FOUGERES

The North West Classic Club held their first race of the 2007 season on Saturday 26th May from Fougeres, when the birds were liberated at 7.15 in a light north west wind on the instruction of race controller Roger Sutton. This proved to be a tough race as the birds encountered their first true north wind of the season. This with the forecast of potential showers and it was always going to be a shock to the system, not only to the birds but to the fanciers aswell.

Many had fallen into the trap of looking back at their records over the past few weeks and had seen birds liberated into northerly winds with velocities of over 50 miles an hour and many fanciers I talked to on Saturday expected a similar trend in their channel races. This was never going to be the case with a northerly wind on the nose all the way home for the first time this year.

In comparison to other Channel races held on the same day the NWCC had an excellent race with good returns and relatively good channel race velocities with the winner on 1161ypm. Phil Brown of RPTS has transported the NWCC for the past two years and as always when racing with RPTS the birds returned in excellent condition and all the Fanciers I have spoke to when compiling this article mentioned how well their birds are looking.

Race Sponsor Mr & Mrs Derek Woodward. The NWCC has over the years become renowned for the amount of sponsorship it attracts. This is due to the amount of publicity the Sponsors receive throughout the year both in the Fancy Press and on the Clubs paperwork. Derek along with his wife Marjorie are great supporters of the NWCC and over the years have given the club generous sponsorship deals. For the 2007 season Club President Derek and wife Majorie decided to sponsor this race from Fougeres. Derek’s love of pigeon racing is longstanding and as well as competing in the Classic he is a member of Lymm  & Rudheath Saturday clubs and also the middlewich 2 bird and NFC. Derek is very competitive within the sport and over the years he has won many races at all levels of competition with his team of birds many of which are bred down from Peter Fox stock. Majorie helps Derek out around the loft and she pays particular attention to the young birds and is known to be a young bird specialist, this teamwork leaves Derek free to concentrate on the old birds. Derek along with his son, runs a successful building firm in the Cheshire area and shows no signs of retiring playing an active role in the business and can still be found up on the roof of his latest job.

T K Howarth 1st 2nd & 6th Section A and 1st 3rd & 8th Open. Keith Howarth from Rochdale had a cracking race from Fougeres clocking 4 pigeons in 12 minutes with his 4th pigeon also finishing 7th section A and 11th Open. When I had a chat to him on Sunday evening after the result had been published he was over the moon and very proud of his team of pigeons. Keith first got involved with pigeons at the age of 13 when he looked after two wood pigeons, which he kept in a dog kennel. His Father a joiner by trade built him a loft and Keith managed to acquire some racers, joined a club and won his first race during that season, this was Keith hooked for life. Keith’s passion for channel racing is very apparent when talking to him, and it is from this area of the sport that he gets the most satisfaction. In the past Keith has topped Lancashire Combine over the channel on four occasions and even though he has experienced much success he has always dreamed of winning 1st open in the NWCC. Keith races 24 widowhood cocks which are exercised around home twice a day in all weather, he feeds a mixture of grains that he prepares himself preferring to keep the pigeons up rather than break them down and the birds are given no routine medication for canker, cocci etc. First home for Keith winning 1st Open was one of Keith’s best pigeons a 4yo SVR bred from Bernard Curly stock. This cock was a late bred that never raced as a youngster but has won inland races and scored over the channel including 6th Combine Messac in a north east wind. Next in the clock finishing 2nd section and 3rd open was a 3yo Lefbre Dheane that has scored inland this year for Keith in his local club. The third pigeon in the clock also a Lefbre Dheane is a character around home being wild and aggressive he is in and out of every box causing bother. Keith has had seasons over the years when he hasn’t won much but through perseverance he has bounced back and in great style with a fantastic performance.

Collins & Stevens 3rd Section A and 4th Open. Flying on an allotment Collin and Steve from Stalybridge have adapted a system of widowhood flying that suits their work and family commitments. Both the lads felt when they started back in the sport in 2000 that they wanted to fly their hens as well as their cocks and so they decided to fly a dual widowhood system with 16 pairs. Their loft has one section with nest boxes and two perch sections one for the cocks and one for the hens. It is in the perched sections that the birds are housed for most of the season only being allowed access to the nest boxes on race days. The birds are exercised once a day after the pair have finished work the cocks exercise on their own whilst the hens exercise with the young birds. This system of racing brings the hens into super condition and makes them very keen. In fact the hen that was 3rd Section & 4th open had to be locked up prior to the race as she was breaking out of the bunch when exercising to chase another fliers’ widowhood cocks. This hen is a SVR cross bred from a P Beck SVR and Bussheart x Janssen bred by Cliff Stirland of Redditch.

