LES J. PARKINSON'S

NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES

After my comments on the forthcoming NFC agenda I had quite a series of e-mails with Paul O’Leary that were quite interesting. The reason being that through our exchanges good points came to light but I don’t want to use them in these notes. I have made my views known and I shall leave it at that. However, as with all that we write there are points raised and someone somewhere is always going to have their views and quite rightly so, this is a free country although you wouldn’t think so at times.  The point in this case being the reason why some things are done whether they are right or wrong we will have to see at the AGM. The committee put a brief line under certain propositions why they are for or against a proposition. What would be better is if they gave a good reason for their decision instead of a one liner because they did make a lot of money in 09. I think if they had a good reason and spelt it out the voting would be different and might go in their favour because they are the people we rely on to keep the club afloat. But as I have already mentioned, the club did make good money in 09 so the members need to know why they agree or disagree with any proposition. I know because I have successfully run organisations with good teams of people but the average Joe out in their loft does not understand so they must be told. The best way to run any organisation is to let the members know what is going on and not treat them like mushrooms keeping them in the dark all the time. I am not just referring to the NFC because the vast majority do not use the press as well as they should, it is there to be used as a tool to support the clubs and their members. National racing is the way forward to the sport because over the years many small clubs have been formed to keep so and so out because they are too good and winning too much. But no particular fancier dictates the Nationals, what does dictate the winners in the Nationals are the conditions on the day more so than in a close knit club. This is why when you race in the Nationals you need to think about beating everyone in your area first of all. Your next thought should be on ‘Are the conditions right” and if they are you win the National.

Belgium

Going back to our recent trip to Belgium I did say that I thought the days of the extravagant lofts had gone but that is not the case because the Filip Norman set up is probably as good as it gets. There are some good professional set-ups in pigeon racing but they do not win everything. Winning is down to the fancier and the hard work they are prepared to put into their birds in the first place. A big range of lofts is impressive to the general public and to some pigeon fanciers but as we all know with pigeon racing everyone can be beat no matter how much money they have and how big their lofts are. That is the reason why pigeon racing is so fascinating and worth it when we keep plugging away and achieve our goal. The problem with some fanciers is they see these fanciers with a bit more money and they think that they cannot approach them. That is not the case because they are no different from any other fancier. If you approach them and want to talk about pigeons in a sensible way they will oblige. As with any sport there are no barriers when it comes to talking about the sport you are interested in. Anyway getting back to Filip Norman and his team they are professionals and they have had their best season to date. Their present day team is built around a pigeon called “Zorro” who was 11th national Limoges 15,845birds, 10th International Dax 6,491 birds, 14th National Cahors 11,090 birds etc. It is interesting to note the lines of pigeons that Filip has brought in to cross into those winning lines of “Zorro”. They include several of the Vandenabeele lines, “Nationaal II” which I believe is currently the best breeding cock in Europe plus “The Red Barcelona”. What I did notice was that in nearly every pigeon there was the line of “Zorro” and this does make the point that they believe this to be the pigeon that is most likely to give them a top winning line. They are getting their rewards with a grandson “Cognac” (see photo) who was 1st National Tulle, 1st Arras, 1st Clermont, etc with the sire being a direct son of “Zorro” while the dam is out of a grandson. There is also their Sun City Million Dollar race winner, which is out of “Abraham” a direct son of “Zorro” The stock loft is predominantly a “Zorro” zone so there are always going to be good pigeons coming from this line. The joy is finding out which are going to be the producers and with which pigeons they are going to get the best results. Finding a top winning line is never easy, it is always going to be hard and it is even harder maintaining a winning line from your chosen pigeons. What is also fascinating with this line is how they have found pigeons to cover all distances including the long distance. This is highlighted with “Wonderzhora” (see photo) a chequer daughter of “Zorro” (see photo) who has won 6 x 1st prizes and also 1st Prov Acepigeon Great Middle long Distance. 1st Prov Acepigeon Great Middle Distance Bruges Championship. There are of course the exceptions to the rule with a pigeon called “Robinson” who was 1st National 2nd International Pau and is not from the “Zorro” lines therefore an ideal pigeon to bring into such a good winning line. Then we have “Contador” (see photo) winner of 1st provincial Ace Pigeon with 7 x 1sts ranging from 120kl to 675kl so a real good pigeon out of “Robinson” there is a lot more to come on these impressive lofts and birds.

 

 

 

Zorro

 

Club/Fed News

The second show for the Middlewich saw over 100 birds competing for the red card that went to Mel Bratt with a Busschaert off J Preece of Telford. 2nd went the way of Parkinson & Wilkinson with a chequer Dordin hen bred by Derek Lawton and is dam of prize winners. Carol & Robert Carson are 3rd with a 5yo chequer hen that has won many cards in the show pen including 2nd in last years xmas show and 1st in the xmas show the year before.  Nice to see Ken Parton back on the scene to collect 4th with a red Staf Van Reet hen of Steve Parkinson stock.

Les J.Parkinson. Elimar, 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 ONJ. Tel/Fax; 01606 836036. Mobile 07871 701585 Elimar.pigeons@sky.com web-site www.elimarpigeons.com