Pages from the Past

The Gurnay Strain

The sport of pigeon racing has seenmany great fanciers within its ranksover the many years of its existence.These fanciers have become famousfor various reasons, some were goodadministrators, others were greatracing men, but there have been somethat seem to have been a combinationof the many things that go to make upthe great men of our sport, those thatproduced a strain of pigeons that havecontinued long after the creator'sdemise.

One such fancier is the late and greatRenier Gurnay founder of the famousGurnay strain, which raced sosuccessfully for him over a period of50 years f.rom 1886-1936.

It is not surprising to discover thatRenier Gurnay was a pupil of the greatAlexandre Hansenne, another of the'greats' of the sport. The youngGurnay used to run for Hansenne inthe days before pigeon clocks wereintroduced. Young Gurnay, being fleetof foot was a very useful acquisition tohave, and because of his runningprowess he often won races for theHansenne loft out of turn. The youngGurnay's reward was often a winningpigeon, so quite naturally the base ofthe Gurnay strain was the Hansenneblood. Upon the death of AlexandreHansenne, Renier Gurnay obtainedsome of the best from the Hansenneloft, by careful breeding and blending,he produced a strain of pigeons, thatduring his lifetime, were second tonone. As Pierre Dordin managed toproduce pigeons with both beauty andracing ability in more recent times, soRenier Gurnay managed to producepigeons with good looks and racingability during his lifetime, for Gurnaywon many prizes in the show pen aswell as racing. It is however, for theirracing achievements that the Gurnaysand their founder are bestremembered.

Among the many fine pigeons RenierGurnay had in his loft were such birdsas 'Le Gras', 'Le Bosu', 'Bon Bleu','Little Blue Cock', 'Bariola' and 'BronzeFavourite'. The latter three were allGrand National winners for Gurnay.Even in those days that family ofpigeons were winning big money forM. Gurnay, for instance 'Le Gras' wonfour consecutive races and theequivalent of £ 1,000 in prizemoney, alot of money in the 1920s; 'Le Bosu'won £2,000 during his racing career.

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It is interesting to note that the 'LeGras' and 'Le Bosu' were nestmates.These pigeons were not the onlywinners in the Gurnay loft, for therewere many, many birds housed there,of equal calibre. Even in those earlydays the Gurnay pigeons were beingexported all over the world, and withtheir new owners continued to winand create records. One such recordholder was an imported Gurnayreputed to have flown from Havana toBoston, a distance of '1,400 miles.

Renier Gurnay was never afraid to sellone of his champion pigeons, forhewas always confident of being able toproduce a successor, which of coursehe did many times. The Gurnaymethod was always to pair the best tothe best and produce better, a maximthat is as good today as it was then. Itwas this man's ability to reproducechampion after champion thatensured the continuation of the strainlong after the great man's death.

It was in 1920 that the Gurnay strainwas being talked about in the British

Isles for it was at this time that thegreat Fred Shaw imported his firstGurnays. In the years that followedFred Shaw was to become a closefriend of Renier Gurnay at;1dbecauseof that friendship many of the finestspecimens from the Gurnay loft wereto grace Fred Shaw's loft in Cheshire.'His performances in the ManchesterFlying Club were very soon a talkingpoint for fanciers throughout theBritish Isles. It is doubtful if manyfanciers, even today, could claim suchrapid success, for from those originalimports in 1920, he was secondhighest prizewinner in the ManchesterFlying Club in 1921. With thoseyearlings he won ten 1sts in 11successive races. All of theseperformances were won on theBelgian widowhood system, a systemthat was rarely practised in the BritishIsles in those days.

Many people thought that thoseperformances of Fred Shaw were just'a flash in the pan' and many openlysaid so. However, as time went onpeople began to realise that this was

not the case and the Gurnay strainwas certainly a force to be reckonedwith.

by Michael Shepherd

'Bon Bleu', winner of nine prizes in nine races for Renier Gurnay, hidden from theGermans during the war.

The following is from Fred Shaw'sstud list which appeared as asupplement in The Racing Pigeon' in1924: .

Mr. Fred Shaw's Stud of Winning Gurnays.

If any fancier had said in 1920 that aman could start off with a team ofBelgian birds, all of one strain, new tothis country, and by the end of 1922reach the topmost pinnacle of successin the English Fancy with theirprogeny, he would have been laughedat for his pains and privately dubbed afool. Yet this apparently impossibleperformance has been accomplishedby Mr. Fred Shaw, of Hyde, with hisGurnays, and he has made the featlook quite simple by an astoundingsequence of wins at all stages, longand short distance, and with youngbirds and old birds. It has not beenaccomplished by mob flying, as anaverage of nine birds per race weresent in 1921, and an average of 14birds per race in 1922. Virgin race soilat the beginning of 1920! That year ateam of young Gurnays 'kicked off'and caused a mild sensation, winning£60. Then in 1921, as yearlings, theyset about the business of winningprizes to such an extent that fancierswere speedily sitting up and takingnotice of the Gurnay 'greyhounds.'They could not help but be amazed,for these Gurnays won in the hottestpossible competition over £310,finishing second highest prize-winnersin the Manchester Flying Club with£ 198. These yearlings won 10 firstprizes in 11 successive races. Twooutstanding wins in 1921 were 1st,2nd, 3rd and 4th over all sections inthe Manchester F.C.Guernsey old birdrace, 1,000 birds competing-a most

