The late Alex Fleming of Esher.
The late Alex Fleming was in the sport of pigeon racing for over 70 years and said that at the age of five he used to wait at his dad’s loft for several days, while his dad was at work, to clock in birds from 600 mile races. In those days he raced in his native county of Durham and the only breaks he had from the sport was during the war. Alex was premier prize winner in the Esher & Dist. R.P.C. (Three Borders Federation), winning six firsts in 1979 and finished up a great season by winning 1st open SMT Combine Plymouth (young birds). His Combine winner, a Busschaert dark chequer cock called, ‘Mick’, was a gift egg from Matthews & Longman of Ashford and had won 1st club, 9th Surrey Federation Exeter the week before the Plymouth Combine win. Alex had his own family based on Gooters, Gits and Alf Bakers, which were good right through to 500 miles. His 18ft three section loft was set in his fantastic prize winning garden and his birds alighted on to low drop boards, being trapped through drop holes. The loft was kept spotless, being cleaned out every day. His wife, Anna, was very keen on the pigeons and was the brains behind the incredible garden. Alex never used deep litter and said from what he had seen; it could cause trouble in the loft. On my visit to the Fleming loft I noted the nest boxes which had a small perch in the corners so the hens could get away from the cocks when pairing up. The smart loft had a fence along the front to ensure that the birds alighted directly on the drop boards. The 1979 Plymouth Combine winner was Alex’s second 1st open Combine, previously winning from Penzance in 1968. At that time, in 1968, the Fleming loft made history in the very strong Surrey Federation by winning: 1st, 2nd club, 1st, 2nd Federation Exmouth, 1st, 2nd club, 1st, 2nd Federation, 1st, 2nd open SMT Combine Penzance, 1st, 2nd, 3rd club, 1st, 5th, 6th Federation Exmouth, in three successive weekends. A brilliant loft performance! Alex always said his most disappointing experience was in a race when he should have taken the first four positions, but his clock stopped.
Alex maintained that the key factor behind success with racing pigeons is to look after the birds every day of the year and not just in the racing season. He raced on the natural system and trained very little with the old birds getting a few tosses up to Petersfield (40 miles) and youngsters getting about ten training tosses from 6 to 40 miles before the first race. He fed on a mixture of beans, peas, maize and wheat, with Red Band for trapping. When selecting producers he looked for good eye, feather and body and liked one or two latebreds for stock. He always line-bred and his family were a wonderful type of pigeon. Alex kept 20 pairs of old birds, which raced up to longest old bird race from Bergerac, and bred 20 youngsters which raced up to 180 miles. The highlights of Alex’s season in 1979 were: 1st club, 1st Surrey Federation Exeter, 1st club, 5th Surrey Federation Weymouth, 1st club, 9th Surrey Federation Exeter and 1st club, 1st Surrey Federation, 1st SMT Combine Plymouth. Many fancier had outstanding success with the Fleming pigeons, including Nora Major of Putney, who founded her fantastic loft in the 1970’s with his pigeons. Alex Fleming and his pigeons are one of the most respected teams in the Surrey pigeon fraternity of all time!
Text & Photos by Keith Mott (August 2025)
