National Flying Club

St Malo

Yet another success and rave reviews on the new transporter for the National FC what more could a pigeon fancier want. That has been the case with the St Malo race when more members were happy with the way their pigeons returned on what was a hard day’s racing. Not only that we even have members who have said that they should have sent their birds to St Nazaire instead of listening to the rumours about the new Hi Tech transporter. At the end of the day we all live and learn and let’s face it there were always going to be teething problems with such a Hi Tech piece of equipment but the one problem was soon resolved with a trip to the owners to see what was required. We are aware that the prize money is not what we would like but when you take into account there is around £19,000 paid out at St Nazaire we cannot complain there is plenty to go round. Now back to this race where over 4,000 birds were liberated at 6am in a very light North East wind. The day was never going to be easy with all the heat but with the early start they did have a chance to get some miles under their wings before the full heat of the day was hitting them. The East wind was again going to keep the birds up the west side of the country and the result reflects this with the section winners to the west putting up the better velocities. With National racing I think most fanciers accept that this is always going to be the case so are happy to compete against the best in the country in the premier club.   

1st Section D 1st open goes to Mr & Mrs Elliott of Barnstaple. Lightning really does strike twice. The last time a National race was won in North Devon was way back in 1944 which shows that flying to this part of the country is by no means an easy task and over the years the birds have struggled against a prevailing wind on race days, usually from the south west but for this race all changed and they were in with a shout. Maurice and Pam Elliott from Barnstaple fly to a small back garden loft some 18ft.x 8ft plus aviary for the stock birds. They have enjoyed a wonderful season so far this year when Lightning has really struck twice for them, winning 1st section 14th open from Sennen Cove and now 1st Section 1st Open NFC St.Malo National. Their winner is a 2 year old dark chequer cock now named The Dark Destroyer and his breeding is Pure Janssen x Van Wanroy with both sets of parents being purchased from the Ponderosa Stud at Weymouth. This is Destroyers ninth time across the channel, and this year in preparation for National racing he was entered with the Devon & Cornwall Continental FC with three races from Chale on the Isles Of White when he was the first bird to the loft on each occasion. He was then sent to Sennen Cove (16th Sec.) St.Nazaire (57th Sec.) and then St. Malo with the NFC and winning 1st Open against over 4000 birds. Maurice decided to change onto a standard widowhood system quite late in the season and it has certainly paid off, his birds have performed outstandingly and I feel he has adopted the system for the future. Vernon Morrish his great friend was on lookout and spotted the bird flying at speed on line and very high in the sky a quick trap through open doors and into the clock on to the leader board and then the long wait while birds were being clocked further up through the country. Maurice & Pam fly their birds with our local North Sector of the Devon & Cornwall Continental FC and have been most prominent in all our local training races this year and agree that this type of preparation is the only way forward if you wish to compete against the very best fanciers in the country.

Mr & Mrs Elliott

Leading Section "A" is the very much in-form loft of Crammond & Langstaff of Fontwell West Sussex. This section win follows on from their 1st, 2nd and 3rd London & S.E.Classic, 1st and 2nd BICC Exeter, 15th and 16th BICC Yelverton, 5th 13th and 14th BICC Wadebridge from 2698 birds. They were also 1st. 2nd, 4th and 6th in the mighty Solent Fed from 2407 birds on 17th June. Ian said "With a fresh East to North East wind we knew we had little prospect of a good open position, so we just hoped for a decent section result. We knew the birds would make a landfall well down into the West Country and our birds would need to punch back into a North East head wind, so Nigel and I thought that anything around 11.00aam would be a decent pigeon on the day. We were therefore very pleased to see out section winner arrive battling into the head wind, flying low to the ground and hugging the terrains to be clocked at 11.04am after 5 hours on the wing to record a velocity of 971 Y.P.M." "This yearling widowhood cock is from our good Dickie and Mark Evans Vandenabeele lines being bred from a son of Jester and Carrie when paired to a daughter of Eisenhower. He won the local club last week and was our first bird in the clock in the Y.B National last year."

1st section C goes to Mike Staddon who is no stranger to winning top National positions. On this occasion Mike clocked a super yearling cock that has always been very consistent to the loft flown on the north road as far as Hexham in 2006 covering a distance of 283mls. He has also flown from Wetherby 219mls north before being switched back south to Messac 2 weeks ago when he was the 5th Pigeon clocked. After that he was sent to St Malo on a 7 day old YB. Who is a grandson of Mike’s 1st open N.F.C. Sartilly Y.B National “Perrott Nadia” Mike was saying that he is very proud of his record in the section from N.F.C. races this will be the 22nd time of winning 1st section C which is believed to be a record for the N.F.C. Mike went on to say “After all the rumours going around about the new transportation I decided not to send to St Nazaire (big mistake) I wasn’t interested in Sennen Cove so St Malo was my 1st race with N.F.C. 2006 I must say all the rumour mongers were totally wrong and the pigeons arrived home in wonderful condition I sent is mainly yearlings and had them all home on the day well done N.F.C”

Mike Staddon

1st section e is won by the father & son partnership of S & P. Kulpa from Reading with a yearling blue hen, who is a direct daughter of ‘Champion Sophia’ winner of 1st section E 1st Open NFC 2004 young bird national bred from the lines of Hans Eijerkamps Bartoli. The sire is one of 5 direct sons of Bartoli that the partnership purchased from the Greenfield Stud in Holland, all of which have bred winners for them. This hen is a 5th generation of winners from club, fed, combine and NFC level. She was 1 of 20 sent, 17 of which were home on the day, everyone in excellent condition, even with the hard race that they had flown. They had another good team performance; following on from the Sennen Cove race earlier this year with 6 birds in 40 minutes, in a race that was going to be hard due to the North Easterly wind on the day. All 20 birds sent were hens and raced on their own system that has brought a great deal of success over the past few years, including 3x1st sections in the CSCFC and 4th, 6th & 7th section E NFC Sennen cove this year. They have had an excellent old bird season winning 16x1st clubs and 2x1st feds. The previous best NFC performance in recent years has been 2004 young birds when the partnership finished 2nd section E 2nd open beaten by the mother of this hen, who then moved back to the stock loft to breed this section winner.

S & P Kulpa

1st section F. One partnership whose pigeons have been coming well this season initially racing North and now turned South is the partnership of Crowley and Green of Compton Bassett. This season in major races they have won: 20th May - 8th, 9th, 36th,37th, 91st, 102nd, 106th,122nd,127th and 146th Open BBC Ingleton. 10th June - 9th, 13th, 18th, 32nd, 45th, 72nd, 73rd and 75th Open BBC Carlisle. 1st July - 13th, 16th, 29th, 44th, 57th, 73rd, 86th, 97th, 117th, 120th and 139th BBC Messac. And now in their first NFC race of the season they record their 10th Section win taking first section F probable 44th Open with a yearling blue Van Rijn widowhood cock called "Renegade". This pigeonbred down from the Merckx-line from Janssen Bros is closely related to "The Boomerang" bred for the Herbot brothers by Leo. "Renegade" has been one of their star performers this year having been 37th Open BBC Ingleton, 13th Open BBC Carlisle, 139th Open BBC Messac and 27th Open WESRC Hexham Open race. As you can see from the results this is not just a one bird loft as their whole team has been performing well with this race no exception as they timed two other decent pigeons which should finish 4th and 6th in the section.With two races to go their plan is now to send all their older pigeons next week to Bordeaux with the BBC and their team of yearlings 10 in total to Saintes with the NFC in a fortnight.

