Porter and Stevens
A RARE TREAT – PORTERS & STEVENS AND ‘THE VILLAGE LAD’
15/03/2008 12:16:48 - The Big FellaOnce upon a time there was a young man who was asked to write about the Up North Combine, and the brilliant fanciers and pigeons that flew up here, he accepted the challenge and now, exactly forty years on, he gets another dream pigeon to parade before the Fancy. How lucky can a scribe be I ask you, with a gigantic Combine to go at, which has left me with some truly brilliant memories of wonderful men, and the most superb pigeons any scribe has ever had to comment upon. I know I have made a lot of people happy with my efforts, making some wonderful friendships along the way, but I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I would see another double Combine winner in my lifetime, however I have and this is my acknowledgement to both the pigeon and the fanciers who own and race him.
Clear Your Mind
Before you read any further I would ask you to clear your mind of everything you have read which refers to a champion pigeon, or a winner, or anything else, for claims are easily made depending upon the criteria you use. I shall use the maximum criteria with ‘Village Lad’, when I state that this is without doubt the greatest 300 miler in the history of British pigeon racing. I have no axe to grind or commercial angle to sell, just a plain straight-forward report as I have done many times before, but my claims are based upon a two year old pigeon which has been flown from the race point of Folkestone three times in its life, with the following performances: first time he won 69th Open from 24,185 birds, flying 290 miles and 14 yards, which was on May 13, 2000. He went back again on July 2 when the Combine raised 21,969 birds, to top the Combine by 1.851 ypm when the first 150 pigeons were timed-in in a drop of 56.892 yards, and that was his season 2000. This year he was prepared again in his favourite nesting condition for the first Folkestone National race flown on May 12, the Combine gather 28,307 birds for this first Classic, and bang, up he comes again to hit the very top with a velocity of 1442.252 ypm, to win by 0.205 ypm, and the first 200 pigeons were timed-in in a drop of velocity of 57.935 ypm, which proves how tight our big Classic races are. I have ignored his club, Federation, Championship and Show Race wins, Section wins, or anything else for that matter, he flew against an aggregate total of 74,461 in those three races, winning 1st, 1st & 69th Open, and they are what I call performances in the red hot bed of pigeon racing. Now believe me, I don’t want to be provocative, fanciers live where they live, and race where they race, but the facts I give you will stand up for themselves, but I know and you also know, that this is some pigeon, he is a real ’un who needs no embelishment with three races like those under his belt. You watch the results and competition in other similar races as they are published, and I promise you will have to agree with what I have said, he is a super performer, the likes of which has never been paraded before the Fancy in my lifetime, and I have studied them all, believe me.
He flies to just north of the River Tyne in Section 1 of the Combine, some 40 miles north of the first drop lofts, which adds to his ability in my view as he gets no favours from loft location, which many consider in their opinions, but his owners were full of confidence for him and entered him in many ancilliary events, such as show races etc. I applaud their courage in sending him back for the second win, not many do that today, but fortune favours the bold and they have converted a normal Combine winner into a genuine superstar so good luck to them says I, and maybe the habit will catch on.
