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Eric Craven of Sherburn-in-ElmetIntelligent inbreeding

Eric Craven first started with pigeonswhen he was seven years old, duringthe early thirties. This interest wasmaintained, so that even during hisNational Service at the end of the warhe was able to have a loft whenserving in the Coldstream Guards.This was whilst he was guardingP.O.W.'s, not Buckingham Palace.The small mobile loft Eric usedcreated quite a stir among theGerman prisoners, a surprisingly largenumber of whom were pigeonfanciers.

Once settled back into civvy streetthe first thing to do was to get a loftset up with a'dual interest in bothshowing and racing, as some of hisearliest memories of the sport wereof his uncle, Geoff Hall of Ripley,showing birds. The only strain thatEric knew of at this time which couldwin in both showing and racing,were the Gurnays. Eric knew thatGeorge Greenshields regularlyintroduced them from Fred Shaw toimprove his showbirds. So contactwas made with several Gurnayspecialists and a visit was made tothe clearance sale of the late M.Watkinson of Northrop, who hadimported birds direct from M. Gurnay.Here three birds were purchased.Two young birds bred out of thisoriginal stock won 2nd and 3rd in thefirst race in which Eric competed.

Another early purchase was a silvermealy hen, 49.3303, bred by M. W.

Bell of Hunslet, who had the best ofthe late O. I. Wood's Gurnays. Ericremembers spotting this pigeon inthe hens' section, and his delightwhen told that he could buy it. Thispigeon proved to be a bargain, as itbred many winners into the loft.Unfortunately just as Eric had gota good team together he had to movehouse, and most of the birds weredisposed of. A few key stock birdswere kept in a small loft in the centreof Leeds by Eric's brother-in-law,Peter Challenor. When it was possibleto return to Sherburn-in-Elmet theloft and birds were collected andresettled. Not long after this one ofthe cocks won a hard race from Caen.

The silver mealy hen previouslymentioned bred two mealy cockswhich have been responsible formany of this family of Gurnays. Oneof these, 54.111, 'The ~ck', won1st and 4th as a young bird beforebeing returned shot through the buttof the wing. The fact that he wouldnot be raced prc:>ved·to be a blessi ngin disguise, as this cock has sincebred dozens of prizewinners, themost famous being 'Tearaway' and'Bootsie', a nestpair with eleven 1sts,nine 2nds and five 3rds between them.'Tearaway' topped the Fed. fromGuernsey, 305 miles, in a N.W. windby 32 minutes as a young bird. Thisperformance earned 2nd Yorkshirecombine, only being beaten by a birdflying 20 miles less. In the next raceit again topped the Fed., this time

from Nottingham, 59 miles,afterbeing found in the loft. Thiswasagreat pigeon which won sevenISIS,

three 2nds and a 3rd throughalldistances, to Poitiers beforeEriclethis friend, Tom Nettiss of NewJersey, U.S.A., have it. Thedamofthis pair was 61.15, a blue called'Julie', which was a grand-daughterof Wag ham's 'Confidence' 2ndPauN.F.C. 'Julie' won seven 1sts,four2nds and two 3rds for Eric,aswellasbreeding several Fed. winners.Thishen once went missing in a channelrace from Le Mans, returningseveraldays later with a note attachedfromJulich in Germany which isonlyashort distance from VerviersinBelgium, the ancestral homeof theGurnays.

The next introduction of Gurnayblood came via A. F. BrownofTewkesbury in the form of threegoodbirds, all of which bred well.A

daughter of one of these pairedto'The Rock' bred a blue white-flighthen '4324', which proved to bean

/outsta ndi ng stock bird producingsome excellent channel winners,including 'Favourite', 'Bonny Blue'and 'Honey', all of which wereFed.winners.

Major Heslop of MaidstonesoldEnea Bronze Pied hen, 50002291'Cookey', which had won severaltimes for him after he had boughtitas a young bird from BernardMiles.It was a real 'bull-dog' typeGurnay

72.5156, won 1st Chichester with only 4 timed in club as well as17th Rennes and 19th Nantes Y.C.C.