Anna Crowley & Richard Green

1st section G is won by Les Nicholls of Bristol flying around 200mls to record a vel of 1142ypm with a 2y red cock. Les has been in a rich vein of form in recent weeks having taken 2nd & 6th section 20th & 30th open in the first National FC race from Sennen Cove and 6th section from St Nazaire. Just for good measure Les won 1st open from Tours with the BICC in fact the section winner now named Triple X is a full brother to the Tours winner. These pigeons are bred from their very good Geert & Clara Phillips of Dendamonde in Belgium stock from their multiple winning National family. Triple X was sent feeding a ten day old youngster and had a previous channel race from Tours in the BICC where he finished 7th section. Les started the season on widowhood but being away working most of the day at his haulage business he only had time to let the birds out once each day in the late evening and consequently the birds showed little form. However with the restrictions on channel arcing lifted Les decided to pair the birds back up and leave the birds on an open hole with almost instant success. Just to fine tone them he also takes them for a training toss three evenings a week to about 15mls directly due south to Glastonbury Tor and spends an hour or so reflecting on life and has a sandwich while he single tosses them. A heavy mixture is in front of the birds all the time and supplied by his good friend Mike Bidwell of Cog Mill Bristol and as a result in club racing Les can rarely trap quick enough to score. In fact Triple X held the sheet up in the club race from Portland a distance of 60mls the previous week. Although Les has put up with plenty of chipping from his fellow club members he only laughs as he knows that it is with similar methods that he won the NFC from Nantes and a car in 1992. Theonly medicines used are the De Weedt products supplied by fellow club member Nigel Templer.

Les Nicholls & daughter Jodie

In the St Nazaire race I (Les) had the job of putting my own notes together for 1st section L so with Russell being a scribe I thought I would let him put his own words to the report. Mr & Mrs Russell Bradford. “I seem to have had a good weekend with 1st Sect “H” in the NFC from St. Malo and today 13th, Open (provisional) in the BICC from Bergerac 514 miles. 21 hours AFT. St Malo is 261 to me and with the warm mainly due Easterly airflow throughout the weekend; the birds have really had to work to reach this side of the Country. My NFC bird is a yearling cock racing natural and starting to drive his hen again. He had just three races as a YB to the Coast, and this year one Channel race, again in very warm East winds and was sixth bird to the loft with a quite low velocity plus four races with the local Harrowden Fed. His dam is a five-year-old Jan Aarden who is a full sister to my MNFC SE Section winner in the 13,000 bird race from Picauville in 2002, and she was paired to a 10 year old stock cock via Jim Biss, whose blood goes back along ‘Natrix’ and ‘Son of Barcelona’ lines. The bird on return was still fresh given eight hours on the wing in hot and drying winds and barely took a drink, which despite my earlier reservations about the NFC transport, must be down to being well looked after by the convoyers. It makes a pleasant change to be “reported on”, rather than “report on others” as a BHW scribe, (The Cobbler) and as I noted in your column it is always difficult to write about oneself for fear of being perceived as self promoting”

Russell Bradford

1st section I goes to B Hyden & Son with son Andy sending us the following information. “I, Andy carried on flying as B.Hyden & Son after my dad, Bert passed away 5 years ago. For 20 years we flew pigeons with success in Club, Fed, Combines and Nationals. I havestruggled to race competitively since his death through working continental shifts but with the help of Dave(Hos) Hyden, Richard (Dick) Potts, my mum Joyce and my other half Jenny weare getting back on track. Bird timed in was a yearling blue white flighted cock of Janssen bloodlines. The Janssen’s are Wim Geboers originating from Derek Smith Great Ayton, crossed with birds gifted from Bill Lewis of Standeford, Bill Hocking of Stirchley and Stewart Minchew of Tewkesbury blended into the present day family. Birds have performed well this season in the MNFC, MCCC and Burton & South Derbyshire Fed. Returns at the time of writing was 11 out of14 entered. Birds are raced on the roundabout system, fed on Verse-Laga corn, Aviform products used. Birds are exercised twice a day for 1 hour, very little training given after 1st race. I would like to thank Hos, Dick, my mum Joyce and Jenny for their help in looking after the pigeons when I am at work. Unfortunately Dick my mentor was admitted to hospital on the Wednesday before this race so we all wish him a speedy recovery and hope he will be back on the bench for the next race”

Andy Heyden with the section winner & Hos

1st section J sees a very well known name in the sport Glyn & Christine Machin of Telford. Their winner is a 2y chequer cock raced on the widowhood and is from their Busschaert sprinters that they became famous for back in the 70’s. Glyn was saying that he got to a part of the sport where his interest waned and after some thought decided to take up the challenge of the longer channel racing so his enthusiasm drove him forward. The grandsire of this pigeon was a winner of 5 times in the first 30 from Saintes with the NFC & MNFC. This is not the first time this chequer cock has been in the frame during the current racing season because he has won quite a few to date and has been very consistent. As I say the breeding goes back to the original Busschaert’s but to strengthen the pigeons Glyn brought in the Mathyjs lines that came good. What was more pleasing was that two dropped together as they raced each other through the doors. The other being a yearling that goes back to the 3rd open NFC Pau winner of 92 and a pigeon with a good future ahead. Glyn finished by saying that he was very pleased because they came back in wonderful condition.

Glyn & Christine Machin

1st section K is won by last years King of the distance Chris Gordon of Old Snydale Pontefract. Chris took the rubber off a blue hen raced on the widowhood that was 17th section 642nd open Fougeres NFC and 3rd section 33rd open BBC Lamballe as a young bird covering 733mls in consecutive weekends. The nest mate to this pigeons is also a good channel pigeon having a 1st & 2nd already in the bag. The breeding could be termed as a mistake because the sire paired to his own mother and were left to rear but Chris admitted that he did not pick it up at first. Chris classes this line as his middle distance team as they win to about 500mls but there best distance is around the 350ml mark. Chris is known for his excellent capabilities of racing at the distance but he can get them in the shorter races when he wants to.  This hen has been to every land race this year but this was her first channel race of the season. We went on to talk about feeding pigeons and Chris tells me that he feeds barley all winter and in the early part of building them up for a race because he believes it is the best feed that you can give to the pigeons. It cannot be that bad because he has used it as a main feed for the best part of 20yrs and there’s nothing wrong with his performances.

Chris Gordon at the NFC with Mr & Mrs Carlo Napolitano

The Harrison (Beryl)  & Hull (Dave & Janet) partnership are thrilled with their performance in this race being 1st Section L & 4th Open with a yearling widowhood cock flying 358 miles. This cock is now named Victors Dream in honour of Janet’s dad Vic Harrison who had only one unfulfilled performance to accomplish when he passed away in October 2005 that being winning section L in the NFC. At the end of the 2004 season Vic and Dave decided to invest in some distance stock pigeons in order to compete in the National and International races. After chatting to Les Parkinson about the Bifs and Taveriene Rigola pigeons it was decided that these would be looked at so one Sunday morning off we went to Middlewich. Vic and Dave selected five pairs of stock birds and these included the parents to Victors Dream, which are Dr Vandersanden Bifs guaranteed parentages. The sire of this yearling cock is Jonge Narbonne 44 bred from De Narbonne winner of 1st national Narbonne and Mooioogje dam of 1st National AS De Duvenkrant and provincial winners. The Dam is the Jimmy Hen who is a daughter off 1st National Limoges 16,945 birds when paired to a daughter of Gijs Peeters Jimmy winner of 6 x 1sts. As a young bird Victors dream was not to put on the pigeons on darkness and had three races 90, 112 & 160 miles he was then put to one side and left to mature for the 2006 season. This year he has flown a full race programme on the widowhood and has been in the clock when the velocities were lower being 8th club, 8th fed & 9th combine Yeovil 1 and 2nd club, 9th fed & 33rd combine Yeovil 2. The birds are fed a combination of Versela Laga diet and widowhood mixtures and are exercised round the loft twice a day for an hour. The partnership believe that the good health of the pigeon is optimal for a good performance so their birds are regularly checked by Gary Spavin for the common ailments canker, fungal, worms etc. and are treated individually if necessary using natural products where possible. No routine flock medication is given. The team sent 6 pigeons to the NFC race all of which homed by teatime and it has to be said in immaculate condition and they believe this is due to the new transporter, which they are extremely impressed with.   

