by Andy Hughes, Evening Chronicle

More than 2,000 nature enthusiasts were in bird heaven at the annual North of England Homing Union (NEHU) show at the weekend.

Bird traders from around the continent descended on the event at Temple Park Leisure Centre in South Shields on Saturday.

And pigeon racers travelled far and wide to get a peek at some of the leading birds in the popular sport.

Some of the highly-trained creatures were being sold for as much as ?200 and will be competing in Europe’s most prestigious race meets in the coming months.

There were also numerous stalls selling organic bird food, training DVDs, specialist pigeon racing clothes and even supplements to improve the animals’ performance.

Tom Dawson, president of the NEHU, said: “The North East is a hotbed for pigeon racing and this is the biggest event in the region.

“Every year gets bigger and better and the whole point of this event is to allow people to enjoy a fantastic sport.

“These are some of the most finely-tuned athletes of the sky you can find in this country, and this year we even have traders from Belgium, Netherlands and other countries scattered around Europe.

“These birds will be competing at the highest level and that’s why we have so many people here wanting to view and buy the birds.

“They can fly at up to 70mph and travel at an average of 40mph over 230 miles. The creatures are also hugely competitive and want to win.

“There is some real money to be made from pigeon racing.”

Part of the cash made from the event will be shared between numerous charities including the Seaman’s Mission in South Shields and the National Kidney Dialysis Foundation.

Tom added: “Every year we have a special section of the event where all the money goes to charity.”

Tom, who has been pigeon racing since childhood, said he wants to see more youngsters in the North East getting involved in the sport.

He added: “It’s great to see kids walking about studying the birds. They are the future of the sport.”

The NEHU is planning a national campaign to encourage youngsters to compete in pigeon racing.

Temple Park Leisure Centre has hosted the event for the past five years.

By Pam Gladwin

Stambridge pigeon club sent there birds through the Essex Combine to Scotch Corner for the final and longest young bird race of the year on the 18th. September, they were liberated at 7.45am in a light north wind. 11 members sent 170 birds. Mick Waterhouse not only won the race but also was 4th. 5th. as well. In 2006 Mick decided he needed some new blood in his race team and went to see Mr Mrs Streatfield, in Snodland in Kent and brought the parents of this winning Blue Cock, he has been so pleased with these birds that he went back this year and brought some more. His forth place cock is a Lefebre Dhaenens from the late Brian Baxter stock x Ernie Alan. Mick likes the Lefebre Dhaenens, as his fifth place bird is also one but this time its parents are from Jimmy Richard stock. This pigeon was so consistent that it won the nom three times. His young birds are all left to run together some had paired up and had eggs but his winning pigeon did not have a mate. His winning birds have been sent to every young bird race. He had 100% returns all in good condition from Scotch Corner. Mick has had a great year having won old and young bird races. George Bishop was second with one of his family of Van Den Bosch pigeons. Spearpoint & Stagg was third with a Darren Peters bird and sixth with a Stuart Elvin Busschaert. I went to see Mick in his home at Ashingdon to hear about his racing this year. He told me that he has won six races as well as the Young Bird Averages. This is not an easy thing to do in the very strong Stambridge club. He started 2010 by taking the red card from Sleaford on the 10th. April. The following week from Market Rasen he went one better and was 1st. 2nd. The rest of the old bird season saw his name up in the result week after week, coming into the final old bird race he knew if he got a good bird home from Thurso he could win the old bird averages but sadly it was not to be as it turned out to be a very hard race with only a few birds home and he did not time in. Mick had told me earlier in the season when I went to take his photo that he was looking forward to young bird racing and I can see why. He has won four out of the nine races. He started with a 1st. 2nd. from Market Rasen on the 7th. August. Come September he just ran away with it 4th. September Ripon 1st 2nd, September 11th. Market Rasen 1st. 2nd. 3rd. September 18th. Scotch Corner 1st. 4th. 5th.

Mick only keeps six pairs of stock birds; he flies his old birds on widow hood and only races about 16 to 18 old birds and breeds about thirty young birds each year. I asked Mick how long he had been racing and I was surprised when he said about fifteen years. I asked him why he was such a late starter. He told me that although his Grandfather kept pigeons in Leeds when he was a young boy, and he remembers His Granddad used to have a loft in a compound at the end of the road, where he also used to keep his dog, so no one would go near the pigeons because the dog was on guard. Mick said, that was his only contact with the sport. Over the years, he never again thought about pigeons. As he got into his 50s, he began to think about having a hobby for his old age. He thought of various things and it was not until one day he went to service a boiler in the late John Tuckers home and as workman do, got chatting to the customer and John told him he was a pigeon fancier and showed him his pigeons. That started him thinking that it was something he could do then and continue to do when he retired. He was fifty Five when he started racing for the first time, He had got talking to some local fanciers, Tony Ambler and Brian Robinson and joined them in forming The Stambridge club, racing on the North road; he then moved on to the Benfleet club and later decided to have a go at South road racing and joined the Leigh on sea club. After just one year on the South, he sadly had a heart attack, thought that was the end of his racing, and resigned. His health however improved and he decided to go back to north road racing which he found that much easier to train his birds north. He rejoined the Stambridge club. and has not looked back since. He trains his birds about three times a week up to twenty-five miles. He uses garlic and tends to mix his own food along with Super Star Plus. He feeds his birds twice a day. Mick likes to pair up in January and has one round from his widow cocks and hens. He finishes breeding about a month before racing starts and that is when he starts training his widow cocks, on Friday he will let his widow cocks have there hens for an hour before basketing them for the race. His young birds are all put on the darkness system. He told me that he intends buying ETS for next year as catching the pigeons in the loft as they come home is getting harder every year. Already quite a few Stambridge members use the ETS so that will be easy for him.

