Brian Lee of Congleton with Les J Parkinson
Another good season for Brian and I wonder how long this line of pigeons will last for him, they have been winning for a good many years. No matter where in the country you live there are always going to be a few fanciers who stand out in the races. Here in Cheshire, we have always had fanciers who stand out in the National and Classic races. Brian Lee is one such fancier who is one to keep an eye on when you are in those specialist races, whether the National FC, classic or the local 2B races he is not often far away. He does have some good pigeons that have stood out in such competition, not once but on more than one occasion. Because of these performances I have been meaning to compile a full report on Brian before, but the moment has not arisen for quite some time, and these are the reports I have always liked to do. It is always interesting to see how other fanciers look after their pigeons and get them to outshine the rest. There is often an amount of luck in these races but with Brian he has been there far too often for luck to come into it. It is also a fact that over at Congleton there have always been quite a few fanciers who have proven that they can compete at the highest level. It is also a fact that even though the sport is on the decline there are still plenty of fanciers in the town to make it harder to win in any of the races. There are a few fanciers who we could report on, and I have done over the years. The one that stands out is Roger Sutton who is the one to beat and I suppose with them both being winning fanciers the attraction is there for them to talk to each other and discuss their winning ways. Not only that through the pigeons they have become big friends.
Before going any further let’s investigate why and how Brian first became involved in pigeon racing. In 1963 as a schoolboy in the Manchester area on his own with pigeons in an old tea chest. I remember them well and at the time there was a tea factory in Crewe where a few fanciers obtained their tea chest to use as nest boxes, that’s another story but shows the connection with pigeon fanciers, many have the same ways. We are now looking at an area linked with Wythenshawe where a lot of good fanciers have originated from. Brian was saying that he and others would race their pigeons from the brickyard, which created a lot of interest for the potential young fanciers. As Brian said, those were the innocent days, one thing that I can assure you of Brian this was not only you. Then when he first started racing it was after a double rung pigeon dropped into his tea chest loft. When Brian inspected it he found the owners wing stamp so duly contacted him. The owner was Gordon Bradley who was only a mile away, so Brian took the pigeon back to its rightful owner. Gordon was glad to get this pigeon back because it was a good pigeon, after that they became good friends. At the time Fred Bale was the president of the local club and took Brian in as a member. There was a stipulation and that was that he learnt his trade setting clock’s etc which he did and that has stood him in good stead to this day where he is still a clock setter, if required. Brian then started to help Jim Hewitt by taking the birds to the club, where he would go on Jim’s bike with two baskets on, one for each club and then return home with the two clocks.
Brian started racing on his own in 1963 at the age of 14yrs and has raced ever since, even though his latest illness he carried on and is now looking as good as ever, well a bit older maybe but that’s not due to his illness, we all add years. I say ever since, that’s not quite true I must add that he had a short break from racing when he took up football in a serious way and was on the books with both Manchester club. He later played for Macclesfield but after knee trouble took on a pub where he kept and raced pigeons. He then finished with the pub in 1980 when he had a hp replacement and moved to his present address in Congleton where he still successfully races the pigeons. In those early days the main pigeons were from Bob Booth of Macclesfield because he was the channel man at the time and Brian was looking to compete in those races. Through football Brian also got talking to George Appleton of Denton a well-known winning fancier and the became friends and stayed that way. It was George who showed Brian how to race the widowhood system. George gave Brian a son of the great racer “Firefly” who later went to Louella but in his later days returned to Georges Loft. The “Firefly” lines were sprinters and did a good job for most fanciers who had them. Brian then brought in pigeons from two Staffs legend’s, Dennis Burton of Fenton, and the equally legendary Tommy Shaw. They were two exceptionally good fanciers in the days when the North Staffs Fed was as good a competitive organisation as you come across. You could say they were the pride of the Potteries in those days, exceptional fanciers. What am I picking up from the report so far, well there is one thing for certain, Brian didn’t mess about? He went to the best to obtain the type of pigeons that he preferred for the races he wanted to compete in.
Last race of the year.
The latest specialist race win for Brian was in the very hard North West Classic race from Guernsey, not that it looked that way for Brian’s pigeons. There were only 11 in race time with Brian being 1st 7th & 8th Open and 4th in the gold Ring race and he bred the Gold Ring winner for his friend Roger. To highlight my point about competitive Congleton fanciers, 7 of the 11 birds clocked were all in the town. Even this year in the tough Guernsey young bird race the determination of these pigeons to win shone through when Brian was 1st section 1st open 1st Gold Ring race winning over £1000. This is clearly a case of, when the going gets tough the tough get going and that is how Brian’s pigeons are, they respond to hard conditions where many others fail. On this day there were pigeons reported in Germany and the top of Holland, not Brian’s I must add. The conditions on the day did not suit most pigeons which was reflected in the result. The question is always there, why some make it when others don’t, after all they are all liberated in the same conditions at the same time. We cannot say the fancier has got his pigeons in the right condition for the day, if that was the case where did Brian’s other entries the other’s go, and in fact the rest of the liberation. I think this is why racing pigeons’ keep’s fanciers going, they like Brian want to test their capabilities of looking after and preparing a bird to take on the task in front of them.
