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National Flying Club FOUGERES 2008 Report by Les J. Parkinson and Cameron Stansfield of www.elimarpigeons.com Following a 3-day holdover, the NFC Fougeres birds were liberated last Tuesday at 8.40am into a Light South East wind and a sunny sky. The marvellous entry of around nine and half thousand birds did not have an easy time of it but some superb performances were put up.
H. Baker & Son. The honour of winning 1st Section D, 1st Open went to the Plymouth loft of Henry Baker & Son, the son being Daniel, although another of Henry’s sons, Kevin, does form part of the team. In their household pigeons involve the whole family, including their latest addition, a grandson of 14 months, to Kevin, who is pigeon crazy. The family have been involved in the sport for over 50 years and this win is without doubt their finest. Their pigeons are raced on roundabout and the winner was bred by Mr S. Taylor of Littlehampton for a local Plymouth fancier, Mr L. Hayward who, before he emigrated to France, gifted the pigeon to Daniel for looking after his pigeons when he was away on holidays, so the National was won by a broken pigeon! Now named Pot Luck, it has won prizes before including 2nd Plymouth Continental Fed, and this year he had only had one race, from Eastbourne. With this win under its wing he will be retired to the stock loft. They entered 4 pigeons, recording 100% returns, and they would like to thank and congratulate the NFC for the excellent condition their pigeons returned in. Their ambition is to win the Grand National from where their best position to date has been 3rd Section D. Our thanks to Ian Johnston for providing the above information and photos of the winners.
1st Section A was won by a fancier who has been there before, Glen Sutton, who receives a great deal of help from his wife Tina. They began racing back in 2000 and their latest winner is a yearling widowhood cock now called Harry. He is one of a team of 20 widowhoodcocks and hens. Their feeding programme is from the Gem range of both corn and supplements. The breeding is via the Ponderosa Janssen lines of Wonderboys 05 & 06crossed with the original Janssen/Van Loon stock housed at these lofts. Although many found the race to be a stiff one, Glen did get 9 of the 10 back so is pleased with the result. After winning the Section on more than one occasion, he would now like to go that one step further and achieve his aim of a 1st Open in the National Flying Club. Other top results put up by this loft include 1st Open British International Championship Club and 2nd Open, 1st Section with the Central Southern Classic. Glen would like to thank his Dad, who takes the birds for marking when he can’t get there himself.
Glen Sutton. 1st Section B sees Wearn Bros add another top position to their long line of wins, however on this occasion it goes to the number 2 loft of Kenny who in this race showed brother Jimmy how it is done. Kenny timed a 4y cheq pied cock sent sitting eggs. He is aJan Aarden down through their old family, which they have had for many years. He was 5th Section Saintes two years ago and has won club cards, and his prep was two Lessays. Feed here is PLX with a diet mix plus Hormoform and vitamins, and the team aretreated every three weeks against canker. Kenny said his winner was in very good condition on return. He expected his arrivals to be worse for wear but was impressed they didn't appear to want a drink or food just the nest. Hesent 20 and had 18 on the day, one the next day and one the day after, which was injured. Wearn Bros have previously won the Langstone Gold Cup and the Classic, and the dream now is to win 1st Open NFC. Kenny’s Section winner will more than likely now go to NFC Angers.
Kenny Wearn. Photo courtesy of Richard Thomas.
Kenny Wearn’s set-up. Photo courtesy of Richard Thomas. 1st Section C goes to Graham and Margaret Ayles and son Mark who timed a yearling natural cock, one of five out of six home on the day to this loft. Its sire is a Joe Dorning purchased in Blackpool and the dam is a Cattryssefrom Mr Morris Cowley. He has flown Yelverton and Lessay this season and, having returned from this race in very good condition, will go to NFC Angers next. Feeding here is Gerry Plus Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning, then Widowhood mixon Wednesday afternoon and Thursday and Friday. Previous good positions recorded by this loft include 8th Open 1st sec Saintes NFC, 6th Open 3rd sec Saintes NFC, 7th Open 3rd sec Bordeaux BBC, 14th Open 6th sec Bordeaux BBC and 7th Open 6th sec Messac CSCFC. Their ambition is to carry on enjoying the sport and to time in a bird on the day from Pau. Graham and Margaret would like to thank Lawrence Cowley of Dorchester for giving them their section winner, and would also like to say well done to all the members of the Weydor Specialist Club who sent to the race and gained prominent positions in Section C and the Open.
