1st Open EDC Dinard 1972
Annsborough is a quiet picturesque little village in Co.Down, only a few miles from the popular seaside resort of Newcastle and close by lies Dundrum Bay. Newcastle, Dundrum and Annsborough have quite a sprinkling of popular and successful pigeon fanciers not least of which are the Benson Bros from Annsborough.
They race each week with the East Down Combine and very successfully, too. Their Club used to race with the much larger NIPA and the brothers, Albert and Alan, did not disgrace themselves for in the first two seasons with that organisation they won 1st Open Arklow and 2nd Open Penzance and that’s not bad racing by any standards considering racing against upwards of 20,000 pigeons.
Albert and Alan Benson winners of 1st Open EDC Dinard holding a couple of their excellent racers.
Benson Bros started racing in 1963 but prior to this they always had a few birds flying around home. Their first loft was only a barrel but the present one is some 30ft by 5 & ½ ft and is definitely built for the small man. If you are a big fella you could come out of the loft with a creek in your neck. It has four compartments and the birds enter by the conventional trap method. The loft is cleaned several times daily and kept scrupulously clean. At the moment it houses approximately 6 pairs of stock birds and about 60 birds altogether are wintered.
Feeding is by hand twice daily and consists of a No 1 mixture of Beans, Peas and Tares plus a little maize from time to time. The Brothers spend a great deal of time with the birds when feeding.
The birds have the open loft most of the day and they get two or three 15 mile tosses per week and the racers have to toe the line every week. I asked them why they work the birds so hard. The answer was simple and straight to the point. They said that they had nursed some birds and jumped them into the longer races. The same percentage of these were lost so they decided that there was no real advantage to be gained by resting so provided they are fit they go every week. Now this method may not be everybody’s cup of tea but if one studies their racing record in detail then you just can’t fault them.
“The Big Hen” winner of 31st Open Irish National Flying Club Nantes, Bred and Raced by Benson Bros of Annsborough.
The present team of birds contain the best blood from R Chambers of Dromore obtained through their friend Derek Connor and the best of the Norman Raey, blues and Blue Pieds. Since 1968 the brothers have been doing exceptionally well in Open Competition. That season saw them competing in the very hard East Down Combine Skibbereen Y/Bird Derby when only 28 birds made it home of the day. The Benson Bros timed two to finish 19th and 28th Open. The following year, 1969, saw them come very close to winning the Graham Trophy for the best average the three INFC races. Their positions were – Penzance Y/Bird National 19th, 34th and 85th Open; Skibbereen Y/Bird National – 34th Open; Nantes Kings Cup 51st Open, really great racing. In 1970 they won 31st Open Nantes with their “Big Hen”, a cousin of the 1969 51st Open winner. In 1971 they clocked on the 2nd day from Nantes just outside of the money, this Black Cock made amends in 1972 finishing 81st Open against 2,151 in a very hard race. 1972 also see them win 1st Open East Down Combine Dinard with a 3 year old Blue Hen.
I will focus now to the birds responsible for breeding some of these winners. I’ll start with the Chambers. In the mid sixties their friend Derek Connor was doing well from France with a Red Hen a G/Daughter of Bobby Chamber’s Kings Cup winner, “Prince of Orange”. The Red Hen was 7th Open Nantes in 1964, 106th Open when only 109 in race time in 1965 and 55th when only 75 in race time in 1966, pooled all the way to £5 winning £400. Benson Bros obtained a Y/Bird from this hen and they are breeding really good pigeons as a consequence. The Red Hen is in fact G/Mother of both the 31st and 51st Open Nantes pigeons. The G/Sire of nearly all the last Benson Bros birds is a Black Cheq Cock a son of “Prince of Orange” and 563. Another bird whose blood is to be found in many of the Benson birds is a Black Hen, again raced by Derek Connor, she is from Bill McCammond of Newtownards. She flew Nantes in 1964 and 1965 and was 2nd Club Dinard 1966, went back again in 1967 to Nantes and was picked up exhausted in Newcastle on the 3rd day only a few miles from home. Only 19 birds were timed in the three days.
Blue Hen – winner of 1st Open East Down Combine Dinard 1972 Bred and Raced by Benson Bros.
The pride of the Benson loft however is their Blue Hen winner of 1st Open East Down Combine Dinard Derby 1972.
Only bird in race time in the Combine and one of only five birds timed on the day from a total liberation of 4,500 pigeons, a magnificent achievement. There is a bit of a story behind the breeding of this hen. In 1964 the brothers got a Blue Pied Cock stray as a Y/Bird in their loft. They reported it and found it belonged to Ted Alexander of Lisburn, a pure Norman Raey, and the brothers were permitted to keep it. It raced all the way up to Penzance as a yearling, winning 2nd Open NIPA Penzance. They went to Ted Alexander looking a hen to go to the cock but he advised them to go to Norman Raey. They did this and from the mating produced a Blue Pied Cock which turned out to be the Sire of the Dinard Hen. They went back to Norman Raey and got another hen, this time a ½ sister to his “Derry Hen”, dam of two Blue Hens to win over £1,000, from Dinard. This hen turned out to be the mother of the Dinard Hen. She had previously flown Dinard in 1971 and as a Y/Bird in 1969 won £25 from Skibbereen so the Dinard race just wasn’t a flash in the pan.
Blue Cheq cock – winner of 1st Club Haverford West; 1st Club, 12th Combine Okehampton; 6th Club Penzance and 3rd Club, 20th EDC Dinard O/Bird Derby 1972. Bred and Raced by Benson Bros.
Two other birds which I like a lot were the “Big Hen” and her ½ brother, a Blue Chequer. He won 1st Club Haverford West Y/Bird Derby in 1968 and last season won 1st Club Okehampton, 12th Combine, 6th Club Penzance and finished with 3rd Club, 20th Combine Dinard, a fine seasons racing. The “Big Hen” a magnificent big strong bird and one of the best hens I’ve seen, she won 31st Open Nantes in 1970 and flew Nantes again in 1971. The last bird I propose to mention is a sturdy Black Cheq Cock flown Nantes in 1971 and 1972, clocked both times on the 2nd day, just missing the prizes in 1971 but winning 81st Open in 1972 in a very hard race from 2,151 birds.
Black Cheq Cock – winner of 81st Open Irish National Flying Club Kings Cup Nantes 1972. Bred and Raced by Benson Bros, Annsborough.
Albert and Alan Benson have done exceptionally well in the few years they have been racing pigeons. They have worked hard to gain experience and have put a great deal of thought into their breeding pairs. And here I think lies the main reason for their success, their breeding pairs. They have bought wisely and are now reaping their just reward. As well as having really good breeders they work tremendously hard with their birds and the two together add up to a great deal of success. I’m sure their names will be to the forefront for many years to come. They won 13 Cups in their Club in 1972 and I’m sure they won’t part with these easily.