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UP NORTH COMBINE LOFT VISITS (PART 7) Geoff & Carolyn Brundle of Skinningrove. Many years ago there was a programme on the TV called ‘The Fancy’ and it was about the mighty Up North Combine and featured the little fishing village of Skinningrove. This sleepy little village, set on the coast, halfway between Redcar and Whitby has a long and successful connection with pigeon racing with many UNC winners being recorded there. The little village is sited in a valley overlooking the North Sea and the valley sides are littered with pigeon lofts on both sides. It is a great place to visit. One of the most recent UNC winning lofts at Skinningrove is that of Geoff & Carolyn Brundle, who won 1st open Folkestone (20,200 birds). Fifteen years earlier, Geoff took over his stepfather's birds when he passed away and has had outstanding success, including 1st, 8th, 21st and 54th open in the mighty UNC. He likes sprint racing and says Skinningrove is a very hard valley in which to compete. On a Saturday, the birds drop in the valley and he says you know the race winner, as most of the members in the club have their lofts on the sides of the valley at Skinningrove. The Brundles won the combine with a Busschaert / Janssen dark chequer pied hen, which was a widowhood hen and then was transferred to the racing section to make up the pairs. This game little hen won the Folkestone Combine on ten day-old eggs and previously won a 2nd and 6th club as a yearling. The partners race mainly widowhood, with 18 cocks on the system and a few pairs on the natural for the longer races. Geoff pairs up his racers and stock birds on 26th December and his cocks rear a youngster before going on the widowhood system. They are lightly trained while on their second round of eggs and are broken down during the racing season. The hens are shown on marking night and the cocks have their mates for about an hour on their return from the race. The 16ft widowhood section is very light and airy and has a grille floor for easy cleaning. The loft set up is L-shaped and all trapping is through open doors. The main family kept is Janssen with a few Busschaerts and the stock team is 18 birds strong. All the first round of eggs from the stock birds are floated under the racers. At that time the Brundles had raced their 40 young birds on the darkness for the last eight years and had won the Young Bird Average. The youngsters are put on the darkness system when they are weaned from their parents and taken off on the old bird Bourges weekend, being darkened down from 4pm to 9am. The young birds are allowed to pair up and are trained every day throughout the season, if the weather is right. John Cole of Staithes. John Cole lived on the east coast at Staithes, North Yorkshire and was a retired fisher man. He used to fish out of Staithes Village, but had to pack up work because of ill health. The 1996 season saw him achieve one of his greatest ambitions by winning 1st open Up North Combine Folkestone National (2), with 22,168 birds taking part. The champion that won this race for John was his yearling bronze cock, ‘Zagreb’, a Meuleman x Geerts bred by Wintrip and Clarke, with his sire being a Meuleman bred by Bill Porritt and ‘Zagreb's’ dam was a Geerts bred by John himself. The main family kept were William Geerts from Bill Porritt of' Staithes, who had won the Up North Combine a fantastic five times. John purchased a Geerts hen from Attrill and Gregory of the Isle of Wright, at their auction sale at Barnsley. She proved to be a good buy and blended in well with the original Geerts, being the dam and grand dam of countless winners. John had birds from Wintrip and Clarke of Burnopfield and De Vadders from Mike Billam of Mastin Moor, which were crossing in well with the Geerts. John told me the William Geerts pigeons, pure or crossed were outstanding up to 310 miles. John raced cocks and hens on widowhood, which could be described as his own roundabout method and the hens went out first for 40 minutes exercise. While they were out, the loft was cleaned out and the cocks were driven through to the section with the box perches. The hens were trapped in the nest box section where they were fed and given the grit and pick stone pots. The cocks were let out for their 40 minutes exercise and the hens were driven through to the box perch section, then the cocks were trapped