the fancy press. I do get a bit bossy when I’m in full flow, ask my wife! LOL! When I’m filming the family on holiday or at Christmas, if they don’t perform the scene to my satisfaction, I make them do it again! Betty says she walks twice as far as me on holiday, where I make her walk up and down re-shooting video. LOL!

 

 

The Rushcliffe Leisure Centre is a brilliant venue to hold a big show like the National Young Bird. It is adjoining the local swimming pool and is part of a big leisure complex, which serves the general public in Nottingham. The show hall is first class for a big pigeon show, with plenty of space, good light and fresh air. Just perfect! This was my third time at the Rushcliffe, as I held the first of Eric Cannon’s three dispersal sales there in November 2000 and prior to that I visited the National Young Bird Show to have a look at the venue. This wonderful show has been run by Andy Lowe for about the last 25 years and the 2015 event was sponsored by Howdens and the Roper Store. Andy runs the show, being assisted on the Show Racer side by Les and Sarah Carter, who have been very successful for many years exhibiting the Colin Carter pigeons. I had a chat with Andy on the day and he told me, ‘my team and I run several big shows every season, including a special at Christmas. At this year’s show we have added adult classes, as unfortunately it is not viable to have just young bird classes as we are not reaching a large enough entry to cover to cost of the venue. The most important thing is to keep the show at the Rushcliffe Leisure Centre, and we are trying to do this without increasing our entry fee. We want to make our events attractive to the fancy, so with this in mind, we will be putting £500 in the prize money on at both shows. We will also be awarding a ‘Best in Section’ rosette along with our Nottingham pottery to all section winners and £50 prize money to our ‘Best Member’s Bird’. Thanks to Andy Lowe for all his wonderful work over all those year and congratulations to him for winning ‘Best Young Bird’ at the 2015 show. Well do mate!

 

 

The show is run under NPA rules and the entry was down slightly that year as there was another show staged locally, but about 400 birds were entered, which included the usual Racer and Show Racer classes and several fancy Tumbler, Fantail and Roller classes. The judges for the Show Racer and Racer classes were: Mike Horner, Phillip Crawford, Les Petty, Nigel Westbury, Bob Hughes, Mervin Hoskins, Dai Roach, Alistair Tankard, Tony Baugh, Collin Bullard, Phil Harrod, Dale Spyby, Terry Haley and Keith Mott. The Les Petty and Phillip Crawford partnership of Little Addington won ‘Best in Show’ and ‘Best Opposite Sex’ with two wonderful mealies, which very closely related.

 

 

Lester Petty and Phillip Crawford are one of the leading Show Racer partnerships in the UK in recent years and they set a new record at the 2018 BHW Blackpool Show, by winning six classes in that show. I believe the previous record was held by Doug McClary and he won five classes. One of their best seasons was in 2011 when they won BIS and BOS at the RPRA Southern Region Show and also won BIS at the Dome Show, with a beautiful silver hen which was one of their most successful birds, also winning her class at many shows. Les and Phil ended that season winning class one (old cocks) at the BHW Blackpool Show and in the last seven years they have won class one four times. That year they broke the record at Blackpool by winning six classes.

 

 

I recently met up with Les at the recent RPRA Southern Region Show and he told me, ‘I first met Phil Crawford when we both lived in Aylesbury back in 1998 and I was keen to acquire some show racers, and Colin Hill introduced me to Phillip. At that time Phil was very friendly with the late Paul Rogers and a lot of his birds had come from Paul. Phil gifted me my first show racers and Paul bred me six young birds, one a red hen called ‘600’, because of her ring number, bred me some really successful birds. I showed for a couple of years on my own and won my first class at the BHW Blackpool Show in 2000 with a mosaic cock bought from the sales class at the RP ‘Old Comrades’ show. We formed the partnership in 2002 and not long after that Phil moved to Wales and I moved to Northampton. We thought it would mean we could show in two societies, so we joined the Monmouth and also remained members of the Midlands which we have continued to do until this day’.

