National Flying Club

There have been a lot of concerns raised about the crates on the new transporters that take the NFC pigeons. Personally we sent to St Nazaire, St Malo and Saintes without any problems whatsoever and the pigeons came back in top class condition, in fact we were amazed at how well they were on their return to the lofts. From what I can gather the two races mostly affected were the first race from Sennen Cove when the water was overflowing, this was put down to the transporter not being levelled as per maker’s guidelines. This problem was later resolved when those concerned met the haulers at the yard where the transporters were levelled out with no spillage.  Then there was the old hens/young bird National when many believe the birds could have been spread out much better. With the later race the birds were sent under the RPRA guidelines and the right number per crate but it appears that this did not suit the birds had they have sent two transporters then it would have resulted in the birds travelling and basketing much better. There is also the problem of fanciers sending their birds when they have a problem in the loft and there are plenty who do continue racing the young birds whether they have a problem or not and that is in all clubs. Many problems are underlying and cannot easily be detected at first so they are probably sent with thoughts on them being in good health. However there is a story circulating that the young birds were squirting mostly water in the crates. Now this might just be down to nerves in the youngsters or stress after a long hard season and not detectable in their home environment. The races in between were fine that is of course unless anyone can genuinely tell me any different, not stories but plain facts. I say that because I cannot understand why the races we sent to saw the birds clean and in excellent condition so what went wrong; it has all down to the problems mentioned above. With the concerns shown Eddie Froggatt decided to test the pigeons and their welfare in a modified crate that had a wire mesh above the fixed grills that are in each of the crates. Eddie then invited committee members over to have a look and gather their thoughts; we were also invited along to take an independent look at this alternative idea. If we had that excellent ability of hindsight a second crate without the modification could have been tested along side the modified crate. Even when this extra grill was fitted I believe the headroom per pigeon was still within the DEFRA guidelines; I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. With wanting to look at all options and look at such ideas I like to keep an open mind and anything that is a benefit for the pigeons I am in favour of. I must admit that the birds looked and handled well without any mess shown on any of the pigeons in the crate. They were certainly in good condition so the 9/10 days for the 21 pigeons in the modified crate had done them no harm at all. With any new idea we all need to look at the options available and are their any advantages by such a modification. There is also a downside to any modification done and is it really necessary in the first place or are their options available. Are their any complications around the corner by such a modification, one thing that will always happen with wire grills, the pigeon’s feet are clean because they are continuously rubbing on the mesh so they are bound to be clean? At the end of the day any modification would have to go through the haulers because they are the owners of the transporters and not he National FC. We must also remember that these crates are power cleaned so the wooden framework for such an additional grill would not last very long and they would have to be cleaned the same or there would be no real benefit and we do want the crates to be spotless and problem free. Another point raised was would the mixing of metals take any affect on one another because I am told that aluminium does not mix with all metals? How long would they last and how often would they have to be replaced, what would be the cost against sending the second transporter and making sure that the birds had plenty of room because that is a key factor. The club are contracted to two transporters so why not send them in the best interest of the club and with the new conditions of no more than 24 birds per crate decided on by the committee all problems should now be resolved. Thanks to Eddie & Julie for the very good hospitality on a weekend that included a very nice lunch, saved me taking them out for a meal on the way home.

National Flying Club

News and Reports from the Press Officers

Breaking news

The great news for the National Flying Club is that the club are now secure in transportation for the indefinite future. On Monday 14th May Brian Long held a meeting with JP Haulage to buy the trailers on behalf of the National Flying Club. The trailers have been purchased out of a fund set up by Brian & Cornelia with the best interests of the club at heart. The transporters now belong to the trust fund that Brian has set up for the club and nobody else. This means that instead of the high price that was to be paid the club are now in a position to pay the money back to the fund over 15yrs. This then means that there is always going to be money available for new transporters in years to com. The funds will never become available for general use by the club because they have been set up as a security measure, which means that the club will benefit. On behalf of all the members I would like to thank Brian and Cornelia for the work and assistance that they have done for the national flying Club.

