Reg Martin & Son of Tilbury
10/03/2009

Keith Motts The Champions of Yester Year (Part 3.)

Reg Martin & Son of Tilbury.

We must have picked one of the coldest days of the year to view the 'Ace' Cattrysse family of Reg Martin & Son. But what we saw was well worth the frozen hands. At that time the Martins' loft had excelled many times at club, Federation and Combine level including three times winning 1st Combine.

Reg and his son Kenny started up with two pairs from the local power station, after which some birds were obtained from their next door neighbor. They started racing in 1967 and broke their novice status that year in the first young bird race from Huntingdon. In 1968 the partners obtained four pairs of Cattrysse pigeons direct from Les Davenport and they never looked back after that. Some more birds were later purchased from Les Davenport and also from Pearson and Airs of Middlesbrough. Three of the original Davenport birds were still in the loft on my visit, one of which was considered to be the sire of the loft. This great champion stock cock was their twelve ­year-old blue chequer 'Son of Pokke', which was a son of 'Pokke' when paired to 'Ce-Feste'. This cock was sire of numerous winners and had been paired to every stock hen in the loft. Another of the original birds was the ten-year-old blue hen 'Betty' and she was an outstanding racer before being put to stock, winning 1st club, 1st Federation Fraserburgh, 1st club Berwick, 1st club 5th Federation Thurso (516 miles). Since at stock she had bred many winners, this good hen was bred down from 'The Tip'.

The partners' three-section racing loft was 20 feet x 7 feet and houses 18 pairs of racers. The birds were trapped through open doors and a sand litter was used on the loft floor. About 25 youngsters were bred each year and the six pairs of stock birds were housed in a two-section stock loft, which measures 12 feet x 6 feet. The birds were raced on the natural system, but Reg said he would like to race on widowhood if he had the time. The feed all the year around was a good quality mixture of beans, peas, maize and tares, with good condition seed as a tit bit. The partners thought plenty of clean water, minerals and grit were very important in good loft management and every nest box had pots for minerals and grit. Racers and stock birds were all paired up together the second week in February.

The first pigeon I handled on my visit was the 1974 bred blue chequer hen 'Wendy', winner of 3rd club Stonehaven, 1st club, 1st Federation, 1st London N.R. Combine (4,748 birds) Thurso (516 miles) 1976. This great hen handled medium long cast and had a nice rich eye. When she won the combine she was sitting 14-day eggs. Her sire was a dark pied cock bred by Les Davenport. She was a wonderful type, almost showy, and her feathering had real quality. Next to hand was the star bird of 1977, a two-year-old blue chequer hen, 'Tilbury Queen' which had to her credit, 4th club Morpeth (269 miles), 1st club, 1st Federation, 38th Open Essex N.R. Combine Berwick, 1st club, 1st Federation, 1st Open London N.R. Combine Berwick Yearling 1977. She handled much the same as 'Wendy' being medium, long cast, and she was sent sitting 12-day eggs when she won 1st Combine. I inspected many more outstanding birds, including their good blue cock '73' the winner of 1st club Chatteris, 1st club Gainsborough, 2nd club Peterborough, 1st club, 3rd Federation (916 birds) Wetherby. The winners of club and Federation were chocker in this outstanding family, and would be too many to list.

Both partners worked at the Isle of Grain Power Station and Reg held the position of Clock Controller in the Thurrock Federation. The Martins were basically against the idea of Stud Farms and thought there should be a great deal more co-operation between Federations on liberation times, so as to avoid the now too common clashing. They both rated Les Davenport of Ropley as the number one fancier and said his performances in the National races at that time were second to none. Reg liked the long distance races best and said the harder the better.

Reg and Kenny started training the old birds about a month before the first race and were trained five days a week from about 30 miles. The Tilbury C.C. Club had their own small transporter for training and the Martins used this for their birds. They said it was a good idea as the youngsters get used to coming out of the race crates with a mob of other birds. The young birds were trained really hard and were sent to every young bird race. The partners didnt base their management on eyesign, but liked to see a nice rich eye on their birds.

Reg and Kenny's third Combine winner, a 1972 bred blue hen named "Samantha' was sold to Mr. Wilson of Maidstone for £200 a few weeks before my visit, her full performance was 6th club Gainsborough, 3rd club 6th Federation (1,731 birds) Wetherby, 1st club 2nd Federation (1,266 birds) Northallerton, 5th club Perth, 1st club, 1st Federation, 48th Open London N.R. Combine (6,752 birds) Stonehaven,

1st club, 1st Federation, 1st Open Essex N.R. Combine (2,434 birds) Thurso (516 miles). A great pigeon!

It was a great day out, going to Essex and looking over the Martins great loft of birds, it was a real pleasure, in spite of the cold. Next time we have very special CHAMPIONS, when we are featuring one of our greatest long distance racers, in the form of Cyril Medway of Southampton. I can be contacted on telephone number: 01372 463480.

TEXT & PHOTO BY KEITH MOTT.