News from the Joint Race featuring the NFC, BICC, CSCFC & BBC.

Great news! The huge amount of effort by the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, Chief Vet David Parsons and those Committee Members in all participating clubs who stepped up when it mattered the most, has resulted in the birds clearing the French Customs without any issues and the convoy is now at the race point.

South road National racing has been at a critical point over the past few months, and we would like to thank every member who has registered with a Vet, obtained their CPH number and signed the declaration to be able to compete with the National Flying Club on the fairest racing route into the country. The weather forecast looks favourable for a liberation on the 2^nd of July and we wish you all the very best of luck in the race.

Southampton Marking Station

Checking Registrations

Mark Gilbert and Paul Naum

Chief Vet David Parsons and Paul Naum

The third race of the season for the National Flying Club was held from Guernsey on the 18^th of June and the convoy of 4311 birds, entered by 437 members got away at 7:30am into a broken sky with a 12 mph North East wind, with heavy showers forecast to develop in the early afternoon across the middle of the country, from South Wales to East Anglia. With the very hot temperatures experienced on the Friday, the cold air coming down from the north would ensure fresher racing conditions but with the added risk of rain showers where the two fronts would meet, which transpired to become much more prolonged for some. Liberations in such circumstances is not an easy decision to make and I thank the Convoying team and Race Adviser for doing a job most would never like to take on.

Albeit somewhat more difficult for the northern fanciers due to the rain, it is great to see seven section winners in the top twenty of the provisional result. The birds have really got their individual lines, which would follow considering the number of times they have been to Guernsey this season and are putting in some top performances especially in the northerly winds.

First open was the Cornish loft of Willy Hollow in Hythe who timed his little blue hen “Champion Heather” to record a velocity of 1221ypm and it was very pleasing to see another Cornish fancier get the top honours, with section Q now having won 1^st open NFC for the second time in two seasons. Sometimes the Cornish fanciers have to play second fiddle with the prevailing westerly winds against them but given a sniff of a chance “Champion Heather” had taken a direct line over 100 miles of sea from Guernsey, flying alone with little or no assistance. 

Pigeons came back into Willie’s life once again via his son some 30 years ago, after having them as a boy himself in the 1950’s. As is often the case after a few seasons, birds of a different kind took the sons interests away from the pigeons and Willie continued with them from then on. The garden of their 200 year old house on the north coast of Cornwall near St Ives is moderately long and very narrow, which meant that his wife Heather had to give up most if not all of it to the lofts once they arrived, so it is a gesture of compensation to have National winning hen named after her in appreciation of her many years of sacrifice. “It is a dream come true” said Willie “and one I never thought could happen” and he very nearly did not send her as he though she had had enough of the channel for this season, but his brother in law, John Hosking convinced him she was right for this NFC race.  

Being raced on the roundabout system, the four year old hen would be having her third channel race from Guernsey so she was left with her cock for a few hours as extra motivation, yet when she came, the house roof was her first perch for a few very tense minutes which is often a sign of nervousness after flying alone with Percy ever present in the sky. She was fed on Top Flight Supreme Widowhood mixture and all birds are given as much as they need.

She was bred from birds owned by Malcolm Taylor of New Biggin in Northumberland out of his finest Hereman Ceusters which have proved to be very successful for Willie, coming out on top when tested in his own loft, against other families he has owned. He races his birds in the 15 member strong P2 Premier Club and uses the club races to get his birds fit. Training is no longer advisable in Cornwall due to the prevalence of the Peregrine Falcons but when just racing in the club he has not lost as many birds. For many years he has been taking the members birds to the NFC marking station and just 10 years ago he would take 34 members birds each race, sadly this has diminished somewhat, as has the whole sport. He enjoys the banter at the club and thanks all those members who helped him to celebrate his biggest thrill in pigeon racing as well as all the NFC Officials who volunteer to make the national races happen, which is often a thankless task, but most appreciated by the grass roots of the fancy. He would also like to thank all the many fanciers with their calls of congratulations and reiterates win or lose, he just enjoys seeing his birds come home safely each weekend and winning the NFC is a dream come true.

On now to the issue with the marking stations under the current DEFRA requirements for channel racing. The Committee would like to assure the members that they have not closed down the marking stations not being used for the joint race to be held from St Philbert on the 2^nd of July, they are merely suspended whilst we go through the learning process. The main issue is that we are required to arrive at the final marking station before boarding the ferry no later than 4pm to allow enough time for the Official Vet to get the required documents stamped and approved before the Customs office closes. It is also imperative that we document every pigeon correctly without any mistakes as they will be checked at the holding station in France before being allowed to continue to the race point, and although our marking procedures are very stringent due to race security rules, we will have to check each members documents before allowing access to the marking tables. You are reminded that you will require your Part B Form filled in and signed for the race, your Vaccination Certificate for every bird in your loft, proof of your Vet Registration Number, your CPH Number Document which is emailed to you from the Rural Payments Agency and complete the racing pigeon establishment declaration.

This may seem a daunting task just to race a few birds but once you have been issued a CPH number for your establishment, all you need to do is download, complete and sign the racing pigeon establishment operator’s declaration form. This is to ensure you agree that your establishment meets, and will continue to comply with, the requirements set out in the declaration. You will need to keep a signed copy of the declaration as you may be asked to provide a copy to APHA and the OV as part of an export Health certificate application at the marking station. Your signed operator declaration is valid for 12 months from the date of signature, so once it is done at the beginning of the season, you just need to put it all into a folder and take it to the marking station with your birds.

This situation will settle down once we have held one or two races and I hope this explains the temporary suspension of some marking stations which we will open as soon as an acceptable and workable procedure is developed through the experience of this season’s races.

An important announcement for the St Philbert race on the 2^nd of July is that if any member receives their CPH Number after the 26^th of June which is the pre booking date of entry, their birds will be accepted up to the 29^th of June if you contact the Secretary Sid Barkel with proof of late receipt.

Finally, please remember to send me details of your birds’ achievements if you are in the top five of your section on the provisional result within 7 days of the race.

News and views to me Chris Sutton on 01530 242548 or 07792 356330 email .

National Flying Club section report for Guernsey 3 flown on the 18^th June with thanks to all who contributed.

Section A

First section A was Charlie Ayling with a home bred Vandenabelle from the same family that bred last season’s young birds section winner.

He bought his Vandenabeeles at the Houten Show in Holland from Roel Gossen in 2019. This section winner has been a great pigeon this season being in the top three back to his loft. Thanks to the marking team for their great work. Second was Mullen & Son in Horley with a yearling blue hen, which is a Leo Herman's x Leen Boers bred by Marek Krogulski of South Wales.

She had fed positions as a young bird in 2021 and has been raced on roundabout this year until being paired up again 8 days before the NFC race in preparation for the Agen International. Third was Brian Wall with a cock from Owen Simpson in Darlington, one of many good birds from Owen.

He was flown on widowhood with a kind of roundabout system added. Brian had a good race and would like to congratulate my old drinking buddy Charlie Ayling for winning the section, plus all the other section winners in the race. His birds came home in good condition. J May & Son from Hambrook were fourth who would like to congratulate all the winners.

Their pigeon is a Pitbull from their breeding centre at May Pigeons and was having its third race. It has been a very good racer for John having won lots of prizes and came very well on a difficult day considering the wind. Mick Skidmore having three birds home in as many minutes took the next three positions.

Section B

Bill Edwards compiled and sent me the following: “Leading the way in Section B with a fantastic performance is the ever consistent Fording Bridge loft of Mark Gower. Mark had a fantastic race with 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Section, 34^th, 52^nd, 54^th and 55^th Open, on not the easiest of days.The section winner is a small to medium sized mealy cock bred from Gordon Emm’s Herman Cuester BBC winner, when paired to a Frans Zwols hen purchased from House of Arden. This game little cock is no stranger to the NFC prizes as he topped the section in last year’s NFC Young Bird Guernsey race. This is his third trip to Guernsey this year and always among the leading birds to the loft. He is raced on a relaxed roundabout system but this week he had taken a fancy to two hens, perhaps spurring him on to be 2 minutes in front of his next loft mate that will be provisionally 3^rd Section.  This being a Blue hen, also with connections to the House of Arden as she was bred by them and purchased by Mark in the popular, Watchfield triple chance breeder buyer auction where she won the race and a tidy sum for the breeder and Mark. His third bird winning 4^th section is bred from two of his race birds, the Sire having won 6^th and 11^th Open NFC, being a grandson of Les Green’s super racer “Boonen” when paired to a hen whose sire was 1^st sect NFC and down from Premier stud stock. Fourth to the loft in 5^th place, is from a son of Premier Stud’s “Man- O-Chester” when paired to a daughter of GWP Macalony’s, “Camelot” and “Blue Caviar”. He sent 20 birds and had 19 home, the only one missing being his fancied pool bird that was 17^th Open in the previous Guernsey race, a 3 year old winner bred by Ian Snaith that Mark knows would be home if he could be, and was running at 2^nd Ace Pigeon this year until he met his demise that sadly is happening too often nowadays. Mark would like to congratulate Mr Hollow, the winner and all the section winners. He would also like to thank the convoyers on the condition of the returning birds and the Marking team at Southampton, always willing to help. Winning 2^nd Section B, 51^st Open, is the Salisbury loft of Johnny “East Wind” Attrill, following on from a super performance in the previous NFC Guernsey where he was 3^rd Section.

