Peter and Leon McMahon are firm supporters of the north London Premiership football
team, Arsenal, and the father and son partnership have named their pigeon set up,
‘Highbury Lofts’, after the ground where the football team play. They live on
the south coast at Brighton and in recent seasons have put up some brilliant performances
in National and Classic events, including 1st. section A, 26th. open N.F.C. Pau (4,085
birds) in the 2002 season. The partnership fly a magic 517 miles from Pau, in the south of
France and have won the Pau Diploma of Merit with the London & South East Classic
Club, for a pigeon that records three positions in the first 50 in the open result. Their
Merit Award winner is their good blue chequer pied hen, ‘Highbury Queen’ and she
flew Pau five times, recording 3rd., 12th. and 19th. open in the L.&S.E.C.C. A
wonderful performance! Peter and Leon had a brilliant season in 2002, recording: 1st.
section A, 26th. open N.F.C. Pau (4,085 birds), 3rd. section A, 59th. open N.F.C. Saintes
(3,887 birds), 21st. section A, 200th. open N.F.C. Nantes (10,150 birds), 10th. section A,
293rd. open N.F.C. Guernsey young bird National, 9th., 40th. open B.I.C.C. Pau, 33rd. open
L.&S.E.C.C. Bordeaux and in their club, the Brighton and Worthing 5 bird club, the
partnership won the old bird average, ‘Ace’ fancier and ‘Ace’ ol;d
bird. Brilliant positions won at the very highest level of long distance pigeon racing!
Peter McMahon was born in London and at the age of 14, moved down to Brighton on the
south coast. He became friendly with a lad at school named, Aron Palmer, who had pigeons
and the young Peter soon caught the pigeon bug, after several visits to his mates loft.
His first birds came from the streets and Brighton pier, followed by some racers from
local fancier, Bill Knight, who now lives in New Zealand. At that time the late Bert
Collins was the best local fancier and was outstanding in the long distance events. Peter
moved to his present home in Lower Beverdean, near Brighton, in 1987 and started racing
pigeons obtained from F. Fowler and K. Abbott, both local fanciers, and Louella Pigeon
World. His first loft was 12ft. x 6ft., two sections and he won major prizes from the
outset, including 2nd. open combine Niort, 138th. open N.F.C. Pau, 75th. open N.F.C.
Bordeaux, 21st. open L.&S.E.C.C. Dax and won the Federation inland racing. Peter says
in those days he hopper fed farm beans and raced on the natural system.
The McMahon pigeons have been raced on the natural and widowhood systems for the last
three seasons and Peter told me the widowhood pigeons flew the best in the 2002 season.
This season will see him race12 widowhood cocks, 12 celibate yearling cocks and 12
celibate hens. He pairs his widowhood pigeons at the end of February and they are allowed
to sit six days on eggs, before the hens are taken away, and then are repaired at the end
of April. The cocks go to their first race and on their return, the hens are taken away,
and they are on the widowhood system. The widowhood pigeons race the programme on the
system and then are repaired again for the last major races of the season. The birds are
rested for two or three weeks before Pau and are only fed on maize for the last six days
before the race. When on the widowhood the hens are not shown to the cocks on marking
night, but are left together for about two hours on their return from the race and Peter
likes his birds to have a seven hours fly out of Nantes (257 miles) on their build up to
the Pau races. Peter’s ‘Highbury Loft’ is 32ft. x 8ft., with four sections
and a pan tiled roof. The very smart loft has air vents at the roof level only and Peter
tells me, he isn’t a deep litter user and cleans out regulary. The birds are hopper
fed all the year round, with Cranleigh No. 1 mixture and P40 pellets. The race team is
never broken down. They are trained up to 40 miles, from all points of the compass and the
old birds first race of the season is from Bihorel, with the B.I.C.C. Peter likes Pau (517
miles) best, but has timed in from Palamos and Perpignan.
The loft houses 12 pairs of stock birds, which are paired up on 14th. February and the
main families kept are Wanroys, Van De Wegan, Janssen and Jan Aarden, which mainly came
from the Ponderosa U.K. stud at Weymouth. Peter has one or two birds from his good friend,
Reg Sarre of Blackpool, each season and he bred the McMahon’s ‘39147’,
winner of 26th. open N.F.C. Pau in the 2002 season. This game slatey blue was bred from a
K. Abbott / Janssen cock, when mated to Reg Sarre’s best stock hen. Peter keeps about
40 young birds each season and trains them from the north and west, starting at 20 miles.
They are raced natural to the perch, mostly with the Brighton and Worthing 5 bird club
from Guernsey, in preparation for the young bird national. Peter has no interest in the
darkness system, as he says, he is only looking for pigeons to fly Pau as two year olds.
During the week, Peter, has very little time with his pigeons, as he works as a slaughter
man and has a 50 miles drive to work every day, arriving home late every evening.
Peter told me his most thrilling experience in his time in pigeon racing, apart from
the clocking from Dax and Pau on the day, was when ‘Highbury Queen’ won the
L.&S.E.C.C. Pau merit award. Another high light was in 1990, when his good blue
chequer, ‘Gunner’, won 2nd. section, 4th. open N.F.C. young bird national and
lifted a new motor car. He shows his pigeons some times in the winter months and has won
Best in Show at major events. Peter is a good worker for the sport and in the 2003 season
will be on the clock committee and I.C. for the N.F.C. and L.&S.E.C.C. He is also
press officer for the Brighton & Worthing 5 bird club, which is one of the strongest
clubs in the south of England. It really is a very hard club to win, with premier long
distance fanciers like, John McGee, Fred Hall and John Puddephatt in it’s membership.
Peter likes latebreds off his best racers for the stock section and practices inbreeding
and line breeding, but not to close. Congratulations to the McMohon partnership on their
brilliant 2002 season racing in the National Flying Club.
There you have it, one of the premier performing lofts in the National Flying Club,
of the 2002 season. If you need to contact me with N.F.C. matters, please give me a ring
on: 01372 463480 or email me on: keithmott@btopenworld.com Text by Keith Mott (N.F.C.
Press Officer).
Any N.F.C. news can be given to me on Telephone: 01372 463480 or Email Address: keithmott@btopenworld.com