Dave Hull with the section winner

Victor's Dream 1st section L

We would like to finish by thanking the various people around the country who have visited fanciers and sent in the information on the winners the help is very much appreciated.

National Flying Club

Report by Cameron Stansfield and Les Parkinson of www.elimarpigeons.com

The National Flying Club’s final old bird race of the season was flown from Saintes last Saturday when the convoy of 3,144 birds entered by 576 members were liberated at 6.00am into a light and variable wind turning to light west en route and then south.

Trevor and Carol Durows and below their winner

This turned out to be another successful race and the honour of 1st Open NFC Saintes goes to Trevor Durows of Birmingham who has an excellent record from this race point flying with the National. Trevor timed a 2y widowhood cock who has taken 3 or 4 cards inland previously and he is a brother to a 2nd Section MCC and a fed topper from Bath and his sister was his best young hen in 05. His sire is an Albert Marcelis from Johnny Birch of Birmingham and his dam was timed by Trevor in the 2000 YB National. She was bred out of another direct-bred Marcelis from Bleke & Gust. The g.dam was bred by Albert Marcelis out of Small Gust when he was paired to a daughter of David. Trevor told me that he sent his 12 best cocks to NFC Bordeaux, so he didn’t know what to expect from his entry of 7 in this race. He sent the cock that was his first bird at St Malo and the other six, including the winner, were effectively sent to gain experience for next year. Trevor races 48 cocks on a straightforward widowhood system, exercising them for an hour in the morning and for an hour to an hour and a half in the evening. He closes the doors, puts a flag up while cleaning out, which takes him 30-45 minutes, then drops the flag and opens the doors so the cocks can come and go. He says that over the years he has altered the feed but has never found one mix or brand overwhelmingly better than another. He feeds a straight widowhood mix and adds peanuts, a handful per sixteen pigeons, each day as the longer races approach. He says the winner is not one you would pick out as he tends to be looser feathered than some of his loftmates but many years of experience has taught him that whether they look tight or handle tight is a quirk of individual birds and not a guide to their ability. Trevor had 6 of his 7 entries home on the day and said they were all in very good nick. His winner has now been retired, which is unusual for this loft as he tends to race them until they are six. However, he has been influenced by the fact that he continued to race his MCC Saintes Classic winner and lost it. He said winning the National hadn’t sunk in yet, adding that he would have liked it to have been more planned as this would have given him greater satisfaction, but nonetheless he was very pleased.

The winners of 1st Section A are Dave and Anne Ball of Shoreham-On-Sea who clocked a 2y Janssen widowhood cock. This season he had been ticking along with inland races as Dave wouldn’t send him north, then he received an injury which sidelined him for three weeks. He recovered in time to fly NFC St Malo, taking six hours. He was not originally earmarked for Saintes and was therefore a replacement for a loftmate who messed up in a prep race. He was given his hen the night before basketing and returned in perfect condition. Both of his parents were gifts from Fred Hall and are the lines of Jackson & Andrew of Goole. Dave started with pigeons aged sixteen and is now seventy. His aim is to do well in the Nationals and also the L&SECC. His birds are hopper fed Gem widowhood mixture and are never broken down. They also have a bit of small seed and bread pudding now and again. Dave was telling me how he was quite relaxed when his bird arrived but I could here Anne in the background saying he went through the roof in his excitement!

David Ball

The Section B spoils fell to John Zerafa and his son Kevin of Portsmouth. They clocked a 2y hen of their own strain, which they have developed since the mid-nineties with birds from various sources. This hen won 1st Club Guernsey as a youngster and in her last prep race from Messac a fortnight ago she won 1st Club by half an hour and 4th Fed, pickling up £171 in pools. She held her form so Kevin and John pooled her heavily for this Saintes race. In between those two races she was given no training. She had raced on widowhood all season but was paired and sent sitting 7 or 8 days for Saintes. She returned in good condition and John and Kevin had 6 of their 8 entries home by teatime. The Zerafas set out to do well in the NFC, the CSCFC and the BBC and indeed they have also won 1st Section in the Barcelona Club this season. Last year they clocked a very good bird from NFC Dax International, which demonstrates the versatility of their family of pigeons.

John & Kevin Zerafa

Section C was won by Tony Porter who has been racing pigeons since he was eleven. Five years ago Tony concluded that the only chance he had of doing well in Nationals living where he does on Portland, was in the longer races so he brought in birds from Geoff Hunt of Westmarsh and Vic and Terry Preddy of High Littleton. His timer, who was also on the result from Tarbes last year, is a 4y hen who is a combination of these two lines. This season she has had one club race, that being from Cheltenham on the north, and four tosses, the last one being the previous Saturday. She was fed on Gerry Plus this year and had plenty of peanuts and rice in the fortnight before Saintes. Tony said that giving his birds so little work is now his preferred method of conditioning pigeons because he’s found that the more work he gives them the worse they perform. Working them harder has led to more steps backward than forward, he said. Tony runs two quarries and a factory so his time is limited. In accordance with this he keeps a small team numbering just 28 and they are on open hole night and day. He doesn’t race youngsters, and the youngsters live with the old birds. His winning hen has been sat on plastic eggs all year but was sent to Saintes on an egg, which had just hatched, a method of motivation suggested to him by Geoff Hunt. Tony’s main ambition is to time in from Palamos.

Tony Porter and his father plus below there section winner

Andrew and Denise Hodge of Cullompton win Section D with a Van Loon x Van Reet widowhood cock.This pigeon is the nestmate to their 2nd Open NFC St Nazaire and 21st Open St Malo pigeon.They sent 8 birds to the race of which 6 homed on the day, all in excellent condition. The Van Loons originate from Hudson & Lowe stock purchased in 1994 and the Van Reets from Brian Kaid of Wales 6 years ago. Andrew & Denise would like to thank the NFC Convoyers and the NFC clock station at Honiton for all the hard work they put in to make these races a success and also the members of Tiverton Flying Club for making their club racing so enjoyable. The picture shows Andrew holding the 2 national performers.

Andrew Hodge

Mark Gilbert’s fantastic run of form continues with another 1st Section E and this time the bird in the clock is 3y widowhood cock of Frank Sheader Soontjen lines. It is a cracker as it has been four times in the first 20 in middle-distance Classic races, was 2nd Fed on the north road earlier in the year and won 2nd Section NFC St Malo a month ago. It’s no surprise therefore to find this cock is pooled to £50 Section and Open. Mark’s season has ended on a high note but it began on a very low one when he sent 81 birds to Wetherby on the north road and had just 9 home in two days. Altogether he had 43 home, including this Soontjen cock who returned in an Amtrak box having been reported 7 miles outside of Wetherby. This, Mark says, is the only mistake he has made in his life. Mark’s widowhood system is to pair in early December, let them rear the youngsters and remove the hens at 15 days. He does not re-pair before racing. This method ensures his birds are not too far down the wing when the long races come along at the end of the season and for this race his Soontjen cock was on his second flight. He was given his hen for half an hour before basketing. Mark had 13 of his 16 entries home by teatime and said they were in fantastic condition. He added that he thinks the new NFC crates are ‘great’ and that his birds returned in better condition than from many National races of the past. Mark’s ambition now is to win Palamos with the BBC. I asked him if his team was as strong as ever, to which he replied, ‘It was till Wetherby!’

