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Parky16215

 

 

LES J. PARKINSON'S

NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES

Just to keep my figure in from time to time I will write a few lines. It is a few months since I parted with the pigeons and apart from not seeing them in the back garden I am still thinking pigeons more or less 7/7. I get a lot of calls or emails about the pigeons and I still think about the sport in general and I can still see where things are going wrong and it amazes me why others cannot see it themselves until it is too late. I remember talking to the late Derek Astbury many years ago about how he has got on since he packed up racing and he said, "I think about pigeons a lot and can see where things have gone wrong that I could not see when I was racing" and that is typical of fanciers in the sport, when they are racing there are many who only think about what is in their own back garden and not what is the best way to keep the sport going. In those days Sandbach was one of the best clubs I knew about, not the biggest but the best with some really good fanciers led by the late George Stubbs who was a master at racing pigeons. Just over 12 months ago I was looking towards the future and in 2014 we moved back to support club racing which was intended to be the route I was looking at taking for the future. But due to what I thought was a temporary change of circumstances and other changes locally I am not thinking of going back into racing. I actually bought in half a dozen pairs and put them down the side of the house with an eye on the future but with the way things are going downhill regarding racing into the town I cannot see me racing pigeons again. As most will know I have been National racing in what I considered my premier club to race in but I was looking at it nearly two years ago and saw that was not now the way to go. I did no National racing in 2014 and went down to the local club for every race which was the plan and I managed the team to complete the programme which is what I did. The only thoughts on my mind last winter were on racing pigeons in the local Middlewich FC in years to come but as I have said circumstances changed so I was working on taking a break. Having said that with the way things are going locally I cannot see me racing pigeons again unless there was a big change and it would have to be a big change. I am all for competition and in pigeon racing there is a tier system where you start in the local club and hopefully get to the top or at least near the top of ladder whether it is your local club, fed, amal or combine and then in to Classics and Nationals the last being the ultimate aim. My view has always been you race in your local club and then set your target on each of those levels. Unfortunately clubs set themselves up with big ideas and they end up doing more harm than good and lose members for all the wrong reasons.

Leo Heremans, Ian Crammond and Guillaume Vanneste at the Fugare show.

There were a few fanciers from the local club together and a very good fancier passed the comment to another member that he does not do it so much in the Mid Cheshire Fed and even though he has won the fancier who passed the comment was right. As we all know we can only compete in the competition that we have available but in this case there is better competition to go for. At club level there are some good people running clubs and that has always been the case in Middlewich, in fact when I started in 69 the secretary's were Alan Groom who is still the main man when it comes to results is still spot on. The other being the late Roy Smith whose so Mark is now one of the premier workers in the local clubs. Things change with general organisations after the local levels because there are too many people in jobs and only in those jobs for their own personal interest or financial rewards which is not what the sport needs. Before the old loft went we were talking of a new loft and Ray Lunt has asked me tongue in cheek when we are having the new loft built, even Elizabeth said we should go ahead and change some things to help reduce the problem that caused them to go in the first place. I have been following proceedings and there appears to be a lot of discontent within in certain parts of pigeon racing and that does the sport no good at all. I get many calls from fanciers who want to discuss what is happening in pigeon racing and they are asking me to put pen to paper on these subjects but apart from the odd article such as this one I am trying to keep away from weekly reports and the way things are going because it is becoming a minefield. Even the new pigeons that I bought after I had talked to Elizabeth about what we were going to do have now gone, they were going to be my new stock birds and were down the side of the house, I had even put 4 boxes in to start breeding. So what I am going to do this summer with a pigeon on the bank, have a few weekends away and a good holiday probably July, Liz will be here as normal and Reece popping into help out so things will still carry on as normal. Also joined the National Trust so we will be travelling about a bit more. Oh yes, I haven't told Elizabeth yet but on those travels I will be visiting a few lofts for reports to keep my fingers going on the keyboard in addition to the website which keeps me going, not ready to retire yet. What I don't miss about not having the pigeons is breeding, I hated that from beginning to end, I think that was mostly down to the limited amount of space and what I actually wanted to do. During that period my temper would get a bit touchy especially when one would decide that he of she did not want that partner or box. Then you get the ones who decide they want to explore all the other boxes and cause havoc, not many years have gone by without some sort of problem in those areas. The first time I was relaxed with them was when they were starting to perch and less mess around the floor. Here's me typing this all out and thinking to myself, "So why am I missing not having the pigeons in the garden and all those things I did not like about the early part of the year" Then I stop and think about the way the sport has gone locally and remember why I am better away from racing pigeons after nearly 60yrs of pigeons literally dominating my life. Once you have had pigeons to the extent that I have it is hard when they are not there, even now when I walk from the office to the house I look at the space where the loft was. I have even been to take the dog for a walk and in the dark thought "I will lock up" must be an age thing. What I will finish with is, do not send me notes because what I am doing is just something from time to time so that I do not forget the part of the sport that I have enjoyed for so many years. The web site is taking up so much of my time now and I have got a few specials lined up but they will only be occasionally. Anyway we have Mel Bratt to take any notes that you have.

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