 

 

Les Petty was born in Greenwich, South London and he tells me his dad was a fancier, racing in the Friendly Homing Society. He had his first small 8ft x 6ft loft, which his dad built, with a small aviary on one end and he was about ten years old at the time. Les said, ‘my first pigeons were two pairs of Sion Mealies from one of my dad’s pals, Tom Sexton and another of dad’s friends, Ray Baker of Eltham, was very successful and taught me a lot about eye-sign. My interest in pigeons only lasted until I was about fourteen when football and girls took over. Years later in 1998 I was settling down and decided to restart and bought a pair of show racers at the Comrade Show, not sure how good they were I asked the opinion of an experience fancier standing by the sale pens. He turned out to be Ralph Howman and his birds form the basis of my red and Mealies today. At the time I was living in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and was introduced to Phil Crawford who lived about 10 minutes away, and he also kept show racers. He took me under his wing and taught me a lot about showing and encouraged me to join the Midland S.R.S. He also introduced me to Paul Rogers whose birds featured strongly in Phil’s team and I was given some of those birds whose bloodlines are still present in my team today’. He started showing in 1999 and in 2003 Phillip Crawford and Les decided to from the partnership and were quite successful. In 2005 Phil had to move to Wales and Les moved to Northamptonshire where he is still today, and they are members of the Monmouth as well as Midland Show Racer Society. Several years ago, Les met Alistair Tankard and on becoming great friend with him, have spent holidays at his house in the Scottish Highlands. Les says he has some of the best blues and blue chequers he has ever seen, and Alistair has given Petty & Crawford some superb birds over the years. Two of Les and Phillip’s best Show Racers are: Red Cock GB 08S6522 winner of.1st Yearling Cock Bridlington 2009, Reserve Champion National Winners Show 2010, 1st Old Cocks Blackpool 2011 and Silver Hen GB 09S06208 winner of Best in Show Nation Winner Show 2011.

 

 

The partners have two lofts, the first a brick built 18ft x 9ft two sections structure with double glazed and is heated, which houses old and young cocks. Loft number two is made of timber and is 16ft x 8ft, with two sections and this houses their old and young hens. Les and Phillip pair up their 20 pairs of Show Racers in the second week of February each year and they breed about 60 young birds. They clean out twice a day and bath the birds twice a week during the show season and keep more red and mealy birds than other colours. The partners have a penning room, which is heated, and birds are penned the night prior to the show. Les Petty is currently the chairman of the Midland Show Racer Society and they only have about six members who show regularly, but the standard of birds is very good. Les is also a member of the Midland Columbarium Society based in Towcester Northants, where he also shows his German Beauty homers.

 

 

Devon & Cornwall Show Racer Society.

 

I first visited the Devon & Cornwall Show Racer Society Show back in 1996, when my good mates, Alan Spedding and Jim Fitzpatrick, were down from Scotland judging their show. Betty and I were on a weekend visit to our good friend, Bob Reeves of Exeter, who had just won the Nantes National at that time and went in to Kingsteignton to see the Show Racers. I met up with some great show men that day and I think it was the first time I met John Robilliard, who was competing there that day.

 

 

The Devon & Cornwall Show Racer Society was formed in 1970 and holds four shows each season, with these all now all being held at Kingsteignton in Devon. The venue for the shows is a local racing pigeon club's room in Kingsteignton and it has the added advantage of having fixed pens. In the early years, each of the four shows were held in different venues around the Devon & Cornwall area and the Society secretary, Jill Fisher, told me she has lovely childhood memories of going to some of these shows along wither late dad, Mervyn Patt. Until he immigrated to Australia, one of the Society's mainstays was Doug McLaren and indeed Doug was the secretary from whom Jill took over the position in 2004.  Doug was one of the society's founder members and helped make the Society what it is today. As a mark of thanks for his work in the Society, members made Doug a life vice president when he stepped down from his Secretarial role to emigrate; even now, Doug still takes a keen interest in society matters and indeed was kind enough to include the show results in his British Homing World articles. When Jill Fisher agreed to take over as secretary, the society was "in her blood" so to speak as her late dad (Mervyn Patt) was one of the original members of the Show Society. She has very fond memories of the shows and exhibitors from her childhood. David, her husband, holds the position of assistant secretary and performs excellent work in helping to run the shows. Dave was actually a non-fancier until Jill got back into show racers in 2000, but he is now a "dab hand" with the birds. At that time the Society President was long time member and show supporter, George Hensley and the Chairman was Roland Thresher.