Mark Gilbert

Section F was won by Peter Gilbert, a previous winner of 2nd Open NFC Pau with Fast Eddie. On this occasion he timed a hen bought out of a breeder/buyer sale in Didcot. This bird was brought over from Holland for the sale by Mark Kidby and was one of two donated by the Dutch loft of Hpoppen Elbury. Last year she flew the BB&O programme plus two national races through to Bergerac. This year she has not had a lot of flying, just a couple of club races, though she has been trained hard down to the coast. She was sent sitting 8 days and was on her third flight. He thought she would do ok but this performance exceeded his expectations. In addition to a basic mix his birds also have garlic and glucose, and the young birds have Ad Herb on their food. Peter says he has tried widowhood in the past but is happier with a kind of roundabout/celibacy system where the pigeons exercise well and then he re-pairs them for the longer races. Asked why he couldn’t get his birds to perform on widowhood, he could only surmise that he hadn’t been doing it right, though he does believe that his type of pigeon, many of which are Grooters, may not be suited to the system. He also added that his birds and methods are best suited to 900-1100ypm days so this performance was a surprise.

Peter Gilbert

When they come to write the history of UK pigeon racing the next fancier should have a chapter all to his own. I’m talking about Brian Sheppard who is simply an all-time great. Here he wins 1st Section G for what he thinks is the 12th time and the pedigree of his Section winner is full of winners, all from his old original lines. His sire won 2nd Open Saintes National and his dam is a nest sister to his 2nd Open International Dax. His g.sire was clocked on the day from NFC San Sebastian having finished high up earlier that season in the very hard Anglo-Welsh San Sebastian. Brian sent 10 to this race and had 9 on the day and all 10 had previously had every race (seven) on the north through to Fraserburgh a month ago. In fact his winner was clocked from Fraserburgh. Once the ban was lifted he turned them round, sending them first to Chale on the Isle of Wight with the Wiltshire Continental, then to St Malo with the National and now this Saintes. These are the only three south road races Brian has competed in this year. I asked him if he wasn’t taking a risk sending virtually all his birds to every race but he replied that this is what he has always done and if he does hit a smash, the best will still come. He began this year with 22 cocks and has finished it with 14 and he says they are all top pigeons. Prior to the season starting I spoke to Brian and asked if he was going to send north. He said of course because a good pigeon will come from anywhere. To prove the point, his winner of 2nd NFC Dax last year was his first pigeon in the clock from Fraserburgh winning 13th Open SW of England Lerwick Club, then was switched to Chale which it won easily and then was his second bird on Saturday. Brian asked that I mention two things. Firstly, he wishes to thank Brian Long who has gifted him three pigeons out of his Red Barcelona blood and these are showing great promise on the road, and also Brian said he waited at the marking station so he could see the new NFC transporter for himself. He was very impressed with what he saw and reported that his birds returned in perfect condition.

Brian Sheppard

Section H was won by Colin Crick who timed a 3y cock of his own Janssen-based family, these Janssen’s having come from various sources over many years. I asked Colin, who has kept pigeons since he was six, why he concentrates on Janssen’s and he said there’s no reason other than he fancied the look of them at the time he originally got them. His Section winner scored as a 2y and three weeks ago was 2nd Club, 2nd Fed, 4th Combine St Nazaire. He had been on widowhood earlier in the season but was sitting when he scored at St Nazaire and was on a 6-day youngster for this race. Colin said his pigeon returned in reasonable nick but he could see he’d tried. The birds are fed good quality corn, usually Versele Laga. Colin topped the Section in the Young Bird National last year, and back in 1980 when he lived elsewhere he won Section E from Nantes. He has also won the London & South East Classic from Pau and been 24th Open NFC Pau on two different occasions. These latter three performances came from Janssen’s crossed with Peter Titmuss birds. Colin’s preference is for races up to 500 miles, which can be done and dusted on the day, and his ambition is simply to keep on winning.

Colin Crick

1st Section J was won by a National stalwart Keith Rhodes of Telford, and this is some pigeon as last year he won a Western Region RPRA Award having won 11th Open MCC Picauville, 11th Section MNFC Falaise, 28th MCC Fougeres, 200th Open Saintes Classic and he also scored from Messac in the MCC. He has also won as a young bird and as a yearling. His brother has won 34th Open NFC St Malo this year and his half-brother (same sire) has been 23rd Open MNFC Bergerac. The sire, who won £3,000 in National racing, is a Desmet-Matthys going back to originals brought in 1980 and the dam was bought from Jim Gibbon of Sunderland six years ago being from Jim’s old family. Keith flies a basic widowhood system, keeping 26 cocks, and does no training whatsoever. He says his birds always fly well around the loft, in fact last Thursday he was worried he wouldn’t get them in in time for race marking for the Saintes race. He usually pairs early but this year because of the ban on Channel racing he held them back until March; he says it made no difference to them coming into form at the right time. He had all 7 of his entries home by 6pm and when I asked about their condition he said: ‘Perfect, all seven, the best condition they have ever come back in from a National.’ He very nearly missed his pigeons as he had only been back from clock reading for his local club’s young birds race, where he finished 1st & 2nd. This is the second time he has won the Section in the NFC having been runner up no end of times, and his Section winner was pooled to £10 Section and Open.

Keith Rhodes 1st section winner

Peter Hagland of Doncaster put up a fabulous performance to win 1st Section K, 2nd Open and what’s more he had two hens together, these being separated by just seven seconds on the clock. His Section topper, who last year won 1st Section, 12th Open MNFC Tours, is following in the footsteps of her sire who also won 1st Section K (only bird on the day), 2nd Open NFC Saintes. He is a Herman Beverdam x Andre Berte Janssen. Her dam is a Haelterman of Frank Tasker lines, which Peter brought in many years ago. His second pigeon is out of a Herbot cock and a Busschaert hen from Peter’s brother John, who races into Wetherby. Both these hens were flown on widowhood up to being got ready for this race. His Section winner was then paired and her eggs were due to chip on the day of return but Peter slipped her first youngster of the year under her on the Tuesday before marking. This is the first time he has tried this method as his widowhood hens have flown dry for the last three years and he says their performances have been out of this world, in fact he says he has never had hens race as well in all his life. They fly to their individual boxes where they are always fed and watered and they keep themselves in brilliant condition. He has 14 hens on this system and they fly half an hour morning and night and then are back in their boxes. He has never had an egg in three years and he says they can’t wait to get back in their boxes. They have high carbohydrate food in front of them at all times and extra protein is added via peanuts for the longer races. Peter hasn’t club raced since 1998. He sends his birds as trainers with the North East Provincial (no clock set) and concentrates on the Nationals. Peter had been monitoring the progress of the Saintes birds on the NFC website and this is what he had to say: ‘I knew I had to have one before half-three to stand a chance, so when I had two drop together at 28 minutes past, can you imagine how I was shaking. I’ve been racing for nearly 40 years and it felt brilliant.’ He would like to thank his friend Rob Pashley who took his birds to Sheffield for the marking, and he pointed out that without the help of his wife Cynthia he would find it much harder to race pigeons. Fittingly, his Section winner is known as Cynthia’s Pride having been christened this on topping the Section from Tours last year.