Johnny would like to congratulate everyone who timed in and thanks to all at the Marking Station. It was a hard race, but he had good returns with all 20 entries home. His 2^nd Section winner Johnny has now called “New Nightmare” after his grandsire. This Season he has been 1^st Section BICC, 1^st Section BBC, both hard races and now 2^nd Section NFC. At the time of compiling this, Johnny was waiting for his CPH number, which I hope that he receives it in time for the next race.

Section C

First section C and 2^nd Open are the partnership of Neville & Diana Spracklen in Dorchester who also timed their second bird to take 3^rd section too. Neville writes “Firstly we would like to congratulate Mr Hollow on winning the national which was thoroughly deserved. Our first pigeon clocked is a beautiful yearling widowhood cock which has already won 5 x 1st including 1st & 2nd Federation beaten by a loft mate. He is a grandson of Mark Gilbert's Darren x with a granddaughter of Southfield supreme and this bird is the result of joint breeding with my great friends Paul Smith and Dave Fry of Havant. Our 3rd section widowhood cock is the same bird that was 3rd section 6th open NFC Guernsey in the last race, which is from Mark Gilbert's Sebastian x Supreme lines, and once again the result of joint breeding with Paul & Dave. Our returns were excellent, and the birds were in very good condition on return despite the weather conditions.” Second and fifth section was Mr & Mrs Hodges with blue cock who's brother was first section in the previous Guernsey race.

This pair of pigeons are bred from a pair of pigeons on loan from  good friend John Gerard. The birds are raced on the chaos system and fed on a mixture of vanrobaeys and verselle-laga corn. We would like to congratulate the winner and all the section winners. Prilly is pictured giving a favourite treat of peanuts. M & M Wiffen were fourth with a five year old widowhood cock bred from Scot Storie distance family x Ray Dibben Van Hee.

He came straight online and had plenty of fly left in him being an exceptional pigeon having already been in the top ten of section C on two previous occasions. Mick would like to congratulate Neville and Diana Spracklen on their bird being 2nd Open, “well done.”

Other news that I found in my “junk” folder too late to include in my last section report was from John Halstead from Gillingham, who was 4th section C and 19th Open Guernsey 2 with a 4 year old blue widowhood cock named Nyland Bryan of Gaby VANDENABEELE bloodlines.

He has been a consistent performer in nationals being 28^th, 97th and 107th Open from Wadebridge in the last 2 seasons and was named Bryan in 2019 when he was 2nd club 2nd Dorset Fed beaten for first by now retired club mate Bryan Woods. John’s race birds have been regularly pestered by falcons since early spring and they are only just beginning to find some form, but with three home in 8 minutes from Guernsey his season is now looking a little brighter. Apologies once again John, a lesson learned for me to check the junk folder in future.

Section D

Thanks to John & Gill McClements for sending in the following information: First section D and 13^th Open was Luscombe & Williams which is a partnership between Steve Luscombe and Geoff Williams.

The loft was at the home of Steve, but he moved to Cornwall a couple of years ago, so Geoff has been tending the birds himself, Steve's son now lives at the premises. Never any easy situation when the loft is not in your own back yard. Unfortunately, Geoff was quite poorly and in hospital earlier this year, so he has decided to call it a day, this was his last race, and what a way to finish!! The loft also finished 6th Section D in the previous NFC Guernsey. This mealy pied yearling cock only had one race as a young bird and this was his fourth race this year, flying natural, sent sitting five days. Geoff has always been a big fan of the Janssen strain and this bird is bred down from his Ponderosa stock crossed with Tom Sherwoods. Hopefully Geoff will still come down the club and help out on the ringer from time to time. Second Section and 19^th Open was Underhill and Prettejohn with a two year old blue pied hen raced on the roundabout system.

Tending to put more time to the widowhood cocks and fancying them to give a good account of themselves, Mike was somewhat surprised to time a hen. Her breeding is Brockamp from good friend Bruce McAllister of Hertford X De Rauw – Sablon through Derek Nicholls of Premier Stud. Her Dam being a full sister to “Rossi” 1^stOpen NFC Fougeres, her Sire is a Grandson of “The Gilbert”. Robbie had the pleasure of waiting for and verifying this one as Mike was away on holiday visiting friends for a few days, although he spent the day watching the loft and the leaderboard on his iPad with several check in calls to Robbie. Third was Steve Hopper who was also well up in the result at 27^th Open writes “Has a “coloured” racing pigeon ever previously recorded a half decent race result flying with the NFC? Having just phoned Sid the NFC secretary he does not believe so, to his knowledge certainly not of the colour of this bird.

I timed an Andalusian pied white flight cock I bred myself, being hatched on the 1st April 2020. This bird is bred down from the bloodlines of a black white flight cock which won the 2015 NFC Guernsey open national (then owned and flown by Paul Hill & Clare Lucas ~ Plymouth & District RPC) which saw an entry of 5520 birds and a Jan Aarden stock hen bred from the bloodlines of The Dolle Dam. The bird previously flew from Guernsey with the NFC in 2021 being liberated as one of 5,419 birds entered into that race, on that occasion he took 3rd Club 33rd "D" Section, 686th open NFC and to date that has mirrored his flying results, he has always been a reliable bird that has produced reasonable results. On the 7th May 2021 his flying career almost came to an end when he arrived home late from trainer battered torn and bleeding after I suspect being hit by a peregrine, the bird recovered well and was entered into two races prior to the 2021 NFC Guernsey race, in late June flying Littlehampton, 147 miles taking 4th Club, 7th "B" Section, 37th Devon South Road Fed, then sent to Blandford early in July flying 81 miles to take his first 1st Club win, 6th "B" Section Fed, 32nd Devon South Road Fed. Fourth and fifth section were John and Gill McClements who were also 47^th and 48^th Open with two yearling cocks raced on the roundabout system, although as the racing year has dragged on they have been allowed to spent a bit more time with their hens. 

First to be timed was a cheq pied which had his first Guernsey as a YB, has always been a consistent racer and this was his fifth trip to Guernsey this year. His sire is a grandson off Woolongong, bought at J&D Staddon's sale at Blackpool and his dam is a daughter off Bill Stribling's 2nd Open BICC Barcelona winner. Their next bird was a Mealy bred from a direct son of Stuart Webb's 2019 CSCFC Tarbes winning hen, 'Madame Parfaite' who won 3 RPRA awards (this is from the best of Andy Parsons pigeons), paired to a daughter off Bill Striblings 2nd Open Barcelona when paired to dam off Ron Dove's 1st Open Barcelona.

Section E

Once again the Orbital Lofts of Roger Lowe topped section E with a old seven year old cock which was due to be retired this year but Roger was short of cocks so he came out of retirement.

He has been very consistent this season being the first three most races he has a string of top performances, with this being his best. He is bred from a Andre Roodhofe cock named “Million Dollar Man” sire of many winners including 1st fed and 1st NFC section, being from Andre’s top breeder son of “Tom”. The dam of the winner is “Delight” a double granddaughter of “My Little Diamond”.  Delight is a winner of 1st Central Southern Classic and 2nd Open NFC. This turned out to be a very good race for Roger as he has five birds in the top twenty five of the Open 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th 8^th and 10^th section. Roger says “Congratulations to all the winners on a very unpredictable day whether wise” Second was Mark Gilbert who has played a huge part in ensuring our beloved channel racing can go ahead this season, we owe a huge debt of gratitude for your tenacity with the authorities. Near neighbour John Haynes was fourth section and fifth were S&P Kulpa of Reading who clocked a two year old year old Janssen de Klak widowhood cock.

His sire is a direct son of 07 & Sophia, Sophia herself won1st open nfc young birds in 2004. Both 07 & Sophia were bred on the lines of Eijerkamps Bartoli & De Generaal. The dam was The 999 hen again on the lines of Eijerkamps Bartoli, the famous de Klak breeder. All birds are fed on Verselle Laga corn and get Aviform supplements in the water.

Section F

Mr & Mrs Paul Kenny from Wantage was 1^st section F with a blue bar hen raced on the 'roundabout' system.

