With Sunday racing putting a stop to my visits up to ‘Gods Country’ Northumberland to take in both The UNC’s Bourges, and Eastbourne/Rivenhall 1st UNC winning lofts of Tait Bros and Donaldson and son respectively, so it was The Reims UNC winning loft of Ian and Liz Purver that got the visit in front of the above two, although being flown AFTER the above two. With Skinningrove being much closer to me, just a 15 minutes or so drive away, and with both Ian and Liz being available for a visit on any day, so one very warm and clear Tuesday morning, I went across to this ex iron-ore mining seaside village to take in not only the winning loft, but I popped in for a brief visit to see the 2nd UNC winning loft of Ian Stafford’s and Mark ‘Sparky’ Wilson’s, both flying with the Skinningrove HS. Well ‘to the victor comesthe spoils’ as the saying goes, so this article will be about a husband and wife team that health wise, have not had the best of things over the last few years. But with the help of skilled doctors, within the much mangledby some, health authority personnel, Ian and Liz have come through some very trying times, and have put together some very impressive sets of figures within The UNC, and flying into a hot bed of UNC fliers. The Skinningrove HS and East Cleveland federation members just this decade have won 1st Lillers OB, Ian Stafford; 1st Lillers OB Tony Trattles; 1st Maidstone YBN Keith and Matty Arkless; Sayers Bros Lillers: Ian Everington, Folkestone; Ian Brown, Maidstone yearling; John Weldon, Lillers; Chris Vasey, Maidstone YBN; Richards and Marsay, Maidstone/Peterborough YBN, all 1st UNC winners so you can see they aren’t flying against ‘second raters’ not even in their own area, you have to be ‘trying’ when the classic races come around, or you’ll win nothing. Before we went up to the loft, I sat with Ian and Liz with a cold soft drink, getting up to date, for it had been quite some time since we had last met. Back in 2000 Ian reckons, when I was still workingat what was then SouthClevelandHospital, and Ian was in for an operation, and when I saw him he was talking to the late Colin Brown of Redcar HS, a top class flier of that time, and Ian says he still misses him to this day. Ian still isn’t capable of working, the problem then still keeps him off work to this day, and as stated, Liz has just come through further health matters of her own. Can I begin with a great set of figures that this long time established loft has won prior to this win, a quite extensive list totalling over 30 UNC turns, and all in the top 50, so if I had the FULL total of UNC turns won on UNC sheets it would no doubt be in the 100’s. There is for a start 2 x 1st UNC’s straight away to be mentioned, the one they have just won, and a 1st UNC won by Ian and partners from Harlow YB National back in 1990, when there was a 20’618 entry, and the winner was well fancied winning 1st NECC at the race. A Maidstone OB 1st UNC winner flown by Gary Robson of The Celtic club in 2005 from 14’701 birds had a major Ian Purver influence, very major, for Ian bred it! A 2nd UNC from 26’854 birds, a 3rd UNC from 24’199 birds, and at this race they had another to take 9th UNC which gave them the best 2B performance, then we have another 3rd UNC from 14’521 birds, and so on, a quite brilliant set of UNC figures. The club I call ‘the best from the best’ cause there is some top class UNC lofts nominating at what ever race on what ever day, what they regards as being their best 3 entries, The NECC, this has been won 8 times. The Roy Chubby Brown show race, open to both East Cleveland and North Yorks feds, again fanciers putting in their best to try to win the trophy and the race, this is usually the first channel race, this loft has won it 3 times. Surely the above set of figures will lead readers to the conclusion that this is quite a loft, that has been around for quite some time, and doing in the process quite a bit of winning, and at the very top as well. So just what are Ian and Liz flying to achieve these brilliant set of figures, well no surprise there, Gaby Vandabeeles, and brought in from Dickie and Mark Evans, and Ian was at pains to tell me that Dickie and Mark have been great with them over quite few years, becoming friends as well as being fellow pigeon fanciers. The winning BHis bred from all the best M&D Evans lines, with Jumping Jack Flash, Band of Gold on one side, and a touch of Bliskem, one of Gaby’s very top breeders on the other side, the very best lines. She was flown to just 2 or 3 races as an YB, being just a natural YB, and was just steady away as a yearling. She then becamea bit more prominent as a 2yo, taking cards at Rivenhall and also Eastbourne, then at Reims last year she came well taking 41st UNC, so you can now see why Ian and Liz fancied her so much for this years Reims, and didn’t she just deliver! She won’t go on to do it again though, for she has