Roger Sutton tops Section L for the ninth time and for the second time from Saintes, his other Section wins having been from Nantes, the Young Bird race and the Old Hens’ race. On this occasion he had two hens in quick succession, the Section winner being a 2y from his own family, which he has developed over the years. The base are Delbars and Andre Berte Janssen’s. This hen has taken minor prizes before and her loftmate who was next in the clock is the nestmate to the cock Roger timed on the day from Bordeaux last week and she was 2nd Section St Nazaire last year. She is of Roger’s family combined with Warren Robertson’s Dark Destroyer blood. Roger has a very successful way of racing hens. Basically they race unpaired for the land races, exercising with the youngsters. As the big races approach he pairs them to stock cocks, which have finished breeding for the year and sends them on their first nest of the year. He sent 12 hens in such condition, 10 which were sitting and two of which were feeding a 5-6 day youngster, and it was the two hens sent feeding which he clocked first. Roger says it can’t be a coincidence but he wasn’t absolutely confident of it working as he has found that not all hens react positively to being sent in this nest condition. These hens are hopper fed beans early in the season and are fed a widowhood mix and a fat mix as the big races approach, with peanuts and sunflower seeds being given liberally in the last 2 or 3 days before marking. The aim is to send them feeling as big as possible without being heavy as Roger believes they want to be carrying plenty of body. This rounds off an excellent season for Roger, who commented that his birds had raced outstandingly out of the new transporters.

Roger Sutton

Wing of Roger Sutton's 1st section winner

National Flying Club

Report by Les J. Parkinson & Cameron Stansfield of www.elimarpigeons.com

Following a one-day holdover the NFC Bordeaux convoy of 2,799 birds were liberated at 5.45am on Sunday into a light west wind. Another successful race unfolded with good birds being recorded in most parts of the country, with some making it into Lancashire on the night and one also got up into Grimsby. Remarkably, the first two Open positions were won by pigeons which were once strays!

Les Jones

Les Jones 1st Open winner

The honour of 1st Section E, 1st Open Grand National went to Les Jones of Hitchin who said it felt fantastic to have won. His winning pigeon came in as a stray youngster last July. With Les’ youngsters being natural it was evident that this was a darkness young bird and he says it looked magnificent. Anyway, it had been at his loft for no more than ten minutes before he basketed it up and took it to work to toss it. It returned to his loft so he reported it and it belonged to Paul Russell of Brentwood. It was duly collected but three weeks later it turned up in Les’ garden once more. Paul suggested Les keep it but Les, not really into adopting strays, said he would toss it and see how things went. It kept coming back so he transferred it and raced it through the young bird programme. It was always about mid-division, never being up front in these races. This year he paired him up and gave his youngsters away to a clubmate. Again he was mid division in is races this season, then he was sent to a MNFC race, returning with two tail feathers. Les was actually preparing another pigeon for Bordeaux and it was only at the last minute that he decided to send this cock too. He has not seen his main entry as yet! Having won the National Les contacted the breeder and was able to find out that the bird is a Camphuis Janssen whose dam won three firsts as a youngster. On winning the National with a one-time stray, Les said ‘And to think of all the money I’ve spent on pigeons!’ He added that the bird was in fantastic condition when he clocked him but that he actually missed his arrival as he had gone to the house for a drink. Les said that he’s normally a very chatty person but as news of his success was sinking in on Sunday he hardly said a word to anyone. He couldn’t believe it when he started getting calls from people saying ‘You’re going to win the National’ and says the phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. Congratulations Les on winning the number one race on the calendar.

Dickie Nash

Dickie Nash section winner

1st Section A is won by Dickie Nash of Bognor Regis who has been racing pigeons for some 50 years going back to when he flew successfully with his late father in the Ashford club in West London. Dickie moved to the South Coast a few years ago and joined the local Bognor & Chichester club. He has won many club, fed and National positions including the BBC YB event and BICC Marseilles. In this Bordeaux race he clocked his good 3y blue chequer hen at 14.59 to win 1st Section B, 2nd open. He has now named her Emma Mary after his granddaughter. She was sent feeding 5-day-old youngsters and had previously won a number of positions including 51st Open Vains with the Solent Fed against over 5,000 birds. She came to Dickie as a stray and was duly transferred by Mr Frank Fournier of Bridport. The breeding is believed to be the late Eric Cannon’s lines via Ron Dodd of Cranley in Surrey. Dickie commented that it just goes to show that strays aren’t all bad. This year she had one race from the north, then took 12 hours from St Nazaire, after which she was rested, so Bordeaux was her third race of the year. Dickie added that this was the first time he has ever had her right. Dickie is a willing worker and assists at the NFC Melling marking station and at the NFC clock station so it is pleasing to see him do so well in this prestigious NFC race. He finished out conversation by saying he would like to congratulate Les Jones on winning the race.

Bomber Mellis

1st Section B was won by Bomber Mellis of Southsea who clocked a blue pied widowhood cock cock of Staf Van Reet x Burger lines. The SVRs originated from Ian Stafford and the Burgers from Roy Boden of Derby. His winner has had five previous races this season and has never let Bomber down, always being just off the pace. However, he was the least fancied of Bomber’s four entries, in fact he was a late substitute for a hen who had become eggy. He was the first of three arrivals on the day to the loft and looked perfect when he was clocked. He actually came right out of the north so Bomber suspects he crossed somewhere near Gosport. Even though he came from the wrong direction, he arrived like a rocket. Bomber said it was a great thrill when he saw him and then added that whether racing from 50 or 500 miles he always gets a thrill when he sees a pigeon arrive, even if it is late. Now 65 years of age, he says he has more enthusiasm than ever, adding that the older you get the more stupid you get as when you clock you think you have won every race. Feed here is an ounce in a morning and half an ounce in the evening, with malting barley in front of the birds at all times, and they also have two peanuts a day each throughout the season. Aviform is added to the water every second day and TCP once a fortnight. This loft was 2nd Open CSCFC Pau last year and Bomber’s main ambition is to win the Pau National.

Perrott Marion

1st Section C once again goes to Mike Staddon of Crewkerne. Mike took the rubber off a chequer hen that is a very good pigeon with the following performances: 1st sec Bordeaux 2006. 15th sec 339th open NFC Young bird National. 3rd club 32nd Combine Saintes. 11th section 70th open Nantes CSCFC. 16th sec Nantes National. 1st open Towers Open race winning £1,000. 1st Littlehampton. 1st sec 74th open NFC Dax. Dam is a full sister to “Perrott Nadia” 1st sec 1st open NFC Guernsey. Her sire was bred by Ron Williamson and has flown Melton Mowbray on the north road and Messac with the BBC on the south route in 2006. She was prepared and sent to Bordeaux sitting 6 days. Mike was telling me that once again the pigeons returned in excellent condition and that he sent six, having four on the day and the other two next morning. Mike went on to say that this win makes it 23 x 1sts Section C in the National Flying club, a record that he is proud of.  

Ringo Parkhouse

1st Section D for around about the 10th or 11th time was won by Brian Parkhouse of Cullompton who timed ‘81’, who he described as a ‘Once in a lifetime pigeon – the best I shall ever have.’ The pigeon in question is a Gerard Schlepphorst Jannsen cock who has scored from all over the place winning a huge amount of money in the process, his successes coming at club level right through to national level. Brian says this pigeon loves his home and would race in any condition but for this race he was given his hen fpur days before basketing. He added that the success was 95% down to the pigeon itself but for the record the feed here is a high carbohydrate mix, given once a day in the evening. Brian has twenty widowhood cocks and also races a few birds on roundabout. He tries all manner of things to motivate them. He started with pigeons in 1995 and is self-taught. His successes include winning a car and winning 1st and 2nd Open BBC. Brian says ‘81’ has actually been unlucky in that every time he has been sent to the National he has not had a favourable wind. He returned from this race in excellent condition and has now been retired. Brian had actually decided beforehand that this was to be ‘81’s’ final race so he was relieved to see him. He said, ‘It felt wonderful when he dropped. I’m not sentimental but I had a little tear in my eye.’