She has previously been 15th section 18th open BBC Guernsey and 1st club from Honiton this year. She was bred by Brian Mawdsley from Southport and her Sire was 2nd Combine for Brian this year. She is Ad Schaerlaeckens/ Herman Cuester breeding and all birds are trained regularly from the coast and are fed Bayers Koopman all round and Versele-laga superstar. J & P Parker in Reading was 2^nd, 4^th and 5^th section with M & C Brown in Hungerford 3^rd with a two year old blue hen which was flying widowhood.

She is a consistent hen and one of their two entries picked for this race, she was bred by Shaun Stockley whose sire was a gift pigeon from John Angwin from his top breeding son of Kittel and dam is from Andy Swift of Dragonfly Lofts. She has raced very well for us this year, achieving:- 1st section 4th open British Barcelona Club Guernsey 955b, 4th section 4th Open CSCFC Guernsey 856b, 2nd section 24th Open BICC Guernsey 4245b and 6^th Section 48^th Open NFC Guernsey 5413 birds.

Section G

First section G was C & J Howse in Devizes who would like to congratulate the winner and all the other section winners.

 They timed a yearling cock flown on natural which had just come off his eggs and was driving his hen back to nest. All their birds are fed on a mixture of Verselle Laga and Vanrobaeys corn. This was his fourth race from Guernsey this year having previously been our first bird from the BICC three weeks ago. He is bred from a cock purchased from Tim Atkin in Rugby, being a grandson of “Friendship”, “War Drum” and “Foxy Lady”. His dam was purchased from Peter Fox at Syndicate Lofts, being a daughter of “Proper Rik” and “Stella” a daughter of the famous couple “Drum” and “Gerrie” They have decided not to race the yearlings anymore this year to rest them for next year. Second was Flash Brimble & Ashley Caldwell with a gift bird from Andy & Sarah Florick which has also scored 14th section 88th open BICC 5,000 plus birds and 1st club 26th Combine 2045 birds this season.

Nigel Templar was fourth and Stuart Wilcox fifth section.

Section H

Colin and Adam Crick from Stotfold had a great race in section H by winning 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th & 7^th places.

Their first pigeon and 1st Section H is a yearling chequer hen bred from two Roger Lowe pigeons. She had been raced widowhood for the first half of the season and was paired up sitting 7 day old eggs for this race and this is her best performance to date. Their second pigeon is a promising two year old red Van de Bulk cock bird raced on widowhood with the third pigeon being a two year old blue Van de Bulk cock bird also raced on widowhood, both bred by Bob Fenech. David Paine in St Neots was 2^nd and 4^th his first bird is bred from a pair of birds bought from John Searle containing the bloodline of Brian Denny. Eighth was Patmore & Rayner with a two year old roundabout hen who had consistently been the first one out of the shed all week prior to the race.

She is Mark Bulled breeding on the sires side and their Bordeaux/ Saintes blood on the dams side. The mother was 1st EECC Fontenay with her full brother being 4th Open NFC Saintes and his nest mate was a section winner from Bordeaux MNFC, the apple never falls far from the tree as they say. Guernsey 3 NFC was a difficult day on the east side of the country with the north east wind and a dull sky. Ninth was Mr & Mrs I Raper with a chequer pied Walter docx widowhood cock who was also 2nd section, beaten a yard from Guernsey 1 B.I.C.C.

His full brother was 4th section B.I.C.C and 1st Easy Anglian Classic two weeks ago. “I think I will retire them now as they have several cards between them, but never say never.”

Section I

Another super performance in section I by Shaun McDonough in Walsall, taking the first six in the section plus two more in the top 10. Well done Shaun.

Section J

First section J was Price Bros & Son in Stourport on Severn who had a good feeling about this blue yearling hen based on her consistent performances as a young bird. This season as a yearling she has scored very consistently again in the Club and Heart of England Federation and Steve sent her to Weymouth in the MNFC on 25th May with full confidence. She won 79th Open against 4,034 birds and also 49th in the Yearling Classic Race. After this preparation she was sent to Guernsey with the NFC and won 1st Section J by around 25 ypm and 20th Open against 4,367 birds, a truly fantastic performance. Bred at Syndicate Lofts and gifted to Steve as a young bird. Her sire is “Zapata” a son of top breeding pair “Bandit” x “Moonglow” This pair have bred many winners indeed including “Moonshine” the dam of “Foxy Lady” and “Foxy Girl”. Her dam is “Gold Dust Woman” daughter of “Geelooger” of Koen Minderhoud . This young breeding hen is turning into a sensational breeder and is responsible for some absolute top racers and breeders at not only club and federation level but mainly in the National and Classics. “GOLD DUST WOMAN” is a real Golden Breeder! In the same NFC Guernsey race Garry Inkley is 34th Open with one bred from a son of “Gold Dust Woman” when paired to “Renegade” a son of “Outlaw” x “Lady King” a daughter of “Young Couple”. In second, third and fifth was Jonathan Hamplett with his first pigeon being a three year old hen raced on a roundabout system, bred from his Joris Blomme and Robert Venus bloodlines. Her full brother was timed in just 2 minutes later to finish 3rd section. He sent 38 and had 30 back on the day and a further 4 early the next morning which considering the weather conditions was pretty good. Fourth was Keith Rhodes with a four year old blue flighty widowhood cock which has won 6 x 1st in club racing and many other prizes. He is a Van den Bosch x Jim Gibbons with the Van den Bosch from 2 eggs gifted to Keith from Mr Mrs Horton from Telford, his great grandfather being their very good blue pied cock the “Jampot”, winner of 23 x 1st clubs and 5 x 1st federation and the grandfather himself won 12 x 1st clubs and 4 x 1st federation. The Jim Gibbon line have won many top national performances and his grandfather “Gibbo” is a winner of a diploma of distinction in the MNFC. Keith timed 6 in and had all 8 on the day, the next race for this pigeon will be St Philbert on the 4^th of July. Williams Bros were 9th section.

Apologies to Pete Barlow who had sent in his info for his 3^rd section in the second Guernsey race, only for it to go into my “junk” file and I missed it.

Pete timed a pigeon which was purchased at Gloucester & District breeder/buyer from Graham Clift , however it didn't get to that race as it was badly hawked the week before. As a yearling she was 1st club 4th fed Messac, 97th Open CSCFC Coutances and 71st Open NFC O/H Coutances. She now has a 3rd section C in the NFC, her breeding is Gerritt Gouden Vieugal Southfield Dream Perpignan 06. “Many thanks to Graham for taking the birds to the marking station.”

Section K

J.M.Haigh & Sons in Huddersfield topped section K with J Castello Family & Leach second who would like to congratulate all the worthy prize winners. Their first bird over the timing pads was a real nice apple bodied chequer hen flown on the roundabout system.

She is a very consistent hen having won 1st section K in 2021 and on both these occasions she also won the Pennine Marathon club, plus she has won 2nd breeder/buyer. She is bred of a son of Adrian’s top breeder “The 51 Hen” and also carries the blood of their No1 breeder “The Syndicate Cock”. The mother is a direct Belgium hen purchased on a trip to Belgium, this pair of pigeons are proving to be consistent breeders as this is the 3rd first prize winner that they have bred to date. Third was John Booth with a pigeon bred from a cock from Selby member Bernard Aldred, from pigeons from the late Dennis Blakey and Smith and Marshall. He was paired to a granddaughter of “Big Smithy” bought at the Doncaster sale. He won the 1st old bird race last year and was his 1st pigeon from Guernsey last year. Andy Holland in Shipley was fourth and is pictured with his grandson Blake holding the pigeon which is bred from a Brian Denney cock and a Brian Denney cross Hagen Brothers hen.

 Previous section winners Phil Rawson & Bruce Towers were fifth.

Simion Adrian Stefanescu sent some information about one of his chequer cocks which he has timed in all three oc the NFC Guernsey races. The origin of the pigeon is as follows: His father is blue 2017 which was bought from multiple national, Olympic champion and Officer in the Romanian Army Nica Gabriel. His sire is half-brother to 1st AS NATIONAL with 2nd place provincial-Tartu 1585 km and the dam is original Etienne Meirlaen inbred to the famous Yelena and has in her blood the famous Euro Diamond-Brockamp & Monar. The dam is also bought from Romania via Selaru Cosmin-Club President. It has several combinations only with long distance pigeons, Super Nilles world record 24 ranked marathons, Son of Super Nilles-Joris don Barca F.A.PEETERS, 3rd interpares Barcelona 2004-2007, 5th interpares Barcelona 2004-2006, Kazan-13 ranked marathons, Monique-Cor de Heijde, Perpignan Queen,1 Int Perpignan 1123km 15087 p.-Comb Walpot, Blauwe Vanoppen-brother 1Int Barcelona-Wijnands & Son, Djefa's parents, 1st National Carcasonne -Gebr.Saya. A great pigeon Simon, well done.

Section L

What a fantastic season Hughes & Buckley are having, they have continued their winning form by taking first and second section L who timed two hens in a minute of each other.

