The birds behind the hours
The other day I posted some very interesting information about Wilf Lovatt who was the first man to reach 20 hours. However, David Fuller brought to my attention that there was certainly a lot more information regarding this man's birds and his wonderful times. According to the obituaries of Albert Hartshorne, Wilf had flown some birds that were bred by Albert. The obituary stated: "Albert supplied Wilf with a lot of pigeons that he flew big times with, including one in the 20 hour kit". This is not the first time this sort of arrangement has existed and this is obviously something that often works.
The arrangements often work well because in my opinion there is often a chance for a flyer to really concentrate on the training when a tremendous breeder and experienced man often does not have the time to do the needed training. On the other hand, sometimes a trainer doesn't have the space allocated to do the necessary breeding.
In the case of Wilf Lovatt, his birds certainly give him credit for doing the time and the training involved. Of course, Albert himself was a tremendous man who also gave birds to others. Albert helped many fanciers with birds such as Jim Johnson, Paul Green, Ray and Mick Tift and C. Clarke who broke the young bird World Record in 1982 with Albert's birds.