Richard Simpson

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THE FEDERATION ROLLER ENTHUSIAST

Having enjoyed the show season and as promised we can now get back to doing the profiles and to start the ball rolling we have come south to Hampshire to meet up with a truly as the title suggests enthusiastic Roller man. Before telling you about Richard I would like to congratulate him on his ‘Test for the Best’ win at the 2000 Fed show and for winning best Roller at last years Summer/Autumn show, a really great effort Richard. At 35 years old Richard won’t thank me for saying this but he is one of our younger members which only goes to show the trend within pigeon keeping and when you read his profile you will appreciate that he was born into keeping pigeons because his Dad was also a keen pigeon man so were his Dad’s brothers and his granddad. On his mum’s side her brother also kept pigeons and these seem to be the fanciers that stick through it thick and thin. Richard has lived in Bishopstoke all his life and has two children, Tanisha who is now eight years old from his previous partner and Kai who is 19 months old. Kai’s mum is Julie and Richards’s girlfriend. Richard is a self-employed builder something he has done since he left school.

Richard’s other main hobby is his working terriers, Damage is a Border Terrier and Roo is a Patterdale. I kennel these at the front of my pigeon shed not only to keep the cats away but they are also like an alarm and let me know when ever anyone is about. He is also getting a licking for fishing as he put it with a hand line.

Richard has two brothers but they have not shown the same interest in pigeons as Richard but they have both helped look after their Dad’s pigeons with their Mum since he has been in hospital. I think when you read Richards replies you will appreciate that his Dad has been a big influence in his life and dare I say it so has Stuart Harford!!!! Read on.

A. I have kept pigeons since I was eight years old. My Dad got me interested with his racing pigeons, he worked on a farm and it was there that I saw and caught my very first Roller. Dad had also kept and flew Competition Rollers and also some West’s for flying, he took me to a friend of his who had Rollers who gave me a hen for the Cock that I had caught plus two more pairs. At first I flew my Rollers and then I saw an advert for the Hampshire Championship Show so I entered them and although my birds were clean and fit they were not of the show type. I managed to get my first show Rollers from Jim Mullan and Jim arranged for me to get some more from Terry Broad who brought some to the Worcester Hi Fly show for me. I also got two pairs from Bill Hughes who at the time was the top Roller man and a few pairs from Jeff Davies.

A. I used to keep other flying pigeons such as West’s, Flying Tipplers, Polish Orlicks and some Stavropol (which are high flying tumblers). These did not stay long as I wanted more room to keep my Rollers. I only keep Exhibition Rollers and have fourteen pairs in all colours, I used to breed about 100+ youngsters but found the breeding season went on too long and 9 times out of 10 my better youngsters were the later breed pigeons and would not be ready for the shows. For this reason I now breed about 60 to 70 and like to have my last youngsters hatch by early June.

Q. What do you look for in your Rollers?

A. Without question I look for power and plenty of it, loads of back skull, wide frontal, good straight beak, nice eye and when handled wedge shaped. I prefer the smaller birds but I find the ones with the most power tend to be the bigger birds but as long as they are in proportion then that’s fine by me. My birds, well some of them, could handle better, they are well fed with the best corn but I have been told that you’ve got to breed body into them. I have managed to get some birds from Les Carr and Trevor Mason whose birds are not only of good type and with good expression but also handle like show racers.

A. I have two lofts one 16 ft x 8 ft and the other 12 ft x 6 ft each with two compartments, each compartment has an aviary and in the bigger loft I have 15 nest boxes. I have ‘V’ shaped perches but find these especially the plastic ones tend to get the end flights slightly soiled, so I am thinking of an alternative maybe peg perches.

A. My future aim is to learn how to (I don’t know quite how to put it) kiss arse like Stuart (Ned Flanders, Freddie Mercury) Tash Harford, while were on the subject of Stuart, I’ve heard a rumour that his Rollers are really West’s with shaven legs (They have got the same beak setting as well)! Seriously I just want to keep my birds happy and win at a few shows.

Q. Do you have any tips for the beginners?

A. I think everything has been said in previous profiles but all I can say is if you keep flying breeds join the National Federation but take no notice of what Stuart Harford tells you!

A. I think that all the arguing that is going on is no good for the fancy and we should all think about and concentrate on our pigeons for a change, after all it’s our pigeons that introduced us all to each other. I would also question the necessity of two day shows any new fancier coming to the shows (apart from the cost) on the second day is only going to see tired looking pigeons instead of clean, fit and alert pigeons the day before. I have shown at two-day shows but found my pigeons were not their usual selves on day two so I don’t think I will be going to anymore.

A. There are a lot of people I would like to thank but would pick out the following for special mention. First Barry Collins for taking me to most of the shows, cheers Baz. Stuart Harford for taking me to the Northern Roller Show (I catch the train from Eastleigh to Worcester and stay at Stuart’s house on the Friday). Tony Stone for sitting in the front of the car with Stuart, as Stuart keeps touching my knee! I would also like to thank the NRC members, who travelled down to the Federation Show at Bristol last year and making it the Roller show of the South. But most of all I would like to thank my Dad who’s forgotten more about pigeons than I will ever know, whenever I needed help my Dad has always known what to do.

Richard a great profile thanks for your time and I would like to wish you all the best for 2002. By now I am sure that you will all have youngsters and I sincerely hope that by the time this profile is printed that the ring situation will have resolved itself we mustn’t let ourselves get into a situation like this again and to this extent I do have a ring manufactures address in Australia if anyone is interested. My breeding season has got off to a slow start but then that is nothing unusual I just keep praying for the milder weather at the crucial times when the youngsters are at that precarious age. Next month we go to Cheshire to compile another Federation Profile. Keep breeding the Champions.