into the nest boxes where they stayed. John's very smart loft was L-shaped with 16ft for old birds (three sections) and 8ft for the young birds. The loft had lift-off fronts and John said they were the same type as Gommaire Verbruggen and Georges Sterckx had on their lofts, which were featured in the book, 'The Elite'. Ventilation was through louvres at floor level, but these were closed during the racing season as the loft was geared to heat, which John told me was very important for form. Each of the end sections had Norplex windows to let the birds in and out and they trapped through the open doors into the nest box section. John's wife, Barbara, gave him a lot of help with the birds; and she saw them in from training, fed and cleaned them out. I congratulated John on his fantastic Up North Combine win with ‘Zagreb’ and his loft and pigeons were a real credit to him. John Stott & son of Redcar. Another Up North Combine winning loft that I've visited in the mid-1990’s was that of John Stott who had been in the fancy for 60 years and raced Busschaerts with outstanding success. He raced on the natural system because he liked to see them nest and his family of Busschaerts raced well up to the longest races. The partners' smart loft was sited on an allotment and only housed 14 natural pairs, and bred about 24 young birds. The birds were paired up in February and the Stott’s raced only south road with the local Grangetown St Mary's Flying Club. The loft had won many top prizes Channel racing through the years including 1st open Up North Combine (11,500 birds) Beauvais. The old birds got a light feed at daybreak and a heavy one in the evening and all the old birds raced through to 500 miles. Old and young birds got regular training tosses throughout the season from Thirsk, a 30 mile fly from the loft, and John liked birds sitting 12 day old eggs for the 500-mile races. A top pigeon at the Redcar Loft was the blue cock, ‘The Wanderer’, and this was the champion that won 1st club, 1st section, 1st Up North Combine (11,500 birds) Beauvais, 2nd open Queen's Cup (17,000 birds) Beauvais, 1st club, 11th Federation, 219th open UNC (13,000 birds) Beauvais, 3rd club, 21st Federation Lillers, 4th club, 18th Federation Folkestone, 4th club, 19th Federation Provins. A fantastic pigeon. John & Janet Marsay of Staithes. I also visited the wonderful Staithes set-up of John Marsay in the mid-1990’s who had twice won the mighty Up North Combine. The partners started up in the sport with young birds in 1987 and in 14 short years had put up some fantastic performances. They raced cocks and hens on the roundabout system and had won 1st open (twice), 2nd open, 5th open (twice) on the Saturday in the Up North Combine and twice 2nd open Up North Combine on the Wednesday racing. A fantastic loft performance! The Marsays kept 60 pairs of racers which were paired up on 22nd January and they liked racing from 50 miles through to 600 miles. The hens seemed to do best on the roundabout system and the racers were fed on a good widowhood mixture, but were never broken down. The corn was never beefed up for the long-distance events and the old birds were trained from 15 miles four times a week. The main racing loft was ‘L’ shaped with open door trapping and the whole pigeon set-up was very smart and clean. The partners won 1st open Up North Combine Maidstone Young Bird National (23,600 birds) with a nice blue chequer Busschaert hen and John told me every youngster bred from her parents had won for him. John's wife, Janet, was a great help around the loft, cleaning out and feeding, and she liked the long-distance events best. The Marsays bred 70 youngsters each year and kept a lot of fantails which John said were a must for trapping the race birds. The partners' other Up North Combine winner was a blue chequer cock, raced on roundabout, which won 1st open from Folkestone (24,600 birds). The 45 pairs of stock birds were paired up in January and were housed in a nice, roomy loft with a wire flight. John kept several strains including Busschaerts and Hermans and went regularly to Belgium to obtain stock birds. Full article to appear in the BHW soon. (December 2022)

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Saw this on Facebook and thought I'd share it with Basics members

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Keep us posted on how these 6 hens perform over the 2023 season.

