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Ray Roberts of Hersham. In the 2003 season the Three Borders Federation sent 780 birds to its longest old bird race from Bergerac (450 miles) and only a few birds were clocked on the day of liberation. The Federation liberated at 0600hrs and Ray Roberts of the Hersham club had a brilliant race, recording two day pigeons, at 18.30hrs and 20.02hrs, to win 1st and 2nd club, 1st and 12th Three Borders Federation, 2nd open SMT Combine. Ray's Bergerac Federation winner was his good Staf Van Reet red chequer cock, named ‘The Red Cock’, which was bred by his good friend, John Allen of Chester-Le-Street. This game cock was raced on the natural system, being sent to Bergerac sitting 10 day old eggs, and had four channel races on his build-up to the Federation win: The second pigeon on the clock from Bergerac was his Busschaert blue cock, ‘Blue Vision’, and he was also sent to Bergerac on 10 day old eggs. Ray told me at that time, he must say a big thank you to John Allen for giving him his Bergerac winner and also to Danny Alison who helps with the training of the Roberts' pigeons. Ray raced to a two section 12ft x 6ft loft at his home in Hersham and used sputnik trapping and a sharp sand litter on the floor. He put his eight pairs of racers together on Boxing Day and raced on the natural system with channel racing in mind. The main families raced were Busschaert and Staf Van Reet, with the birds being trained several times each week during the season, from Alton in Hampshire. Being a pigeon fancier for 45 years, Ray started at the age of ten, winning his first race ten years later. His brother, Colin, raced pigeons in the early days and they obtained their first stock from a premier local fancier named George Wicks. Ray was a very keen Angler but pigeons and his sons took up all his spare time. He fed a good mixture all the year round and told me he was only really interested in long-distance channel racing, using the club inland races for training. Ray Robert’s loft had no stock birds and prior to winning 2nd open SMT Combine Bergerac in 2003, his best performance was 3rd open Combine Avranches. Ray told me he didn't like the darkness system and raced his young birds natural to the perch. He rated Johnny Keywood and Trussler Brothers the best local fanciers and said they were always at the top of the Federation result sheet. Text & Photos by Keith Mott (January 2026)

Well done

Well done everyone

Copied from Facebook The RPRA Annual General Meeting will take place at the Leonardo Hotel, East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington on Friday 27th February (9:00am). The agenda for the meeting, a summary of the annual accounts, and the proposed rule changes can be downloaded below. Members are entitled to attend the meeting, and will be most welcome. https://www.rpra.org/annual-general-meeting-2026/

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Thankyou!

Congratulations

What a Blackpool show 🎉🎉🙌🙌. CHAMPION RACING PIGEON 2026 BHW SHOW OF THE YEAR Reserve Supreme Champion 2026 UK BHW SHOW OF THE YEAR 1st 5th 6th Young hens 100 miles 2nd,3rd 5th 7th old hens 200 miles 10th young cocks 100 miles Thanks very much to law and Brady who bred my Champion racing pigeon 🎉🎉🎉 Racing pigeons in racing classes. Roll on next year 🎉🙌🎉🙌🎉🫡🫡

Well done, lot of miles but worth it

Blackpool 2026 over and out! What an unbelievable season we have had this year. • 8 shows 🐦 • 4 in Scotland/4 in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 • 25 firsts 🥇 • 3 Best in Shows 🏆 • 4 Best Opposite Sex’s 🥈 • Fancier with most points at Blackpool 👆🏻 • 3764 miles driven, averaging 470.5 per show (nutters) 🚗 These are our two winners from this weekend. Our hen that won class 2, won class 4 the previous year as a yearling and the cock who won class 11 was Best Opposite Sex at the NEHU show. All the best to everyone for the breeding season, can’t wait to get the boxes up.

Still got boxes made ready to go

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗗: The biggest event in competitive pigeon racing touches down in Blackpool 🐦🏵️ Blackpool is preparing for an influx of over 15,000 visitors as the UK’s largest pigeon showcase comes to town. The event promises a packed programme, including live auctions, trade exhibitors, expert-led talks, film showings, and hands-on activities designed to inspire the next generation of pigeon fanciers. Taking centre stage is a glitzy awards ceremony, modelled on Sports Personality of the Year — except the accolades are reserved for champion pigeons. An estimated 5,000 birds will descend on the resort, each competing for prestigious racing titles and recognition. Far from a casual hobby, pigeon breeding is a high-stakes global industry, with top-class birds commanding astonishing prices. One standout superstar, Armando — often described as the “Lewis Hamilton of the pigeon world” — made history after selling for a record £1.07 million to a Chinese buyer, having been bred in Belgium.

Safe journey folks, and enjoy the weekend

Welcome back

🕊️ WE’RE BACK ON PIGEON BASICS! 🕊️ It’s been around 18 months since we last posted, and a lot has changed behind the scenes — so it felt like the right time to properly re-introduce ourselves. For those who don’t know us (and to those who do 👋), we’re M.A.C. Lofts — a UK-based pigeon product manufacturer focused on practical, well-thought-out solutions for fanciers, built from real loft experience. Over the last year and a half we’ve been: ✔️ Refining designs ✔️ Expanding what we offer ✔️ Listening properly to fanciers across the UK ✔️ Improving consistency, quality, and turnaround We’re also proud to say we’re one of the most recommended UK pigeon product manufacturers — and we genuinely appreciate every fancier who’s supported us, shared our work, and passed our name on. This isn’t a quick comeback post — it’s the start of being active again, sharing updates, answering questions, and contributing properly to the forum going forward. 👉 If you’d like to see what we’ve been working on, everything is here: 🌐 www.maclofts.co.uk Good to be back 💪 M.A.C. Lofts