Tony Waite

Tony Waite of Whitchurch wins 1st Section F once again, this time with a 5y widowhood cock called Hakon. He has flown Pau three times and has won 10th Section, 172nd Open NFC Saintes and 24th Section, 225th Open NFC Tarbes. His sire is Bassi and his dam is a daughter of Crack Perpignan, these of course being the lines of the late Jim Biss. Hakon is a half-brother to Espanda, winner of 1st Section, 2nd Open San Sebastian for Tony. To give you some measure of how good these birds are, Tony sent 30 to this race and had 22 on the day, clocking 19. The winner was flown on basic widowhood and this season has had a few inland races and one Channel race – Messac with the BBC. Tony does not train at all after the first race but his birds do exercise very well around the loft. He cut down to 40 pairs of racers at the start of this season and these are all on widowhood. He says he has tried a few hens in the past but basically they can’t beat his cocks. Like so many other fanciers, Tony’s ambition is to win the Pau National.

Sid and Val Miles win Section G with a 3y pencil blue hen who has previously won 3rd club, 21st combine Marmande, 485 miles. This season she was raced up to Hexham on the north, coming ok, then flew Littlehampton on the south. In the week before Bordeaux she had three 50-mile tosses and an open loft. She is raced natural and was sent sitting 13 days at the time of basketing. She is bred through a family they have developed over many years. Her sire is a blue cock who has won on the north and south this year and was 2nd Marmande last year, and her dam is a cheq stock hen out of their Marmande Combine winner of 2002, known as Little Mandy, who also won Nantes and scored from Pau. Little Mandy is a g.dtr of Little Darling, Ashgrove King and George Burgess’ Pau National winner. Sid said basically there family are good honest pigeons which were initially formed on Barkers from Roy Welch of Bristol back in the sixties; there is also some Mike Young Spangle blood in the mix. He also said they struggle to compete at times with the widowhood fliers so the harder the race the better. They love 500-mile races and want as many hours on the wing as possible. Feed is beans and peas from the farm added to a mix and fed morning and afternoon for a degree of control. They keep 38 pairs including 6 pairs of stock and their ambition is to win the Pau National. In 2004 they sent three and took 14th, 17th and 32nd Open. Sid actually won the Pau National in 1987 when flying as Miles & Dix.

Trevor Harris

What a day for the partnership of George, Trevor & Rita Harris of Polstead who won 1st Section H. Trevor has always said he would wina Section in the NFC but to win the Section and come 25th Open in the Grand National of all raceswas above all expectations. This winner is bred off his 2004 Nantes Section winner but he did not pool this Louella Jan Arden hen as it was not coming as well as some of the others. He kept checking the NFC web site to see if they had won the Section and when it was confirmed he would have opened a bottle ofbubbly but as he had to work nights it was put on hold. Trevor is another in the long line of members who have said that their pigeons came back in excellent condition. Also Trevor, as a committee member of the NFC, would like to thank the race advisers and the convoyer for providing such a good race. The NFC is the Number 1 club in the UKand Trevor would like to see more members racing on the East Coast. The partnership race in a very strong club, the Mid Suffolk South Road RPC based in Stowmarket Suffolk, which his home to many section, national & International winners. Trevor also said that he is looking forward to receiving the Travipharma products for winning the section as they use them all the time. He is also looking forward to getting a photo taken of the winner by Richard Howey.

D.Nesbitt & Ssons, on the left is Dougie Nesbitt holding there 5th section 19th open winner from Sennen Cove, In the middle is Mark Nesbitt holding there 1st section 14th open winner from Bordeaux and on the right is close friend and helper Chrisie Batt.

Nesbitt lofts

Wing of Doug Nesbitts 1st section winner

1st Section I was won by Dougie Nesbit & Son of Rugeley, a town that is a real hotbed of National fliers. Dougie and son Mark timed their 3y widowhood cock, which is pooled to £10 Section and Open, at 6.37pm. The sire is from direct Robert Venus Supercracks and bred a fed topper two years ago out of Picauville whilst the dam, who is from the Blue Danial Haelterman lines via Frank Tasker, has scored herself and bred other winners. Their Section winner was also timed from the Sennen Cove National. Dougie told me that on arrival from Bordeaux he looked brilliant, in fact he clapped round three times before landing and then proceeded to spin around. He added that you’d never have thought he’d been and that he could have been sent back so well was he on Monday morning. The Nesbitts, who are assisted by silent partner Chris Batt, have enjoyed a terrific season with the NFC. Their first bird positions in the races so far are: 11th Section 140th Open St Malo; 4th Section, 91st Open St Nazaire; 5th Section, 19th Open Sennen Cove, and now 1st Section, 14th Open Bordeaux. They have also won 1st Section Yearlings in the MNFC from Yelverton. In 2002 they won the MNFC Channel Averages and in the seasons 2001 and 2002 they won a total of £17,000! I asked Dougie if he still had any of this money to which he replied: ‘Oh no, it’s gone with Lebby (Brian Leadbeater) down the pub!’ He added that it felt brilliant when his cock arrived and that he had tears in his eyes. The Nesbitts start the season with 40 widowhood cocks and also try around 8 hens, but they say the cocks usually have the edge. Dougie originates from South Wales and comes from a mining family that moved to Rugeley when he was 11 years of age. He is now retired. The aim now for their Section topper is Tarbes next year.

Mr & Mrs Geoff Kirklands lofts

1st Section J goes to one of the most prominent names in the sport, Mr & Mrs Geoff Kirkland of Longsdon, Stoke-on-Trent. Geoff and Barbara have a real nice place on Denford road that is called The Outlook and you can see why when you visit them. Their latest National performer is a little 2y blue cock that they race on the widowhood system and he comes form the old Supercrack lines that have done so well for them over the years. Geoff told me that the pigeon was in such good condition he could have gone on for quite a few more miles without any problem and a good 600ml plus race wouldn’t have hurt him which means he is already giving thought to where he can go to in future years. For this race he had a three-week break because of the 7-day restrictions and difficulty finding the right race to send him to. They are pleased with the way the season their has gone under trying circumstances.

1st section K for Mr & Mrs Braithwaite

We now come to the winner of 1st Section K, which is a fabulous 7y hen racing to the loft of Roly Braithwaite up in Grimsby. This truly wonderful hen actually arrived on the day, some time between 9.40 and 10.10pm, which means she was after the hours of darkness came into play at 9.30. Roly had had to take his Midlands National clock in and was away from his loft for half an hour. I asked him what his reaction was when he returned home and went down the garden in the fading light to find his hen. ‘Oh hell’, I thought, ‘What am I going to do with you?’ She must have the heart of a lion this hen as last year in a hard race she won 1st Section Midland National Bergerac and two years ago she dropped with her half-sister from Bergerac on the day, having covered 602 miles. She has also scored on a third occasion from Bergerac. Before Bordeaux, Roly had said to his wife that this would be her last trip so she has now been retired. Her sire is a Van Der Wegan which originated from Ponderosa and her dam is a mixture of Jan Aarden through a young chap who’d had them from a loft in Wales, Van Wanroy from Ponderosa and Kuyper from Louella. She has always been flown natural to an open loft. This year she wasn’t started until after the restrictions on Channel racing were lifted. She had two tosses, then flew Maidstone, Eastbourne and Alencon, after which she was left alone, being basketed for Bordeaux sitting 8 days. She has also scored from the distance feeding a baby and once when her cock was lost for a few days but returned just before basketing. Rory says his natural birds are up and down all the time and he feeds a good heavy mix containing beans. He describes his great hen as powder blue, cobby and medium to small and says that whenever she returns from a long race she is always in the same condition, never being distressed at all. Roly hardly slept at all on Sunday night and when he went to the loft at 4.30 on Monday morning his hen was back sitting her eggs tight.