The race from Folkestone was tremendous from start to finish, it had everything, massive birdage, reasonable distance and an even split where all seven sections were claimed in the first fourteen pigeons in the result, by some top class fanciers flying really good pigeons. The 1st and 2nd Open both crossed the Tyne flying in Section 1, the longest distance section, with the 2nd pigeon just 15 seconds adrift of ‘The Village Lad’, flying some 288 yards further to the loft of Tawes & Hawthorn of Percy Main HS, missing out by 0.205 ypm, for very hard lines. In a straight line south Mackie & Armstrong of Boldon won Section 3 and 3rd Open, and this is an in form loft. Swinging out to the west for 4th Open it was Smith Bros, son & grandson of the big Washington Celtic Club, while the 5th Open winner was to the well known loft of Gudgeon & Adamson of the Whiteleas Club, and they won Section 4. Some 20 miles south Powton & son of the Belle Vue Club claimed 6th Open, winning Section 6 into the bargain. Seventh Open went to a loft which needs no introduction, Marshall & sons of Seaton Sluice, who of course have a hand in the breeding of ‘Village Lad’ which says it all. At 8th Open another loft with a great track record, the Evans loft of the ‘Two Ronnies’ of High Southwick, and they were followed by the Shotton loft of Cockroft, son & grandson who were 9th Open, winning 1st Section 5 into the bargain. The South Shield Fed produced the 10th Open winner for Spour & son of the Central Club, with Marshall Bros of Heworth breathing down their neck, winning 11th Open and 1st Section 2. We then run right up to Chevington Drift for the 12th Open winner, for Wilson & Gilliard who fly 311 miles for a class performance, while the well known Walter Metcalfe of Easington Lane, the home of the only other double Combine winner, slips nicely in at 13th Open. The final Section winner for Section 7 was timed at South Bank by the SVR specialists Brownlee, Nee, sons & Ward, claiming 14th Open to cover a great race with Mackie & Armstrong of Boldon taking the 2-Bird Trophy with 3rd & 18th Open. I must say that if you check this result you will see that the whole 200 pigeons published were timed-in in a time scale of about 15 minutes if they were all flying the same distance, which is the way I analyse the quality of a race.
You can visualise the pigeons coming into the area, racing like the clappers, a bad trap and you are down the dilly, but racing they certainly were in an east south east wind, and breaking to right and left of the line, as each Section winner hit his own line, and ‘The Village Lad’ flew straight and true for his historic result. He can now sit alongside the only other double Combine winner in the history of the Up North Combine, the little dark chequer cock known as ‘Mons Hero’, who won 1st UNC Mons in 1921, then came again in 1922 to win 1st UNC Troyes, who I will deal with in great detail later in this report. The magnitude of twice 1st Open UNC is quite staggering, as there are 22 Federations competing, which are made up from 153 individual clubs, with seven Sections within the Combine, and to beat that lot twice means in essence that you could claim a minimum of 364 first prizes, if you were that way inclined. It doesn’t bear thinking about, but technically that is what you beat when you top the Combine, and it gives you a fair measure of the competition that ‘The Village Lad’ has had to contend with, and why I contend that he is the greatest 300 miler that this country has ever produced.
‘The Village Lad’
When you get a pigeon of this calibre put into your hands many thoughts go through your mind, then you begin to assess the pigeon from years of practice, wings have one flight thrown and almost regrown, pectoral muscles nice and spongy along both sides of his keel, good feather quality as you would expect, plus a nice firm back, short keel and good vents, topped off with a lovely eye which I wrote up after his first Combine win. He is bred down through mainly pigeons of Janssen blood, with his sire being bred by Morgan & Harrison of Tynemouth from their Marshall pigeons, which of course are from the Ayton Marshall lofts now run by Theresa and her two sons since the passing of Ayton, of fond memory. His dam came via Warren Foster’s sale at Barnsley a few years ago through Klak and Pouw Bros bloodlines, which is the combination which produced this magnificent cock, who will go down in history to sit alongside ‘Mons Hero’, as a very special pigeon.
Derek and Ronnie
The partnership of Porter & Stevens has stood the test of time, being together for some 30 years or so, and enjoying every minute of it by their general attitude towards each other, and the close friends who came during my visit to their lofts and gardens. I say gardens quite deliberately as they are well laid out and maintained, with some high class leeks growing ready for the shows to come later in the year, then I observed various types of vegetables, in various stages of growth all laid out neat and symmetrical row by row. The lofts are fronted by a large lawn which is well manicured, and their 100 strong team of young birds were picking about at the time of my visit, looking in good fettle as they flew here and there full of verve and energy. Both men are in their mid fifties age-wise and they keep the whole place immaculate, with handy dustbins for rubbish, nice seats for watching the birds, plenty of coffee for visiting scribes who are never known to refuse a drink, and I was also given a can of lager by the Morgan & Harrison visitors, who were full of crack and previous stars of TV in the Obsessions programme shown up here a while back. It was obvious that this magnificent double had not affected the hat sizes of these men, they were pleasant and friendly with no hint of swagger, two cracking fellows who were obviously thrilled to bits, but determined to be themselves with no affectation whatsoever.
