Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past & present

MR & MRS ERIC CORKETT

OF LEIGHTON BUZZARD

National Flying Club got off to a brilliant start when members entered 8,638 birds into the club's first event from Nantes. On the Saturday, with adverse weather conditions over the English Channel, they decided to holdover. The Sunday morning produced good weather condi­tions, right up through the race course and Colin Bates liber­ated the birds at 7.25am in to a south west wind.

Mr & Mrs Eric Corkett & sons of Leighton Buzzard recorded lst & 3rd Open winning The Racing Pigeon car nomination. Their first two arrivals were both yearling hens on the widowhood. The winner, now named champion `Special Lady', was a blue Staf van Reet and this game hen had two Channel races on her build up to her National win. The second bird on the clock, to record 3rd Open, was a blue chequer Wildemeersch.

The Corkett family had an 80ft `L' shaped loft, with six sections and trapping was open door for the widowhood racers, and super traps for the young bird team. The race birds were paired up in late January and 40 cocks and 16 hens are raced on the widowhood system. The racers reared one pair of youngsters and were put on the system at ten days, on their second round of eggs. Eric broke the birds down when they were sprint racing, but fed to the conditions, with the feed getting heavier as the races get longer. The racers saw their mates on the marking night and spent an hour together on their return from the race.

The Corkett family liked sprint to middle distance racing best, but had recorded some good performances in the long distance Nationals. Although they raced widowhood, they did train their birds during the season, with the sprinters going to 25 miles once a week and the Channel racers getting regular tosses off the south coast. The partners kept 20 pairs of stock birds and these were paired up in December. They raced 70 young birds and these were housed in two nine foot sections in the loft, with half being put on Darkness and the other half being left natural. They were allowed to pair up if they want and raced the young bird programme, after getting a lot of regular training from 30 miles.

Eric has been in pigeons most of his life, starting racing in 1967, and he introduced the Wildemeersch pigeons from Waters & Broadhurst in 1986. The family had enjoyed a brilliant 2003 season, as well as winning the Nantes National, they had won the Federation a wonderful nine weeks on the trot and lst & 2nd Open Combine Picauville. The Combine winner, a little dark hen, was the third pigeon on the clock from the Nantes National.

A premier National Flying Club racer this week! I can be contacted on telephone number: 01372 463480. See yer!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT