By Chris Williams
“Lady Elanor “ of The British Homing World has set me a task of herculean
proportion . I have been asked to present readers with a history of the National
Flying club , an undertaking which has fascinated and frustrated me in equal
measure . but I have never been one to shy away from a challenge. To list every
fancier ever to attain racing glory in this hallowed and historic institution would
take the sum of a thousand lifetimes and even that would only be nothing more
than a meagre scratch upon the surface , equally to attempt nothing would be the
greatest insult to the memory of those who have gone before us in laying the
foundation of a racing establishment of which our great nation with her eons of
history can and indeed should without question or hesitation be justly proud , for we
truly stand on the shoulders of giants whose efforts have echoed through the ages ,
Ladies and Gentlemen here’s to The National Flying Club !
The year is 1898 , Queen Victoria is on the throne , Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-
Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury is Prime Minister and the British Empire is at the
hight of her Imperial powers and India is the jewel in the crown . This was also a
momentous turning point in the history of pigeon racing as it marked the foundation
of The National Flying club of Great Britain , Martin Johnes of the History department
of Swansea University notes that “Pigeon racing before the 1890s was largely a
localized, even introspective, sport of short-distance competitions. No doubt the
industrial revolution an advent of the railways also contributed toward the growth of
what we fanciers know today as long-distance racing . The first National race, open
to all England, predated the use of timing clocks and took place from La Rochelle in
1894, with 384 competitors sending 610 birds. Naturally such races required
organization and later, National and Regional associations were formed. It is
interesting to note that the race from La Rochelle preceded both the NFC and the
founding of what is known today as The RPRA . With the growth of long-distance
racing, the social base of pigeon racing began to diversify and the sport grew in both
popularity and “social standing”. Of course the importance of the Royal heritage of
our sport must not be underestimated or overlooked in promotion of the sport . A
letter to The Times Newspaper published in 1899 stated: Since the Prince of Wales
won the race from Lerwick a national interest has been taken in racing pigeons, as is
shown by the announcements in the daily papers, and there is every indication that
the sport will become more and more popular as it becomes more understood:
indeed, I go so far as to say that it is only through ignorance of the fascination of the
sport of pigeon racing that there are not many more good men in our ranks at the
present time. The British Royal Family hold the record for being the clubs longest
serving member for the House of Windsor has actively raced within the club for
over 120 years, once again showing the shear passion for the pigeon sport that
exists within the Royal House hold.
On the Shoulders of Giants
By Chris Williams
One cannot attempt to pen an article on the history of the NFC nor that of the
subject of long-distance pigeon racing without paying homage to John W. Logan
MP who is described as “ a man of immense wealth and influence”, as I have all
ready pointed out pigeon racing initially consisted of short distance events but the
likes of Logan with his enterprising endorsement would found not only the NFC
of which he became Chair but also establishing the United Counties Flying Club.
Between 1929 and 1954 few fanciers were more successful and consistent than the
great Vic Robinson of Hampshire and Author of “My Methods and the Technique of
Long-Distance Racing” published in 1955. Vic came to the sport aged 16 sometime
between the years 1911 or 1912 and by the 1930’s he was a force to be reckoned
with , for example in the course of one decade of being in the sport our subject was
not once out of the prizes in long and tough distance competition. In fact his
successes were phenomenal for he won the 1934 National from San Sebastian and,
in his time, the National Homing Union Gold Medal and every trophy of that body
including the two-bird and three-bird competitions. For any serious National minded
fancier the ultimate goal must be Pau or today Tarbes , arguably one the toughest
National races from Pau accrued in 1952 , to which Vic had16 pigeons entered and
13 were clocked in race time with the other three arriving soon after. His 13
candidates timed occupied positions between 25th and 127th. And of course Vic
Robinson (of Baddesley, Hants) almost won another NFC National from Pau in 1954
when he finished 2nd.
According to the 1927 edition of the infamous Squills Diary the winner of the Grand
National in 1924 and 25 respectively was the eminent F.W Marriot firstly with
“Triumph” from San Sebastian which flew both the Rennes and Nantes in
preparation , where as his game hen aptly named “Repetition “ was sent to Rennes
one month prior to her San Sebastian Win . The 1926 San Sebastian race was
flown on 12 th of July 1,020 birds competing for the kings Cup which was won by M
Edmunds velocity 930 winning The kings Cup , Members Cup ,a Toulet Clock and
the sum of £104.15s 0d. The convoy was liberated at 1PM in a North west wind ,
according to an article pend that year by FW Marriot that particular race for many
fanciers was extremely testing due to the heat at the time of the liberation . The
secretary at this time was L, Gilbert of Lewisham Conveyors were Messrs Rhead
and Steels .
