By Janet Hull

Run by Old Lodge HS, The Bamfords Gold Ring Spectacular race was the brainchild of Vic Harrison and Alan Bamford who first began discussing the project during 1999. They wanted to bring to the North West fanciers a prestigious young bird race similar to the very successful Midlands Region Vanrobaeyes race, a race that would become the highlight of the North West racing calendar.

Since the first race, which was held in 2000, ring sales have grown yearly culminating in a complete sell out of rings in 2007 and it has indeed become the prestigious race that was originally envisioned. The radius of the race is extreme, from Crewe to Carlisle and Blackpool to Todmorden, for this reason there are now four sections within the race, west, central, east and north each with its own prize and pool money to be won. This means that regardless of wind direction no one section can win all the prize money due to a favourable loft position on race day, the prize money is spread about. Whilst the young bird race in 2007 is predominantly the same as it was in 2000 some small changes have been made over the years to strengthen its appeal to all North West Fanciers. In 2002 the amount of sections was increased from three to four with the introduction of the Northern section in an attempt to encourage the further flyers within the radius to compete, since this introduction the north section send has increased steadily. Also in 2002 the ring limit was increased from 10 to 15 rings. In 2003 the Bamfords Old Bird Channel Challenge was started in which any Bamfords Gold Ring old birds could be entered into a channel race again with good guaranteed prize money. This again helped to increase ring sales with members who were not particularly good young bird flyers purchasing rings purely to compete in this old bird channel race.

The concept of this old bird race was further developed in 2007 when the race was sectioned in exactly the same way as the young bird race paying section as well as open prize and pool monies. 2007 has also seen the introduction of the Bamfords Platinum Yearling Race (2 ring limit) into which 83 members have entered 163 Gold Rings at a cost of £10 per ring in earnest for the race to be held in conjunction with the existing Old Bird Channel race in 2008. This has brought in many new fanciers purchasing small amounts of rings and entering two into the Platinum Yearling Race 2008 that would not otherwise of ordered rings for a simply a young bird race. Additionally in 2007 the prize money split was changed to 40% open – 60% section in order to try to encourage more Fanciers in the smaller sections to purchase Bamfords Gold Rings, section prize money remained pro rata section entries as before. These changes made in 2007 have re-balanced the number of rings sold into the sections, if you split the radius in half down the middle ring sales are fairly equal on both the East and West Side. It is these subtle changes that has helped the Bamfords Gold Ring Races to go forward and grow unlike many other Young Bird race initiatives that have come and gone in the North West and it is hoped in 2008 that ring sales will increase again.

After the death of Secretary Vic Harrison in 2005 Beryl along with Janet and Dave purchased a memorial trophy which will be held each year by the 1st open winner after being presented to them at Blackpool Show. There have been many rumours surrounding the future of the Bamfords Gold Ring Races but can we just clarify that whilst the membership of the North-west are supporting the race it will continue to be run by Old Lodge HS with Secretary Beryl at the helm.

The Winners

The roll of honour for the Bamfords Gold Ring Spectacular Young Bird Race reads as follows: Alan & Cora Fielding 2000, Barber & Hilson 2001, Lenton & Platt 2002 , McCardle & Archibold 2003, Alan & Cora Fielding 2004, John Albutt 2005 and Roger Sutton 2006. Whilst no one section has totally dominated the results over the past six years some individual fanciers have put up some remarkable performances in the young bird race. None more so than Alan & Cora Fielding of Whitefield who are the only Fanciers to have won the race twice. Winning it for the first time in 2000 and then again with a stunning racing performance in 2004 timing six birds to finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th Open earning them a cheque for £6,141.00. Central section fanciers R & B Smith have in recent years put up some excellent performances with their birds and although they have not yet won the race they have collected cheques for £1747 in both 2005 and 2006. Barber and Hilson won the race in 2001 and then section east in 2003, they continued their form in the 2005 when they finished 3rd & 5th Open. Brian Holland of Abram has won section central twice in 2004 when he also finished 11th open and 2006 finishing 4th open winning a T3 clock on both occasions. There have been four Bamfords Old Bird Channel Challenge races 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 with the 2006 race not being held due to avian flu outbreak. The first race in 2003 was won by Denton Fancier George Appleton, next was the 2004 race which was won by Harrison and Hull of Preston and they won the race again this year in 2007, in 2005 it was the turn of Cheshire with fancier Derek Woodward of Northwich taking 1st Open. 