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The Joe Murphy Column As it is the end of the year, I thought I would go through my old photographs and pick some out as a way of cheering myself and hopefully some readers of my column up and take our minds off the ‘madness’ that is going on around the world; at this time. We always remember people who were close to us during this time of the year, more so if they were involved in our sport. Obviously, our son Kevin is never far from our daily thoughts. He like Margaret and I loved the pigeons and I have included a photo of the 3 of us when he timed in his ‘My Little Rachel’ to win 4 th open SNFC Alencon. This blue hen contained the bloodlines of another dear old friend whom we have also lost; Ian Gilmour of Leven and his wonderful SNFC winner ‘Robbie’s Boy’, who was named after Ian’s brother, whom I participated about with when I was 14/15 years old. Then there was my old pal from Arbroath ‘The one and only’ Jim George i.e., ‘Round O’ and Jim Renwick who were both scribes of the BHW for a long time; and both encouraged me to take up the ‘pen’ and cover the Fife area; which I did then; but now cover our sport up here in Scotland. I wasn’t as regular with the pen when I took on a job as a lorry driver with Kestrel Kitchens as I used to leave home on a Monday and cover the area from Fife to Glasgow, Ayr; Stranraer, Dumfries up to Langholm. Then the next day arrive home and loaded up for the next day, and on Wednesday travelled north via Dundee, Forfar; Aberdeen sometimes meeting up with Dave Pirie and Gibby Reed. Then up to Peterhead; where I would meet up with the pigeon lads after doing my drops at the shops. I used to spend the evenings; with Jim Wiseman; Anne & Jim Donaldson, Irvine Buchan & sometimes George Duthie. We had some great nights talking about ‘pigeons’ and having a good laugh. After I quite the driving job, I then started doing my column on a more weekly basis; away back in 2005 I remember reporting on the SNFC Tours winner ‘Petite Rose’. At that time, I did not have a computer or was able to type. So, I used to phone up the national winners and obtain details of their winning bird. Margaret and I would sit down and re-write the details and on a Sunday night Linda Richards from the BHW would go to the office in Welshpool and phone me for the National report. After she had obtained all the information, she would type this up and it appeared in the Thursday issue of the BHW. I remember Tom McEwen phoning me on the morning the paper came out and he could not believe that his winning pigeon was being highlighted so quickly after the race. Whereas now it is much easier to obtain the details of the winners and have it typed and forwarded via email to the pigeon press for publication that same week. I also started up the ‘Joe Murphy/BHW Sporting Challenge’ (see logo). This highlighted some of the best long-distance pigeons and fanciers who raced into Scotland. Including my two good friends Andy Miller & Barry Kinnear. I cannot finish the year without mentioning Billy Bilsland who won 14 national races with his team of pigeons; he will be a big loss the sport. Going back to my review; A few jobs and years later I started working in a ‘care home’ and undertook the training and further education to obtain my Higher National Certificate in Social Work and was promoted to a Senior Social Care Worker. My last job was working with the Deaf & Blind and I loved the job, but unfortunately, I took a heart attack and had to stop working. May I wish everyone a Happy New Year; let us hope that this year will be much better than 2022; which for some people has been a nightmare. The most important thing for ALL of US is our health, and here we are still having to deal with Covid; and all problems with the hospitals and health service. It seems like we are away back in time to the dreaded Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher governments. Plus, we have the war in the Ukraine it seems like the whole world has gone ‘mad’; the one shining light in the whole episode is Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has been named the 2022 ‘Person of the Year’. Let us pray that 2023 can only get better. The Joe Murphy Column Joe’s Joke THE CAB RIDE For about twenty years I drove a cab for a living. When I arrived at my pickup point at 02:30am, the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So, I walked to the door and knocked. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. 'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the kerb. She kept thanking me for my kindness 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'. 'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?' 'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly. 'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'. I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued. ‘'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. 'What route would you like me to take?' I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighbourhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'. We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. 'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse.’ ‘Nothing,' I said. 'You have to make a living,' she answered. 'There are other passengers,' I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. 'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.' I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one. The Joe Murphy Column PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT 'YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL. Wishing You ALL a Happy New Year!!!! Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view online editions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com - Pigeon Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.com www.internationalracingpigeon.com Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland? © COMPILED BY JOE MURPHY

UP NORTH COMBINE LOFT VISITS (PART 6) Brian Pearson of Gateshead. Brian Pearson has had pigeons most of his life and started racing with all the fashionable strains over 30 years ago. At the time of my visit to his loft he had settled on the Busschaerts and Smits-Van Winckel bloodlines and has never looked back, with success after success, including: 1988: 6th UNC (17,960 birds) Lillers: 1992: 1st open UNC (18,948 birds) Lillers and 1995: 1st open UNC (21,389 birds) Lillers. In my opinion he is a master at the art of racing pigeons. The loft’s performances at that time, racing in the hotbed of the Up North Combine, were fantastic and he only races a very small team of pigeons. What is also amazing is that his loft was only a few yards away from and facing main railway lines. When I met Brian in the mid-1990’s, on my visit to Newcastle, I found him to be a very pleasant gentleman. I asked him if the trains bothered the pigeons and he said not really, the pigeons are quite used to the passing trains, but if one comes by when they come home from the race, they can’t trap through the open doors, so have to fly around until they’ve gone. The passing trains have never hit the exercising birds, but the big coal trains do make the loft shake. On my visit, Brian’s two Up North Combine winners were paired together in the stock partings and were typical of his ideal type of pigeon, small to medium in the hand. The 1995 Lillers Combine winner is a yearling blue white flight cock, ‘The Fonz’, whose sire was bred by Brian Clayburn of Yorkshire and his dam a Busschaert from Pearson & Dransfield of Barnsley. ‘The Fonz’ is a small cock in the hand, raced on Brian's own widowhood system and was rung with his last ring of the 1994 season. Brian's main base family is Busschaert and he says that in the last 20 years this great strain has been second to none for the base family in major Up North Combine winning lofts, in day races up to 500 miles. He says that when he won the UNC from Lillers (345 miles) in 1992, it was the greatest feeling in the world and his then champion Busschaert dark hen, 'Charlie's Angel', has not raced since she won the combine. She won on what Brian calls, his 'reverse widowhood system'. Her sire was a Busschaert pigeon bred by Arthur Wilkinson of Toft Hill. Brian isn't really a strain man, he just likes good pigeons and enjoys racing from 250 to 450 miles. Ron Evans & son of Sunderland. On a 1995 video trip to the North-East, I visited Sunderland and the fantastic loft of Ron Evans & Son, who have raced with outstanding results for many years. Ron Evans was born in Sunderland and his father was a successful fancier, winning the federation many years ago. Ron Snr and Ron Jnr started racing together in Castletown HS in 1972 and their loft is sited at Fulwell Pumping Station in Sunderland. The father and son partnership had a lay-off from pigeons in the early 1980s and say that T. Laskey put them on the right track when they started to race pigeons again in 1988. They obtained Busschaerts from him and they hit on straight away, winning the Young Bird Average in 1989. On their re-start in the sport, they joined the High Southwick HS and flew to a standard wooden, wire-fronted loft. The Evans partners used to race on the natural system and feed on the hopper, with training every day. They now race on widowhood and do not train in the first part of the week, keeping the cocks on break down morning and night. They go back on widowhood mixture from the Tuesday night and all depends on the distance of the race the following Saturday. The cocks get a bath on Friday and are always shown the hens before going into the basket for the race. The partners' present loft is made of fibreglass and sited high above a river bank. With no windows in the front, it has a full length corridor with open-door trapping and an apex roof, with ventilation in the sides of the roof. Ron likes to see a dry loft that should be light and draught-proof, with plenty of space for the inmates. The loft houses 20 pairs of stock birds and 44 pairs of racers which are all paired up in early January. They breed an average of 80 young birds each season. The loft's best performance at the time of