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72.51554, a grandson of 'Black Splashed' which haswontwo I!u.a 2nd and 3rd.

photographs by Anthony Bolton

'Tearaway',62 GG 333, 1st Fed 2nd Combine from Guernsey (305 miles) as a youngster,Laterwinning seven 1sts, three 2nds and a 3rd.

andit bred four winners in the shortperiodthat he had it. In 1963 anexchangeof stock birds took placewith William Black of Renton, andthisfancier's good cock 'Boomerang'left threewinners out of four eggslaidin Eric's loft.

The'next year Eric was able to borrow

the bird that he considered to havebeen the most influential in hispresent family of Gurnays. This birdwas 'Mac', SU605424, loaned to Ericby Elwyn Jones of Mostyn. This cockwas paired to Eric's best hens and itsired four winners in as many weeks,amongst which was CI dark cockwhich later became the sire of Eric's

good bronze nestpair. The darn of thispair, 'Bronze Eclipse' and 'BronzeTwilight'. was 9 bronze white-flighthen of the A. F, Brown bloodlines, afull sister to Watson Brothers 'WhiteThroat' 63W2909, the Olympic goldmedal winner which Tom and CharlieWatson of Fatfield had bred downfrom the Gurnays.

'Mac' was also the sire of 'BlackSplashed' (see photo) and isgrandsire of the blue cock 73.27123which topped the Yorkshire Combineagainst 2,000 pigeons from Avranches,353 miles, in a N.W. wind during1975. That was after circling the loftfor five minutes before trapping.Unfortunately this cock returnedbadly injured from its next race,Rennes, and died shortly after. Thiswas quite a loss, as the pigeon was areal trier, having been first bird homein five consecutive races, and itcertainly had qualities which made ita worthy candidate for stock.

Eric has always found his Gurnaysvery easy to race, and they get littletraining, usually just a 15 mile tosson the evening before basketing.However, all the birds do receive agood schooling as young birds withtosses in all directions and singleups when time permits. Once theyoung birds have been raced theyreceive the same treatment as the oldbirds.

'Bronze Twilight' 67.64482, a very good hen which has won 2ndFed8th Combine Poitiers, 1st Fed 2nd Combine Niort. 7th FedAvranches and 6th 17th and 44th Nantes with Y.C.C. It is also agood breeder.

'Bronze Eclipse', 67.64497, nestmate of Twilight: this pigeon haswon 18 positions in the first four including 1st Fed by ~ hour fromFalaise (341 miles).

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the deck in the race that weekend.

\74.11506, a grandson of 'Honey', this pigeon won 4 positionsasayoung bird and a yearling.

'Black Splashed' 64.31203, as a young bird this cock won 2nd Fed9th Yorks. Combine, arriving with the winner. It later won five 1sts,three 2nds and two 3rds before being kept for stock, a son of'Bronze Mac' and 'Favourite'.

Feeding is based on mixture of thetype in common use throughout thecountry. Year old beans and dog-toothmaize are preferred, with wheat andbarley. Peas are only fed rarely, and asmall amount of seed and oatmealmixture after exercising and racing.

Eric has always tried to do hisshareon the administrative side of thespo~serving as club secretary, Fed.andCombine delegate, FederationAudition, and vice-president ofbothFed. and Combine. One of theaspectiof committee work which disappointsEric is the formation of splintergroups. These often result in neworganisations, and this one areawillbe served by a plethora of differentfederations, combines andamalgamations. In his own area,Central Yorkshire, he believesthatsome really first class racingcouldbe had if one properly ~ectionedandprofessionally managed organisationcould be set up. This would givelonger race entries, largerprizes,morecontrol over liberation, and allatlesscost to the individual.