Graham & Margaret Ayles.
The loft of Graham & Margaret Ayles. 1st Section E was won by the Hollywood Lofts of R. Keegan & Son, made up of Brian Keegan and Sharron Jorro. Brian had to finish with pigeons 4 years ago due to ill health and would like to take this opportunity to thank Sharron, as it was she who started racing in his absence and made a restart possible. Brian timed a yearling widowhood hen. She had only one club race prior to the National and was scoring for the first time. The sire is a grandson of Hollywood Sharron, 1st Open CSCFC and the dam is a Hofkens, bought directly from Verheyen of Belgium. They exclusively feed Gem corn, missing Gem Super Widowhood and Ruby.They would like to thank Brian and Viv Wall (Gem), not only for ensuring that the quality of their pigeon food is second to none, but also for making such an effort to keep their prices down in this difficult economy.Brian and Sharron also use Gemthepax, Impact, Matrix and Procol 12 to boost the immune system. Brian added: ‘Our birds arrived home in perfect condition, which is a credit to the Convoyer after such a long holdover. Credit must also go to the NFC committee and especially Brian Long for providing us with state-of-the-art transport, which I feel sure makes a massive difference to the condition of the pigeons regardless of time spent in transit.’ Brian originally entered 15, but decided to send only 5, of which 3 returned. The winner will now go to Angers. Previous top positions won include 1st Open NIPA 23,500 birds, 1st &3rdSection E NFC Nantes, 4th & 7th Open NFC Nantes and 3 x 1st CSCFC. The ambition now is to win 1st Open NFC (any race!!) and build a family of longer distance pigeons to win the Grand National. In conclusion Brian said: ‘In modern-day pigeon racing we believe it is essential to maintain perfect health in your pigeons and therefore we would like to thank Raf Herbot for testing our pigeons this year andalways being on the end of the phone!On behalf of ourselves and the rest of the NFC, we would like to thank Bricon ETS for supplying every marking station with a master system.We use Bricon ETS at our own loft and believe it to be the greatest invention in modern pigeon racing. We would like to thank Francis Nolman (Bricon) for his support.’
Brian Keegan. We have reported on the winner of 1st Section F before when Paul Kenny flew on his own. Now he races as P. Kenny & V. Segesdy. The partnership was formed this year but Ven has been a silent partner for the past 2 years. Paul has been in the sport since 1985 when he was 10 years old. Ven started racing pigeons in 1975 but has found work and lack of time a problem and therefore the partnership was formed. They timed a 2y blue roundabout hen. She is off a hen bred by Stan Dangerfield gifted to Paul's Dad at the Lancashire Social Circle in 1998, which was paired to a Ponderosa Janssen cock. This season she had 2 inland races and Lessay with the CSCFC, and she was 10th Open Saran/Falaise BICC in 2007. They feed a mix of Versele Laga Champion Plus and Irish Mixture High Velocity. Homoform is also fed, with Orego-stim put in the water. They had 18 out of 20 birds back on the day and said they all arrived in excellent condition. Other recent performaces include 1st Section Guernsey YB National 2007, 1st Section Cholet CSCFC 2007, 10th Open Saran/Falaise BICC 2007, 4th Open Guernsey YB BICC 2007 and 4th Open Falaise BICC 2003. The partnership's ambitions are to carry on competing at this high level and to one day win a National. They would like to thank Esther for all her hard work with the birds and also give a big thank you to everyone involved with the marking of the birds at Didcot marking station, which was a great success.
Paul, James, Aidan, Lauren & Ven Segesdy. A fancier who really does enjoy his pigeons is Don Morris of Weston-Super-Mare, who finishes 1st Section G. Don races on his own and has only been in the sport for the last 4 years at his Oakdale Lofts, the name being that of the road where he lives. When he was a boy he had pigeons until he went in the Army and then when he came out he had his own business, which kept him very busy. On retiring he started to look for a hobby and settled for racing pigeons, stirred by his fond memories of keeping them in his early days. The winner for this report is a 4y chequer hen raced to 12-day-old eggs. She has previously won 1st Open Lyndhurstin the West of England Continental Amal 1429 birds and 1st club Wetherby, 17th Combine 2289 birds. She has now won at velsof between 1007 and 1500 but this is the end of the road for her because Don has decided to put her to stock. Her breeding is through pigeons from Ted Bowers of Street in Somerset being of the lines of Peter van Osch, who is well known in Holland for his good team of Camphuis-based Janssens. The sire is from the line of Zeer Goed Vliefgduif, 1st Ace Duif One-day races. Also on the sire’s side is Vaal, winnerof 1st prizesand a son of the top breeder Vos 20. The dam is a sister to 1st Combine and 21st Open National. The dam is also a daughter of Rood Bonte, a brother to the sire of Tommy Gun. She is also a descendant of Kanibaal and contains the lines of the Wonderboys and James Bond. Don would like to win the National but is very happy with his racing to date. Many fanciers in his area of longer standing have tried to win the Section in the National and he is very pleased to have achieved it in just four short years.
