UP NORTH COMBINE LOFT VISITS (PART 6) Brian Pearson of Gateshead. By Keith Mott

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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)