THE RACING PIGEON 3 NOVEMBER 2023
22
AT HOME WITH TOM POWERS
did, he phoned and said that there was a baby on the way, that would be something special and that he already had a name. He had called him ‘Cochise’ because he reminded him of an Indian horse, with those white rings around his eyes. We did call him by that name for a short while but he was always referred to as ‘333’ in the club because of his obvious ring number. As I said he was a racing machine but an absolute dud when it came to breeding anything of note which is why the are absolutely no remnants of his bloodline in the loft today. And this was despite pairing him in later life to multiple different hens, in my loft and at others. I suppose that is just the way it goes. The pigeon below is one that I called ‘Southport’ after the place that he came from, I bought him in a kit of six that was offered in the British
I think that everyone of a certain age, and I do include myself in that group, has a box of old photographs somewhere, usually up in the loft. Well our’s came down the other day as Bernie went on a mission to sort them out and maybe discard some along the way. Yeh, like that will ever happen. Whilst she was in sorting mode she came up with a couple of old pigeon shots that I thought that I would share with you. The first is a picture of one of the first babies that I ever bred and put a ring on, this was circa 1976, and the garden that we had at the time was no bigger than a postage stamp. The loft was an 8x6 shed that I had adapted to be my first loft in our
Because I had the front seats, I was of course the first person off the plane and coming down the steps I was waving at the crowd as if I was the Pope, or Royalty.
thought he would take advantage of that and we booked a pair of tickets on the first flight there. To add to the adventure I also paid extra to get the first two seats at the front of the plane. Because it was the maiden flight we were treated well on the flight over there, free drinks etc, and when we landed there was a hell of a crowd on the runway to greet us. There were fire engines creating an arch of water as we taxied in close to
Homing World at the time by a dentist who lived up there. He again was a Huybreght. This was a different prospect, this pigeon was a slow developer, he was five years old before he suddenly became a racing machine, in that year he won 7x1stst prizes, including topping the then mighty Solent Fed against over 2,500 pigeons. He was also something of a gold- mine at stock, siring a string of winners. It was his nest mate,
marital home. It was also our first home together. The second was many years later, I would say 2002 and the two main pigeons, the pied cock birds were the subject matter. They were both born in 2000 and were the main pigeons in the team that we had at our first detached house with a big garden. The pigeon in the top box was ‘333’ a Huybreght racing cock bird that was a gift to me from Bob Belt when he lived over in Kent. This pigeon started life quite slowly, he was just steady, but it was when I obtained a hen from Tony Hayward that things changed. ‘333’ took to this hen, it was a match made in heaven, a love match, and he became a racing machine, winning most races in the club, that he was entered into, over the next two years. When Bob gave me the pigeon, which he One of the first babies that I ever bred and put a ring on, this was circa 1976, and the garden that we had at the time was no bigger than a postage stamp.
a small chequer hen that provided me with a bloodline that is still with me today, even if a bit watered down now. She was to be the mother of ‘Peggy’s Boy’ a blue cock bird of nervous dispo- sition that won the Central Southern Classic Flying Club for me in 2005. He was a racer that two weeks previous had also topped the Solent Fed, so he had hit a big vein of form. I sold him when I moved to Canada and he eventually ended up in the stock loft of Darren Roberts in Chirk. Fate played a hand here as Darren called me just when we were returning to the UK asking about the pigeon, I then questioned wether he would be willing to breed me a couple of him to start again, which he kindly did. There were two hens and they both proved to be good breeders. I paired one of them to a cock bird that I had bought at an Epsom Fair from Dennis Vueglers of Nieuwstadt in Holland. Together this pair gave me a chequer cock bird That I subsequently named ‘Thomas Liam’ after my grandson. This bird won me 1st Section, 5th Open with the BBC from Messac. Two weeks later he was back at Messac again with the NFC and he was again 1st Section. Just ot prove the potency of the breeding line, I had two winners, including 1st Section with the BICC during my short stay down in Warminster, both came from him and
The pigeon in the top box was '333' a Huybregts racing cock that was a gift to me from Bob Belt when he lived over in Kent. The other pigeon is one that I called South port after the place that he came from, I bought him in a kit of six that was offered in the British Homing World at the time by a dentist who lived up there.
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the terminal building. Because I had the front seats, I was of course the first person off the plane and coming down the steps I was waving at the crowd as if I was the Pope or even Royalty. There was an Aussie guy behind me saying kneel down, kiss the ground, I dare you. I did not stoop that low, but I was met by the town Mayoress and Little My, we were in Moomin country, and she is a character from there, as I entered the building. The newspapers were there and as I was given a bag of local goodies they asked why I had come to the town. I explained that I was there to visit my grandchildren, and that is exactly what they printed. The paper was published that evening and almost immediately my son was getting phone calls to say ‘I see your dad is in town, he has not come to see you though’. There, my five minutes of fame, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did at the time. There are many more memories in that box, trouble is they are not in any order since I dived in there. Guess who is not too happy.
his brother bred me 12th Open with the CSCFC when paired to a Van der Wouwer hen that I had from Yves Van der Poel when he attended the Blackpool show. As I said, I still have some of those pigeons here now but they are getting more distant from the fountainhead with each year that passes. Finally, whilst going through that box of photographs I came up against an old newspaper cutting that I thought I would share with you. I have mentioned before that my son lives in Finland with his family and because of this we visit there at least four times a year between Bernie and I. Our usual route is to fly from Gatwick, into Helsinki, and then make the two hour drive down to their home in a place called Turku, the old Finish capital city. Well, Ryan Air thought that they might take advantage of the cultural heritage there and decided that they would create a route flying directly into the small regional airport in Turku. You know who
whenever I can. Telephone: Bill 07866 894204
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