Six on the day from the Kings Cup in 1973
Finishing 16th, 25th, 38th, 70th, 100th and 109th Open in the Irish National Flying Club Kings Cup race from Nantes in 1973 and many other outstanding performances is what has prompted me to visit the Calvert loft on the outskirts of Portadown.
If one was to ask a person who knows nothing about pigeons to describe what they think a pigeon fancier looks like their answer would probably be, “He wears a duncher, lives in a house with a back yard, and rides a bike”. If this were true then Stanley Calvert would not qualify to be a pigeon fancier. But pigeon fancier he is and a very good one at that.
Stanley Calvert and Jimmy Beattie pictured out side the racing loft in deep thought.
Stanley is one of the Calvert Bros, Building Contractors. He lives in a most beautiful home (2,500 square Feet) set in 3 acres of well kept lawn, in the centre of which covering ¼ of an acre, is an aviary and inside a lovely pond and 23 different species of ornamental duck.
Roaming the lawn are several beautiful peacocks showing off in all their splendour as only they can. He pens along one side of the lawn there are quite a number of species of fowl and another row of aviary houses with some beautiful birds including “Charlie” the Cockatoo. A good talker he bid me time of day and didn’t seem to be put off in the least by my presence. You get no marks for realising by now that Stanley is a real bird lover. Add to the fowl the duck, and the fancy birds, pigeons, several lofts of the best that money can buy, and just to keep from feeling lonely he has 6 dogs comprising of 3 Labradors, one Pointer, and 2 Jack Russells.
Dk Cheq Flown Nantes on four occasions finishing in the prizes on three of these with the highest position of 6th Open gained. Raced by S Agnus of Donaghadee and now owned by Stanley Calvert.
Enough to keep his hands full you might say, more than enough in fact and he is glad of the help given by Jimmy Beattie who does the loft chores and a lot of the training. Stanley started keeping pigeons when he was a lad but he really started in earnest when he purchased E A Robinson and Whiteside blood from Whiteside of Crumlin and some birds from Bob McDowell of Lisnabreeney (he purchased his first clock and hampers at the later sale). Stanley introduced some other birds from some of the top fanciers here and his first real taste of success was in 1965 when he won the NIPA O/Bird Derby from Dinard. The winning bird was a Blue Cheq Keelbe Cock purchased as a squeaker from Syd Montgomery. He won a total of £600. Stanley rates this performance as his best but he has some other very good National positions including winning 4th Open Nantes 542 miles in 1972. This bird is a G/Son of Tommy Harper of Ballymena’s famous “Iron Man”.
Blue Cheq cock winner of 4th Open Nantes flying with the INFC. Bred and Raced by Stanley Calvert.
The racing loft is 54ft long with a corridor the full length of the loft. It is divided into 4 sections some of which are sub divided. It has running water and electricity and a small store for the feeding. Birds enter the loft via the conventional trap.
Feeding is on a No2 mixture. Grit and minerals always before the birds. A little seed is given as a tit-bit.
He doesn’t like the birds picking about on the lawn while they are feeding Y/Birds so as soon as they are weaned he gives them the open loft. During the racing season they get a couple of 40 mile tosses per week and in the build up to the Derby and National race they get more hamper work according to the bird’s needs. With the mention of the longer races I asked Stanley which birds he preferred for these i.e. the old tried strains on the Irish route or the Dordins or Krauths. He told me he most preferred the old tried strains. The Dordins on the whole have been found wanting at the distance into Northern Ireland and they just don’t seem to like the vast amount of water to cross. However, if they were crossed with a well seasoned family of Irish Channel winners I feel that they might add a little speed and eventually prove successful. However a few fanciers have done well up to Dinard with the Dordins. Stanley Calvert, like most fanciers has set his heart on winning the Kings Cup and the way he has shaped in the past few seasons there is every indication that before long he could lift this coveted prize.
Red Cheq Cock winner of 11th Open Irish National Flying Club Nantes for Yarr Bros. Now owned by Stanley Calvert
By pure coincidence I happened to have reached this point of my report just prior to the 2 French races from Dinard and Nantes and so I decided to wait until after the races to complete the article so that I could the story well and truly up-to-date. I’m delighted I did because at Nantes, 542 miles Stanley timed 6 birds on the winning day a fantastic performance and a record number of birds to be timed from the race point into Northern Ireland.
All six birds were two year olds and descended from the very best that money can buy. All the birds, with one exception, were sitting 10 to 14 days on eggs. The other, a Blue Cheq Pied Hen, a daughter of last years 4th Open Winner, who was sent feeding a Y/Bird around one week old.
It is obvious to me that Stanley Calvert’s birds are starting to come into their own. He has purchased some good French winners in the past few years and their progency are starting to make their mark. Six birds in the money from Nantes in one race is an excellent pointer for the future. Stanley is no mean fancier, a deep thinker about the sport and puts a great deal of thought into his matings. He has even experimented with ½ brother and sister matings. These on the whole have not been successful, but one such mating from 2 birds from Billy Yarr’s Blue Fed Hen produced a great racer – a tip hen. In a period of 2 weeks as a Y/Bird she won 14th Section Y/Bird Derby from Haverford and one week later she won 5th Open Penzance Y/Bird National, only 23 birds on the day, and the following Saturday 8th Bann Valley Haverfordwest only 15 birds on the day. Three Channel races as a Y/Bird and 3 excellent positions.
Red Cheq Cock winner of 7th Open Dinard for S Naternaghan. Now owned by Stanley Calvert.
From breeding to “Eye-Sign” Stanley like to see a good eye but he doesn’t go over-board about Eye-Sign. He has found from experience that many a bird with a good eye has gone down so he goes for breeding – blood in other words he is continually looking for good blood because blood is the thing which counts especially at the distance into Northern Ireland. Stanley’s set-up is geared for longer races with his long distance blood and does not expect to do well in the early races. He believes that it is well worth waiting for the longer races and I think he should especially when you get 6 in the money from Nantes. Stanley Calvert has the right ideas about his favourite sport and has the best of blood and I believe that if his record of 6 birds on the winning day from Nantes is to be beaten then it will be done by himself. Why? Because he is geared for it.
It was a great pleasure to walk around these great lofts and handle the magnificent stock birds. It was also a real pleasure to see the beautiful gardens and birds. Magnificent truly magnificent.