I asked him what he thought was his best performance, and he said winning the Essex Central Federation and he told me that in 2007 he was 1st. and 3rd. Essex Central Federation from Sleaford. on the 4th. August. Nine clubs, 71 members and 1646 birds. I am not surprised that race was his best. It is not easy to win the Essex Central Fed where he lives. He won it with a Jimmy Richards chequer cock. He showed me the trophies that he has won in his 15 years; he may have been a late starter but a quick learner. As I left him, he was already sorting out his pairings for next year. He would like to thank Jimmy Richards and Mr Mrs Streatfield for the excellent birds that they selected for him. and as we all know the most important person in any club is the secretary, in this case it is Paul Devoto, he took the job on when no one else wanted it and has done a fantastic job. so Mick says thanks.

Pam Gladwin
Phone me on 01702542019 or 07958463095
Email pamelagladwin@yahoo.co.uk

By CHARLES BOOTHE - Staff Writer

Wirtz woman's pigeons have an unusual talent

Carrier pigeons may be the most famous variety of the bird, but those who attend this year's Festival on the Crooked Road will see "rolling" pigeons.

As the name implies, these pigeons roll rather than fly.

Connie Marsh of Wirtz raises these "parlor rollers," birds bred in the mid-1850s in England and in this country, she said.

"There is a breed that rolls in mid-flight, and these were bred from that variety," she said, explaining that the flying rollers will, while in the air, suddenly start tumbling backwards, dropping a distance before taking flight again.

The parlor rollers probably received that name because they could provide entertainment in people's living rooms, she said.

Marsh demonstrated the distinctive talent outside her house on the grass. Pigeon in hand facing her, with a little nudge the bird did a sort of back-flip and rolled, or tumbled, on the grass backwards, making quite a few turns before stopping.

In fact, according a website on parlor rollers, the world record distance for a roll stands at 662 feet. The average roll is between 20 and 30 feet, and competitions are often held with prizes for the longest rollers.

Marsh, a Pennsylvania native who moved to Franklin County nine years ago, is not after a world record. Rather, she said she breeds them because she loves pigeons and enjoys showing them to people.

"I like to take the various breeds to festivals to let people know about the hobby," she said.

That's why she will have her parlor rollers at the Franklin Street Festival on the Crooked Road, set for Saturday, Aug. 29 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

With 13 varieties and about 100 pigeons, she has plenty to show besides the parlor rollers.

One of the most unusual breeds is the "frillback" pigeon, which has curly feathers, giving it the appearance of a curly-haired bird.

"These are hard to find," she said. "I have two males but no females, so I need to find a female."

That will mean a trip to Louisville, Ky., where she found the males.

Marsh said she took an interest in pigeons when she was teenager mainly because she has always been a bird lover.

A member of the Roanoke Valley Bird Club and the Richmond Pigeon Club, she travels to quite a few shows, she said, and won best in show with one of her pigeons, an Egyptian Swift, at the Virginia State Fair three years ago.

Although Marsh doesn't have any carrier pigeons, she does keep homing pigeons, which will find their way back to their roost, even from hundreds of miles away.

But they have to be trained, she said, by starting out at very short distances from the roost and increasing the distance.

Marsh also raises pheasants and has a Himalayan Monal and a Peacock pheasant.

Raising pigeons and other birds is a great hobby, she said.

"It's fun taking care of them, and I go to a lot of (pigeon show) events," she said.

Marsh said her birds are relatively easy to take care of and require many of the same vaccinations and treatments that most pets need.

"The babies get tame very quickly," she said. "And they don't bite (like some other pets). They're not dangerous."

Although a visitor may first notice all the pigeons in their fenced-in pen beside her house, an item on her front porch will also draw some interest.

A small yellow airplane, without the wings, is parked there like a grounded canary.

"I flew it all over the place," she said of her plane, one she built with the help of a mechanic friend. "It took five years to build it."

With a lifelong interest in birds, maybe it should not be surprising that she loves to fly.

But she did more than just fly. Her in-air antics may have rivaled the flying rolling pigeons.

"I did aerobatics," she said, referring to stunts pilots do at air shows. "I also raced."

Marsh said that was back in the 1960s and up until the mid-80s, when she chose a bit more sedate lifestyle.

It also would eventually lead to a move to Franklin County, the motivation for which was part a love of the area and part financial.

"I checked the region and Franklin County had the lowest (real estate) tax rate," she said, adding that she was also surprised at the difference in the cost of housing here compared to where she lived in New Jersey.

"I saw the price of this (her house and land) and I couldn't believe it," she said.

Regardless of the financial reasons, Marsh said this is her home now and she's not going anywhere.

"I love Franklin County," she said.

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