That’s why he has taken the courageous but heavy decision to end the combination Nouwen-Paesen, a combination that he, after the death of his father-in-law in 1997, kept running together with his wife and his son Dirk. Because Jaak and Annie find that their three other children also have the right to have their parts of the famous world class colony they have built over more than 40 years, they have decided to sell everything minus the young birds. Dirk, who has been helping his father for more than 20 years, will continue on his own name, but with less pigeons. He will do this with the pigeons of 2014 as a basis.

How it started

Jaak Nouwen, born in 1942, was puzzled by birds and particularly by pigeons since he was a kid. It was all kind of pigeons, but no homing birds. Then, on a certain day, a homing pigeon with a ring arrived, Jaak announced it but he was allowed to keep it. And what do you do with a pigeon? You set it free at a short distance and you are curious id it does come home indeed…And what should happen, happened. The pigeon was raced and got first prizes one after the other: 13 at all. Beginners luck, one should think, but interest was arisen, and soon, young Jaak had more pigeons.

A late vocation

Jaak Nouwen became a famous and feared short distance racer. It was soon clear that he knew hos to handle pigeons. It shouldn’t be famous strains: pigeons from local champs were more than good enough. In Jaak’s short distance club, a certain Pieter Paesen was president. Pier Paesen, as he was mostly called, was a late call in pigeon keeping. Born in 1914, he only had his first pigeon in 1959. Pier Paesen was the kind of guy that didn’t like things half done. He immediately bought pigeons of the best strains, started reading a lot and listened to colleagues. Almost immediately, he was amongst the local champs . Jaak and Pier became friends, notwithstanding the difference in age of 29 years. And so, Jaak Nouwen found out that pier Paesen also had a beautiful daughter. And once again, ‘it happened’ Jaak married Annie Paesen and they went to live at their present address at the Kaulillerweg in Peer . That there would also come pigeons and lofts was a certainty.

Nouwen-Paesen

Nouwen-Paesen
Pieter Paesen moved in with his daughter an son in law and in 1967 not only their son Dirk was born, but also the tandem Nouwen-Paesen. Nobody could guess then that this tandem would redraw the landscape of long-distance in Limburg. Because the new tandem had ambition: they would combine their forces and pigeons and start on the longer distances. Pier Paesen had already tried this, because for a short-distance player Bourges is already ‘far’. He had also invested in pigeons that should be capable to race ‘above Paris’. Thus, he had, amongst others, pigeons of Jos Hermans jr and strain Huyskens Van Riel. But in his passion to be amongst the better, Pier Paesen got acquainted with Raymond Van Steenberghe from Schelle. But this is another story.

Pigeon journalist, champion and selector

Van Steenberghen was one of the rare people that couldn’t only write it down, but also knew something about pigeons: he won some national races. He went into history as a famous ‘selectioner’ and the author of a serious book: ‘become selectioner in your own loft A book that later would be retold in a refreshed version by Frans Bungeneers.
But the reputation of Van Steenberghe did not fall out of the air. Raymond was born in Ijzendijke, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, (near Sluis), from Belgian parents, what gave him a double nationality. As a young amateur, he became friends with Oomens Bros. from Breda, the same guys where the young Piet de Weerd learned everything. At that time, Oomens Breda was the university, and Van Steenberghe, as a good student, learned what could be seen and felt at a good pigeon. Actually, he learned the basis of what, later, would become his book, enriched with his own experience of course. There, he also met Piet de Weerd, and together they refined the technique of selecting on basis of external features: feathers, pigment, throats, wings but especially muscles . Just as Piet de Weerd, Raymond van Steenberghe could determine the distance a pigeon could fly by manipulating the muscles.

If we say so much about Raymond Van Steenberghe, it’s simply because the success of Nouwen-Paesen, of the ‘strain’ Nouwen Paesen, cannot be seen without Van Steenberghe. Jaak Nouwen and Pier Paesen studied the theory of Van Steenberghe to select their pigeons, especially the quality of the muscles. Jaak soon got a reputation, and was often asked to select pigeons: in winter, he selected thousands of pigeons.

1964

In 1964, before the tandem Nouwen Paesen, Pier Paesen went to a ‘pigeon lesson’ of Van Steenberghe and returns with a couple of pigeons. ‘ Look, this is how they should be’, Raymond said to Pier Paesen, while showing him a small blue cock, ring 6555574-64. It wasn’t a simple pigeon, but a son of a direct Cattrysse hen that Van Steenberghe got by coincidence. This female 3101745-58 was purchased as a bon by Jan Bourgeois, Hemiksem. It was sent by post and Bourgeois didn’t like it. He regretted his money and offered it to his friend Van Steenberghe, who was impressed by such riches of feathers and quality of muscles. The story goes that only in 1975, due to a sell of late pigeons of Nouwen-Paesen, Van Steenberghe opened the envelope with the origin of the Cattrysse hen. It turned out to be a daughter of the world famous Figaro, 1st national Bordeaux for Cattrysse.
And Pier Paesen had got a son of this female. He immediately coupled him to his best pigeon, the Kampioentje.