1st Section L was won by one of Lancashire’s great lofts, Barber & Hilson of Bury. When I rang George I asked him how it felt to have timed over 600 miles on the day and he said, ‘I’m still buzzing. I saw her coming from 700 yards out and I said to Bob Helens, who was waiting with me, “Bob, here’s a 600 miler coming!” She was in fabulous condition and would have gone on.’ She was sent on a five-day old youngster at basketing, the idea being to get her off soft food for fear of it going sour in the crop. Initially this season she was flown on roundabout, then was paired and sat 10 days before being split again. This therefore was her first baby of the year. She was their first bird this year from St Nazaire, their first bird from Tarbes last year, and two years ago she was clocked on the day from Niort. Both of her parents were gifts from Gordon Rigg (who won the Sennen Cove National earlier this season and who clocked three in 6 minutes in this Bordeaux race) and the breeding is Dusardyn. This pair has also bred 1st Section Young Bird National. George is one of the most enthusiastic fanciers I’ve met. Though a working man, he is at the loft at 5am seven days a week, and he is always on the look out for pigeons he can bring in to improve their team. He likes to win at all distances but really loves the Channel. Once the water races arrive, they start feeding heavier, adding maples to the mix, and in the three days before basketing they feed hemp and peanuts, this being the only time the birds are fed in their boxes. Feeding for 350 miles and 600 miles is basically the same. That said, George added that everyone feeds differently so basically if a pigeon is right it will come regardless of how it is fed. In the week after St Nazaire their hen had no work and in the week before Bordeaux she had just a couple of 30-mile tosses.

That wraps up another successful race but before finishing we would like to send our commiserations to Colin Banyard of Oswaldtwistle whose loft burnt down at the weekend. Colin was competing in this race and it meant that he had to catch his bird in the garden in order to clock it. His many friends in the sport would like to wish him all the best.

A full report on all National Flying Club races appears on www.elimarpigeons.com within 48 hours of each race being flown.

NFC CHALE Old Hens

Report by Cameron Stansfield & Les J. Parkinson of www.elimarpigeons.com

The honour of winning 1st Section E and 1st Open goes to 37 year old Jaimie Clarke of Chesterfield in Kent who clocked a celibate hen at 4.04pm and had 19 of his team of 30 celibate hens home by 6pm. These hens were started off about two months ago and have been sent as trainers in the young bird programme with his local organisation, having had three races through to Lyndhurst, 121 miles, last weekend. They have also had about ten tosses from 30 miles on the line of flight and have been exercising once a day for up to two hours. Jaimie says they have been coming really well but he was surprised by how well they shaped in the National because they are going through the moult and were in pretty poor feather. They are just given a basic feed and to stop them pairing together and laying he keeps a couple of cocks in with them at all times. He says basically they fly just to the perch and he can’t explain why they do so well. None of these hens has ever been paired and his first in the clock is a 3y hen who has always been consistent. Jaimie says he does not get too close to these hens but he keeps things regular and works hard with them. He added that he races hens celibate because for reasons he can’t explain, he has always raced a better hen than cock. However, his ambition is to get a good team of widowhood cocks together so these hens will act as their mates next year before being brought out again for the Old Hens National.

Dave Wells of Borden rounded of a good season by winning Section A by 55ypm with a 3y hen, her sire being a Busschaert and her dam a Lier Market purchase, believed to be a Janssen. She is in the clock just about every time she is sent, though Dave did say that whenever he puts some money on her it slows her up a touch! With this race being so short for him, he sent for a bit of fun really though he did expect her be intelligent enough not to overfly the loft. She was given a 50-mile toss a few days before this race and was sent feeding two 14-day old youngsters, which he is rearing for a friend. For the record he timed his other hen twenty minutes later but his single young bird entry did not show up. Next year his winner will be raced out to Bordeaux or another race of similar distance; he won’t being sending her any further than that as he feels that her breeding suggests that would be her limit.

Dave Wells

The best bird in Section B was recorded by Derek Human of Petersfield who told me he only sent to prove a point to other local fliers that such short flying birds wouldn’t necessarily be swept up in the general convoy and overfly their loft, and indeed the second of his two old hens arrived ten minutes after the first. His Section winner is a very good natural hen, in fact next season she will be going for a NFC Certificate of Merit having previously been twice in the 1st 100 of the NFC’s longest race. In 2004 she was 11th Section Pau and this year was 6th Section Bordeaux, which was her most recent race prior to this one. She had done nothing since, then last week Derek gave her a short toss from Lee-on-Solent before being basketed with her just looking at her cock. She is of Catrysse lines which go back to birds from Norman Bishop and Les Davenport. These have served Derek very well and are good all-rounders, as performances such as 1st & 2nd BBC Nantes, 1st CSCFC Avranches and 1st CSCFC Lamballe (by over 100ypm) illustrate. Derek is now 65 years of age and started with pigeons as a 12 year old. He says he’s happy to win from anywhere be it Exeter in the local club or on the National stage and his ambition is to win the Grand National. Perhaps this hen will be the one to do it for him next year.

Following on from his 1st Section Old Hens in the Central Southern Classic a fortnight ago, John Halstead wins Section C. John was confident his hen would battle against the wind as in terms of condition she had superseded his Central Southern winner in the last week or so. His National hen was an hour behind his Classic Section winner in that race a fortnight back and was sent here on her fourth flight. Whereas his Classic winner had been a widowhood hen during the old bird campaign and had only been flying out for a month before her success, his National hen has been raced in the old bird programme and was in fact 1st Club Messac in June in his local Gillingham club. She is one of only four hens raced in this manner and when you consider John started 2006 with 14 widowhood cocks it shows that he is by no means a big team flier. John’s winning hen came in as a young bird stray. She was only in his loft for 24 hours before being given a 50-mile toss, from which she returned so he reported her to her owner, Ivan Jones of Rhymney in Wales. Duly transferred, she was sent to the CSCFC St Malo YB race, only to return to her original Welsh home, arriving just 5 minutes after Ivan’s 2nd Section winner. Since then though she has behaved herself and she was set up for the National by being basketed on a 5-day youngster. Known as Welsh Mel, she is of Haelterman lines.

Sue White of Honiton notched up her third 1st Section win in the NFC having previously won the Younng Bird Section twice and she described herself as ‘well excited’ as her game yearling hen was really up against it flying into a gale force wind. The hen in question was bred by Jack Hackman of Sidmouth and was bought for £5 in a breeder/buyer. She was unraced as a YB and began this year in a stock section but she escaped over Sue’s head having not paired and went awol for two days. Sue decided to keep her flying out and trained her with the young birds through to 25 miles. She was coming well so was sent to two Isle of Wight races with the Devon & Cornwall Continental Amal. Sue had contact with pigeons growing up on a farm when her family used to sell the youngsters bred off strays at the local cattle market. She always harboured ambitions of one day racing some birds herself but it was not until she took over a pub in Honiton where the local club met that things came together. Now with more time on her hands, she plans to have a go at roundabout and darkness for the first time next year. She describes the birds she has as mongrels and they comprise birds from Martin Rickman of Derbyshire, a Natrix hen through Jim Biss and birds from Scottish friends. Additionally she has a young bird team made up of birds from the many West Country fanciers who rallied round when a fox killed all her own-bred youngsters earlier this year. The plan now is to continue racing her Section winner next year and, who knows, she might one day fulfil Sue’s ultimate ambition, which is to fly Palamos with the BBC.