A & S Hughes 4th & 5th Section A and 5th & 6th Open. This consistently good Father and Son partnership from Rochdale are always thereabouts in race they compete in, if they are not leading the way they are never far off the pace. They fly on a roundabout widowhood system and clocked two Vandebeele cocks in this race finishing 4th & 5th in section A and 5th & 6th open. First in the clock was a yearling bred from a hen from S Foster of Leyland from his son of Shadow and a cock now at stock that was bred by Woodlands Farm Stud and raced by Simon and his Dad. This cock was a top class racer for the pair and won many prizes on land including 4th & 6th combine with over 3500 birds and over the channel 2nd & 12th open plus a T3 clock in 2005 in the NWCC. The second cock in the clock has won many prizes in his 3 years of racing and was timed last year in the Lancashire Combine at Falaise and Messac finishing in the top 20 Combine open result at both races. 

C & R Carson  1st Section B and 9th Open. Mum Carol and son Robert race a team of 24 widowhood cocks, they would like to race a few hens probably on a roundabout system if they had more time. Carol has been involved with racing pigeons for 30 years, firstly with her Father, then with Roberts dad and now she works alongside Robert. She looks after the youngsters when they are not racing and then takes over the older birds as they finish their season. Robert concentrates all his efforts on the team that are racing and this arrangement works well allowing them both to share the workload and enjoy the birds. Robert won his first race, Stockport Open Race, at the age of 14 and so began his love of specialist type racing, he particularly likes 2-bird racing where everyone is on a level playing field. This year the old birds had only one training toss before the first race and are exercised around home for 40 minutes morning and night. Each cock after exercise is fed 1oz of economy mixture in its pot and what they do not eat is removed, the only supplement the birds get is Magic a multi vitamin tonic. The 3yo cock that won 1st section B & 9th open has previously won 2 x 1sts, 3 x 2nds and other minor prizes in the club for Carol and Robert. This cock, a gift bird was bred by O’Hare and Woodward off their Meuleman T51 Cock from Frank Garner of Middlewich. This cock has also bred a 1st open winner NWCC Portsmouth and a Section L winner & 4th Open NFC Fougeres. 

O’Hare & Woodward 2nd 3rd & 6th Section B and 10th 13th & 19th Open. The successful Middlewich partnership put up an excellent performance in this race timing 5 birds in 16 minutes. First in the clock was a yearling SVR hen flown on the roundabout who as a youngster had won 1st Portland & 2nd Wincanton. Her full sister a 2yo hen was their third pigeon and she had been 22nd Open in the Bamfords Gold Ring Spectacular Race as a young bird. These two hens are bred from Tony Mardon stock, line bred to the famous Toey, with the sire being a grandson of Toey and the dam a grandaughter of Toey. A yearling Vandebeele cock was their second bird in the clock, his sire is a M & D Evans cock from Trade Secret inbred to Jester and the dam was purchased from a Belgium Fancier at Blackpool 2001 and she has already bred a 1st open NWCC Falaise winner.

D Gamble 4th & 5th Section B and 15th & 17th Open. Warrington Fancier Dave Gamble timed in two widowhood cocks to finish 4th & 5th section B and 15th and 17th open. Dave’s first bird was a 2yo Peter Van de Merwe that as well as winning prizes on land was 26th open in the NWCC Messac race last year. Second in the clock for Dave was a 2yo Leo Van’Rhene that won 2 x 1sts as a young bird and then won Mangotsfield earlier this year.

Mr & Mrs Joe Livesey 1st Section C and 2nd Open. You cant get more laid back a Fancier than Joe Livesey of Bamber Bridge, Preston and this certainly rubs off on his team of distance bred widowhood cocks. Joe doesn’t train the cocks as they fly really well round home, on land races they very rarely trap well preferring to do a couple of laps of honour but when it comes to a channel race they certainly give it their all. Joe uses club racing in Bamber Bridge HS to prepare his channel birds and it is at the 350 to 560 distance that he excels, his most memorable race was topping the three counties combine by 25 minutes from Messac. Joe is a member of the Ashton 2 Bird and has raced successfully from Niort and Saintes with the club and always seems to be thereabouts as he is when competing in the NFC. Loving the challenge of channel racing Joe told me that he has recently introduced a family of 700 mile birds to have a serious attempt at Barcelona and beyond in three years time. Joe uses versa-laga mixtures and gives his birds no routine medication but gets them tested at the beginning and end of the Season. Joe clocked a 2yo Van De Wegan cross E Fox lines to finish 1st Section C and 2nd Open. This cock had only one race as a young bird from Cheltenham and was sent to St Malo as a yearling in the NFC where he was 51st Section L and 119th Open.

