Dave Roach

To contact us:

Phone UK : 01275 836477

Phone outside UK : 00 44 1275 836477

Or sign the guest book leaving your email address and we will get back to you

THE FEDERATION TIP TOP FANCIER

Fancier – David Roach

Pontypridd, South Wales – As we all know the birthplace of Tom Jones the singer well it is also the birthplace of Dave Roach my profile for this week. Dave is a newcomer to the showing game having made the move from racing pigeons, which he has done for many years having kept pigeons from the age of 16. Dave was 57 last month and lives with his wife Maureen and the youngest of his three children Deborah. Dave and Maureen also have three grandchildren 2 girls Katie 5 and Elizabeth 7 and 1 boy Andrew 11 None of Dave’s children have shown any interest in his pigeons but Dave does come from a background of pigeons his late grandparents Mr and Mrs Good of Abercynon and his cousins the Fear brothers (George/Tommy/Wilfred/Maurice/Michael and Bunsie) also from Pontypridd all kept racing pigeons.

Dave’s job is a Machine Operator having been a railway worker for many years but his current job does mean that he has to spend some nights away from home and also involves some shift work one of the reasons Dave decided to stop racing and if it was not for his wife to feed and water his birds while he is away then Dave would not be in a position to keep the birds. Dave’s job also meant he couldn’t guarantee being available when the birds were liberated all this along with problems from Minks and Hawks made Dave change from racing to Show pigeons. Dave made the move from racing pigeons to show racers some five years ago and has more recently started keeping Tipplers, initially Prints but he now has some colours, which he has acquired from John Keepin. I know he has a liking for the West but before he embarks on them as well I know he wants to get his Tipplers established.

I think you could describe Dave as a garden alcoholic – he does enjoy his gardening and has 3 plots and 3 greenhouses so you can imagine any spare time that he has on his hands you will find him down at his allotments. With gardening and pigeons Dave has not had much time for other hobbies but he has like most of us dabbled with shooting and fishing. I asked Dave what his likes and dislikes were to which he replied - Plenty of money and working for it

Q. How long have you lived in Pontypridd?

I started in the pigeon world at the age of 16 years old. I bought my first birds from Fred Dunning for the grand sum of £10 for both the birds and the loft. This happens to be the best ten pounds that I have ever spent. Winning from 60-600miles. I won my first race toped the Federation at Ludlow and beat everyone in Wales, from then on I was hooked One of my early successes was at Thurso. The pigeon was the only trainer into Thurso. The secretary at the time was Tom Jones (not the green green grass of home Tom) paid 2s-6d (alright 12½p) for the bird to go, but nevertheless perhaps the bird did not know that because home the pigeon came the following morning.

I was fortunate to have a loft next to Buffton and Rees, Buffton told his loft manager to teach me how to race pigeons, he did his job well and I began to beat him, the loft manager then had a row for doing the job too well. You just cant please some people but I was more than happy and the secret - Don’t feed the birds too much. The best bird that I have ever had was called the Bates hen; she won from 60-600miles and came second in the peoples open.

One of the highlights of my racing carer was watching the natural born flyer Freddie Hazel in action. Having spent most of his money at the bookies he did not have enough to buy a bag of corn in his wisdom and much to my amusement he proceeded to try and get the birds in with money instead of corn, needless to say they could not be bought.

I have been showing pigeons for the past 5 years with moderate success. I have has a few firsts in the classics, with show racers and prints. My loft procedure is to clean out loft every day, give a bath twice a week and to hopper feed, as a shift worker I am unable to feed at regular times so this is the next best thing. I find showing much more relaxing than racing and I am enjoying my hobby and learning as much as possible, while meeting many interesting people along the way.

Q. How many birds and in what colours do you keep?

A. At present I have 96 birds 48 adults and 48 young birds in all breeds (show racers, Print and coloured Tipplers. I am a little disappointed with the Tippler breeding this year only breeding 16 but there is a saying you only need one so lets see what happens at the shows this year.

A. The most important is balance but I do like a well-marked bird, this of course along with all the other points that make up a good Exhibition Tippler.

A. The best advice I can give with my limited experience in showing is buy the best it will save you years of breeding. Make sure you have a dry clean loft and plenty of food the best you can afford, water, minerals and grit all year round. Last but not least take on as much advice as you can from experienced fanciers you will learn from their mistakes instead of making your own.

A. My personal opinion is that the Tipplers are too big, as I have said before I think balance is more important than trying to breed as big as you can.

Q. What clubs have you and do you currently belong to?

A. The racing club that I belong to is the Monmouthshire – In my opinion one of the strongest clubs in the country with members such as Ron McCarthy, Mark Ireland and Norman Perry and many more successful fanciers, which is my excuse for not winning. Since I have taken up showing I am a member of the Federation and the Bideford club.

A. The late John Lock for helping me get started with show birds and Graham Evans of Port Talbot (Print Tipplers) and John Keepin of Bristol (Coloured Tipplers) and Dave Walters for asking me to do this profile and not forgetting the wife without whose help I would not be able to continue my life long interest in pigeons.

Thanks Dave for taking the time to answer those arduous questions and for your very frank answers. Not much to report from the Federation this month and I guess by the time this profile is printed most of you will just about be clearing up from the breeding season taking stock of what you have bred and hoping that there will be at least one that you think will beat everyone else’s – I wish you all a very successful show season and of course look forward to meeting up with as many of you as I can around the shows.