When Dave McCarthy started racing pigeons in the 1920s many birds were faster than the aeroplanes of the time!
Way back in 1929 he became interested in pigeons and this became a lifelong hobby with the now 85 year old Dave McCarthy, who works with his sprightly 58 year old nephew Paul, to modestly produce world champion pigeon racers.
The statistics are astonishing. Dave has been a member of the Wallasey Club for more than 60 years and run his small loft for 78 years, steadily developing the skills and experience to breed ever better birds from many thousands of pigeons which have won countless races. There are rooms full of cups
and countless reports and books collected to attest to his expertise in the racing pigeon world.
Dave and Paul McCarthy with some of their trophies
The Racing Loft
Tucked away in the corner of his large garden in Wallasey is the very tidy loft of Dave and his nephew Paul McCarthy. Here Dave can often be seen in all weathers working and caring for his birds. Like many men of great experience he moves round the loft calmly and carefully talking to the birds all the time and they move forwards towards him with curiosity and no fear. Clearly Dave is totally in control and is a man who cares for and loves to be with his pigeons.
If there are any clues to his success beyond his obvious dedication it is the time he spends with his birds and his obvious dedication to them, it can be seen in the pair of wild collar doves that fly down to take seed from his hand and the and to the amazement of many he is frequently accompanied by his two cats who are absolutely ‘loft trained’ and seem to get a great deal of pleasure out of watching the pigeons strut around and bathe in the pool. Dave has a way with all animals.
The loft was originally shaped and resplendent in a new coat of green paint. Inside it is compartmentalised to allow experimentation and different forms of management Five years ago Dave developed a new area and changed the layout to a ‘U ‘ shape now covering the entire bottom of the garden, so there’s lots of space for the modest number of 50 or so birds.
The pigeons are housed in ‘teams and the accommodation is immaculate and cleaned out daily and as in all good lofts there is a careful attention to detail which contributes to the payback of first class results.
Dave with some of his boxes used for natural Flying
The ‘Tame Jansen Hen’, Dam of The Sire of the South African Winners
Dave has always managed his birds on the natural system for long distance racing and over the past decade he has been selecting for young birds that can race for 10 to 12 hours. For this kind of endurance; the pure Tom Dawson Boeykens which are known to be very inbred have been crossed with the best examples of all breeds. The successes in South Africa have particularly been with Boeyken / Morris Mathews / Boeyken Jansen, Boeyken Devind, Staff van Reet and Boeyken Van Bruaane. The old aim of producing a fairly compact pigeon that reliably returns in good race time is the simple truth that works for the Wallasey Boeyken Crosses, and with 8 out of 12 birds completing all their South African races the philosophy seems to be working well
Feeding No specialist feeding is used the birds are fed all year round on basic corn mix; peas beans and terds
Dave decided last year to compete against the best by sending 3 birds to Sun City where in competition against 5,000 of the worlds best 2 of his 3 birds won prizes, beating 98% of the other birds racing. Encouraged by this success 6 more of his pigeons were sent this year and competed against birds from 35 countries. Five of the six made the finals and ‘Wallasey’ Jack’ won first prize in one race: - a car and cash prize of $1000.
Niorte Hen first Club, First Federation from Niorte, 504 miles winning the federation race by 2 hours 30 minutes. Half sister to Wallasy Lass 1 and cousin to Wallasey lass 2
In the main event one of his pigeons ‘Wallasey Lass’ was the first UK bird past the post, an astonishing feat to culminate a lifetime of pigeon racing.
With the Sun City Races becoming one of the premier international competitions in the World it’s nice to see a small loft doing so well; but there’s 80 years of expertise in breeding winners from the McCarthy partnership in the small town of Wallasey.
Surprisingly, one of the smallest lofts has won one of the biggest prizes in racing:
Nest Mate to Wallasey Lass first GB in the Sun City Million Dollar Races.
When asked about his plans for the future the quiet pigeon fancier Dave modestly said he intended to keep racing his unique strain of birds for another 80 years!
After his success in South Africa he vowed he would continue to be a competitor in all the major competitions now that invitations are dropping onto the doormat from all over the world.
Dave with the car (and $1000) won by Wallasey Jack
Dave Says that great credit should go to Frank Dickson John Kirk and Robert Neish for supplying quality birds from around the world to his loft and last but by no means least the late great Tom Dawson of Chesterfield for the Boeykens
The success of his racers has attracted so much attention that his birds are in great demand. To celebrate his successes and to ensure the victorious breed lives on, just a few will now be passed on to other racing teams.
Unfortunately Dave was unable to go to Sun City but his partner and nephew Paul flew out on behalf of them both. Paul said it was the trip of a lifetime where he met and wishes to thank Paul Smith (UK Co-ordinator) and so many other fanciers too numerous to name for their support and good wishes.