my visit was 2nd open UNC with 27,500 birds competing. Some of the loft's best racers were: 'Rags': a Busschaert who won 17 cards including 5 times 1st club, 3 time 1st Federation, also winning the 2-Bird Club six times and was put to stock; 'Deacon's Boy': who won 5 times 1st club, once 1st Federation, 2 times 2nd Federation, once 3rd Federation and many other positions; 'Grumpy': 5 times 1st club, 3 times 1st Federation, once 2nd Federation and once 3rd Federation; 'Vauxy': 3 times 1st Federation and won the section with 3,500 birds competing. The loft housed two Van Loons which have both won 4th open UNC and won the section. At that time the High Southwick HS races on the south route, starting at Selby, 78 miles and going through to Bourges, 568 miles. The loft housed Busschaerts as the main family, with introductions of Janssens, Van Loons and Lefebre Dhaenens, with the Busschaerts being outstanding up to Provins, 483 miles. The old birds and some yearlings were sent through to Provins and the youngsters were raced through the full programme to 262 miles, with fancied birds being stopped at 170 miles. The partners liked a good widowhood mixture and told me it was ideal in its make-up for racing pigeons at any distance. The birds were given a seed and Hormoform mixture every time they came into the loft from training and exercise and the partners maintained this kept the birds in good feather. The racers got multivits and pigeon tonic in the water during the week. The widowhood cocks and yearlings got tosses while sitting their second round of eggs and once racing started, only flew out twice a day for regular exercise. Young birds were trained up to 30 miles, up to the first race, then they exercised around the loft every morning and had a 20-mile training toss in the afternoon. Ron said that after a couple of loft visits with Brian Vickers he realised there is definitely something in the eye sign method. In the club, the two Ronnie’s had won countless averages and trophies and top Combine positions since 1989 had been as follows: 2nd open UNC Folkestone (27,878 birds), 4th open UNC Maidstone (23,338 birds), 4th open UNC Lillers, 342 miles (21,347 birds), 5th open UNC Folkestone (22,375 birds), 6th open UNC Provins, 483 miles (8,756 birds), also winning 1st section in these five races including 7th open UNC, 2nd section Young Bird National (23,548 birds), 8th open UNC, 3rd section Provins (6,250 birds), 21st open UNC Folkestone National (23,740 birds), 22nd open UNC Lillers (19,867 birds). A really fantastic loft performance! Full article to appear in the BHW soon. (December 2022)

Nicole Bell of Catrine in Scotland. The John and Alice Bell partnership have won ‘Supreme Champion’ at the BHW Blackpool ‘Show of the Year’ a record seven times and are a ‘house hold’ in the UK Show Racer fraternity. Not many people know that their daughter, Nicole, is an outstanding pigeon fancier in her own right, winning several premier shows, including ‘Supreme Champion’ at the RPRA Southern Region Show held at High Wycombe in November 2016. Her winner was her four year old mosaic cock, ‘Mervanic’ and he was a gift Show Racer from Mervin Hosking of Wales. ‘Mervanic’ went on to be a champion breeder at the Bell loft! Nicole was only 23 years old and worked for the National Autistic Society as a support worker. She tells me, her work commitments was the only thing that makes her miss the shows, but she tried to work her shifts around it and uses her annual leave to cover time off so she could attend the pigeon shows. I had a chat with Nicole and what a smashing girl she is! She had very definite and positive views on the direction she was going in with her pigeons, and this is what she had to say, ‘I have been brought up with pigeons all my life, with my mum and dad being John and Alice Bell. Dad raced pigeons from 1975 until 2006, when he parted with the racers and started with show racers. From about 2002 till the present day I was always in the loft with the birds, starting when I could first walk and I loved it when the babies were parted and I could sit on the floor with them. People used to say to dad, she will frighten them or pull a feather out of them, but dad said they will soon get used to her. I always went to the shows with them up until I was about 12 years of age, then I did want to go as much, as I wanted to play with my friends. Then when mum and dad were away I was left to look after the birds and I started to get interested again, so I asked them if I could have my own team to show. So I set about picking my favourites from mum and dad’s loft and at the end of that season. In 2015 I had two Society shows and then it was into the BHW Blackpool Show. In my first season I had some success in the Society events, but when it came to Blackpool I knew it was a different ball game. I had a 2nd and won the fancier with most points Inter Society classes and this was a fantastic achievement for someone to get in their first season. This year, the 2016/17 season was my first full season showing and I finished up at the Society with