The first being purchased at a local breeder buyer sale bred by good friend Adrian Leach, where she ended up taking second prize. She was their second bird home in the first NFC Guernsey, and seventh back in the hard second Guernsey race, in fact she’s been very consistent all season, being third club and Fed in the very first race of the season from 80 miles Beaton by two loft mates. She is a Van Den Bulck x Herman Cuesters, with the sire from the best of Les Greens Bulcks and the dam is a Grand Daughter of De Jan. Their second bird is a bit of a superstar in the loft, she’s won 1st Fed Yeovil, 1st Fed,4th Combine Carentan, 1st Combine Yelverton and now this the second time she has been 2nd Section L Guernsey this season. She’s a Cuesters x Lambrechts x Bulck, her sire was purchased from Derek Nicholls and is a son of Man’O’Chester x Best of Seventeen, the Dam was purchased from Bob Fenech at a Les Green sale in Blackpool 2019. We would like to thank Paul at PJ Lofts for his continued supply of GEM supplements which help keep our birds in top condition for these races. Thanks Paul. Third was Slawomir Tomczak in Macclesfield with Lee Davison & Sons fourth who would like to “congratulate Simon Hughes & Glyn Buckley on their fantastic 1st & 2nd section L, 2 cracking hens flying all the way up to Rochdale on what turned out to be a tough day once again for northern flyers.”

Lee timed a 2020 late bred cock flown on widowhood bred by good friend Steve Radcliffe of Skelmersdale. The sire is a grandson of Geoff Kirkland’s snake and the dam is from the very best of Steve’s syndicate loft family. Fifth was Anthony Cooke with a chequer Leo Heremans hen which has been a very consistent racer gaining many prizes at club and fed level, she was also 10th sec young bird from Coutances in 2019.

Section N

Thanks once again to Jeff Walton for the following report “First a big well done to all gallant Section winners on another extremely testing day. After difficult day of very unfriendly conditions including heavy rain across many parts of Yorkshire. Yet again NFC Section N had dreadful returns with only 5 day birds from 128 birds sent. This follows on from the Guernsey 2 race where 3 day birds homed from over 200 birds sent. Well done to the lofts who timed. Dave & Ian Wallas of Stockton topped the section with a 2yo widowhood hen.

She’s a G/dtr of John & Steven Best’s good hen ‘035 who herself has won a 12th Open NFC. Jim Nicholson of South Shields won 2nd section with a well fancied yearling cock sitting 7 days & who’s sire came from Ronnie Cowley of Wales. It’s dam won 1st section N NFC Y/B nat 401 miles for Jim.

Alan Dixon’s good hen came again to win 3rd section.

Two weeks earlier she claimed 4th section from the Guernsey 2 race. Tony Lyons of Middlesbrough won 4th section with his consistent 4yo hen. She’s a Marrten Vinkenbourg x Denny cross and has previous wins of 75th UNC combine Bourges, 50th UNC combine Gien, 2nd section N NFC Sennon Cove beaten by loft mate and 3rd section N NFC Guernsey. Bob McKie was more than surprised to see his two blue cocks hit the loft together after 14 hours on the wing to claim 4th & b5th section N.

Both are 2-year-old and lightly raced the first 506 is bred out of Barcelona Bob lines from John Smales and his dam was gifted to Bob by Stephen Beardmore and bred direct through Williams Boy who was 1^st Section K 7^th Open Tarbes & 2^nd Section Saintes for the late Phil Curtis and his son William. 506 was basketed on 5-day eggs carrying a full wing. The second cock is 546 another 2-year-old whose sire was bred by Jeff Walton and contains the best of Peter Virtue x Jos Thone’ lines. His dam Philippa is Bob’s 2016 Sigogne winner again full of Peter Virtue blood x with Brian Denney’s best blood. He was basketed the day after his hen had laid, would not leave the nest and again had not caste a flight.”

Section O

The first and only bird clocked in section O raced by Kendal fancier Kris Czaplinsky. Kris sent four birds to the race and had two back, with his second bird arriving at lunchtime the second day. Kris decided he would race his birds on the widowhood system rather than his usual method of racing to the nest, due to the uncertainty around the longer distance races. His two year old hen was a previous scorer in the local club and was home bred. Her sire was bred by Carlisle fancier George Burns as part of a gift of six youngsters, bred for Kris after he reported a very good bird of Georges that had gone missing. The Burns cock was paired to a Royston Davies of Port Talbot hen. These Pigeons along with the Bruce Blamire birds make up the base of the Czaplinsky loft. After flying the 326 miles in just over nine hours this valiant bird is standing at 138^th Open in the provisional result. Well done Kris.

Section P

Kevin Foster sent in the following report for section P “Another steady race into the south east with the North east wind ensuring that anything featuring in the first 100 of the open would be good pigeons on the day. The leading pigeons were to Tommy Sparks and Pauline Dallas at Gravesend, having two together to take 1^st & 2^nd and another soon after to come 6^th section.

This partnership has been knocking on the door for the last few years and turning their attention more to national racing will pay off very soon. They timed two of their Frans Zwols, a cock and hen, both previous winners with one of them coming from the lofts best stock pair. This pair have bred a super pigeon for Tom’s brother Andrew in recent times. The Zwols originating from Stuart Wilcox have been a force in local Fed and Combine racing for some time now. Well done Tommy and Pauline. Third section is Dave and Gary Heywood at Laindon.

They timed a two year old widowhood cock which has been a very consistent pigeon with three top ten section positions and a 6th open combine. He is from a grandchild of Harry and a granddaughter of Tip top junior. The Heywoods need little introduction to National racing successes and are one of the few lofts with multiple honours. Fourth and fifth section is John Cowlin of Hullbridge, another multi national winning loft. Johns first timer is a 3 year old Formula 1 lofts bred Frans Zwols hen, she is a previous winner of 21^st open BICC Coutances, 1^st Hullbridge club & 2^nd open Thames, 2^nd Hullbridge club & 2^nd open Thames beat by a loft mate on the trap.

She is bred in the purple being a grand child of both the Dream pair and the Gold ring pair. making her 4 grandparents, The Prince of Rekkem, Dreamy, Sky Runner and Tip Top 076.  This means this hen is closely related to 8x1^st National winners and 4x1^st combine winners. Thanks to John Gladwin for the details. At seventh section is Colin Fagg and Linda Nicholas nr Sittingbourne. Past winners of NFC and BICC. This is another loft taking on National races this year in super form in the Kent Premier Federation, already having won it at least twice and featuring in the top 10 regularly. They timed a two year old cock, a son of their best breeding cock the Bourgesman, he is a Gaston Van de Wouver x a Frans Laereman hen. This pair have bred a loft full of fed winners at the latest count and top national pigeons including a 3rd Open BICC. Thanks to Adam Fagg for the info.”

Section Q

The following Section Q report was kindly compiled by Chris Boyce “Saturday 18^th June and here we are again at Guernsey and with a light North Easterly wind the birds were released at 07:30am and all got away cleanly. The weather was looking good for section Q but considerably more turbulent further North as the day developed. Our first Section bird to clock in was owned by Terry Luscombe over in Looe

but as the day wore on the longer distances further west started to appear on the results sheet culminating with the Section win going to Willy Hollow and Terry’s bird slipping down to a still creditable 4^th position. But Willy not only took the Section he also held firm for the rest of the day and took 1^st Open NFC Guernsey, a cracking result and well deserved for all of Willy’s continued support to Cornish pigeon racing over the last 30 years or so.

Again, we had a good spread of results with 8 different fanciers appearing in the first 13 birds home.  1^st Section Willy Hollow of Hayle flying with Penzance Premier club, Willie sent 4 birds and his winning bird was a Herman Ceuster bred from birds from Malcom Taylor of Northumberland. The blue hen now re-named ‘Champion Heather’ after Willy’s wife Heather completed the 137 miles in a velocity of 1221 ypm.  2^nd and 5^th Section went to Darren Hosking also of Penzance Premier club, Darren sent 6 birds.

His first bird home was an inbred Muleman cock sent feeding a day old youngster and he was named The Wriggler as a baby. Darren took his hen away the day before basketing and he sat on the baby all night. The dam of The Wriggler is also the dam of his second bird home the consistent pigeon Tufty, he has now got 2,4,5,6 and 12^th section to his name. Darren also had 4 out of his 6 pigeons back in our top12. The Wriggler flew the 141 miles at a velocity of 1182 ypm and Tufty 1050 ypm. The picture shows Darren with his two daughters Summer the eldest and Phoebe the youngest holding a 4 day old baby, apparently she would have them in her bedroom if she could! 3^rd  Section went to Dave Hoskins of Barncoose club , Dave has a thing for Reds and this red Kirkpatrick was bred from birds Dave bought from Mike Worsfold.