COMMITTEE MEETING

The latest committee for the National Flying club members was held in early May so that sufficient time was available to cover as many details as possible. First item on the agenda were the minutes of the previous meeting and these were passed as a true record. The way these minutes are considered has changed and this has saved the committee an awful lot of time - another case of reorganising the way things are done that has come good. In the matters arising concern was shown for members having their clocks set at local clubs. This will need to be confirmed with the NFC Secretary and members must collect the necessary paperwork from the marking stations when marking their birds. The committee do not see any problem with this as long as members stick to the system provided. Under the heading of correspondence a letter from Bricon was read out and they are offering ETS systems to all marking and clock stations. This was a very generous offer and was discussed at length. Also there was a similar offer from Unikon sent by text the morning of the meeting. The committee decided to go with Bricon and thank them for their very generous offer and point out that all systems have to be compatible. Finance Review. A copy of the finance review was given to committee members for their thorough study. The conclusion was that the National Flying Club could not run on a part-time Secretary. The work programme and the timing would not allow this and this could only be planned over a two-year period with many areas being re-planned. Bookkeeping will be split with the bookkeeper reporting direct to the Treasurer on a day-to-day basis. Race book keeping will stay with the secretary who has a very good well-organised system. The account system is to be reviewed and a more user-friendly system will be finalised shortly. This will provide very accurate management accounts for the Committee on a quarterly basis and this should help to keep the committee more informed on the finances of the club. The general costs were looked at during the previous review and all areas were targeted and major savings in advertising and general costs were saved. Major costs to the club are the marking stations. This is now a fixed cost of 30p per bird, which each marking station receive for marking which should reduce the cost of £14,000 paid last year. There is a change in where the committee meetings are to be held and the venue is to be at Alveley in future. This is a free of charge venue and all committee members will be responsible for their own refreshments so this is another big saving for the club. The annual presentation for the 2007 season is at Torquay with the following year (2008) being held in York. The changes in the way the meetings are held now means that they now take up less time for the committee and they were on their way home in good time.

15/5/07

National Flying Club

Committee meeting held at Kidderminster on the 7th February 2007

Minutes of previous meeting agreed as a true record of matters arising. Brian Long reported on a very good meeting with the Racing Pigeon where the future relationship was discussed. This resulted in the minor problems over the past months being resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned. The Racing Pigeon will now be working closely with the National Flying Club and are to help with sponsorship for the clubs results. The Correspondence was then read and all agreed that there were no issues.

The race programme for 2007 is as follows: 19th May, Fougeres. 2nd June, Cholet. 16th June, Alencon. 29th June, Tarbes. 21st July, Saintes. 1st Sept, Guernsey. On the clock stations front the committee felt that there should be more clock stations and if organisations had enough members and someone would be responsible to run the clock stations the Committee would look favourably to make things easier for the members in any area concerned.

A big issue with some fanciers are the new crates that the club now use, there have been tests done regarding a modification. It was agreed by the Committee to alter all the crates using a wider mesh and raising it from the bottom. This will be implemented immediately at no cost to the NFC.

As with everything the National FC do the committee seek the best for the members so when it came to engraving for the clubs magnificent array of trophies the Committee agreed to continue with existing supplier for the present moment. The club have been presented with a new trophy to known as the Titmus Trophy in memory of Mr Titmus one of the clubs longest serving members who passed away, the trophy was accepted with thanks.

Mr & Mrs Carlo Napolitano the Royal Lofts manager is once again be approached to attend the annual presentation as a guest. The club will also invite one other guest to be decided for the presentation at The Palace in Torquay. The 2008 annual presentation will be held in York.

Other major issues to be looked into include Expenses, Remuneration & Salaries – The Committee have requested a financial review to be carried out and a cost cutting proposal to be presented to the Committee for evaluation.  This will be carried out by the Treasurer Paul Naum and Brian Long and will be presented to the Committee in four to six weeks for their evaluation.

Contracts – The Secretary’s service contract was discussed and the Committee agreed for an appointed Committee member to continue the discussions with the Secretary to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion, as the contract was a standard service contract.

Under the heading of Any Other Business the committee agreed to make a new section for Scotland. The committee have appointed Brian Stansfield to be the person in charge of the overall responsibility for all sponsorship that National Flying Club gain in the future. All day-to-day running regarding sponsorship will now be directed towards Brian. The meeting was then closed.

National Flying Club

Bulletin from Press Officer Les Parkinson

Well here we are with the second of the new format for the mainstream National flying Club Bulletins that will appear here as often as possible. We will be relying on the majority of material arriving from members of the club and hope to cover many of the officials and the part they play.

I did attempt to get this up and running a few years ago but those I approached were reluctant to send information. However, things are moving on fast and there are supporters of the club who are prepared to send the information we require to let everyone know who is who and what part they are playing in improving the club. We would obviously have liked to start with the Queen but I think an interview is out of the question so we shall start with our President who is a big supporter of the club and always looking to take us forward.

Fred Sharman was born in 1936 in Cambridgeshire. On leaving school he was apprenticed to the motor trade for six years. From the age of 12 until National Service he was an amateur boxer for the Cambridge Club and at the age of 16 began refereeing football (this hobby lasted for 50 years). Fred joined the Suffolk Regiment in December 1957 and after completing basic training went for fourteen weeks to the Physical Training School at Aldershot. He expected to go to Cyprus to join the regiment, but owing to shortages at the Bury St Edmunds depot was required to stay behind as a PTI - training recruits. His disappointment was tempered by competing in boxing, football, fencing, tug-o' war, basketball cricket, hockey and swimming for the depot and making up a gymnastic display team, including Indian club swinging, to visit towns and villages in East Anglia.

