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IN THE 4 GROUND - RE-VISITED. PART 5.
PHIL AYRES & FAMILY, STOCKTON.
By Davey Barkel.
“A Family Concern!”
My fifth Pigeonland loft visit was literally a few yards from Dicky Jones, with whom I had arranged to visit Phil Ayres (Phil411) and his young family, who are new starters to the racing game! Dick introduced us, and while Amanda cuddled up in their sitting cabin to 15 week old Emily, Phil‘s latest addition to his now 5 strong squad of young trainee loft managers, we cracked on with the loft report!
Phil has been around pigeons since being 4 years of age, and as he grew he sometimes helped out at the loft of his late uncle Judd Samuel who was a good channel flier. After a period away from the birds, Phil returned to help a friend in 2009, then decided to have a go with racing with his young but enthusiastic family in the October of the same year! The loft is a tidy affair, with a little stock section, a little old bird section, and a little young bird section. Phil is already planning further extensions to the loft though! While there I was amazed to see the squad of children in and out of the lofts, playing with the birds and being actively involved. They were keen to talk and give their two penneth as well! Phil’s youth team is made up of 11 year old Chelsea, 8 year old Bethany, 6 year old “Big Phil” the main man, and two year old Abigail who was happy to pose for the photo’s!
It was plain to see the work the family had put into their tidy garden, the sitting cabin one end of the garden, loft at the other, play area and play pen in the middle, and a small section to the left where the children are encouraged to grow their own vegetables!
Back to the pigeons, the families housed here are mainly Janssen’s and Busschaert’s that have come as gifts via Dicky Jones, Billy Clamp, Ray Peel and Ian Young. The old birds are raced on the Natural system, with squad numbers being currently only two pairs, and 26 young birds. The youngsters are natural this year also, but the intention is to race on the darkness system next season. Although Phil is a new starter, he is interested in eyesign, and uses this along with advice from Ray Peel on how to pair.
The family’s best race bird so far is a Cheq Cock that they got in as a stray from Fish Bros. Phil’s best moment so far was almost winning a race, but said his main thrill is coming from working with his young bird team and trying to get them ready! When asked for his advice and tips he responded “I get plenty of that!” and said Dicky, Ray and Ian are always there for help, and he gets a lot of good use from the websites with his lap top!
I spoke a little with 6 year old “Big Phil!" He loves being with the birds, and marked cleaning out, ringing youngsters, basketing, raceday’s, aswell as helping to build and extend the lofts as his favourite parts of pigeon racing so far! The girls Bethany and Chelsea are keen too, with Chelsea intent on being even more active once she has finished secondary school!
It was an absolute pleasure, a marvellous feeling, to see such a family orientated set up, with the driving force behind the set-up being the involvement of the children! In this day and age of ever decreasing numbers in the game, here we have the possibility of no less than 5 future budding fanciers, being encouraged by their doting parents and given creative freedom to learn and become involved with the day to day loft and allotment management. It was refreshing to witness such an outlook, and I hope that with the parental guidance and assistance from the pigeon lads mentioned earlier, that Ayres & Co. go on to win a few races to really put the cap on the efforts made. I think a win is nothing less than deserved, and surely can only be matter of time before it is forthcoming!
Keep up with the good work Phil, you are truly a credit to the sport!
All the best………..
Davey B...........AKA Dicky Darky
With freedom comes responsibility. Cherish your freedom, for only you are responsible for your actions.
Davey B
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PHIL AYRES & FAMILY, STOCKTON.
By Davey Barkel.
“A Family Concern!”
My fifth Pigeonland loft visit was literally a few yards from Dicky Jones, with whom I had arranged to visit Phil Ayres (Phil411) and his young family, who are new starters to the racing game! Dick introduced us, and while Amanda cuddled up in their sitting cabin to 15 week old Emily, Phil‘s latest addition to his now 5 strong squad of young trainee loft managers, we cracked on with the loft report!
Phil has been around pigeons since being 4 years of age, and as he grew he sometimes helped out at the loft of his late uncle Judd Samuel who was a good channel flier. After a period away from the birds, Phil returned to help a friend in 2009, then decided to have a go with racing with his young but enthusiastic family in the October of the same year! The loft is a tidy affair, with a little stock section, a little old bird section, and a little young bird section. Phil is already planning further extensions to the loft though! While there I was amazed to see the squad of children in and out of the lofts, playing with the birds and being actively involved. They were keen to talk and give their two penneth as well! Phil’s youth team is made up of 11 year old Chelsea, 8 year old Bethany, 6 year old “Big Phil” the main man, and two year old Abigail who was happy to pose for the photo’s!
It was plain to see the work the family had put into their tidy garden, the sitting cabin one end of the garden, loft at the other, play area and play pen in the middle, and a small section to the left where the children are encouraged to grow their own vegetables!
Back to the pigeons, the families housed here are mainly Janssen’s and Busschaert’s that have come as gifts via Dicky Jones, Billy Clamp, Ray Peel and Ian Young. The old birds are raced on the Natural system, with squad numbers being currently only two pairs, and 26 young birds. The youngsters are natural this year also, but the intention is to race on the darkness system next season. Although Phil is a new starter, he is interested in eyesign, and uses this along with advice from Ray Peel on how to pair.
The family’s best race bird so far is a Cheq Cock that they got in as a stray from Fish Bros. Phil’s best moment so far was almost winning a race, but said his main thrill is coming from working with his young bird team and trying to get them ready! When asked for his advice and tips he responded “I get plenty of that!” and said Dicky, Ray and Ian are always there for help, and he gets a lot of good use from the websites with his lap top!
I spoke a little with 6 year old “Big Phil!" He loves being with the birds, and marked cleaning out, ringing youngsters, basketing, raceday’s, aswell as helping to build and extend the lofts as his favourite parts of pigeon racing so far! The girls Bethany and Chelsea are keen too, with Chelsea intent on being even more active once she has finished secondary school!
It was an absolute pleasure, a marvellous feeling, to see such a family orientated set up, with the driving force behind the set-up being the involvement of the children! In this day and age of ever decreasing numbers in the game, here we have the possibility of no less than 5 future budding fanciers, being encouraged by their doting parents and given creative freedom to learn and become involved with the day to day loft and allotment management. It was refreshing to witness such an outlook, and I hope that with the parental guidance and assistance from the pigeon lads mentioned earlier, that Ayres & Co. go on to win a few races to really put the cap on the efforts made. I think a win is nothing less than deserved, and surely can only be matter of time before it is forthcoming!
Keep up with the good work Phil, you are truly a credit to the sport!
All the best………..
Davey B...........AKA Dicky Darky
With freedom comes responsibility. Cherish your freedom, for only you are responsible for your actions.
Davey B
8 attachments — Download all attachments View all images
038.JPG
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141K View Download
046.JPG
143K View Download
050.JPG
147K View Download
047.JPG
155K View Download
039.JPG
162K View Download
043.JPG
172K View Download
041.JPG
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