Harrison & Hull 2nd & 5th Section C and 7th & 22nd Open. First in the clock for Dave and Janet was chequer pied cock Remus 86. This yearling Janssen cock was 1st club 5th fed and 13th combine Cheltenham as a young bird and has flown steady this year down to the coast. 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. The partnership clocked their second bird Blue Chantilly a 2yo Janssen x Herman Van De Weyer cock that was on his first race across the channel. This cock had only one race as a young bird and then was flown down to the coast as a yearling scoring as follows 2nd Club & 13th Fed Portland, 2nd Club, 3rd Section West & 3rd Open NWCC Lulworth, 7th Club, 8th Section West & 71st Open NWCC Lulworth. His nestmate is Chantilly Lad winner of RPRA NW Region sprint Award 2006, their sire is Chantilly Boy half brother to Remus and a g/gson of Janssen Brothers Chantilly. Their dam is Venus a Herman Van De Weyer hen winner of 23 prizes and Meritorious Award Winner 2000 for multiple land and channel performances.

Keith Williams 3rd Section C & 18th Open. Keith timed in a 3yo Busscheart cock bred from the lines of Steve Sutton of Rawcliffe Bridge. This widowhood cock has been a steady reliable pigeon for Keith on land and performed well for Keith in this its first ever channel race. Keith says his birds are spot on at the moment and that his birds tumbled in on Saturday whilst other local Fanciers experienced more erratic racing. 

T Jackson 4th Section C & 20th Open. Tommy Jackson of Preston timed in a Busscheart hen flown on the roundabout system. This 2yo hen was 2nd club Mangotsfield and 3rd club Portland as a yearling and she was 2nd Kempsey last week in the Preston Wednesday club. Tommy is helped at the lofts by his cousin Jimmy Jackson and this is certainly proving to be a winning partnership.

Mr & Mrs Andy Gregson 6th Section C & 23rd Open.  Andy and Debbie have been off the scene in specialist racing for a few years as family commitments had to come first. Their teenage twins are very sport orientated with Daniel playing football at Everton most evenings and Hannah competing in her swimming competitions Mum and Dads time is took up making sure the kids are where they need to be. I’m sure we will see more of this partnership in the next few years especially in the NWCC as the Preston marking station is within their easy access. Andy and Deddie clocked a 3yo Emile DeWeerdts cock bred down from their original stock that has previously won minor cards on the Channel.       

Race Programme 2007

26/5/07 Fougeres, 02/6/07 Portland, 09/6/07 Messac, 16/6/07 Portland, 23/6/07 St Nazaire, 30/6/07 Portland, ? /7/07  Niort (Will be liberated either 13/7 or 15/7 no Saturday Liberation due to Bastille Day in France), 01/9/07 Swainswick, 08/9/07 Portland ( Open Race), 15/9/07 Picauville incorporating the NWCC Gold Ring Race 2007.

New Applications 2007

The Classic is open to lofts flying at least 407 miles from Nantes within the radius of 2.00.00 W on the eastern boundary and Open on the Western boundary. There are three corridor sections each with prize monies and pools as well as open prize money and pools; the NWCC paid out nearly £23,000 during 2006. The NWCC is unique in that offers specialist racing both on land and channel thus catering for all Northwest Fanciers. Members wishing to join the NWCC should contact the Secretary Andy Galley, 16 Hibbert Cres, Failsworth, Manchester. M35 0RQ Tel 0161 657 1897, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. website www.northwestclassicclub.com Subscriptions for 2007 are £15 and the joining fee is £5. Come on get your applications in and compete with the best for the rest of this year.

My contact details: Janet Hull 205 Brownedge Rd, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancs PR5 6UT. Tel. 01772 467882 or 467794 Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website  www.harrisonhullracingpigeons.co.uk

1/6/07