runner up to mum and dad for the ‘points trophy’ and won one of the best trophies in the Society. It was the ‘A. & A. Clark Trophy’ and this is for the birds that won Best in Show or Reserve Best in Show at the Society during the season. They are all put in a class at the end of the Society season and judged the ‘Best in Show’ out of the eight winning birds of the season. My yearling blue chequer cock that won the trophy also won the accumulator money of £100 for the first nominated bird to win a ‘Best in Show’ and a bottle of Rum donated by the judges on the day. As everyone who shows knows it's very difficult to take this team on and beat them, but I did and gave them a run for their money, finishing up with a good few firsts and a load of cards. Then it was the open shows, I wanted to beat them at this so everyone would see I was dedicated to my team and not just helping mum and dad. I showed at all the open shows this season winning 1st prizes and cards at all of them. The best result by far was when we travelled all the way (800 miles round trip) to the RPRA Southern Region Show held in High Wycombe and my mosaic cock that Mervin Hosking kindly gave me when I started, won his class of coloured cocks and then went on to win ‘Best in Show’. With 478 birds entered in the Region show, that got him qualified for ‘Supreme Champion’ class at the 2017 Blackpool Show. I was over the moon just to beat mum and dad, and to also win my first big open show in my first full season showing. Mum and dad won ‘Supreme Champion’ for a record 5th time at Blackpool 2017 and congratulation to them for that wonderful achievement, but I will be back next year and to try again. I also had a first in class 8 with a young chequer hen and I hope she keeps improving all year for a shot at the big shows at the end of 2017. I'll have to go in mum and dad's loft when they are not in and ring a few young birds for myself! You know accidents happen. LOL! My plans for this season 2017/18 are to copy dad's feeding methods more strictly and keep my eyes and ears open. Dad is a heavy feeder and always says the birds will only eat as much as they need and the mixture he uses is his own method of tic beans, maples peas and barley. The barley is there for when the birds have had enough, the barley will always be left and if they don't eat that then they don't get any more corn. So that's what I will be doing in 2017, with no tip bits for them because dad said mine were too heavy. I have to say a big thanks to my mum, as when me and dad are working she cleans and feeds the birds for me as well as her own. Hope to see all of the fancies at the open shows for 2017 and can I also give a special mention to all the members in ‘Team Bell’, as they all have helped me get started not only with birds but with just about everything that has to do with me showing, from lofts to birds and advice and friendship’. Nicole has got only six pairs for the 2017 season, so hopes to get around 20 young birds. She will not be breeding off the six pairs and will be breeding off four pairs and the other two pairs will be used to rear the babies for her. She said, ‘I know some people will think why not take young birds off all, but they have to be compatible to one another and this is why only four pairs will be bred off. Dad always does this and what he does is good enough for me. I always travelled with mum and dads to loads of shows when I was younger and just listened and watched what they done and now I just put this into practice. I have handled all mum and dad's birds, but dad never makes me pick the same as them and I pick my own type and colour. My favourite bird is the mosaic cock as he is tame and likes fighting with me when I am in the loft and this is good because tame birds are easier to work with and when you have them like this they love coming to you and sitting on my shoulder showing off. This makes the young birds tame as well, as when they see their parents are okay with me it steadies them and give then confidence’. Nicole hasn’t got a favourite colour, just looks of good handling abilities and a good body with tight feathering. She doesn’t like birds that are looking slack and puffy, as they need to be standing straight and showing themselves off, with tight condition, white wattles and nice clear eyes. She maintains the showing game is all about opinions and everyone likes different things, so she just stick to what she likes and if she wins great, if she doesn’t then she just has to take it and come back again. Nicole said, ‘when I show against mum and dad is hard to beat them but I'll give it my best and see what happens. I have been very lucky to have mum and dad to supply me with two quality birds and I know when you start up in showing it is very difficult to obtain good birds. People think I get it easy but I can assure you that I don't, if I make mistakes dad just says make sure you don't do it again and learn from it’. She told me, they are always there for her, but she likes doing her own thing in my short showing career. She has done fantastic, with her