MIDLANDS NATIONAL FLYING CLUB
MIKE LAKIN
On the road with the MNFC
Ian, the MNFC convoyer, checking the weather prior to the liberation on the birds
When I was asked to accompany the Midlands National Flying Club’s Convoying team for the recent Portland young bird race it was a great opportunity to see how both they and the system works. The first indication that I got that it wasn’t going to be a straight forward job was when I contacted one of the drivers Mark Francis who is the boss of ‘Francis Transport’ who we contract for our races and believe me they are the ‘tops’ with nothing being too much trouble and Mark himself is a real ‘Steady Eddie’ who keeps a cool head in stressful times. Well Mark told me that after picking the birds up from Connah’s Quay, Liverpool and Bolton that he had had to come off the M6 due to an accident and so that he was already an hour behind on his schedule. At about 1.30pm Mark turned into the Abbey Marking station in Stoke and after loading on the birds and taking his compulsory 45 minute break he was back on the M6 at junction 15 but soon the overhead signs were announcing ‘long delays’ due to yet another accident. This meant that it was 5.00pm before getting to the meet up with the other transporters which was approximately three hours behind the planned time schedule.
A shot of the quarry next to the Lib site
It may be worth explaining to members that the Club uses three transporters to collect pigeons from all the Marking Stations. One going down the Eastern side, another down the West and the third collecting the entries from the South Eastern stations. As you can see it is a massive logistical exercise and explains why the Club needs to know exactly how many birds have been entered so that the correct numbers of crates have been delivered to the Marking Stations and how many pigeons are to go in each. This is because the MNFC likes to have as few birds as possible in them and to ensure that this figure is uniform in all of these stations. Remember the comfort and wellbeing of the birds is of paramount importance to the MNFC. We simply won’t compromise on this matter and the Portland race was an excellent example as though we could have got all of the birds on one transporter with numbers well inside the numbers allowed. The Club’s Transportation Committee though made the decision to take two transporters as with the many health problems that have been reported they wanted the pigeons to go on their ‘maiden’ MNFC flight with the minimum amount of stress. After the Convoying team had given the birds a light feed and put the drinking water on they discussed the best route to take down to Portland Island in view of the reported heavy traffic on the various routes down to the South Coast .
The media photo shoot of the plaque presentation
Once the planned route was decided we were soon off heading south via Oxford and onto the M3 passing signs for Southampton and Portsmouth as we headed towards Weymouth and Portland. It was Lol who drew the short straw to have my company as we made the trip to the race point and though I had never previously met him I was made most welcome and I soon realised that just like his boss that he was another calm character who never flapped as we encountered several delays on our journey which made Lol more than a little concerned about his allowed driving times. It was just after 10.30pm when we finally rolled onto the liberation site high up next to one of the old famous Portland stone quarries and a few minutes before Lol’s Tacho time had run out. As we awaited the arrival of Mark and Ian French the MNFC Convoyer who were a few miles behind us, Lol got his trusty gas stove and kettle out and we enjoyed a wonderful cup of tea the first drink that we had managed to get since the start of our journey so it tasted like nectar. Though it was dark the water was once again switched on so the birds would get plenty of water before the liberation. After making sure that the birds were safely secured we went looking for a meal but to no avail so we had to make do with a much needed pint just before closing time at the hotel next to the lib site.
The 9.15am liberation
Morning soon dawned but it was raining at the race point and low cloud cover but Ian was already up and discussing with the three weather advisors that we employ and they all agreed that it was improving rapidly and a liberation would be possible by midmorning. This proved to be spot on and after much media interest from the South Western Meridian TV and the local newspaper and the Mayor of Portland a very nice chap named Rob who had come to see the Portland Stone Plaque presentation which Neville Wellbridge the Portland site agent who is a Master Stone Mason had carved to give to the MNFC which will be handed over to the Mayor of Carentan to commemorate the great deeds done by racing pigeons during the two World Wars. The Mayor was very interested to witness the Midlands National’s Portland race liberation.
The birds are on their way home
After a couple of final checks the birds were readied and at 9.15am the birds were away in a superb liberation with shutters automatically lifting steadily but as the birds swirled above they joined into one batch before splitting into two batches as they made their journey home over approximately 4 ½ miles of sea over the bay between Portland and Weymouth. One batched headed North while the second took a more Easterly line. After the necessary tidy up and emptying the water troughs and shutting the transporters up it was time to head back after calling for a much needed breakfast.
Mark & Lol closing the crates before heading back home
What did I glean from the trip? Well first of all the pigeons welfare comes first as highlighted by the fact that the team only had their meal after the ‘job’ was completed. I can honestly say I was very impressed with the Midlands National’s team and can confidently report that though the convoyer’s lot can often be rather testing and isn’t the jolly that some fanciers often believe, that the MNFC is in very good hands. Thanks for your company lads.
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