Bamfords Old Bird Channel Challenge 2007 Report

The fourth Bamfords Old Bird Channel Challenge 2007 race was held from Messac on Sunday June 10th after a holdover from the Saturday due to poor weather. Roger Sutton acted as race controller and after completing extensive weather checks early Sunday morning Roger gave Phil Brown of PBTS the all clear and the birds were liberated at 6.45am into no wind.

Harrison and Hull 1st, 2nd and 3rd Section West & 1st, 3rd and 4th Open. The Harrison and Hull partnership had a fantastic weekend racing from Messac, clocking three birds in this race winning a total of  £1216.23 in prize and pool money. This partnership excels at the 400-mile distance particularly with their team of Janssens. Racing in the NWCC on the same day Dave and Janet finished 2nd Section West and 2nd Open with a 2yo Janssen Cock that was 2nd Section & 4th Open NWCC at Messac 2006 beaten by his loft mate for 1st Section & 1st Open. During the closed Season Dave and Janet Hull began their planning for the coming years racing and as the Bamfords Old Bird Channel Challenge 2007 had a guaranteed prize pot of £1200 the partnership had this race along with a couple of others on their hit list. Flying 410 miles the partnership clocked three birds in 21 minutes to take 1st, 3rd & 4th open with velocities of 1282, 1243 and 1237. The first bird home was a 2yo blue hen called Miss Electra who is a full sister to the third bird home Electric Wal a 4yo chequer cock who won the 2004 Bamfords Old Bird Channel Challenge from Fougeres. Miss Electra was given two channel races as a yearling, Lessay and Fougeres, putting up her best performance at Fougeres where she finished 5th New Lancs Fed, 56th Central Lancs Combine and 66th Three Counties Combine 3943 birds. This year she was flown on a widowhood system and was specifically prepared with the Bamfords Race in mind. She was sent to three land races 90, 112 & 127 miles then on to Falaise 340 miles with the BICC on 28th April, Yeovil 190 miles two weeks later on the 12th May and then NWCC Fougeres 378 miles on the 26th May. By the time of basketing for the Bamfords Race she was in tiptop condition and this resulted in her winning 1st Open and £420. Electric Wal a 4yo cock has won prizes every year racing both on land and across the channel including 1st Bamfords Old Bird Channel Challenge 2004. He was bred and raced in 2003 at the old address and then was moved, stopped and raced at the new address in 2004. Both these birds are bred from Wal 25 a beautiful blue Wal Zoontjen stock cock that was purchased from A & M Guerts when paired to pure Janssen Brothers stock hen Electra, a g/grand daughter of Malie Geeloger 81 and g/g/grand daughter of the Famous 019 cock. Yearling cock Remus 86 was the partnerships main pool pigeon and he produced the goods finishing 2nd Section and 3rd Open winning £581.63 of which £314.63 was pools. Remus 86 was on his second channel race having been sent in the NWCC to Fougeres two weeks earlier where he was 1st club, 2nd section west and 7th open. His sire is Janssen stock cock Remus g/gson of Janssen brothers Chantilly, Remus is sire to many 1st prize winners including 3 x 1st NWCC section winners. His dam is Miss Reliable winner of over £3000 in prize money over the channel was retired to stock in 2005. As a yearling in 2002 she won NWCC bird of the Year after finishing 10th section & 110th open Falaise, 1st section & 7th open Fougeres and 2nd section & 6th open Nantes. All the cocks are flown on widowhood and are only trained prior to racing and then exercised round home twice a day, they are fed to appetite on diet mix in the morning and a widowhood mix at night. The birds are never blind treated with antibiotics but are regularly tested for the common ailments by Gary Spavin of Lancaster. On the rare occasions anything untoward is detected the pigeon is treated individually. The only supplements the birds receive are Gary’s herbal teas and tinctures and after using these products for over three years the partnership maintain that the general health of their birds has improved tenfold and continues to do so with each new generation. It is this improvement in the bird’s general health that Dave and Janet credit their ability to fly more consistently at all levels of competition.

D J Roberts 4th Section West & 5th Open. D J Roberts from St Helens timed in a 2yo Janssen cock bred from Charlie Blaine stock, the sire to this cock is James Bond lines and the dam is a granddaughter of Porsche Bond. As a youngster this cock was flown to the perch and was 4th club. At yearling stage he was flown celibate putting up some fantastic performances including, 6th Section L & 6th Open NFC Sennan Cove, 36th Section L & 75th Open NFC St Malo 4073 birds, 5th Eccles 2 Bird St Malo and 2nd Yearling Championship Club Versa-Laga. He was promoted into the widowhood loft for the 2007 season where he got ready for this race and then he was to be sent across the channel at a later date, unfortunately this did not materialise due to the Defra restrictions.