mosaic cock, ‘Mervanic’, winning 2nd at BHW Blackpool Show in 2015 in the Inter Society cock class and he then went on to win ‘Best in Show’ at RPRA Southern Region Show in 2016 with 430 birds competing, he then was in ‘Supreme Champion’ class at the BHW Blackpool Show in 2017. Nicole also had a 1st with a young chequer hen in class 8 (young hen handling) at Blackpool 2017 and plus a few other cards. She was runner up in Society to her mum and dad and I was part of the Society that won best Society at the BHW Blackpool Shoe in 2017. She had firsts in classes at SHU Open Show 2016, RPRA Southern Region Show 2016, Midlothian Open Show 2016, the Kingdom Open Show 2016 and Dublin was the only open show she didn't get a first prize at. She told me, ‘that's not bad for a beginner! Some people don't give me credit for what I have achieved in my first full show season because they think it's all mum and dads work, but it's not. I only missed two shows all season and travelled 400 miles each way on the same day to show at the RPRA Southern Region Show and this is not something you would do if you are not mad or mad keen. LOL! I get my own birds ready for the show pen, them at the shows and clean them if needed and mum and dad do their own birds’. Nicole is now looking forward to pairing up on Valentine's Day and then the time will soon come when she will have babies. She likes this time best, but doesn’t like pairing them when the cocks start pecking the hens, and get too rough with them. She is looking forward to the show season and hopes everyone has a good breaking season and gets plenty of quality young birds. What a girl, she really is ‘Miss Dynamite’! Winning ‘Supreme Champion’ at a National show in her first full season was competing. A fantastic achievement! Since I penned this article a few years ago, our Nicole has had a wonderful son named; Jaxon and we all love him! A real little cracker! (December 2022)

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Good luck with this venture

When I first started with pigeons away back in the early 90's, my first 6 stock birds I purchased to base my race team on, were from John Crowder. He selected 3 breeding pairs for me The Buschaert lines of Pluto, Little Black, and the Crayon.

Over 180 years of top national and classic experience here. I am so lucky to be around these great fanciers during my work. Bob Smith, Roger Sutton and Geoff Kirkland

UP NORTH COMBINE LOFT VISITS (PART 5) Colin Allison of Redcar. Fanciers who exhibit at the Peterlee NEHU Show a few years ago will know the hard-working Show Manager, Colin Allison of Redcar, who was not only one of the sport's workers but was an ace racer, winning 1st open Up North Combine Maidstone Young Bird National (14,047 birds) in 1997. Colin started up in pigeons as a six year old with strays and, after several seasons in the boy’s club, starting racing in 1965. He says one of his best seasons was in 1977 when he won 23 firsts racing in two clubs He had always raced his pigeons on the natural system, turning onto the roundabout system in1996 and winning a record four times 1st Federations in four races on the trot that season. The 1997 season saw him win the greatest prize, 1st open UNC Maidstone, with his wonderful blue pied hen, ‘Miss Destiny’, and she didn’t have the best build up to her Combine win. This Van Reet darkness youngster got lost for three weeks from her first race of 60 miles and returned home in good condition. She went straight back to Peterborough (150 miles) to record 27th Federation before going to the Maidstone National to win 1st open with 14,047 birds taking part. Her sire won the Federation in 1996 and her dam had recorded 2nd and 3rd. A wonderful winning family! Colin went on to the roundabout system as he never fancied widowhood as his hens have always been outstanding. One of his best was the blue chequer Busschaert, ‘Third Choice’, which had won many outstanding prizes from Lillers, including 1st club, 1st Federation, 14th open UNC (25,000 birds). This roundabout racer had also won 24th open UNC Folkestone (20,000 birds) and two televisions. His main racing loft had four sections, corridor trapping and was a rather smart pantile loft that was set in his very neat garden. The nest boxes in the old bird section were set out facing one another on the two sides of the parting and he paired up the racing team at the end of January. All the old birds’ reared one pair of youngsters before going onto the roundabout system, where he said his birds were outstanding up to about 320 miles. He fed a good Versele-Laga mixture and sometimes broke down until Wednesday during the racing season. The hens and cocks were trained separately twice a week up to the mid-racing season. The Allison loft housed several families, including Van Loon. One of the premier Van Loon racers was the blue hen '550' which had recorded 1st Federation Harlow and 1st Federation Epping. Colin told me on my visit that she liked 200 miles on a fairly fast day. Her sire had bred his best three hens. He kept a young bird team of about 50 birds each