Dave and his father had original Kirkpatricks back in the 60s and when he got the chance to get some of the same lines from Mike so he grabbed the opportunity. He managed to get 7 out of 12 birds back on the day 3 in our top 12, so they are working well for him into Cornwall. Dave flew 125 miles with a velocity of 1164 ypm. 4^th  Section was Terry Luscombe, this blue yearling hen was a gift pigeon from Terry’s very good friend Richard Elliot. Richard raced her as a baby from his team of Herman Cuesters which he bred at his loft in Torpoint Cornwall. Terry transferred her and now races her from his new loft location in Looe, she was sent sitting a newly hatching egg which obtained from fellow Plymouth club member Jack Cotton. She flew the 103 miles to Terry’s loft with a velocity of 1113 ypm.

Section W

What a great race D Jones had in Wrexham with the first seven section positions being won at his loft. A truly outstanding performance considering the weather the birds had gone through. Eighth was NFC Honourary Treasurer Stephen Beardmore who races 12 widowhood cocks and a few hens with the objective of competing at the one day long distance races. His first bird was a blue chequer cock which is best described as his own family containing the bloodlines of birds from Tom Shaw of Tunstall, George Bowyer from Congleton, O’Hare and Woodward Middlewich and True Grit from Louella. He also won 9^th section the last Guernsey when he arrived with his loft mate and had previously won from Fourgers. Lee Bowen was tenth section with a red cock bred from a pair of pigeons gifted by Garret Henasay, Ireland.

John David had a very enjoyable day and wrote “I was over the moon to clock my blue pied 3 year old cock twh was the section winner in the last Guernsey race.

In the last race the wind was south west and this time a north east head wind. In south Wales it was overcast and rained continuously from 9am right through until 5pm on the Saturday. He arrived just before 1pm in heavy rain. I clocked 5 out of 8 entries in two and a half hours in such poor weather conditions. Flying widowhood he was entered for Ramsgate 208 miles in the WSE National, the previous Saturday, and when I got home from the marking station about 7pm noticed his hen was about to lay an egg. He had only seen his hen briefly before the Guernsey 1 race (and the same for Guernsey 2) but this was enough for the egg to be laid. Ramsgate was a 90 degree change of direction and he had a very long flight of 10 hours and 20 minutes to get home. It was a gamble to leave the hen in the section when the other widowhood cocks returned from Guernsey but I thought it a risk worth taking to get the best out of him. His hen laid her second egg on Monday and late that afternoon getting him to take to the eggs was difficult but eventually after half an hour of coaxing he took to them. On the Wednesday night before basketing for Guernsey 2, I entered the loft at 8.30pm and I noticed the blue Pied cock flew up to his nest to take over the eggs. His hen was not happy about this, and I watched as he tried to coax her for 20 minutes and it took some very heavy pecking from him around her beak and eyes before she relented and allowed him to take over. When I returned to the loft some 2 hours later, when it was nearly dark, he was still sitting but this time the hen was trying to push him off the eggs. So this clearly gave him the motivation to put in a good performance. Incidentally he had only had 1 hour of exercise around the loft in the week before Guernsey as rest was essential after his long flight from Ramsgate. Interestingly one of my other early arrivals was a widowhood cock that had put up with the blue pied hen in his section with no adverse effect on his performance.”

News and views to me Chris Sutton on 01530 242548 or 07792 356330 email

Section A

First section A was Mr & Mrs Brain Wall in Havant who was also third and fourth “We had a very good National race in this area with some great performances, The winning birds performances were fantastic and a big well done to Jason who is always around on these races. My first section bird was a hen bred by Brian Crennan of Whitby, she had not raced since she was a young bird so to time her in was a pleasure. First time this year racing hens and it came up trumps. I race a kind of roundabout system and am enjoying seeing the hens flying around the loft and returning from races. Better than being locked away as widow hens, it's a win win situation and this performance coming two weeks after we won the Classic made it all the more special.” Second was previous NFC winner D & K Jones on Havant with Dave Maththews and Culverhouse in Bardon won fifth place.

Section B

Bill Edwards compiled his report “Section B of the NFC provided both the winner and a couple of superb loft performances at either end of the section. Leading the way, in the East of the section and 1^st, 2^nd and 8^th Open is the Purbrook, near Portsmouth loft of Jason Bowen who also had a third of his ten entries close behind.

Jason’s first bird over the pad was a 2yo blue hen bred by friend, Nigel Easton of Bedhampton, from his excellent sprint family. “Don’s Girl”, as she is now named, after Jason’s Dad, was having her 3^rd race from Guernsey this year. She has been steady this year after being hit by a BOP around the loft earlier in the season, but was given a North Road race from Leicester, which seems to have reinvigorated her. She is raced on widowhood, with both cocks and hens going most weeks. Jason’s 2^nd bird over the pad, just two seconds later, for 2^nd Section, 2^nd Open was a smokey Blue, home bred Demeyer hen, from bloodlines obtained from Lee Painter and also raced on widowhood. She is a previous club winner from Leicester with the Solent Fed, and has also scored in the ultra-competitive Premier 100 club this year from Yelverton. This was her 5^th trip from Guernsey. All the birds are fed on a combination of Versa Laga and Bamfords which are mixed according to conditions. Jason would like to congratulate all the Section winners and give credit to the convoyers on the condition of the birds after the holdover. In 3^rd and 4^th Section B, 5^th and 7^th Open with another 3 early birds not far behind, we cross to the West side of the Section and the Salsbury lofts of Johnny (East Wind) Attrill. Johnny would like to congratulate all the winners and all involved in marking etc. 

His returns were excellent with 28 out of 30 although it would appear to have been a bit tougher further up country. His first bird is a Kees Bosua cock, the sire being from a son of Nightmare X Siso, and the Dam a Daughter of 760 X daughter of Nightmare. 760, was on loan from his good friend John Gerard. He did visit Kees Bosua with John Gerard when he wanted 760 back because he had sired birds to win 1st from 18000 and 21000 birds but he had bred 7 from him before he was returned.  Johnny races his birds on a type of roundabout and feeds Versa Laga Black Label Superstar with Versa Laga respi drops in the water. Johnny’s second arrival, for 4^th section, 7^th open is Belgium rung but without the pedigree to hand. Johnny would like to extend congratulations to Jason Bowen, on two good birds and good luck to everyone with hopes that we can all get the CPH number organised.  Fifth was Jason Bowen’s third bird to also take 8^th Open and 6^th section, 13^th open is the Father and Son partnership from Romsey of Ian and Scott Smith.

Ian would like to congratulate all the winners and says that his first bird is an inbred, shadow vandenabeele hen, flown natural and from birds Ian and Dad Barry bought in from M & D Evans and B Shipley. Due to the holdover Ian had to rely on his better half, Linda to do the honours of clocking and verifying. This hen obviously likes Guernsey, as she was 6^th section, 76^th open two weeks earlier and was their first arrival from BICC Guernsey the week before.

Section C

Mel & Sue King won section C with a two year old Vandenabelle widowhood cock which was bred from the race team out of two Federation winners.

His line goes back to their original M & D Evans which they have been cultivating for 23 years now. The both extend their congratulations to the winner Jason Bowden and all the other section winners. Second was Dan Lanahan & John Gerard who are having a great season, having come third section in the first Guernsey race.

Being second this time and 4^th open their bird was from their Benny Steveninck “Chipo” lines when crossed with a dark hen which was given to them by Nev Charlton. He had also scored 3^rd section from Wakefield the week before. Third section was Neville & Diana Spracklen who would like to congratulate Jason bowen on winning the national very well deserved. 

Their pigeon is a yearling bred for the long distance so they were surprised to see it doing the velocity he did. He is from a son of Mark Gilbert's “Sebastian” x with a granddaughter of “Southfield Supreme”. He has been very consistent and could have won the fed as a young bird after arriving with the winner. They would like to thank Andy Mabin and the team at Kingsteignton marking station for doing a great job in getting the birds through quickly.  4th and 5th section was John Halstead

Section D

Josh Goodier in Marsh Green was first section D and Josh was over the moon with his section win, his winning bird being a Pied cock raced on the roundabout system and was bred by his dad, Richard Goodier.

His Sire is a Herman Ceusters which has been a top stock cock producing many winners to include 10th Open Gran Canaria OLR. His Dam is a Van Den Bulck hen from P & D Stud carrying the "Expensive Kittel" lines. His full brother was 1st Section B for Richard, BBC Guernsey last week. Second was Paul Harredence from Ottley St Mary having his first old bird season and this his first ever NFC race.  Paul was chuffed to have won 2nd section with a bird bred by Richard Goodier and is from his Vandenabeele x Thone channel team. Beingn raced natural his cock was driving his hen for this race which certainly motivated him. He is fed on Versa Laga corns to suit up coming race. Third was hard working NFC Chairman Mr Paul Naum in Watchet who said “Our bird is a 4 year old Ko Nipius cock bird, a line still going strong in our lofts, originating from  our good friend George Hilson of Bury, Lancashire who is one of the best  distance men in the country and now retired from the sport. Basket trained as a young bird, this pigeon's racing career did not begin until he was 3 years of age, with four races entered with the DCWSCFS in 2021.