The Lofts
The first thing that struck me was the general standard of cleanliness, plus the high standard of maintenance to the whole site, there was a place for everything, and everything was in its place, proving they know how to do the job correctly. The lofts are some 45 feet in length, with two thirds allocated to the old birds, and the remaining third housing the young birds. It is seven feet high at the front and and six feet at the back, with the top front half dowelled, and a two inch air gap at the back at high level, which creates a nice air flow through the lofts. The four old bird sections hold standard Widowhood nest boxes, all tiered along the rear wall, floors are dressed with florwite and building sand, with the drinkers raised some six inches above floor level. They change the water three times a day normally, adding vitamins on Wednesday and Saturday, and fly their old birds on the Natural system, removing eggs at various times to keep several teams in different conditions for specific races. I should add that ‘The Village Lad’ flies best to 14 day eggs for what it is worth, proving that there are still men who succeed with the old tried and tested methods. The birds are virtually hopper fed using plastic containers fixed to the pen fronts, which are filled with a bean, pea, and maize mix, based upon Buckton Prince and Regent mixtures, with no breaking down at all after the races. They fly the cocks out for an hour morning and evening, while the hens get a full hour at midday, plus both sexes are trained from 15 miles two or three times a week, to keep them sharp and used to the basket, all very simple and straightforward, and not a lot different to the methods used by the cracks way back in the 1960s.
Young Birds
All of their young birds are flown on the Darkness system, with wooden shutters fixed over the dowels from weaning until Bourges weekend, when they are taken down. While darkened they are flown out just once a day, then twice a day when they come back onto full daylight. The difference I found in their management of young birds is the feeding, where they feed exactly the same mix of beans, peas and maize, but twice a day as much as they can eat both times, and train as often as possible, choosing fine days. I can tell you that ‘The Village Lad’ was a Darkness youngster, I asked the question deliberately, as many feel that young cocks take a long time to respond after being on the Darkness as young birds.
Two Teams
Derek and I had a good look at the old bird team, and I can tell you there were variations which I spotted, and yes, they race two types of pigeons, a well established distance team based on the old Cattrysse family, to which they have added pigeons by crossing them in, then testing them. This has left them with their own family which I like, they are based upon their breeding methods and selection, winning regularly at the distance. I handled one or two of their distance family, including a lovely small grizzle hen, who has been to Bourges 575 miles in the last three seasons, winning 6th Open from 2,369 birds in ’98, 103rd Open from 2,601 birds in ’99, and 93rd Open from 2,541 birds in 2000. She was small and lightly boned with a short keel and close vents, her last three flights were all narrow and well spaced, she too had thrown just one flight and looked to be one of those hens who could fly all day. A loftmate, the dark chequer pied hen, has been to Bourges in the last two seasons winning 89th from 2,601 birds in ’99, then coming again in 2000 to win 27th Open from 2,541 birds, proving that this is not just a sprint/middle distance loft. She is a totally different type to the grizzle, being bigger bodied, absolutely packed with muscle, and broader, more rounded flights, but doing a great job all the same. Derek and Ronnie have flown well for many many years, yes this double Combine win is the highlight of the career today, and would obviously be a highlight for anyone in the Combine, but they have many other fine performances under their belts.
They fly in two clubs, at Howden HS and Percy Main HS, both of which have 25 bird limits in place after the first four races, so they send everything that is fit to the early races, then are very selective after that. They have been overwhelmed by the response from their clubmates who have been brilliant, likewise the Federation members have also shown their acknowledgements, as have many other individuals from far and wide. Derek and Ronnie wish me to say a very public thank you to everyone who has contacted them, while they in turn are deeply indebted to Morgan & Harrison for the sire of ‘The Village Lad’, and Eddie Stevens who is Ronnie’s brother, for he is a great help to them in every way, and every day.