And the rest is history…

From this couple, a young female, 5140152-65 won the 5th provincial Bourges, and was called Bourgeske. She regularly won her prizes and became a certainty in the racing team of Nouwen-Paesen. From the beginning the tandem Nouwen-Paesen had long-distance ambitions, and Bourgeske was sent more than once to Barcelona and Saint-Vincent. Bourgeske surprised in 1971 by winning the 1st provincial with 4 hours in advance on a hard Barcelona. International, she won the first prize in the female category, be it against only 463 females, but that was not her fault. Her provincial performance didn’t lie: the pigeons clearly weren’t in the East of the country; against all logic and against the mass, she rejoined her loft solo. International, she won the 19th in general against 7348 pigeons, and was now renamed: the Barcelona. In total, she won 4 x Barcelona and 4 x Saint Vincent on a row.

But what was more important, the Barcelona hen seemed to be an outstanding breeding mother. We hardly find a pigeon with Nouwen Paesen that doesn’t descend from her.
Together with the ‘Gebroken Borst’, 5060455-68, a male from Jaak’s old strain, the Barcelona hen gave 4 brothers, that all broadened the basis of the strain. Especially the Dikke, 5117009-72, is, up till today, found in many pedigrees. He won 5 x Barcelona and 5 x Saint Vincent, with a 4th provincial Saint Vincent. His nest brother 511701-72 twice won 2nd provincial. The ’Kleine Barcelona’ 5117059-72 was may be the best and won 38 and 50 international Barcelona. But also the ace-pigeon LFM, 5117041-72 will leave his mark: he flew more than 20.000 kilometers prize
The Gebroken Borst himself, who, in spite of his handicap, won 4 prov. Pau, unfortunately got lost from Barcelona. It would stay with this 4 sons…

And more Cattrysse

Both Van Steenberghe and Nouwen Paesen now had a taste for the Cattrysses: they got them directly in Moere and exchanged between themselves as friends. In this way, Nouwen Paesen got an inbred male from Van Steenberghe in 1972 to couple with the Barcelona hen. He was  purely from the famous 45, a strain Cattrysse and later Maurice Beuselinck tried to keep together at all cost.

Nouwen-Paesen now had an extra basic couple: a daughter from this couple, 5038306-74 won 1st national Saint-Vincent against 826 yearlings in 1975 and later, 4th provincial and 36 nat. Barcelona.
Van Steenberghe received something from this couple and wins 1st nat. Saint-Vincent. But the Barcelona hen passed her good genes on to the next generations: out of the sister of the Saint-Vincent hen they bred the famous Perpignan in 1984: 1st Euregio Perpignan against 1211 pigeons and 25th international against 10444 pigeons. A good one, but also a top breeder, because sire to a.o. Beauty Marseille, 1st international Marseille, and father of 5075735-92, provincial ace-pigeon LFM 1996. But we are running ahead. Also Gerard Geelen wins 1st national St-Vincent with a grandchild of the Barcelona hen.
The love for the Cattrysse birds would never leave Jaak and Pier.

Other sources

But at that time, you didn’t have to be only in Moere to get the Cattrysse strain: Emiel Matterne and Jos Carlens for example were real champs with mainly Cattrysse pigeons
From this point of view, Nouwen-Paesen started breeding together with Désiré Mommens and paired a sister of their 1st nat. St. Vincent ( so, a daughter of the Barcelona hen) with a brother of the Fabiola, and thus a son of the Mona Lisa (1st intern. Barcelona, Carlens). Out of this couple comes the just mentioned Perpignan, 1st Euregio Perpignan 2303 pigeons. At Christian van der Merwede, they got an inbred to the Jonge Bleke, the so called Blue Carlens, 6074028-85, who would become father of no one less than the famous progenitor the Narbonne, and so grandfather of the 1st internat. Marseille.
Emiel Matterne was as ‘mad’ about the Cattrysse birds as Nouwen-Paesen. The basis for the Matternes had been Hansenne, but since the fifties Emiel Matterne discovered the quality of the Cattrysse pigeons. The first pigeon he got in Moere even was a half-sister of the 45. Later he got children from the Trimard, Blauwentik, Figaro and so on. But Matterne also saw that Nouwen-Paesen were very successful on Barcelona with the same Cattrysse strain, and he proposed the tandem from Grote Brogel to exchange and breed together: both parties could only benefit from this. And so it happened, what led to a new injection in the inbred strains in Overhespen, as well as in Grote Brogel. The input of the Matternes cannot be neglected with Nouwen Paesen. For instance, the current Barca line comes from the Barca Senior, with Matterne blood in both sides.
But first your attention for the Rhône Princess…