Preparation for this current season offered no training, due to prolific hawk attacks. His first club race 74 miles in distance, was followed by his first NFC race from Guernsey resulting in a 22nd Section position. He was then sent back to Guernsey 2 NFC flying on the Natural system and racing to sitting eggs, he romped home to finish 3rd Section with a good Open position. Congratulation to: Jason Bowen of Waterlooville, winner of the Guernsey National, all Section winners and our splendid convoying team; it's great to be back racing. Fourth was Tony Churchill in Sidmouth who timed a Jos Thone widowhood cock.

His lines are from Richard Goodier which have done well over the channel for Tony. He mainly races widowhood cocks but is trying a few hens for this year. “Well done to all winners and the birds where in excellent condition seeing as they were in the basket for 4 days.” Fifth place went to John and Sandy Westacott in Newton Abbott with a two year old chequer pied hen.

She is a great granddaughter on the sire's side of 'Sybil' their 1^st Open NFC winner from Saintes in 2008 which was bred in 2005 is still in the loft today. The dam is Robert Cormac X Delbar. Having no training this year she was jumped into first club race with the Devon South Road Fed and has been a consistent racer, this time sent sitting 3 days at the time of basketing. She was sent to Guernsey as a trainer for the longer channel races…hopefully.

Section E

Topping section E was Roger Lowe who would like to congratulate the winner on two good birds and to all the other section winners. “Sending 19 birds getting 17 home on the day it turned out ok considering the weather which was overcast most of the day my first bird now named “Blue 46” has been one of my most consistent birds having scored in the classic and national before.

He is bred from my 1st NFC Sigogne winner “Main Son” who is bred from the “Main Man” who finished 2nd and 3rd open Saintes in the NFC. He in turn is bred from my best breeding hen ever “My Little Diamond” also a 1st NFC winner in her one and only race plus breeder of “Nemesis” 1st NFC plus many more top national and classic positions. The dam of “Blue 46” is a gift pigeon from a good friend Stephen Eggleton who has moved back to Australia. She is a full sister to “Return Joe Flo” bred by Pieter Veenstra and granddaughter to many of his top birds including “Davince” “Special Blue”. I would also like to thank the many friends who phone to congratulate me”  John Haynes in Maidenhead was second section with Mr & Mrs J Froude third in Reading. Fourth was A G Muir in Dorking with Roger Lowe taking fifth and sixth. Robert Rome was seventh with a 2 year old and very consistent performer in any conditions, bred by good friend Drew Callan. Sire is a direct Patrick & Dimitri Houfflijn an inbred son of their ace racer “200” a multiple National performer including 18th National Brive 16,007 birds etc.

He in turn comes from two excellent racers for the Houfflijn’s - the cock being 6th National and 15th Internat Pau. The bloodlines are Willequet , a strain which excels in the difficult races, and which have been cultivated by Patrick and Dimitri since the 1980’s. Dam is a Krauth hen bred by Drew Callan from his fathers old lines. “The Houfflijn birds are an important breeding pillar for me. When I raced in Cheltenham 2012 to 2015, they helped me win, with the NFC 3 x 1st, 6 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, 4 x 5th and 3 x 6th Section prizes. Plus my Fabia was bred from a Houfflijn cock. She won from the first race 60 miles to 606 miles (Tarbes). She scored at NFC Tarbes 4 years on the trot winning 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th Section and was the NFC Car winner in 2015. On the race day, it was a year since my father passed away and I wanted a good result to dedicate this race to him.”

Section F

Nigel Rigani in Salisbury was first section F “Firstly I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to Jason Bowen and all the section winners. Fresh from his 2nd SE section win with the Classic from Guernsey last week, 06 was shown his hen on Wednesday the day before the NFC marking and has now taken 1st section F and 9th Open NFC Guernsey. The parents were gifted to me from Sam Wilson of “Amber Star” fame 1st Open CSCFC Pau.

Both of these birds were Dutch rung but with no paperwork so no proof of parentage but like my late father always said "paper never refuses ink" so some pedigrees mean nothing. As an ex Convoyer myself I have to say after such a long hold over, all my birds came in excellent condition, my thanks to the chief convoyer and his assistances plus a big thank you to Mark Gower for taking my birds to the marking station. Having a great race was J J Schoeman who won 2^nd 3^rd 4^th & 5^th section. “I want to start congratulating all the winners and competitors on what clearly was a very tough day for most northerly lofts as some had very bad returns on the day, but credit to NFC transport team as my birds were in prestige condition on arrival. I was just lucky on the day and in the 4 and half years racing never experienced a holdover past 4 days, so the birds just wanted to get home. I had two yearling hens home first, both not trained as young birds just loft flying due to the hawk attacks so I tried a different method to try give them a chance in life. First bird to win second section and 10th open was a daughter from “Son Dazzler” bred by Anton Ashore my JAV Syndicate OLR Partner and also where most of the stock birds are housed. My second bird home 3rd section 12th open was a Gabby Vandenabeele bred by the top club, fed, section and open flyer Mr Mark Gower, who in my short career has gifted me birds to score in club and fed and good section results, was on both sides.

Section G

Following on from his section win in the first Guernsey race to take the top spot once again was Wojciech Blachut in Trowbridge who also took the third place. “I would like to thank the National Flying Club that I could join this year and I would also like to congratulate the winner and all the section winners. My first and third pigeon were from a bloodline of pigeons which belonged to my best friend Brian Sheppard who sadly passed away in 2019.  I really appreciate what’s he did for me and for those pigeons he passed down to me, which I paired up with pigeons from my very good friends Robert and Patryk Sulkowski from Poland, who for more than 10 years have been top flyers in Poland.

I would not have expected to win the section again and I'm happy that my pigeons got through all of it and made me proud yet again. Many thanks to all my friends for the help. Second section was Paul Weems  who said “Firstly would like to congratulate Jason Bowen on winning 1st open and congratulations to Wojciech Blachut on winning the section and to all other section winners. I was very pleased on the condition of the pigeons on arrival considering the long hold over well done to the convoying team. My first bird was a G and C. Cooper lines flown on the roundabout system and has been consistent to the loft but always being few minutes behind, until now.

Fourth was Paul Lee with a two year old hen also flown on the roundabout system. The sire is a Lambrecht and dam was purchased from Gary Summers of Nailsea. She flew well as a yearling winning first club from Truro and other minor prizes, she has also won first club this season from Exeter and was 17th Bristol Fed.

Section H

First section H was Phil Lane in Bedford

with David Paine in St Neots second. David timed a two year old widowhood cock which has been fairly consistent with this being his best position so far. He was bred by good friend Steve Profitt out of his Pieter Veenstra birds. Third was John Searle from Great Abington Cambridge who timed a four year old blue chequer hen.

She has been a very consistent race hen bred from his Leo Van Rijn x Heeres & Son stock birds. She is related to John’s two year old cock bird that has won 1st and 2nd Section from Guernsey in the B.I.C.C. in the last two races. Ron and Angie Auler in Brandon timed another good bird to take fourth section which had raced from Guernsey in two previous races this season with the BICC.

His sire is their good chequer cock which has won two 1st sections in the MNFC being the only day bird in the section in both races. His Dam is a hen purchased from the Blackpool charity auction bred by John Halstead. He was sent to the race with a 10 day old youngster in the nest, he was raced 90 miles the previous week and had a 30 mile training chuck prior to the race. Fifth was C Crick & Son from Stotfold.

Section I

Winning first section I was H Winstanley & Sons in Sutton Coalfield with a three year old hen which is a Cueleman cross Van den Brande gifted by good friend Anthony Arnold from one of his top stock pairs.

She was flown natural and sent sitting eggs just chipping. She is a very consistent hen which had won 1st club, 6th Tamworth Fed from Newton Abbot last season. Following on from his first section win in the first Guernsey race by taking second place was Tim Atkin in Rugby.

His first bird is from a son of “Friendship” when paired to a daughter of “Foxy Lady”. This pair have bred top 10 section winners in the NFC and several Federation winners. His second bird is from a son of “Propere 10” when paired to a daughter of “Minerva”. This pair have now bred 1st Section NFC, two top 10 section NFC and over 10 x 1st Federation winners. Third section was Gavin Duggan in Chipping Campden with a five year old pied cock which was also timed from Guernsey 1 NFC and is down from Gavin’s Jan Aarden lines.

In fourth place was Mr & Mrs J Passey & Family from Norton Juxta Twycross.