Brian with is 2023 Gold Ring winner
Winners.
The impression I get with Brian and his birds is that when he gets a good one, it is a good one and he certainly knows how to prepare them for the specialist races where they shine the best. Not one for sending them on a weekly basis in the hope that he will get one Brian does take his time with the preparation. Here are a few of the birds whose main performances can be seen on their photos. “Ruby 2” who is what Brian calls a serial winner and is fast on the trap which stood out when a “Jennifer Eccles” hit the landing board but was beaten by “Ruby 2” who no sooner hitting the board was through the trap and clocked pushing her loft mate down a position. A brother to “Ruby 2” now known as “Wiggins” was 6th NFC Section Saintes and two weeks later 5th N.W Section 20th Open in the Midland National Bordeaux race. The sire of these two is from Tommy Shaw’s great racer “My Fair Lady” and I think it is worth a mention that Tommy topped the mighty North Staffs Fed 55 times when it was one of the best racing organisations in the UK. “Jennifer Eccles” gained her name by winning the Eccles 2B on more than one occasion. She is a daughter of the Dutch Hen from the “Merckx lines, crossed with a cock from O’Hare & Woodward and is a brother to many winners including 2nd section L127th Open Fougeres National. These are the lines of “T.C” “Shadow” “Amber Louise” of M&D Evans. A big winner is “Pogba” who has 15x1sts to his credit. The sire of “Pogba” is from the best of the De Rauw-Sablon lines including the great “New Freddy” winner of 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Middle distance, winning firsts at Nanteuil, Bourges and Argenton. “New Freddy” being paired to a half-sister to “Patron” 1st National Ace Long distance KBDB. To show just how good the breeding is the sire is also down from the world famous “Bak 17” pair responsible for generations of winners. On the dam’s side we have “Drum” a winner and brother to many winners including “Farah Dida” a multiple winner. “The offspring of “Drum” have been winning for nearly 20yrs. The latest to hit the high spots for Brian is “Zlatan” a Pencil Blue Pied cock who has won many prizes including 1st Eccles 2B Tarbes 694mls. 1st Eccles 2B Pau 686mls. 1st Section L 51st Open Pau. 1st Section L 36th Open Tarbes National. 8th Section MNFC Chale. His sire is a blue pied cock from the Astbury Ace Roger Sutton’s and goes back to the “Kilshaw Cock” sire of winners include the very good Blue Hen winner of. 4th sec 5th open NWCC Picauville. 1st sec 2nd open NFC Old Hens Fougeres. 4th sec 101st open National Fougeres. 36th sec 250th open Midland National Alencon. 13th sec 281st open National Saintes. 18th sec 288th open Poitiers National200th sec 266th open National Saites2nd sec 9th open National Tarbes. 21st sec 171st open National Cholet plus wins in the club. This is an extremely good winning line. The sire is also a grandson of Roger’s excellent racer “Awesome” winner of many prizes including 1st sec51st open National Poitiers. 21st Eccles 2B Saintes. 2nd sec 63rd open Saintes National plus many more positions. On the other side of the breeding, we have Brian Littlewood pigeons going back to the “Moonlight Gambler” 2nd sec L Tarbes National. This side sees the excellent Roger Florizoon pigeons that have been prominent winners around Europe. “Zlatan” is also a double RPRA Award winner, what a pigeon he is. There are other winners in the loft, but these are the ones that stand out.
Birds in the loft and racing.
There are currently 20prs of stock birds and 20prs of racers with the latter’s young birds being sold each year. Brian breeds around 50 youngsters from the stock birds to race himself. Because of his success in the bigger races Brian’s pigeons are in demand so the second and third rounds off the stock birds are sold. The birds are raced both as widowed cocks and hens weekly in the Wrekin and North Staffordshire federations. Usually there are a mixture of cocks and hens to both so the early arrivals can have a bit of nooky before the wife or husband gets home. This system is maintained Tewksbury to Tarbes, with no birds being paired up. Brian does love the channel events as these are the ultimate test for his breeding. He doesn’t keep homing pigeons; his aim is to get "fast" pigeons to fly further and he has been doing that successfully for many years.
Feeding.
Brin’s good friend Roger Sutton is one of the UKs two agents for Belgium's Vanrobaeys pigeon products, so naturally Brian goes to Roger for whatever he needs. The basic mixture is "All-rounder" for the winter months and stock birds with the racing mix being "Turbo Hydrate" in the early part of the week and supplemented with a widowhood mix towards the race day. In the winter Brian use’s olive oil on the corn, and cider vinegar/Virkon S in the water a couple of times a week. When racing rehydration powder id used on their return, then at teatime Virkon S, and before "lights out", Gambakokzid (cocci/canker) which is left all next day. Monday, as a respiratory maintenance aid, Brian adds Bronchostar to the corn. Then on Wed/Thur he adds a multi vitamin to the water and corn. When they reach the coast, 180 miles, Brian starts to supplement the racing mix, depending on the weather, with Vanrobaeys Bordeaux mix. Then when they go over the channel the Brian will further supplement the feed with crushed peanuts, and as the distance increases add sunflower hearts and a little hempseed. Of course, all dependant on the expected winds the birds will face of course. A strong south would be a little, a strong north east, a little bit more. It’s a fine balancing act to get it right, it’s taken 60 years to be an overnight success, the last thing you want to do is overfeed.