Rhône Princess

In contradiction to what we may think by her name, Rhône princess , ring 5151033-89 was mainly a Barcelona specialist. In 1995 she was 2nd Primus inter Paris in the Barcelonaclub of Bruges with:
In 1991: 883 nat. Barcelona 11423 p
In 1992: 259 nat. Barcelona 11329 p
In 1993: 60 nat. Barcelona 13343 p
In 1994: 249 nat. Barcelona 11214 p
In 1995: 705 nat. Barcelona 5390 p
With in between 93 nat. Perpignan 5390 p
Against the females, she wins four times top 100 national, with 8,25,39 and 96 national.

After her rich career, the Rhône Princess became an excellent breeder: amongst others, she is mother of 17 and 38 nat. Barcelona (fem). Further on, grandmother of a.o. 1 prov Pau and 1 prov Béziers.
And now it comes: the Rhône Princess has 4 times the Barcelona hen in het pedigree! This shows the superior genes the Barcelona hen gave to her children and grandchildren.

Cross breeding and inbreeding

The family tree of the Rhône Princess allows us to say something more about the breeding system of Nouwen Paesen. The history of pigeon keeping gives us ample proof that you cannot create your own strain without inbreeding. It may be proved that cross breeding gives better results for racing, yet for breeding and creating your own strain, you cannot pass inbreeding. Pier and Jaak understood this very soon. To hold on to the blood of the Cattrysses, and particularly of their own Barcelona hen, they had to practice inbreeding. In the beginning, they were anxiously seeking for pigeons that were at least 50%, or better still 75% Cattrysse. They also didn’t hesitate to pair cousin x niece and when necessary, still closer in family. The Rhône Princess proved that this was the right way.
Yet, they found out that you cannot inbreed for ever and ever. There were seasons when it was more difficult to compete with the top on provincial and national level and some already hoped that Nouwen Paesen were on their way back. But those two men were too professional. They didn’t hesitate to get some of the best long distance blood there was. In Holland, they visited Jan Ernest and Jac van der Wegen and in Belgium they went to Philippens in Voeren. And there, they only wanted the best of the best.

In so doing, the Blauwe Ernest, out of a nest sister of 1 nat. Bergerac x a brother of the Pau-pigeon (6&9 nat. Pau) came to Grote Brogel, via van den Heuvel from Delft. Out of this Ernest comes a.o. Miss Perpignan with:
16 internat. Perpignan 2382 fem
15 internat. Perpignan 2570 fem.
30 internat. Perpignan 2233 fem
43 internat Barcelona 5273 fem.
National, this was 1,3,7 against the females from Perpignan.
Her mother was inbred to the Dikke and thus to the absolute founding hen, the Barcelona hen.

Bordeaux Philippens

Nouwen-Paesen weren’t afraid to double their long distance pigeons against the strongest competitors even in CFW and Liège . When in Liège, they twice won the big money before Pierre and Patrick Philippens (‘s Gravenvoeren), those men came to ‘find’ them. Not to get rid of them once and for all, but to propose an exchange .It’s always better to get pigeons from those that beat you .So, pigeons from Nouwen-Paesen went to Philippens and in 1983 a daughter from the Bordeaux from Philippens came to Grote Brogel. She will leave her mark on the colony and give a new impulse to the Nouwen-Paesen strain. From the exchange, Philippens bred Tramontana, 5106212-92 (Olympiade Blackpool).But that’s another story.
The already mentioned Bordeaux, 1065420-77 wasn’t just a pigeon. He not only won 8 internat. Bordeaux, but also 4,14 and 19 nat. St. Vincent, 9 and 31 nat. Pau and 21 nat. Perpignan. He was from the Gilmont and Englebienne strain.
The daughter Bordeaux, 5063905-83 became mother of New Barcelona hen, 5020214-87, that won 1st national Barcelona ( females)
In 1985 she already gave the 5025716-85, that won 2 prov. Perpignan for Nouwen-Paesen.
A brother of the New Barcelona hen, Emilio ring 5318831-87 became an excellent breeder in Grote Brogel. He was father of 5313448-92, that won 3 nat. and 11 internat. From San Sebastian. But, most important, he is father of the new progenitor of the current line, the 5095897-98, meanwhile known as the Barca Senior. We will talk about him later on.

When, in the end we see that the New Barcelona hen is grandmother of Beauty Marseille, 1st internat. Marseille, grandmother of the father of Gerda ( 1st internat. Barcelona for Ber Willems) and also grandmother of the founding hen at Harinck-Poelmans, then it is clearly proved how important the input of this daughter of the Bordeaux from Philippens was. And also that Pier and Jaak had a nose for  the right renewal of blood.