John writes “Firstly may I say that the birds arrived back in first class condition and none the worse for four days in the basket, although one or two were a bit tired. Our returns were ok with 16 out of 20 home. The 4th section winner is a two year old blue Flor Engels widowhood hen bred from stock via our great friends Geoff and Barbara Kirkland. She is named “Olivia” after our latest granddaughter and has been a really consistent hen. She has been to Guernsey four times now and along with this 4th section she has won 12th and 26th section with the NFC and 7th section with the MNFC. In fifth place was Leon Prince with a yearling hen raced on the widowhood system. She has had a few prizes as a young bird and her breeding is Rene Nauwelaert x Van de Rhee 

Section J

First section J was Lionel Brewer in Worcester with Mike Smart from Wolverhampton second.

Mike said “Congratulations to Mr Brewer, a very good bird winning the section on what turned out to be a difficult race further in land. My 2nd Section pigeon is a Blue Heremans Ceusters widowhood cock, which has now got the nickname of the “Disappointer”, not for his performance as I am proud of that. It's just that he has brought home to me how much I would miss National channel racing if I can't get my head around this channel racing issue. What a coincidence Dave Rayner from Bridgwater reported one of my pigeons injured from this race. I say coincidence as I met Dave at the National Flying Club presentation last year, we sat next to each other, even had a photo taken with him holding one of two Chris Sutton photos for his performance pigeons and it was a good night. In conversation I asked him if he had sent to the National Flying Club he replied he had not participated this time which is a shame. I do hope we can rally round for the future of this sport, what with increased fuel and feed prices coupled with red tape politics, the burden grows. I personally can't see how you can control the movement of liberated pigeons; we all know that some go anywhere and everywhere. One depressed G.M.Smart.” Cheer up Mike, we have a great race from France coming up on the 2^nd July and will soon be back to normal. Pete Barlow from Coombe Hill was third

with Shaun Stanton in Stourport on Severn fourth. Fifth place went to Martin Williams “Congratulations to Jason Bowen and my section winner Lionel Brewer.

With a family wedding clashing with this race, I had decided to only send a small team of 4 to make it easier for a friend to clock for me. This included my CSCFC section winner from the previous week. She is "Blue Gem", my three year old, 2nd Ace Pigeon from the NFC last year, a Freddy Vandenheede x my old family. With the race being held over, it enabled me to see her come back on the Monday and once again for the second week in succession, it was no surprise to see her drop in first.

Section K

In section K H A Rawson, son & Towers clocked their fifth section winner and would like to thank the convoyers for the excellent condition of their birds which came home from the race.

Their 1st section winner is a blue cock bred from two birds which are also 1st section winners from Messac. “We would like to congratulate the winner of the national, very well done to them and may I add a personal thank you to Bruce my dear friend, my wife Maureen, my daughter Lianne and all the other club members for helping me while I have been very poorly. Having the pigeons gives me a lot of pleasure and encourages me to get better.” Second was JJ Booth in Castleford with J & J Greenfield in Barnsley third. Fourth was Kevin Keeley and Dave Allen with a two year old cock bred by Dave at his own loft from a very special pair. This pigeon was on his fourth Guernsey race on the trot having already been 207th open BICC 5847b, 39^th NC section followed with NFC 418th open 6599 birds 22nd section k, followed by 59th open BICC 5440b 12th NC and last weekend 4^th section K so it looks like he likes Guernsey thanks to Dave for all your help and could I have a couple more like this one please, Kevin. 

Section L

Leading the way in section L was the long term NFC Committee man Gerry Clements in Manchester with a 2 year old blue widowhood cock which is full of National performances throughout his breeding, the sire is “Twitter” a top racer for Gerry, 1st Manchester FC, 1st Lancashire social Messac 400 miles, Fastest of total lib 7,000b plus. 5th Lancashire Social Circle Niort 500 miles, 25th section 88th Open NFC Fougeres and 81st Open NFC Messac. “Twitter” is son of “Hercules” 1st Yearling Open Midlands National and prolific breeder top producer for different lofts when Hercules was paired to the Aelbrecht Hen a top breeder for Gerry. The dam was herself 1st Section L 22nd open Coutances 3,246b. 

Second was the consistent loft of Hughes and Buckley from Rochdale.

“We timed a yearling Lambrechts x De Meyer hen. She was bred for us as a kit of 10 to try by Darren Glenn of Shaw near Oldham. This hen is part of a team of 25 spare yearling hens that have been playing about with some early bred young cocks and they have brought us some nice bits of success so far this season. We would like to congratulate the section winner Gerry Clements who I know has not been in the best of health for a while now, but hopefully this little win will cheer him up. Well done Gerry. Campbell Brothers in Liverpool were third section with a blue yearling cock bred from their race birds.

His sire won 1st Pirrie Gold ring futurity race and is Willy Thas x Van den Driesshe x Lambrecht. The dam Xavier Verstraete Top Star x Chris Hebberecht.  She is sister to 2nd section 8th Open National last season from Sennon Cove. Eric Taylor in Crewe was fourth who said “I would like to congratulate all the winner's, especially the further north as it was a lot tougher than I expected after seeing the early velocities. My pigeon is off Gerald Delaney “Ace of Diamonds”. G Bower in Congleton was fifth.

Section M

It was great to see birds timed right up into section M to the Annan loft of E Hodgson & Sons.

John timed very early on the second day flying 381 miles and timed another four during the morning. He sent me the details of his first two birds and the first pigeon was the same hen as last year which was 1st Sect from Guernsey and she has scored several times in club including 1st Club 2nd Federation. Her sire is a direct Oswald Schneider and the dam is a direct R X Verstraete "Top Star" Bloodlines. His second pigeon was at Guernsey last year also sire by a direct Oswald Schneider who is sire of his pigeon called "Roxy" a silver award winner with SNFC.  The dam is a direct Twan Bongers from the lines of "Romee & Kliene Jade" Well done John, it was a testing day for most and your timings right up into Scotland from the NFC is a real achievement indeed.

Section N

Thanks to Jeff Walton who writes “There were only three birds on the day in NFC Section N from over 200 sent and very few have turned in since. Bob McKie of Blackhall Mill won 1st & 2nd NFC section with a Red cock, namely “Virtue’s Boy” a 2018 Late bred trained 50 miles, lightly raced and his sire bred by David Coward-Talbot.

The dam is an outstanding stock hen from Peter Virtue she is Dam, G/dam of multiple winners from 50 to 640 miles. “Virtue's Boy” was sent feeding a big baby and was keen on his hen again. Bob’s second bird is a 2020 late bred chequer cock, very lightly raced in 2021 being bred from House of Aarden stock. Dam a 2019 summer bred Southwell bred by Albi Deacon. He was sent very keen sitting a small baby and he only have 2/6 cocks back from this tough race. Kevin & Tracy Kelly of North Shields have some special pigeon in their grizzle cock, “Ronnie”.

Ronnie he is a grandson of “Champagne Charlie” from Marshall and Smith on the sire side. On the dam’s side he is Nouwen-Paesen the famous Barcelona flyers. He topped NFC Section N from the first Guernsey two weeks ago & now winning 3rd Section N. He won in 2020 1st club 5th Fed 9th Section 62nd UNC Gien flying 538 miles. In 2021 he 4th NFC Section N Guernsey. At clock opening on Tuesday evening only eight back from 33. Alan Dixon of Newcastle won 4th & 5th NFC Section N. His first bird’s sire was through his Busschaert x Fran Zwol stock, dam “Euro Diamond” lines. Alan’s second bird is a Busschaert x K Hine. Dam was from Ian Black and both flown celibate. After five days he has three from ten home.”

Section O

In 1^st and 4^th Section O from this second Guernsey race was the consistent Kendal loft of Kris Czaplinski.

Kris has been racing really well this year at club and federation level, so taking this section win was no great surprise to his competitors. Kris sent eight birds to the race and on the Friday after he had unfortunately only clocked two of his birds with his second pigeon arriving the following morning. His first bird flew the 326 mile journey in just over ten hours. This bird is chequer cock and is a son of one of his best pairs, with the sire being Kris best channel bird. The section winner is a Royston Davies of Port Talbot x Bruce Blamire of Kendal bird and was sent on widowhood. When Kris first started in the sport in the UK he was gifted a team of 16 birds from top local fancier Bruce Blamire. Kris then looked around for a cross into these birds and found Royston Davies. This is the main base of the Czaplinsky lofts and Kris and Royston are still in touch today. In second section once again is Dave Travis. Dave clocked his hen after twelve hours and fifteen minutes on the wing. This hen was 7^th Section from the last Guernsey race and was bred by good friends Roy and Christine Nicholson. Dave tells me that Roy was a very good fancier in his own right but gave up the birds a few years ago. He then decided to keep a small team of pets and has been breeding Dave half a dozen youngsters every year. Roy helps Dave out with his birds whenever Dave is working away so I’m sure seeing this result will give Roy just as much pleasure as it has given Dave. On the Friday after the race Dave had 6 birds returned from his entry of 11. Third section was the winner from the first Guernsey race Arthur Wilson with the same pigeon that won the section. This game pigeon was now sitting around 15 days on eggs and returned after thirteen hours and seventeen minutes in great condition. Arthur now only has seven birds to race after being virtually cleaned out by vermin. He was left with only 12 birds but has still managed to race every week so I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve seen of this pigeon. Arthur sent two birds to the race with this being his only returnee by the Friday.