Training.
The old birds are trained with a couple of 15-mile tosses before the first race and that’s it. The birds race every week, so when it comes to basketing they know the reward that awaits. The young birds have training around 3/4 weeks before racing, they are tossed times at 5 miles, then multiple tosses at 16 miles. Brian has a dear friend who lives 16 miles from him on the line of flight, a retired pigeon man Steve Harrison, and his lovely wife Ingrid. I leave the birds with them. Steve give’s Brian a 30-minute start then releases the birds, all together at first then basket by basket at 5-minute intervals. When we get to the nitty gritty end of the young bird racing, where the big races are Steve will put them up in twos. In recent years Brian has sent the young to the last old bird event, this year Cheltenham, 86 miles, other years Bath 116 miles. Their exercise around home is an hour both morning and night and they are not flagged. The youngsters will do an hour plus both morning and night.
Lofts
The racing loft is 18 x 6 with 3 compartments while the stock loft is 12 x 6 and 2 compartments and the young bird loft is 14 x 6. Brian does like plenty of room for the pigeons and believes overcrowding is the downfall of many fanciers. The lofts are louvred across the fronts with air escapes at the rear of the roof.
Simply the best.
It is always interesting to see how fanciers rate their own pigeons and consider the best they have ever had. In Brian’s case he was saying that he has been fortunate to have owned many super racers over the years, but the most recent "Zlatan", a two times winner of section L from both Tarbes and a year later from Pau, winning the Western region bird of the year two years on the bounce. I think it is a case of there won’t be many, if any, that has achieved this into section L. “Zlatan” is a slatey pied cock raced on the widowhood system. His sire is from Roger Suttons channel family and his dam a Roger Florizone bird bred for me by Stockport’s Brian Littlewood from his Tarbes winning bloodlines. As a youngster he prized regularly, including 8th N/W section MNFC Chale then to the North Staffs 4 bird classic from Carentan where he took second being the longest flyer, winning £850. Then as a yearling he won 10th section, 25th open MNFC Tours, 3000 plus pigeons in what was a very hard race. Needless to say he is now enjoying a well-deserved retirement in the stock loft.
Zlatan feeding his young birds
Latest fashion.
I have spoken to so many pigeon fanciers over the years and the subject of strains/families comes up, my reply is generally the same, pigeon men are like the ladies, they want the latest fashion whether it is any good or not. So, I asked Brian, do you think chasing the latest fashion is good for your loft, or should fanciers be more selective on what pigeons they introduce to their lofts, no matter what lines they are. “As with any sport evolution is what it is, and you can’t stand still. As I stated earlier, I've always tried to get "sprint" pigeons to fly further and will continue to do so. It’s like panning for gold and there will be attrition, but you need to find the "nugget”.
Increase the interest.
What needs to happen in the sport to make it more interesting for fanciers to stay and attract new members. “I'm afraid that were on the slippery slope to oblivion regarding pigeon flying as we know it, Apart from O.L. Races, that personally do nothing for me. When I started racing the birds were transported by rail, and we all thought it was the beginning of the end when road transport slowly replaced the use of the reliable railways. It didn't, but I don't see any way back from the inevitable demise, the demographic tells you that, it is irreversible”.
Social side of the sport.
How do you see the social side of the sport could we do more to encourage fanciers to socialise more? “I am sorry to be the prophet of doom, but "hospitality" is on its knees due social media etc, and the imminent use of "robotics" in the workplace will ensure that disposable income will exclude handing money over the bar” I know through talking to some of the local fanciers they enjoy it down at the club having a good natter after marking, and of course a drink or two. There was a time when the family used to go to presentations but that does not happen very much nowadays.
Big teams.
Does the number of birds a fancier keeps make a great deal of difference? i.e., can a small select loft keep up with the big senders, is quality better than quantity. This is something that we see on social media all the time and generally the big team boys get a knocking. I very often refer to Mark Gilbert because he gets more stick than anyone else on that front. However, I would be confident in saying that even if Mark had an average size loft, he would still be top man. In Brian’s his operation is relatively small, but he does compete at the highest level. And as Brin said, it’s the big spenders that fund the clubs presently, without them finito.
Conclusion.
Brian is a fancier who works hard with the pigeons and makes himself available to help at the clubs. The NWCC birds are marked at Middlewich, and he comes over with the birds and looks as if he enjoys a drink. He also races a good pigeon to National level so a good all round pigeon fancier. As in most cases Brian’s wife Sue is always there and is always pleasant whenever we see her, as they say, behind every good man is a good woman.
Les J Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ.
Tel: 01606836036
Mobile: 07871701585.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.elimarpigeons.com