A proven method

A proven and almost unfailing method to keep an inbred strain alive, is to get back birds of your own strain with fanciers that have been successful with your pigeons.
It is commonly known that the strain from Nouwen Paesen easily brings success to other lofts. In Limburg, but not only there, it is hard to find a long-distance colony without their strain: Harinck-Poelmans, the late Danny Szymszack, Berke Willems, Schreurs-Hauben, Jean Geusens, Mathieu Jacobs, Theo Weytjens, Kabergs, Jean Connaert and Son, E.&F. Streel, Tony Stoffels, Rudi and Jef Vanhees, Dieter Ballmann,…and so many others.
Of course, Nouwen-Paesen followed the results of their pigeons on those lofts with great attention, and didn’t hesitate to get something back with fanciers that were successful with their pigeons.

Zwarte Jo

A real success was the getting back of their strain with Jo Jeurinck, Sevenum (Holland) Jo Jeurinck got the male 5098298-94, a grandson of Emilio, with the request to race the bird. Jo did this and won 38 and 64 nat. Bergerac  and 100 nat. Barcelona with the bird. So jack had not exaggerated when he told Jo that he had everything to become a god one. Afterwards, jo started breeding with him and a daughter of his Cattrysse pair ( via René Klaps). In gratitude, he gave a son of this pair to Jaak and Dirk. It was a beautiful male and he got a place on Dirks small loft. Dirk was a bit disappointed when Zwarte Jo wasn’t successful in the beginning, but father Jaak told him to be patient. Long distance pigeons often are slow starters.

Once again, Jaak was right; Zwarte Jo was one of the best Barcelona racers they ever had!
69 nat. Barcelona 13161 p.
79 nat. Barcelona 11806 p.
15 intern. St. Vincent 1557 p.
72 nat. Perpignan 8041 p
387 nat. Barcelona 13021 p.
Zwarte Jo won 2 Ace pigeon Barcelona in the 3 year competition of BBC
Zwarte Jo also was a gifted breeder and was father of a.o.
-5210890-03 Crystal Eye, 42 nat Barcelona 11785 p, 4 x prize on Barcelona
-5138206-04 Zwarte Jo junior, 31 prov Barcelona 1898 p and 3 x prize on Barcelona

He is also grandfather of Bernicia, 6 nat. Perpignan at Marc Schreurs-Hauben.

The „Olympiade“ aka „The 52“ of Toni Stoffels

A pigeon that played a crucial part in the long distance world in Limburg was the famous 52 from Toni Stoffels. The 52 was in the Olympiade in Katowice in 1989. The 52 came out of a grandson of the founding hen Nouwen-Paesen, the Barcelona hen 152-66. The grandson also was a half brother of the 1st semi-national Perpignan. Mother of the 52 was a daughter of the Dikke ( 4 prov. Saint Vincent and grandfather of a.o. 1 nat. Barcelona fem for Nouwen-Paesen in 1991) That Dikke was one of the four brothers, remember?
Berke Willems started on long distance with Vincent, a male out of a sister of that 52 from Stoffels. ‘I never had a better one’ says Willems. Vincent won 21 nat. Bordeaux, 63 nat. Perpignan, 67 nat. Barcelona, 49 and 69 nat. Perpignan. Moreover, he is grandfather of Dennis, 1 nat. Narbonne 5963 p, for E. and Fr Streel.
From another sister of the 52, Berke had his Rous, 18 nat. Perpignan 5390 p.; 49 nat. Barcelona 11399 p. and 99 nat. Perpignan 6013 p. Not bad at all, one should think…
Fabiola, 5334428-92, a granddaughter of the 52, wins 1 prov. And 2 nat. Narbonne for Berke Willems.
Rous, Fabiola and Vincent convinced Willems that Nouwen-Paesen pigeons were able to fly top prizes. His Gerda, 50 % Nouwen-Paesen, bred by his friend Danny Szymczack, proved this once more by winning international Barcelona in 1996.
Another top pigeon from the 52 from Stoffels was Lady Di, from Jean Connaert and Son. She won 1 nat. Perpignan against 8041 pigeons, but also 69 nat. Barcelona and 86 nat. Perpignan. Her father was a grandson of the 52 Stoffels.

Albert & Willy Simons (Maaseik) also had a good one from a sister of the 52, the 5137641-87, namely their 5038428-95 or Goede Witpen. Her results:
16 semi-nat. Clermont-Ferrand
55 and 144 nat. Perpignan
89 nat. Marseille
173,326,206 nat. Marseille
Or how Nouwen Paesen indeed introduced directly or indirectly god long distance pigeons in Limburg.