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