F W Marriott began racing pigeons in 1899 and flew both the North Road and the
South Road into England , the base of his successful family of pigeons was a cock
called Dreadnought, who was bred in 1908 containing the bloodlines of Marriott's old
Bordeaux Cock and Toft's winner of 1st NFC Bordeaux 1899. The Bordeaux Cock
was from an unnamed Belgian source and a full sister to “Jumbo “who flew and won
from Granville, Rennes and Marennes in three consecutive years, plus 6th Open
NFC San Sebastian in 1907. As the Editor for a time of the British Homing World it
has been said that Fred Marriott was in the position of obtaining pigeons from the
On the Shoulders of Giants
By Chris Williams
best fanciers of his day. That being said like all fanciers He made his share of
mistakes for example when he disposed of Dreadnought in 1915 admitting later that
he had made a great blunder. He apparently had sired winners with any hen he was
ever paired with. Of his many winning offspring perhaps the greatest was the famous
Lerwick Hen who in 1920 won 1st Open Lerwick and in the following year won the
King's Cup outright for Marriott by repeating what she accomplished the previous
year. This great racer also contained Moss bloodlines.
Moving forward it is only fitting that a fancier by the name of John Mclaren should
feature in this article for in 1967 at just 29 years of age, he won the coveted 1 ST
open Kings Cup from Pau and in doing so became the youngest ever winner of the
Pau Grand National race winning The King's Cup, Langstone Gold Cup, Oliver Dix
Trophy, Osman Memorial Trophy and RPRA gold medals . He began in the sport in
the year 1950 at the tender age of 13 years , as was typical for many a young
fancier of the day John kept his first pair of pigeons in a tea chest , but dear readers
please don’t let that fool you because during his formative years John Mclaren would
come into contact with the iconic Norman Southwell. In exchange for helping on the
Southwell farm John was gifted eggs from the Southwell loft and no doubt he also
received a wealth of knowledge during this time . John immediately set about the
task of building upon this solid foundation and as a result set about acquiring birds
direct from other top performers in National competition. Many were tried and tested
but only three introductions stood up to the testing process and were subsequently
integrated into the Southwell base. Amongst these was a blue cock bred down from
Bert Craddock’s top Lerwick pigeons; a light red chequer cock bred from Moore &
Wooton’s Pau pigeons.[This partnership were 1st NFC Pau in 1950 and 8th Open
Pau in 1952 to Stoke on Trent]. Lastly a mosaic hen bred direct from Jack Brain’s
Lerwick pair. The Jack Brain Spangle family were, and for that matter still are famous
for their long distance exploits racing from the Shetlands into Somerset. A little later,
in the 1960s, a black cock was obtained as a gift from the successful Up North
Combine loft of Gippert & Henry. This cock when crossed with a hen of the McLaren
– Southwells produced “Julie”, the 1967 NFC Pau King’s Cup winner. Julie in turn
went on to produce generation after generation of top class racers especially when
crossed with the Vandenbrouke’s which were introduced in 1968. This family had set
the south of England alight with their outstanding results in middle distance races
and John obtained the best bred from the original imports, in order to sharpen up his
predominantly long distance family, so that he could develop birds to win from 100 –
670 miles.
82 years after the National Flying clubs foundation . The late great Jed Jackson of
Worthing would secure his place in history as the blind fancier who won the Pau
Grand National race of 1980. Jed’s Pau National winner was his natural blue
chequer hen, Champion ‘Genista’. She was bred in 1978 from a blue cock obtained
from John Langstone of the West Midlands and won the National at her first time at
Pau, with 5,884 birds competing. John Langstone was a great fancier in his own right
On the Shoulders of Giants
By Chris Williams
winning 1 st open N.F.C. Pau and 1 st open N.F.C. Nantes, and of course he presented
the famous, ’Langstone Gold Cup’, to the National Flying Club. Not only was Jed a
great long distance fancier but a prolific scribe with a wonderful poetic turn of phrase
which gained him legions of readers . ‘Genista’ flew Berwick five weeks before
winning the ultimate prize of 1 st open NFC Pau .
As I have spent time putting this article together , I have found that by immersing
myself in the history of the National Flying Club of Great Britain it is clear that
Passion has been a persistent force in driving both pigeons , fanciers and this most
distinguished of clubs to attaining new heights , it strikes me we have not only a
tremendous legacy to treasure but a profound duty to see the NFC grow !
Chris Williams NFC press Officer.
