THE RACING PIGEON 3 NOVEMBER 2023 3rd Mick Broome, vels 1588.7, 1586.8 & 1585.1; 4th Mr & Mrs Darren Norman, vel 1573.9. Blaydon 02/09/2023: 1st & 2nd Mr & Mrs Paul Newbold, vels 1290.3 & 1281.7; 3rd William Hatchman, vel 1243.6; 4th Mick Broome, vel 1236.6. Well done all. Before signing off I would like to say a quick thank you to everyone who has been construc- tive and helped to get pigeons back to
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LINCOLNSHIRE LONDONER
The start to the young bird season has been a challenging one in more ways than one, not just for our loft, but for many fanciers the length and breadth of the country and, for a variety of reasons. Our own challenges were not down to losses from racing but down to our babies moulting heavily, preventing them from racing so without the initial shorter racing for the birds to experience and take part in, it has left us playing catch up and trying to be very picky in
been discussed openly on the social media platforms and forums providing food for thought in the way of clashing, BOP, sickness and other environmental factors that may have played a contributory factor in the hits taken however, it doesn’t make it an easy sport to partake in and despite the lows there are also some very definite highs so to all of those that have suffered a hit of one kind or another this young bird season I take my hat off to you and say, thank goodness the season is nearly over and we can breathe easy for a bit! The results for the Skegness and Wainfleet club to date are as follows: Great Driffield 29/07/2023: 1st & 4th Aarron Downes, vels 1086.4 & 998.19; 2nd & 3rd William Hatchman, vels 1048 & 1037.4. Darlington 19/08/2023: 1st, 2nd & 3rd Paul Whiting, vels 1196.7, 1175.1 & 1139.9; 4th Aarron Downes, vel 1137.9. Darlington 27/08/2023: 1st, 2nd & Paul Newbold with granddaughter Blossom, Blaydon 1st & 2nd Club.
Aarron Downes, Great Driffield club winner.
Paul Whiting, Darlington club winner 1st, 2nd & 3rd.
fanciers, us included. Thank you also to Kyle Douglas and his community of helpers who have done a magnificent job in getting birds back and rehoming birds that have ended up the Whitby Stray Centre. I doubt there isn’t a flyer who hasn’t heard of this young man and the work he does. Well done Kyle. That’s all from me from now. Take care everyone and until next time and lets keep fingers crossed for some happier flying for the rest of the season! lincolnshirelondoner@gmail.com miles. This wonderful blue chequer Janssen hen was raced on the Natural system and was bred from a long line of distance winners. Vic liked races over 200 miles and had won 1st Federation over 35 times. He raced 28 cocks and 20 hens on a basic Widowhood system and paired up in mid- January. Racing in two clubs, he broke down at the end of the week during the racing season, trained up to the first race and after that the birds were only exercised around the loft once a day. Because of his night work as a taxi driver he could only let them out once a day and if they were not flying well, they were flagged. The hens were shown on marking night and the racers saw their mates for about 30 minutes on their return from the race. While I was in Vic’s very smart 24ft Widowhood loft, he showed us his good blue chequer Wildemeersch cock, ‘The Frill’, which had won 2nd Open London NR Combine (3,000 birds) with only two birds home on the day. He was from a long line of excellent racers and his sire had also bred a 1st Open London NR Combine winner. ‘The Frill’ was a very small pigeon, even smaller than Champion ‘Tom Thumb’. The main family kept were the Hopton-based Janssen and Vic’s eight pairs of stock birds were paired up in mid-January, with the race birds. Most of the stock birds were retired cham- pion racers but when bringing in stock, Vic always went for premier winning lines and not type. His 60 young birds were trained twice a week and were raced to the perch through to 250 miles. They were fed twice a day and if they want to pair up they were given a nest bowl. Vic was not a lover of the darkness, but said that if you want to win prizes with young birds you must go on the system. Vic Shaw RIP. Keith Mott
Skegness and Wainfleet birds ready to go to Darlington on 27/08/2023.
relation to race distances and training. We don’t pair up until March and race Natural however, this year has seen them fall apart feather wise much earlier and heavier than usual so, patience has been the governor here for us and the frustration of not racing has had to be curbed! I must say though, much has
Mick Broome, Darlington 1st, 2nd & 3rd Club winner.
A TRIBUTE TO VIC SHAW OF NORTH LONDON
I was very sad to hear of the passing of the great Vic Shaw on 25th October after a long illness. What a lovely man and one of the best North Road pigeon racers ever! I met up with Vic many time over the years at the BHW Blackpool Show and we always had an enjoyable catch up. I visited his loft many years ago with my good friend Doug Went, for an article and to shoot a video and what a great fancier! With Vic’s sad passing, the
Doug Went, Vic Shaw and Keith Mott.
‘Tom Thumb’ liked races up to 250 miles and was bred from Janssen pigeons obtained from Len Hopton of Wolverhampton. A fantastic Champion! Vic raced with his father as a teenager and started on his own over 20 years prior to my visit. He has won 1st Open London NR Combine three times, 2nd Open twice and says his best performance was when his great hen, ‘Boadicea’, was the only bird on the day in the London NR Combine from 500
sport of pigeon racing has lost one of its greatest Champions. Our sincere condo- lences to Vic’s family. At the time I visited Vic, he owned probably one of the best pigeons in London, in the form of Champion ‘Tom Thumb’, a blue chequer Janssen Widowhood cock. Prior to my visit to Vic’s loft I had heard so much about this little rocket, which had won 9x1st Club, 10x1st Federations and 1st Open London NR Combine Berwick (8,000 birds).
Vic Shaw
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