Section P

Section P had a lower entry than the first Guernsey, but a similar result with the winner on that occasion the National winners Mr & Mrs John Buckfield coming out on top of the section once again.

The leading pigeon at 39th Open was in my opinion a really good pigeon on the day and a clear section winner. To cap a good day they were also second and fourth section. My thanks to their son Tony for collecting their info.Here is what John had to say “It’s a Gaston van de wouwer bred by Tony, Although this hen has not won before she has always been consistent and won a bit of pool money. All birds came home in good condition with 100% returns. Congratulations to the open winner and all other section winners. And hats off to the convoy team re putting up with an extended weekend.” At Third section is Freddie Hadley & family from Leigh on sea.

This what Freddie told me “I would like to say well done to Jason Bowen on 1st & 2nd NFC & also well done to John Buckfield on winning section P twice on the bounce now, well done John congratulations. My pigeon has always been named ‘Ground Zero’ since he started to show promise last year, hence his ring numbers. As a young bird last year he scored. 7th club Holmsely - 41st TNEC 1,319b, 3rd club Purbeck - 23rd TNEC 2,124b, 3rd club Littlehampton, 2nd club Weymouth - 7th TNEC 1,141b, 2nd club Weymouth - 18th TNEC 805b, 189th open BICC Guernsey (2) 2,164b. Just two weeks ago on the 21st of May Ground Zero recorded 12th section P 27th open NFC Gurnsey 6,599 pigeons & now yet another section P and open position in this race from Guernsey 2. ‘Ground Zero’ was bred by the partnership of Lewis & Angie Milne of Sutton, Doncaster. I have been fortunate to have obtained some very good pigeons from Lewis & Angela over recent years since 2016 when a kit was sent down to try and the friendship was struck from the get-go. “I actually managed to take a look at the parents of him when I took a visit to Lewis and Angela last December and the pair where just impeccable and once again Lewis has repaid me this year by sending me some down from the same pigeons so thanks again Lewis & Ange.” The sire of ‘Ground Zero’ was bred by Etienne Meerscharet and purchased by Lewis after his racing career winning 22nd NPO 8,600b, 26th - 18,948b, 31st - 10,082b, 56th - 1,369b, 97th-1,957b competing. Lines containing Rudy Van Reeth, Dirk Van Den Bulk & Stefaan Lambrechts. The Dam being direct from Bob Fenech bred from a brother of “Red Alert”, father to a hen that won 2x1st Feds with little miss Sagan lines thrown in to the mix.” Just a quick mention for young James in the photo who is obsessed with the pigeons, so and up and coming ace for the future no doubt. In at fifth section is Andrew Cousins from Bishops Stortford . Andy clocked a 2yo hen which had previously won,3rd section,108th open Guernsey 2 1st club, 35th open Weymouth TNEC, 2,581b, 7th section 416th open Guernsey 2, 5,831b 2021, 46th section, 876th open 5,600b, Sennon Cove 1 2021

She is G,daughter of Rob Pughes “Licensed to Thrill” x “M” two of Robs best racer/breeders. Finally, we have Tony Buckfield, once again featuring in the section result following the previous Guernsey race. Tony had this to say “This Gaston van de Wouwer has had a win last year and has been my first bird home on several occasions. She has had every race so far this year and is currently back to Yeovil for the club race. Well done to the convoy team who had to look after these birds for extra few days. Well done to the winning open fanciers and again a big congratulations to my mum and dad for a great section win and slipped in another 3 in front of me in this section.” Well done to the Buckfield family and everyone else who featured in the section result.

Section Q

Chris Boyce writes for Section Q “Finally after much soul searching and weather watching the second Guernsey race got under way on Mon 6^th June. Many local fliers were disappointed that the long forecast easterly wind was deemed unsafe and hopes of a National win in the Section were dashed as we held over to the Monday and a much quieter SW wind. Can not help wondering what would have happened if it had been a strong wind from the South on the Saturday. That said the racing was again highly competitive with a total of 11 different fanciers finishing in the top 13. The early lead was taken by Terry Luscombe who had won the first Guernsey race and looked like he had number two in the bag

but as the day unfolded and birds started to arrive further and further west the lead changed and AS Mitchell and Son (Tubby and Dan to us) of Camborne pipped Terry to the Section win.

They had sent four birds and the section winning bird was a gift to the guys from the Angwin Family lofts, from their highly successful Busschearts, it completed the 132 miles with a velocity of 1120 ypm.  Terry Luscombe of Plymouth club flying out of Looe being second sent six birds. The successful bird was not the same bird as before being a yearling blue cock bought from fellow club member Zibi Novac. He was driving his hen when sent to the race and completed the 103 miles to Looe with a velocity of 1102 ypm. Third Section was Mervyn Elliot of Hayle club, Mervyn and his brother Steve sent four birds. Their 3^rd Section bird was a blue chequer hen flying to a 7 day old youngster and is a Janssen out of a red chequer hen from Jon Heffron and a Braspenning Janssen cock from his friend Harry in Gateshead. The 135 miles to Hayle were covered in a velocity of 1081ypm. Fourth were T D & L Hosking, of Penzance club. Darren sent ten birds and their first home was a blue chequer cock being a Daniel Aeren crossed with a Mueleman and was sent sitting on eggs for 6 days.  As a matter of interest this bird has flown the channel 4 times achieving 2^nd,4^th, 6^{t h} and 12^th Section and always been his first bird home. There must be a record there somewhere! The bird covered the 141 miles to Penzance in a velocity of 1070ypm. Fifth section was Joe Nuciforo of Redruth club. Jo sent ten birds and his first bird home was a 2019 dark chequer pied hen bred from a cock that was a grandson of “Padfields Invincible” and a hen also from Padfield lines, both birds were bought from Gareth Watkins and originated from House of Aarden. She was raced on the roundabout system and completed the 129 miles to Redruth in a velocity of 977ypm. It is sad to have to report that the bird has been lost to predators since finishing the race. Sorry to hear that Joe, but it’s a very familiar problem here on the Cornish coast.

Section W

John David won section W with a 3 year old blue pied cock bred from two famous Belgium families.

The sire is from a pair of direct Roland and Guy Nihoul`s when crossed with a hen bred from a gift pair bred by late Roger Vereecke. The Nihoul`s were 3 x National Long Distance Champions of Belgium over a 4 year period. Roger Vereecke who was a true legend of the sport, always said a pigeon doesn't fully mature until he is 3 years old, and of course we haven't been able to fly the channel in recent years apart from Guernsey, which the above cock  has flown 4 times. The winning pigeon is very protective of his box and attacks John’shand whenever I try to catch him but last season, he took 4 days to return from Guernsey. He is flown on the widowhood system, but this time spent 1 hour with his hen before basketing for the race. Unusually, after exercise the cocks always see their hens through the adjoining compartment for a few moments which keeps them on their toes. He, like several of his loft-mates normally fly the southeast route and have never flown the south route into Wales apart from Guernsey. “I do feel that the experience of flying in the NFC does make our pigeons more competent as they have to think for themselves and break away from the masses making up the convoy. This season the cocks are only exercised for up to 50 minutes once a day as they are only flying in races up to 200 miles. Interestingly, my 2^nd pigeon who was 6^th west Section is a three year old chequer cock only half the size of my section winner but I have learned over the years that size doesn't matter, its all about the heart and motivation. It saddens me to think that registering to fly channel racing into Wales this summer and obtaining a CPH number through Defra (as compared to England) is proving an almost insurmountable task even for fanciers who are reasonably computer literate like myself.”

A huge thank you to all those who have helped me to compile this report and it is one in which some have voiced a little dismay regarding channel racing. I would like reassure those by saying that the NFC Committee held an emergency meeting on the 8^th June to discuss the possibility of racing from France and the outcome was a very positive one. The NFC, BICC, CSCFC and the BBC are to hold a joint race from St Philbert on the 2^nd of July with four marking stations open to all our members. This will spread the extra costs of having to have an Official Vet at each station and the paperwork required to get all our birds through the border for a liberation. It really is not that difficult once you have obtained the DRFRA registration numbers and we all must help each other through this initial period of doubts. There are instructional videos on both the RPRA and the NFC websites, explaining how to go through the process of registering and once it has been done, the Pau Grand National is on for all our registered members three weeks after St Philbert, so if you need any help….ask for assistance.

News and views to me Chris Sutton on 01530 242548 or 07792 356330 email