season and started the darkness system in 1997 so he could compete in the young bird events. They were put on darkness when weaned, got eight hours' light per day up to late June and were raced to the perch. The youngsters were trained down the east coast to Scarborough (35 miles), starting at ten miles in the Cleveland Hills, After they had gone down the coast, they went down the A19 (which Colin called the inland route), then into the first race. The whole young bird team raced up to 150 miles, then some were stopped. Although Colin won 1st UNC on darkness, he was not happy with their performances at the yearling stage. He said he was mostly interested in old bird racing and at that time told me he may stop using the darkness system. Verrill & Armstrong of Staithes. Verrill & Armstrong had their loft on the side of the valley overlooking the sleepy little fishing village of Staithes, a stone's throw from the five times Up North Combine winning loft of Bill Porritt. Matt said that the day they won the mighty Up North Combine from Maidstone Young Bird National in 1998, the wind was westerly and just right for their loft location on the east coast. He had been in the sport since 1960 and formed his highly successful partnership with Tom in 1978, winning many major positions in their favourite young bird races, including 1st open Up North Combine Harlow National in 1989; 5th open Up North Combine Folkestone National in 1982 and their latest Up North Combine win from Maidstone, with 17,076 young birds competing in 1998. The partners' Maidstone combine winner was a medium blue chequer white flight hen, bred from the best Mr & Mrs Whitehead of Co. Durham, Busschaert bloodlines. She was hatched on March 8th and put on the darkness system, after which she was raced to the perch playing around with an odd cock bird. She hurt her wing in the Peterborough race in 1998 and could not fly for three or four days. When she began to exercise well around the loft, she was entered in the young bird Maidstone National, to win 1st open Up North Combine, a wonderful performance! The dam of the combine winner was a nice Busschaert light blue chequer which had won 10th open Up North Combine from 252 miles. Verrill & Armstrong liked young bird racing best and bred 25 youngsters each season for their sport. They went onto the darkness system in 1998 with outstanding success; the young bird team was put on the system on weaning and taken off at the old bird Bourges race. They were trained hard down the coast to Whitby and fed well on a good widowhood mixture, never being kept short of feeding. They were raced to the perch, being allowed to pair up if they wish and Tom said a big disappointment in the 1998 season was the nest mate of the Combine winner, being killed on some wires. All the young birds were raced through the programme to the longest race. The partners' loft was 30ft long, made up of three sections, two for old birds and one for the young birds, with all trapping done through the open doors. The five pairs of stock birds were all Busschaerts, originating from Mr & Mrs Whitehead and the old birds were raced on the natural system. Trevor Rowland of Sunderland. At the time of my loft visit, Trevor Rowland had started up in the sport 16 years previously and told me he has always done well out of Lillers, which was a 342 mile fly to his allotment lofts. In 1992 he won the ‘LNRC Cup of Friendship Trophy’ for the best two bird performance in Up North Combine Lillers race, recording 6th and 13th open. In 1996 season, Trevor hit the jackpot by winning 1st open UNC Lillers (16,248 birds) with a Busschaert blue widowhood cock. This game pigeon was only lightly raced as he got injured as a young bird, then recorded a good Combine position in the Folkestone National two weeks before winning 1st open UNC Lillers. The loft had won the Federation many times through the years, but Trevor rated his Combine win as his best performance. The main family raced was Busschaert, one team on Natural for the long distance races and 40 cocks on Widowhood for sprint and middle-distance events. None of the racers were broken down in the race season as Trevor said the climate in the North East was wrong for this practice. For the short or long distance races he paired up on Boxing Day and had to pair the whole loft up that week because that's the only time he got off work. The birds were trained hard before the season started and they were never forced to exercise around the loft. Trevor never saved young cocks for the Widowhood system, the one time he did, he lost them on dodgy races the following year, because they hadn't any race experience. When bringing in a new stock bird, he had to have a good gut feeling and really fancy it, and they had to be from good winning lines. Trevor tod me the champion of the loft was his good Busschaert blue pied cock and he won twice 1st Federation, twice 2nd Federation and 6th open UNC Lillers. This 'Ace' was raced on Widowhood and was breeding winners in the stock partings. Full article to appear in the BHW soon. (December 2022)