Doreen & Fred - two tireless workers for the good of the National.

Earning only £1.70p weekly at today's rate, he carried on his motor mechanic skills to supplement his income (unofficially!). We are talking mainly pre-war cars with side valves etc but these days he never looks under the bonnet. In 1959, just prior to demob, Fred married a Norfolk girl and together they had two children. All married life was centred around market gardening, together with a shop in Cambridge and a stall on Cambridge Market selling home-grown produce and purchases from London. This carried on his father's trade, which began in 1932, and today Fred's son is still on Cambridge Market but nowadays all his stock comes from either the Fens or London.

Fred's interest in pigeons began at the age of eight when he cycled to his uncle's loft several miles away and then his father moved to The Eversdens in 1947. Whilst his father kept fantails and tumblers Fred kept a few of his own pigeons and in 1968 he joined the Cambridge South Road club to begin racing. He was their Chairman within two years and later became President. Fred joined the National Flying Club in 1970 and at this time his basketing days involved a round trip of 260 miles to Reading but the race programme was only Nantes, Pau and Young Birds. During the 70s he became firstly Chairman and then President of The Inter Counties Federation being replaced in the early 90s.

Sadly, Fred lost his Pam in 1989 from cancer and pigeons were his lifesaver. In 1990 Fred was elected onto The National Flying Club Committee, becoming President for the first time in1999, and again in 2004 until the present time. For almost seventeen years Doreen has been his constant companion. This was not their first meeting because they were at school together with both Fred and Doreen's families being in Orwell. That was only about two miles from their present home so there had always been a common bond with friends in the area.

When Sid Barkel became Secretary of the National Doreen offered to help with the dinner arrangements whilst he settled in, and somehow this has become an annual routine, which she enjoys. Fred and Doreen became involved with the National Flying Club Stand at the Shows when David May was getting it organised and continued doing so until this year when Brian Stansfield agreed to relieve them. There is now a new Stand and hopefully it will go from strength to strength under Brian's guidance.

Fred is convinced there is a new future ahead for the National Flying Club with our brand new Transporters, new members on the Committee and hopefully an end to the continual unhelpful letters from members. As the Premier Club we should all be proud to support and nurture our sport after such a difficult time just recently with the curtailing of our races. How past members back down the century would have marvelled at the changes we have experienced.

We also have a piece taken from the club handbook written by committee member John Tyerman re National FC Scottish members:

'I was a member of the NFC some 35 years ago when I flew to a loft at Earlston Police Station in the Scottish Borders. The NFC at that time had a few members in Scotland and our clock station was at Annan, Dumfriesshire, run by Walter Glendenning. Walter scored 172nd Open NFC Nantes (10,000 + birds) and I remember timing two great hens at 7:50am and 8:15am, second morning from NFC Nantes (584 miles) into a NE wind. I was unable to take my clock lock to Annan some 85 miles away due to being sent to deal with a serious accident, so lost my positions, which would have been near the tail end of the result! In 1972 I entered my good blue hen SU67SB5353 in the NFC Pau Grand National (884 miles). This was a hard race with storms and heavy rain en route. The race was open to me for some five and a half days and at lunchtime on day 5 she arrived home minus her rubbers. I telephoned Walter Glendenning who took the wing mark and confirmed my hen's arrival with the Secretary C. W. Millar. The hen had previously flown the channel many times and was in good condition after flying the 884 miles to Earlston Police Station. In those days we had to send our NFC entries by mail to Crewe marking so they spent often a week or more in their baskets. My local paper (Berwickshire News) ran the Pau hen's story in the paper and I even found the old photo and certificate. The blue hen was of the old Kirkpatrick strain and was from pigeons used by the late Joe Newcombe (Newcombe Birds). When I went to Hong Kong in 1973, I gave her back to Joe and she lived to a ripe old age, breeding many good channel pigeons. At the recent Old Comrades show I met up with Walter Gendenning and I know he would once again run a NFC marking and clock station for Scots members. I am keen to push this, as I believe we could get a good number of new members. I know enough people to organise this if we decide to have a Scots Section, which would be section "M".'

Well, no doubt John is delighted that this has now come to fruition and section M will be in operation for this season.

Will all National fliers please note that a full report including photos will appear by the Tuesday morning (or even on occasions Monday) following each race. The National kicks off this weekend from Fougeres and the entry is in excess of 6,600 birds.

If you have any positive information for these bulletins please send it along to be included. This is your chance to send info on the club.

16/5/07