Sue White with Nobby Henley.

Paul Stowell of Basingstoke had the best bird in Section F. He clocked a hen bred out of a pair of gift birds from Machiel Buijk of Hoogerheide in Holland, the lines being Jan Aarden/Van Geel. These are very inbred and Paul says in terms of type they are like the Ko Nipius which have served him so well, with rich eyes being a particular feature. His winning hen has been through to Bergerac in the past but this season has been hardly been anywhere in terms of races, though she has had loads of short tosses with Paul’s youngsters and was sent sitting 10 days. It is surprising to find that this was Paul’s first ever 1st Section win in the NFC when you consider his CV includes 1st Open BBC Bordeaux and being top prize winner 13 times in his local Basingstoke club and also 8 times runner up. In Paul’s own words he has been through a lean spell in recent years so hopefully this success signals a return to form. His ambition is to win the Grand National. If you want to know more about these birds, visit www.magiclofts.co.uk

Paul Stowell’s 1st Section F winner, ‘Dedication Dolle’.

Seventy-one year old Brian Henley of Bradford-on-Avon wins 1st Section G with a 2y unpaired Busschaert hen. She is bred down from birds bought many years ago from Mr & Mrs Clare of Boston, Lincs, this being a line which has served Brian well. In addition to never having been paired she has never been trained. She was unraced as a youngster but was raced a yearling, and this year went to St Malo. She is one of 11 hens which race to a spare section but when asked what the idea behind this was Brian replied: ‘No idea whatsoever other than that I don’t have much nest box accommodation and they were too good to get rid of.’ Brian sent 5 hens to this race and had two on the day and 2 the next day. He was keen to see his fifth one home safely for as he said, ‘I don’t just like my pigeons, I love them and I don’t care if I win or lose as long as I see them come home.’ Having said that, he missed his winner’s arrival as he had popped into the house to put his dinner in the microwave. Brian is helped greatly by his son Kevin (who races to his own loft nearby) and says his aim is just to enjoy his pigeons and carry on in the same way. He feeds Gerry Plus all year round having had it recommended to him by Brian Sheppard, with whom he grew up.

Section H was won by G & T. Harris of Polstead near Colchester, who also won the Section in the Young Bird race, the two Section winners arriving together. See the report on the Young Bird race for further details.

I wrote last year of Jeremy Wright’s fabulous sequence of four successive 1st Section wins in the Old Hens’ race (including a 1st Open) and lo and behold he’s done it again, which must be a record. In the past five years his methods have not changed at all, the only difference being that this time he won it with a 2y whereas his four previous wins were with yearling hens. The common denominator is that all five hens were racing to their first youngsters of the year and, in the case of the yearlings, the first youngster of their life. Jeremy sent 13 of his 15 hens to this race, but there were only three yearlings amongst them on account of losses in the young bird programme of the year before. These hens were paired mid-February then parted after sitting 4 or 5 days before being re-paired in April and sent to the first race sitting. After that they were raced on widowhood through to Tours at the end of July before being set up for this race. After Tours they were given an open loft whilst being driven and, once having laid, were trained from 30 to 40 miles more or less every day, with Jeremy believing frequency of tosses to be more important than distance. Once their eggs hatched no more training was given and they were basketed on 5 or 6-day old babies. Jeremy had 10 out of 13 home on the day and his Section winner had been 4th Section MNFC Portsmouth earlier this season when the loft also won 1st & 2nd Section. Her sire is a Haelterman which won the Warwickshire Fed Championship Club from Plymouth and her dam is out Chris Raes stock. Can Jeremy make it six in a row?

John Fretwell had a great day last Sunday, winning Section J in the Old Hens, 7th Section Young Bird National plus 8th Open MCC Yelverton and 1st & 2nd Club Exeter. He gets a thrill from all races but said that clocking in from the National is just something altogether different. In the Hens’ race he clocked a yearling blue w/f Smit Van Winkel (direct) x Houben (Ken Whitehouse). A consistent young bird, this year she was used as a widowhood hen then was given a couple of trainers in her local club. John said it was blowing a gale so he was surprised to clock when he did, but then fifteen minutes later he had another old hen and his first youngster and by nightfall he had 6 out of his 10 old hens home. John has wasted no time building a strong team having only re-started with pigeons on his move to Pershore in 2004. He only buys from the best but said that even then you need some luck. He races mostly Marcel Sangers and Janssens. This year he has won the old bird average in his local club racing a team of 18 widowhood cocks, many of which flew through to Crieff on the north before being turned around and then scoring 1st & 2nd Club Picauville. Feed here is Bamfords Fast & Fancy and a widowhood mix. His winning hen will be given a toss on Wednesday and if she pleases him he will send her to the MNFC race on Saturday.

John Fretwell’s Section J winner.

Vinnie Wilkinson fulfilled his long term-ambition by winning Section K and was thrilled when I phoned him with the news. He timed a yearling Janssen x Busschaert hen through stock from Mick Thompson of Grimsby. She has been consistent this year having won 217th Open BICC Falaise and 156th Open BICC Alencon. For those races she was raced on a celibate system, just being let through to the cocks’ section prior to the races, however for this race she was sent on 4-day old chicks. She went straight back on them on her return and Vinnie is toying with the idea of sending her to this weekend’s Midlands National event; he’ll make his mind up after tossing her on Wednesday so watch this space. Vinnie says despite her moulting he fancied her, but he didn’t pool her because of his unfavourable loft location. Incidentally, Vinnie put up a great performance from Bergerac with the BICC earlier this season, clocking on the day at over 600 miles. This pigeon was a 2y late-bred cock and, remarkably, as a nine-month old late-bred yearling it homed in race time from the Pau International, which is one heck of a fly into Grimsby. He was bred by Mick Thompson out of a Busschaert x Delbar cock known as Crackerjack and a hen which went into Mick’s loft as a stray when coming home from Palamos. She belonged to Neil Bush of Amcotts near Scunthorpe who has a long distance record second to none so Vinnie’s Bergerac pigeon was certainly bred for the job.

Section L was won by Graeme Marskell of Leyland near Preston who clocked outside of the hours of darkness which kicked in at 8pm, his bird arriving at 8.13pm, at which time he said it was just getting dark; he actually had a young bird arrive from a local club race later still. His Section winner is a Staf Van Reet and is a gift bird from Maurice Jackson, his club secretary. This is a very good hen as she has previously been 1st Hereford, 1st Bath, 1st Portland, 3rd Hereford and 6th Bath, and she has also bred a 1st prize winner fromLudlow this year. All this and she is still only a yearling. She wassent sitting a 6-day old youngster, as she was when she had her other 1st prizes. With the amount of west in the wind and the late liberation time, the further flying Section L birds were really up against it, as a perusal of the top 10 in the Section shows. Graeme’s bird was one of 5 which were clocked during the hours of darkness and three others were timed between 6.30 and 6.57am the nest morning, the only two birds in the top ten to be timed on the first day being to Barber & Hilson and Roger Sutton.

Graeme Marskell, 1st Section L.