Les J Parkinson visits W Wilson & Son of Middlewich.
This week’s notes are taken up on a report at the latest winning loft in Middlewich where there have been some real good fanciers in the last 48yrs that I have been in the club.
I first joined the Middlewich FC in 1969 when there were a lot more members than there are today but that’s the way the sport is going. In those days we had the likes of Dennis Gleave, Tommy Smallwood, Les Hollinshead, Smith Bros, The Wilkinson family have always raced in the club, in fact they go back over 100yrs of racing in Middlewich. At the time there were a few fanciers in the Avenue’s such as Billy Maddock, Frank Healey, Frank Holbrook, Tommy Bratt, Jimmy Green and W Wilson Etc.
The later W Wilson & Son are the premier winners at the moment in the town where club racing is concerned. In the last few years young Billy Wilson has been putting a great deal into the pigeons and they are paying dividends. No matter what club anyone races in there are always going to be winner’s and that can change from year to year. We more or less all have a good spell and that has been the case for W Wilson & Son who have had a few real good years. These pigeons have also been getting in amongst the fed winners and that is not always easy in Middelwich because as we know the wind dictates and with having clubs all around you there is always going to be an advantage in the land races.
The last year I raced we were having a tussle with Billy and we were both putting in the work with the pigeons. More importantly we were both getting on the fed result and that is caused by fanciers trying, putting in that bit more effort, going the extra mile. That last year being 2014 when we raced there was a discussion going on about racing in the club and how it was not how it used to be. That is the same wherever you go so you look to the next goal and that is getting in amongst the federation winners and that is what W Wilson & Son have been doing.
Billy senior first started racing before young Billy was born and Junior remembers being with the pigeons in 1972 at the age of 3yrs so he did start early. In those days the pigeons were in Kitfield Ave but later moved to Hayhurst Ave, not far away so the movement of pigeons was not too bad. Junior was saying that he remembers watching Frank Holbrooks pigeons going around the lofts and that is what increased his interest. Frank’s loft picked up the name of The Magic Roundabout Lofts because when they came from the race they flew around so much.
Billy started to take part in the pigeons with his dad when he was about 11yrs. By this time, they had moved to Hayhurst Ave and they started to race at the new address. There was little success in those early days but as we all do, we keep going because we love having pigeons so much. In those days they were racing on the natural system as most did, there were not a lot of fanciers on the widowhood system. I was telling young Billy that the late Tommy Smallwood was racing the widowhood when I first joined the club in 69 and I think the only one who did at that time.
When he was 11yrs old Billy Jnr started to have his own section and spent time in the lofts for his sins, but he could still not do what he wanted to do, Dad was still the boss. For the next 23yrs they raced together with dad taking the leading roll and then in 2003 Billy took control of the young birds until he eventually took full control, but dad still went to the lofts and played his part.
The main racing loft is 16ft x 6th with 2 sections for the 21 widowhood cocks that they have at the present time and a third section for the hens. There is also an 18ft x 10ft loft that houses the 12prs of stock birds and the young bird team of about 30 but some do go into breeder/buyer sales. There are 11 yearling cocks amongst the widowhood team and 8 yearling hens. The hens are raced in the Mid Cheshire fed while the cocks go to the South West Cheshire Fed. The old birds and yearlings are in the same loft but so far, the yearling cocks have not been raced on the widowhood, they have a few training tosses with the older cocks and are left until they are 2yo’s.
However, for the 2018 season Billy was saying that he is thinking of racing the yearlings cocks as well, the yearling hens have always been raced. The young birds are left together and if they want to pair up and go to nest they can, if not they just race to the perch. The young birds are put on the darkness system as is the case with most lofts today. Billy was saying that he races the young birds hard which is why he has not been racing the yearling cocks when they were given a rest. The yearling hens have always been raced, and they do get in amongst the prize winners collecting 1sts and fed cards.
In the last 3yrs the pigeons have improved no end with 2015 - 3 x 1sts 2016 - 8 x 1sts and 2017 there were 17 individual firsts plus other cards along the way including 21 federation cards. It goes to show how fast Billy has learnt to prepare the birds for the races. Birds kept are varied including 4 cocks from Brian Jones of Elsmere Port all first prize winners in these lofts, that is not bad considering he only had 6 off Brian to start with. I have spoken to many fanciers and thoughts are that you need to breed 6 off a pair to find the winner, the one good pigeon that shines above the rest. I know these were not off the same pairings, but Brian did well to find Billy 4 different 1sts prize winners out of 6 youngsters. There is also a team from the Midlands that Billy believes are a mixture of lines from Ray & Darren Hunt. Billy was also pointing out that he has gone to winning fanciers in preference to the fashion of the day. Billy did ask Ray & Darren what they are off but was told the pedigrees don’t fly and win races which is quite right. There is no doubt there are a lot of fanciers work on paperwork and not how good the pigeons are whether racing or breeding, that is not the case here.
The birds are fed on a protein mix after the races and a TK conditioner with a good widowhood mix towards the end of the week. The additions to the water are electrolytes after the race plus Strike with cider vinegar from the local supermarket to which he adds a clove of garlic and they have this twice each week. Billy was saying that he does not have young bird sickness which is always a good thing.
The same system as the old birds is the same for the youngsters which has served him well when you look how many fanciers do get young bird sickness. The hens are trained 3 times each week with Colin Lindop, but the widowhood cocks have a couple of training tosses before the start of the season and then no more. However, they are exercised around home twice each day for 1hr in the morning and evenings. The young birds are trained each morning with Colin and then exercised in the evening around home. Billy was saying that the pigeons take 5hrs out of his time each day, but as any winner knows that is what it takes. I don’t live near Billy but from what I see with the exercise of the pigeons there must be some flying around for most of the day, that’s dedication to his hobby. To achieve all this Billy did say that he is up and with the pigeons very early each morning during the racing season and that is what I know most of the top winners have done during their winning days with the pigeons.
When you see anyone being successful it is because they put a lot of time into what they are doing and that is the case with Billy. I do know that there are fanciers out there who are happy to put the minimum amount of time in with their pigeons during the working week, but they are not collecting cards most weeks as is the case with Billy. When it comes to work Billy is one of the hard workers in the club which is an area where many clubs struggle with, it would be much easier if everyone took their turn with the jobs. Billy was saying he enjoys going down to the club and having a bit of banter with the members. I was surprised he said as much as he has for this report because he doesn’t usually say much at all about his pigeons and what he does at home. Thanks for you time Billy, training is only just around the corner. Thanks to Mark Smith for the photos.