_amazing win. Quickly followed 1stGranville, Stockport and Dis. Fed.1,380 birds, also 20th-a real hardrace. Fanciers said such form could notbe shown and repeated in 1922. Well,last season these Gurnays, a few two­year-olds, and more yearlings, slippedinto the winning ~tride again as easilyas a young duck takes to water. Theygobbled prizes up by mouthfuls in theManchester F.C.,and never seemed toget a single step out of their winningstride. It was a fitting climax, 1920­1922, that they should be rewardedby securing the coveted Manchester

F.C. 50-guinea cup for best average allraces all sections, and you can classany loft that wins this cup A 1. Amongmany good wins last year theoutstanding one for the Gurnay breedwas 1st Rennes over all sectionsManchester F.C., in a downrightdisastrous race, velocity 942, 14minutes ahead of the next bird, only-iJhandful home on the day. Six birds toMarennes, 6th prize M.F.C., four ofthem yearlings, all six home, and fiveof them clocked in. Best young birdaverage S.E. Section; best Y.B.average over all sections; biggestprize-winner M.F.C. with £215 12s1d. Two seasons' winnings, 1921­1922, total £610. To carryon awinning career such as this, it's got tobe in the breed of the birds, and theGurnays have proved again and againthat they can win in the strongest

company. I know plenty of hard workhas been done to get the best out ofthe birds. I know nothing aboutsystems to make birds win easy, and Iknow nothing about any so-called'Gurnay system'. But I know this, overa course of from 60 to 530 miles no'fancy tricks' will pay in the long run,and especially in the cross-Channeland Continental races. And whatabout the 'home end', the loft ofMons. Gurnay and his work with thebirds. We know the value of the manywins by Mr. Fred Shaw, and what the£610 won by him in two seasonsrepresents-it means a 'thundering'lot of wins to rake in that amount.Substitute thousands of pounds wonin Belgium for hundreds won by Mr.Shaw, and you get some idea of theamount won by the Gurnay 'prizecollectors' both in Belgium and this

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Blue chequer cock 'Duality' winner of 1st Stockport Fed., 1,3BObirds competing.

Blue chequer cock 'Picture', flew Guernsey and Rennes as ayearling. A winner of many prizes for the late Fred Shaw.

country. There are plenty of hard factsscattered about the advertisement intoday's issue for anyone to see, andthere is no need for repetition here. Toshow the value of the Gurnay strain, '/one has to realise the fact that many .winners have been sold, and yetothers take their place immediately.apparently springing up almost likemushrooms. Such birds as Nationalwinners, and about half a score of the1922 team of 25 racers which arecredited with winning £9,400 lastseason, have been distributed to allparts of the world. This has been doneeach year, and yet there are alwaysother birds ready to carryon the goodwork. It would almost appear that if anaverage man knew how to fly pigeonsat all he could romp home withmaterial such as this to play with. Ihave on more than one occasion triedto give a pen picture of these Gurnays,but it is a poor substitute to actuallyseeing the birds in their lofts. I againhandled at The Grange many of theseGurnays quite recently, both thosebred M, Gurnay and those bred by andraced by Mr. Shaw. They are a mosthandsome type, not single birds, butall of them are very captivating, andmany of our best and cleverestfanciers have seen them and fallencompletely under their spell, and, asgood sportsmen, they have nothesitated to express their admirationof the birds in unstinted terms ofpraise. They have a true racer'soutline, they 'look' racing pigeons,their colour is extra, a black chequer is

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Blue chequer hen, 'Double Event' photographed as a young bird,bred from the celebrated Angouleme' when 10 years old.

Bronze cock 'Bronze Excellence' bred from a brother x sister ofthe famous 'Le Gras'.

Blue chequer cock 'Neaty' winner of 1st Open Rennes in theManchester F,e. Winner of R.N.H.U gold medal.

black, a blue is sound in colour withstriking bold black wing bars; thecheque ring is amazingly even, makingthe chequers look pretty. Abundanceof rich feather, w'ell above the averagesize, and a good 'body' feel, arecharacteristics that strike one whenhandling the birds. The great .outstanding feature, however, and onethat perhaps helps more than anythingelse to put these birds on thehandsome side, are the eyes. Brilliant,bold eyes of remarkable shades ofcolour, many quite different to theeyes of what one might call our nativepigeons. They have to be seen on birdafter bird to appreciate what I amtrying to depict. You can tracerelationship to the great majority ofthe Gurnays through the eyes alone, ifyou saw no other part of the body, Mr.Shaw is always ready to welcome atrue fancier who takes an interest inthe racing pigeon, and he does notexpect a man to buy because he callsas a fancier to see the birds. There is

A no obligation on anyone in thatdirection. If any real fancier calls, seesthe birds, and is not satisfied withthem or their type, and can give asatisfactory reason, Mr. Shaw willgladly pay his railway fare and givehim a note to spend on the way home.Given the same close attention thatthey have had, there is a racing teamat The Grange that should make thebest gallop all the way in the comingseason, and this is the opinion ofmany good judges who have seen thebirds this winter.-Nor'-West.

Blue chequer cock Telephone' winner of 38th Open Nationalthen sold to US.A.

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