 

 

The back end of November 2009 saw Peter Taylor and I make the 180-mile drive down to Kingsteignton in Devon to judge the Devon & Cornwall S.R. Society show. We could not have picked a worst weekend to travel, with the heavy rain and high winds blasting the UK, but it was well worth effort, with the show being a great spectacle with well over 500 birds being entered. Peter and I travelled down on the Friday afternoon and had a brilliant B & B at the Cockhaven Manor in Bishopsteignton, about a ten-minute drive from Torquay, and about three miles from the show. The Show Racers were penned in barn type building and the Racing Pigeons were in a hall next door, in fact I was so busy judging I never did go and see the racers. I must congratulate the Society secretaries, David and Jill Fisher, on their brilliant show that day; they worked so hard all day. Well done to you both! All the old faces were present at this event, including Ron McCarthy, Colin Carter and Norman Perry, and it was nice to see Mike and Theresa Horner there, travelling all the way down from Alton to show their birds. The judges were: Show Racers Les Petty, P. Crawford and Keith Mott: Racing Pigeons N. Mounce and D. Clemo.

 

 

The late Mervyn Patt of Bideford won ‘Best in Show’ in the Show Racer classes with a wonderful mealy cock and BIS in the Racers was a brilliant blue pied cock owned by Mr. & Mrs. Graham Thresher of Alcombe. These two cocks were judge by me and a racing judge for ‘Supreme Champion’ and a place at the 2010 BHW Blackpool Show, and after a lot of consideration we picked Mervyn’s mealy as the overall winner. A great day for the Patt family!

 

 

Mervyn was brought up with pigeons in the family and his very first birds were a couple that his father gave him when he was just a toddler! Mervyn and his father had pigeons for a few years until the War and moving house meant that they had to give them up for a while but just a few years later Mervyn was back into pigeons, starting again firstly with a few Tipplers and other breeds, before he started to develop a small racing team. Mervyn remembered that at the time corn was rationed to just 7lbs a week and having to supplement the birds' food with a little rice. Being a businessman in the making, a young Mervyn was over the moon when his granddad suggested that he could sell one of his Tipplers for a princely sum of £3, after Mervyn had only paid one shilling and six pence for it! Timing in the birds was a challenge in those early racing days as the only clock was owned by a neighbour and so a sprint down the road to the clock was also required on race days! As a 15-year-old lad, Mervyn started to race in his own right as a Junior and had a particularly good start, winning five out of the six races available to juniors. Mervyn's good mate Peter Kendall won the sixth of the juniors' races that season. After a stint in the Army doing his national service, he continued with the racing and although he laughed that his father did manage to lose a lot of his pigeons while he was away in the Army. Even though Mervyn's dog chased her cat and he was truly in the "doghouse" for that! Mervyn married Margaret, the girl across the road, in 1955.

 

 

Mervyn continued to race his birds until they moved to a new house in 1964. At the new house, the position meant that racing was never easy and, although he continued for a while involving all the family, Mervyn steered himself more into the Showing side of things and developed a good team of Show Racers. One particular breeding season during the mid-1960's was a very fraught one for Mervyn when his little girl, Jill, decided that it would be good to try and help feed the show racers by herself and then, while the birds were off their nests, take all the tiny show racers plus eggs for a nice little ride around the garden in the corn bucket. Jill could never quite understand why her Dad did not seem that pleased when he discovered what had happened!

 

 

The 1970's where a decade when Mervyn was showing in earnest with a young Jill doing her best to follow in his footsteps! The 1970's also saw the start of the ‘Ven Lofts’ Racing Stud, with the purchase of Van Hee, Busschaerts and later the Stichelbaut and Kirkpatrick lines too.  Mervyn's successful racing stud continues to this day, with the stud being responsible for National winners including the likes of Fred Elliott’s Champion ‘Euro Lad’, winner of 1st open NFC Nantes. The 1980’s and1990's had seen Mervyn concentrate on the Racing Stud but when Jill developed the showing bug again in 2000, and she and hubby Dave decided to give it a go, Mervyn was not far behind in getting back into showing and leading the way. At its height, Mervyn's racing stud was a large one, containing 31 compartments of top-class racing pigeons, although in later days the show racers gradually spilling over from their own five compartments and had started to steal some of the racing lofts.

 

 

There you have it for this week! You can relay any pigeon comments to me on telephone number: 01372 463480 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Until the next time, good showing!

 

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com).