In Search of a Hero
This fantastic win by ‘The Village Lad’ has set my old grey matter whirling, as I have thought of the only other pigeon to have topped the mighty Up North Combine twice, and he was ‘Mons Hero’ who was owned by Brass & Bruce of Easington Lane, a mining village which I visit every Friday evening to sing in the local male voice choir. So it was only natural that I went in search of Jackie Grieves and his fellow fanciers from Easington Lane, to try and bring the heroic ‘Mons Hero’ out of the shadows of time, as this great pigeons has not received the publicity his magnificent performances thoroughly deserve, so here I go delving into history which has always been a great favourite subject to me. The small town of Mons played a significant part in the First World War, and many of our ancestors would know its bomb and shell shattered ruins, it is also the place where the angel appeared in the sky above the British Army, and this same angel sits on top of the War Memorial here in Sunderland. My parents had a friend whose christian name was Mons, which obviously had some tie in with the battles in that area, and I should think that many men from these islands displayed great heroics, before our feathered friend got his chance to carry on the tradition.
The written pigeon history of this 1921/22 period is very fragmented, so I have had to dig around quite a bit to try and piece together some details and facts about this legendary pigeon, who had all but vanished without trace even in his own village. I have found one owner by the name of Hyram Brass, while his partner Mr Bruce has proven very elusive, and I have drawn a complete blank with him, much to my dismay and chagrin. However, ‘Mons Hero’ was raced by Brass & Bruce so he gets his place here and now in this report. Hyram Brass was a man of some substance, being a fruit and vegetable merchant who also dealt in horse trading in the area and further afield quite probably, which could account for the fact of ‘Mons Hero’ being a Hansenne pigeon. The original Hansennes came into England via Alf Darbyshire to Wm Chadwick of Blackburn, who I am sure was involved in horse dealing and I know that Ellis of Newcastle had a chequer pied Hansenne cock, who in the early days of the Combine was acknowledged by many as the unofficial Champion of the Combine, he was such a brilliant performer across the Channel. However that could be Hyram was obviously a good judge of horse flesh to coin the old phrase, and the Hansennes certainly were absolutely superb long distance pigeons, right up to the very highest levels of competition, and I can quote many of them from memory, including ‘Mons Hero’.
Some time shortly after his great double, ‘Mons Hero’ was sold to the great fancier Fred Guthrie of West Hartlepool, and removed to the Oakdene Lofts at Foggy Furse, where he became one of the great stock cocks in Fred’s team, based upon Barker, Gits and Hansenne, which brought him many outstanding wins from Arras 350 miles, Melun 455 miles, Nevers 563 miles, Marennes 610 miles, Angouleme 625 miles, Le Puy 702 miles, San Sebastian 784 miles and Barcelona 930 miles. I cannot and would not lay all of these performances directly at the feet of ‘Mons Hero’s’ offspring, but I know he produced many good long distance performers for both Fred and many other fanciers, and Fred was offering youngsters in 1939 at £1.50 each. Fred Guthrie was 2nd UNC Troyes, twice 3rd UNC Amiens, twice 5th UNC Nevers, 7th UNC Melun, 9th UNC Arras etc, and there ends my tale of ‘Mons Hero’, a pigeon from the past who also won several inland races to back up his colossal Channel wins from Mons in 1921 and Troyes 504 miles in 1922.
It only remains for me to thank the lads from Easington Lane who were so willing to help, providing the photograph of Hyram Brass which is superb and will adorn this report, Morgan & Harrison for the lager, Peter for his great photographs, Derek, Ronnie and Eddie for having the guts and courage to send ‘The Village Lad’ back again, transforming a great pigeon into an historic pigeon.
To close I give you Brass & Bruce’s ‘Mons Hero’ and the up to date Porter & Stevens’ ‘The Village Lad’.
The article was first published in July 2001.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|