gone down to M&D Evans where she will no doubt be mated to some top class Vandenabeele cocks. She was sent to Reims split, having been paired early this year, as all stock and race were, rearing just the one YB, and then left paired sitting dummy eggs right up to the first inland national, when the race team was then split for the longer races, which Ian much prefers. We don’t have anything ‘fancy’ either at these loft’s, the photo shows just how things are in this area. Cliff side lofts, great on a nice summer’s day as it was at my visit, but an entirely different life when winter comes. Still a beautiful place to fly and enjoy your pigeons, but this area is just a stones throw from The North Sea, and when it howls around there, the weather can be brutal, Feeding is as basic as can be, each part of our racing and breeding season the appropriate feed is used, but Ian favours the Vandenabeele mixes for racing, and will switch to say Beyers during the close season. But always using brands that are say a breeding mix at breeding time, a racing mix when racing, a moulting mix when moulting, but all are of top branded continental names, good corn in other words. Again when feeding, nothing fancy, a light mixture on the morning, tray feeding seed, pin head oatmeal, canary seed etc, but the appropriate race mix after exercise at night is fed, again in trays. Again, nothing fancy as regards training, just short tosses of about 12 miles or so, but when they begin to exercise as Ian would like them to, training is discontinued. Keeping the bird’s right health wise is again just basic, canker, cocci, respiratory every so often, using medications recommended by Australian vet and fancier Colin Walkers, but if there is anything that he feels could be wrong, testing would then be done, and if anything was found to be wrong, it would be obviously put right. It’s not a big set up either, a small team of stock pigeons rear 2 round for themselves, and they then get a few reared for good friends down in Cornwall Rob and Theresa Kemp. Ai I have already mentioned winters around The NE coastline can be severe, so exercise for ALL birds ceases as soon as racing is over. The OB’s were ‘cabined up’ as soon as their season was over, and the YB’s will follow suit. Mobile cages will be placed over the openings to allow the birds access to for fresh air, and for baths, which will see them through the moult. The YB’s this year are a mixture of Darkness YB’s with a few naturals, the naturals will get only so much racing, before being stopped, and that works, for the Reims UNC winner was treat that way, and one thing I did notice, even though there was 2 teams of YB’s in evidence, I’ll bet they didn’t number any more than say 40 to 50 at the very most. As this is being wrote up to be sent, Ian and Liz have just sent to the second YB race, just 19 sent, and just 2 still AWOL on the Sunday, so no ‘massive numbers’ then here. A couple of lofts that have done well with birds from Ian and liz are the likes of Benny Sayers, a new starter gifted a YB bred from Kerensa, a daughter of a brilliant race hen and stock hen Gaby 07. That YB won Benny best performance by a novice from the YB National, taking 20th UNC from 17’763 birds, and it went on to win 2 x 1st clubs, and feds, with a 1st section and a 2nd section to. He then sent a YB from it to Loftus BB which won 18th UNC, and £1’000 in the B/B race. Another top performer for Ian and Liz won 1st club, 21st UNC Andrezel, 4’687 birds, as well as 4th club, 19th section ‘4’219 birds Rivenhall. The same bird flying with The YMR had a 2nd club Arras, 2nd club, Eastbourne; 2nd club Clermont; 2nd club Clermont again, and a 4th club Clermont, this with The 2B Continental club, that was sent with The YMR. An YB from Phantomwas gifted to PigeonLand for funds, Stewart Watson from South Bank bought it, and it won 3 x 1sts, a 2nd, and a 5th club, also 21st UNC 20’270 birds. Ian says to add BP thanks to quite a few people who have contacted them with messages etc congratulating them on their success, and also Ian would like to thank the likes of Rod Adams, always there to advise if need be, and obviously further thanks to Mark and Dickie Evans for the supply of some great stock over the years, and their continuing friendship to. Right, there we are then, a loft that might not have won 100’s of 1st prizes or averages, but nevertheless, a loft that has over many years, especially when the races get past say the 200 miles mark, has won more than its share of 1sts, 2 x 1st UNC’s among this lofts 1stprizes won. And as can be shown by results I have put in from other races and people, they win well especially at those longer races, and for other lofts. It was a lovely morning, and it was ‘lovely’ to meet up with Ian again, and Liz for the first time, far better than a hospital corridor eh Ian? All the best to you both, keep well, thanks and regards. BP