Since 1959 Eric's Gurnays have wonover 300 positions in the first three,including 100 firsts as well as manypositions, Combined Averages andChannel Averages in the BarkstonAsh Federation.

Breeding has always been of greatinterest, especially as most of the birdshave at least one common ancestor.It therefore requires careful planningto prevent over close inbreedings.Eric has found it beneficial to pairbirds of different coloured eyes,although he does not considerhimself an eyesign enthusiast. Hereckons the most important 'sign' isthe 'early sign' on a Saturdayafternoon.

Until three years ago Eric was a'scraper every day' man, even cleaningout on Christmas Day, but recentlyhe has become converted to a systemof partial deep litter. This is also moreacceptable to the neighbours, as theloft is completely surrounded by flatsand houses. The impetus for thischange came following a holidayperiod when Eric's son looked afterthe birds. Apparently he 'couldn'tfind the scraper' and Eric waspleasantly surprised when they swept

Eyesign CommentaryThe birds of Eric Craven64.31203. In this set of eyes we have a classic exampleof good family eyes, denoting a great deal of inbreeding.I am not aware of the strain or breed of these birds orany history about them, but I would suspect that theowner is a man who does not keep a great amount ofbirds, but keeps a select number.The iris of 31203 shows that it is rather inbred, andcarrying tremendous breeding characteristics, distancelines can be seen, and the great depth of colour is a treatto see.The basic sign is a green, and the bird being inbred thesign tends to be rather fine, but is still strong. Distancelines can be seen and anyone could easily dismiss thissign as being weak but it is just the opposite. Theoverall picture is that of a Number 1 breeder with morethan average racing ability. This is the type of eye whichone could found a family around.

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by Brian Ma~

photographs by Anthony Bolto~~ ~....

67.64482. Here we have another composite yellowfamilyeye of great quality. The iris is again very strong incolourbuilt up in layers, a very strong eye with distancelinesin abundance, breeding potential is also very strong.Thebasicsign is composite yellow, very strong, verybrittle,that of an excellent racer.Theoverall picture presented is that of a hard determinedracebird, with more than a share of breeding potential.

71.41943. Again another remarkable eye, of greatpresenceand character, a very strong family eye,compositeyellow in colour.Theiris colour is again very strong showing greatstrengthand character, the colour going right to thebasicsign, breeding characteristics are exceptionallystrong.Thebasicsign is that of composite yellow of greatwidthand quality, distance lines are easily seen and thecompositionis also strong, again the sphincter musclecanbeseen.Overallpicture is again one of exceptional quality ofgreatstrength, an eye to depend on in either racingorbreeding.

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72.51554. Here we have an eye that is not only differentin colour but one which is going right back to the base ofthisfamily, carrying characteristics of previousgenerations.Theiris build up is very much the same, layer upon layerovera basic pearl base, the colour is still very strongindeedwith racing and breeding potential easily seen.Thebasic sign is that of recessive violet of great strength,with good serrations, distance lines very evident. Theoverallpicture presented is that of a good racing eyewith breeding potential.

67.64497. Here we have another bird from the same loftand same family. The iris colour is very good, completedensity all over, built up like a masterpiece in oils, layerupon layer. Breeding characteristics can be seen easily.The sign itself is a composite yellow of great width withgood composition and serrations, the most importantmuscle the sphi.ncter pupilae muscle is easily seen.The overall picture is that of an inbred racing eye withexcellent distance qualities and breeding potential. Agood family eye with great presence.

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74.11506. In this slide we see an eye of not quite thequality of the previous ones, but one which is still goodtype.The iris colour is not so strong and brilliant, but theinbreeding that has gone into this bird's make up willcome out in its performances. This bird hassystematically been bred to do the job. The basic signis composite yellow, good distance line can be seen, butnot as clear as in the preceding slides, and in this eye Iwould assume that this bird could be rather difficult attimes.Overall picture, a racing eye that can do well racing.A select family, nurtured by a systematic man.

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