Don Morris. The colourful partnership of Scott Petherbridge & Stephen Pollitt, who have only been in the sport five and six years respectively, are once again 1st Section H. This time they clocked a 3y cock flown on what they call naturalhood and fed on a mix they make up themselves. They describe the breeding a Brewhitewidow, from the phenomenal pair Dropwing and Martini. This is the second 1st Section bird they have bred and on the same day a bird from this pairing was 3rd SE Section MNFC Falaise. They have also bred 5th & 6th Section NFC, 58th Open NFC & 15th Open MNFC and the way things look another 3 of their offspring could be in the top ten section in this race. Their section winner from Fougeres had 6 inland races up to 126 miles and has taken fed cards and club cards plus 18th UBI Combine approx 2500 birds. This loft recorded 100 per cent returns and all birds will now head to Angers. In their short time in the sport Scott and Stephen have won 15th open & 20th open MNFC, 39th open BICC Pau (606 miles), 1st section MNFC, 1st section NFC, other top 100 positions in nationals plus several 1st feds. Their aim is to win an International. The winners of 1st Section I are Tom and Mark Sarginson who timed a 3y widowhood hen having her second race of the season. A winner of minor prizes beforehand, she is a gift off Mick Collins of Birmingham out of his Vaneeno pigeons. They said that after winning a 2nd and two 3rd sections last year, they are really pleased to have hit the top spot. Back in 1974, Tom spent a lot of time at Emiel De Weerdt’s learning his methods and since then he has always fed as per the De Weerdt system. Tom said their hen was in good nick considering the weather and she will now go to NFC Angers. All told they had 8 out of 10 home on the day and the aim now is to win another national having previously won 1st Open MNFC Saintes.
Tom Sarginson. 1st Section J is won by the father and son partnership of Tim and Jeremy Davies, who have been in the sport for twenty years. They clocked a 2y natural blue hen who was just showing to her cock at basketing. When the birds are inland they are fed on Bucktons- 50% Widowhood & 50% durpurative, then a week before their first channel race they are put on 100% Bucktons Widowhood mix, which they stay on for the rest of the season. They will not be broken down then and when they get over 300 miles they get a handful of peanuts after their main feed. They use a lot of cider vinegar and garlic in the water and find that the probiotic Flightpath has kept their birds in top health. They use it every fortnight on the food mixed with a touch of oil. Apart from that, they give nothing other than fresh water. Their winner is bred off their old family of Jannsen De Klaks, which over the years have bred many winners. They have blended this particular family for the last 14 years and the locals are calling these birds TJs so this is the start of their own family. Their winner was given 4 inland races this season up to 130 miles. She took inland prizes as a young bird in the club and as a yearling was never raced. They said that after 5 nights in the crate she looked on the tired side on return but she had tried hard and all she was interested in was getting to her cock.She will possibly go next to Alencon with the NFC on June 21st. Returns here were 23 from 30 sent, those missing being yearlings having their first trip across the channel. Over the years this loft has won the Section in the NFC & CSCFC and taken many open positions in the top 100. They have also won the Glos Fed, Severn Valley Fed and the Black Country Fed, taking hundreds of fed and club prizes. Tim and Jeremy have tended to put their own racing ambitions on hold in recent times because they are very busy running the R.P.R.A One Loft race butone day they would like to win the NFC flying over 600 miles.