M McCartney 1st Section North & 2nd Open. Flying 437 miles Maurice McCartney from Carnforth, Lancaster clocked a 2yo Gaby Vandenebeele x Busscheart Van Loon on a velocity of 1256 winning £242.40. This hen has always flown steady for Maurice winning £250 pool money as a youngster when she was 4th North Lancs & Westmorland 2 Bird and she was also 4th club Mangotsfield. As a yearling she was a spare hen and only raced twice getting a 2nd club in an inland race. This year she was again a spare hen and she won one of the four races she was sent in, Maurice then paired her up in preparation for the Bamfords Race and she was sent sitting 11 days. Her sire is a blue Gaby Vandenebeele bred by Martyn and Jane Mitchell, Maurice raced this cock who scored in land and was 3rd North Lancs & Westmorland 2 Bird Falaise, 1st club Fougeres and 1st club Messac. Her dam is a Busscheart Van Loon bred by Stuart Elvin of Chelmsford that was retained for stock, full brothers to this hen have won for Stuart.       

Crehan & O’Connor 1st and 2nd Section East & 6th and 8th Open. John Crehan from Crehan and O’Connor tells me that the two cocks he timed in this race are full brothers that have both previously won at club level. His second bird to be clocked in this race, no. 81, has during its racing career topped the Federation and also has 2 x 2nd Federations. The sire to these two cocks is a FVW that John purchased from Porter and Richardson as a late bred in 2003 and the dam is a daughter of the Sessink Cock and was bred by Wall, Lunt and Green. This pair of stock birds are also the parents to John’s 2006 Lancashire Nantes 2 Bird Winner.

William Holleron 1st Section Central and 12th Open. Bill Holleron from Wigan competes weekly in local club Pemberton West that is affiliated to the Red Rose Federation. Bill is a staunch supporter of all the Bamfords Races and he tells me he is looking forward to the 2008 young bird race. The bird that Bill timed in from Messac is a yearling Vandenebeele cock flown on the widowhood and is bred from Billy Lees of Leeds stock. The sire to this cock has won 3 x 1st club, 2 x 1st Feds, 2nd Amal and 3rd Amal whilst the dam was 2nd club & 2nd Fed as a young bird. Bill is very impressed with this line of Vandenabeeles, as they are very versatile winning at all distances.

O’Hare and Woodward 2nd, 3rd and 4th Section Central and 14th, 16th and 17th Open.  Mike O’Hare and Ron Woodward won a total of £169.64 timing three birds flown on the roundabout. First in the clock for Mike and Ron was a yearling blue hen who has previously won minor prizes. She is bred from a Jim Dutton  FVW cock of the Wittekop lines when paired to a granddaughter of Toey the famous Mardon SVR. Next in the clock was a double granddaughter of Toey, this blue pied SVR was 1st Fed and 1st Shires County Combine from Vire as a yearling and is sister to several of the partnership’s Fed winners. Finally the pair timed a blue Vandenebeele cock that has won several prizes during his racing career and is brother to prizewinners. This cock is bred from a son off M & D Evans’ Tradesecret and a Vandenebeele hen Mike & Ron purchased at Blackpool Show in 2002 from a Continental Fancier. 

Bamfords Gold Ring Spectacular 2007

This years race is almost upon us, entry forms will be sent to competing fanciers week beginning 13th Aug and anyone not receiving their entry form by 20th August are to contact Beryl Harrison on 01772 467882 for a replacement. Please remember that only official entry forms will be accepted at marking. Prize money for this year is £21,500 of which £8,600 is open prize money and £12,900 is section prize money divided pro rata ring sales, East - £4786, Central - £2611, West - £3977 and North - £1526. For the first year one hundred birds will collect prize money in the open with 1st Open receiving £1000 and 100th open receiving £50. Marking is at Bamfords Mill, Midge Hall, Leyland on Sunday 26th 10am till 1.30pm and clocks on Monday evening are from 6pm till 8pm again at Bamfords Corn Mill. Refreshments will be available at both sessions and the local pub will be open on Monday evening for any members wanting a pint whilst waiting for the final result to be calculated.

My Contact Details Janet Hull 205 Brownedge Rd, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancs. PR5 6UT

Tel. 01772 467882 E-Mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. website www.harrisonhullracingpigeons.co.uk follow links for Bamfords Gold Ring.