Tim, Jeremy and Heather Davies. Brian & Helen Nicholls & Son took 1st Section K. Brian started with his father when he was 11 years old and later raced with his brother before moving the lofts and pigeons to his present address in 1988. Their winner is a 4y blue widowhood cock, which was 4th Section K, 15th Open from Fougeres last yearand has also won prizes in the club. Brian was saying the blue cockwas a bit tired and he landed on the bungalow before going into the loft, and that he had blood around his wattles where he had been through some heavy rain. His next race might be Alencon but if not it will be another National race. All birds are fed on Versele Laga with Brian buying different mixes and blending them to his own mix. The winner is a Vandenabeele whose parents were purchased out of the nest from M & D Evans. The sire is out of Jester when paired to a Sissi hen while the dam is also from the same Sissi lines. This family have been at the lofts since 2003. Earlier performances by Brian include 5 x 1sts at Lerwick 450mls with the old George Corbett Busschaerts. When we asked him what he would now like to win he said: ‘I amquite happy with what I have won as it is a milestone for our partnership. After being 4th last year I was set on winning the section and am happy to do so. We are up against some tough competition with fanciers such as Brian Denney, Mick McGrevy and Chris Gordon so it is not always easy to win at this level.’ Brian thanks John Moore who takes the pigeons to the marking station at Sheffield, and his brother who does a lot of work around the lofts. Brian has been ill so appreciates the work done by family and friends so that he can compete in the National races.
Brian and Helen Nicholls. Ron Wignall wins 1st Section L. After a break from the sport of around 10 years due to business commitments, it was decided to start up again in 2004. Quality stock was kindly loaned to him by three local aces – D. Farrel, R. Whitworth and fellow club member GE. Appleton. These had an a immediate impact as a team of yearlings won the Gold Cup for the All Race Average in the Lancs Combine during the 2005 season racing though to Noirt 500 miles. Since then the loft has won many top prizes including 1st Lancs Combine Fougeres in 2007. As the principal objective is channel racing more long distance bloodlines have been introduced, including Patrick Bros, Lowik Bros, J. Polder, R. O. Jones and the best of Invincible Spirit. The winner of 1st Section L is a lovely handling blue widowhood cock, bred out of GE Appleton stock. Due to restricted channel racing over the past couple of seasons he has had limited opportunities to show his full potential, however the Fougeres race must have been to his liking as he finished like a bullet on an extremely difficult day, after five nights in the basket, looking like he had experienced some extreme weather conditions.
Ron Wignall just receiving the call that he has won the section.
Ron Wignall's section winner.
CONVOYER'S REPORT Flown 27/5/08 following a three-day holdover Thursday 22/05/08 All birds fed and watered at marking stations. We did not leave Frome until 1450hours thus making us late at other marking stations. We had three birds escape at Ash when the lid opened due to us being late. I resealed the crate and marked it so when I got to the lib site on Friday I could re-rubber the birds in the crate. We arrived at the docks at 2300hours thanks to John Tyreman and his helpers at Chichester. We boarded the ferry at 2325hours. Friday 23/05/08 We arrived at Caen at 1600hours. One lorry developed a fuel problem and while it was being repaired I put water on for the birds for 2 ½ hours. We arrived at the lib site at 1215hours. I did not put water on for the birds right away and re-rubbered the birds in the crate from Ash as I do not like upsetting the birds when they have just been fed. I spoke to the agent who gave me a weather reports for the area and it was not very good for the next day. I decided to give the birds a full feed and then water, checking them one hour later and all was well. The birds were left to settle for the night. Saturday 24/05/08 Out and about at 0500hours to grey skies and heavy cloud cover. I spoke to the race advisor and told him of the situation on site and he said he would call back in one hour. We kept updating every hour but there was no change in the weather on site so at 0845hours the race was called off. Birds were fed and watered then checked at 1915hours and all was well. Sunday 25/05/08 Out and about at 0515hours to full cloud cover but the skies were getting brighter. Spoke to the race advisor at 0900hours and he told me that the weather was not very good in parts of the U.K. so the race was called off again. Birds were fed and watered at 1400huors and left to settle for the night. Monday 26/05/08 Out and about at 0500hours and it was raining. Spoke to the race advisor at 0545hours and he told me we had no chance of liberation so the race was called off again. Birds were fed and watered at 1400hours. By this time we had appalling conditions at the lib site with heavy rain. Checked the birds at 1930hours and as far as I could see all was well. Tuesday 27/05/08 Out and about at 0500hours. Race advisor called at 0530hours and said we had a good chance of a liberation but he would call back later. Weather was good on site with broken cloud. Race advisor called at 0815hours and the birds were liberated at 0840hours, breaking into two batches and heading North West into blue skies, clearing in less than a minute. Thanks to my assistant Barry Smith for of his hard work. Well done, mate. Geoff Allen, Chief Convoyer A full report on each National race can be found on www.elimarpigeons.com following each race.
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