STAFFORDSHIRE MOORLANDS & DISTRICT FEDERATION

by Thomas Garvie

Hello again and sadly the end of the racing season is on the horizon [but not just yet]. It seems not so long ago that it just got underway but there are always some fanciers who say they cannot wait till the racing is over and this mystifies me a bit because if they cannot wait till it is over then why do they even start to  race at all!!! For me the season is there to be enjoyed and that means even when it does not go right. It will almost certainly go wrong at some point but you just have to get on with it and if you have a bad race for some reason or other (and again we all certainly get one of those at some point) then we just have to accept it and move on. The only time it is hard to move on is when you have a really abhorrent race and you are totally wiped out, which then obviously puts paid to your season and thankfully we have never been in such a predicament [YET]. We have had some bad races over the years but not anything too disastorous and on the whole, good or bad, I love the racing whether it is old bird racing or young bird racing. The young bird racing is a whole different ball game as they are very unpredictable and can be very frustrating, especially trying to get them to trap and when they have it in their heads to mess about it only gets more frustrating as time ticks by, and what is really only a few minutes feels like hours [well it feels like that to me anyway]. I would never send young birds to a race hungry just to get them to trap quickly because sometimes the youngsters will go astray a bit or, if it is a harder race, then they will need some food in their tummy to call upon as reserves to enable them to reach home. The thing I really enjoy about the racing is just watching the birds approaching and heading for the loft with wings folding up as they get nearer and drop on to the loft and go in [sometimes], and when you have your first bird in then you can finally sit back and relax and wait for the others to home at there leisure. Well, as long as it is not too leisurely!!

Well the fed has now brought the birds back to Frome which is a shorter comeback race before they head over the water to the first French race from Carentan. At Frome 167 members sent 2,932 birds and they were released at 11-30 in a south west wind. It turned out to be a fairly fast race with the first position going to J Spedding from Stafford with a velocity of 1722, so well done. The next two fed places went to A Stewart from Berryhill on 1719 and 1718, fourth spot went to Mr and Mrs A Hargreaves from BlytheBridge on 1716 and D Hayes and son from Alton take fifth place on 1711. In sixth were Mr and Mrs Geoff Kirkland from Leek [one of our favourite training places] on 1705 and in seventh and tenth places were R & J Goodwin and son on 1700 and 1698. In eighth and ninth places respectively were G Leese from Meir on 1698.5 closely followed by the Fowler Family also from Leek on 1698.4.

The convoy was made up of 98 west section members sending 1.831 birds and the section was won by race winner J Spedding. The east section had 39 membners sending 606 birds and was won by M/M Hargreaves. The north section had 30 members sending 495 birds and this section was won by M Webb from Poynton on 1681 so again well done to all section winners but also to every member who sent to the race.

A few snippets from some clubs now and Ipstones had 8 members sending 134 birds and first two places went to R & J Goodwin and son on 1700 and 1698, K Champ was third on 1669 and fourth was D Glover on 1662. Meir had 12 members sending 147 birds and G Leese and dtr took the red card on 1698 with a cheq cock and the next three places were taken by Challenger and Collett on 1697.8 with a cheq hen, their next bird on 1697.3 was a cheq cock and their third bird was a pied hen on 1674. Blythe Bridge had 5 members sending 86 birds and taking yet another red card were M/M A Hargreaves on 1716 with a yearling cock and they were also fourth on 1676 with a two year old cock. The two places in between went to K Pettitt on 1692 with a yearling cock and their third placed bird was a two year old cock on 1672. Hayfield now and taking the red card again were M/M D Ashby on 1591 with a six year old cock. They are certainly timing in their older birds because they are currently racing an eight year old bird and it is always there and I think in the present climate of raptors to even get birds to be alive at this age never mind race is indeed a bonus. I think I can speak for all club members when I would like to wish David a speedy recovery as he is suffering a bit now due to bad health problems so get well soon David and take your rightful place at the helm. In second and third place was Chris Mourne on 1578 with a four year old hen and next on 1576 with a yearling hen and in fourth spot was sprint ace JL Gibb on 1575 with a two year old cock. Liz and I never sent to this comeback race as we were resting the birds a bit before the two chanel races next week. Before I finish this piece I would like to add the Packmoor result from Poole where 17 members sent 272 birds and the red card went to Dave Jones on 1873 and he also won the nom and pools with this bird winning £38, which will buy a few bags of corn. The next three places went to T Woolrich and son on 1866 and 1865.8 and another very close on 1865.4 and the second share of the pools went to K Hall.

So after this short race we have now moved on to the first of the important races from over the water and this one was from Carentan where the 5 bird yearling derby is also included in this race, so if you get lucky there is quite a tidy sum of money to be wo, but winning the race should be first and foremost on fanciers' minds. Well, it is in my eyes but money now plays a big part in racing and I sometimes wonder if the lure of large sums of money is more of a hindrance than a bonus to the sport because I think that some folk put too much emphasis on money more than what the racing is all about. That to me is the enjoyment of sending your birds to a race and then to see them safely back in the loft. Okay it is nice if you win a few bob and it pays for some corn or something else. Talking about corn, I think the cost of corn is getting beyond a joke as there just seems to be one price increase after another and a lot of it gets blamed on the weather. It is either too dry a season and the crops do not grow or it is too wet and the crops get wasted. Nobody can control the weather but all the increases are surely not just down to the weather and I think if the prices keep going up as fast as they are then it will surely have an effect in the future as to either the amount of birds fanciers will keep or some may eventually give up altogether. I do know some elderly fanciers are now really struggling just to keep sending every week and also with the cost of having to repatriate lost birds it is becoming quite an expensive "hobby". Now if you get a stray young bird in, in most cases the first thing you get asked is do you want to keep it and then when you say no thank you the next thing is will you do me a favour and dispose of it for me as it is no use. It is totally wrong to ask anybody to dispose of a young bird because it simply gets lost and goes in to another loft. I think every bird deserves another chance whether it gets lost or not. This is not all fanciers I hasten to add because recently we have had a few birds in, three of which were yearlings and two youngsters. The first yearling we reported the man drove over two hours to pick the bird up and offered us some renumeration for keeping the bird for a few days until he could come for it, which we hastily refused but thanked him for his offer but he was extremely grateful. The next one gave us the spiel about wanting to keep it or dispose of it. We turned him down on both counts and as he said he did not want it back we had no option but to toss the bird closer to his home. He never even had the decency to let us know if the bird made it back or not. The third one as usual we were asked if we wanted to keep it and after being fed up with the other sob stories we kept this one. So far we just have it flying out and if it stays we will transfer the bird and race it next year. The two young birds we had, again one chap came the next day to pick his up and yet again with the second we had the same old story but he is now arranging transport to pick it up. I have broached on this subject before about racing and the simple fact is if you are not prepared to get your birds back then DO NOT SEND THEM. It is the same cost to everybody but we have decided from now on any bird we get in we are reporting it straight away to the RPRA instead of trying ourselves to get them back to their owners. It will be a polite no to any fanciers who want us to do the aforementioned two options.

I think that is enough waffling from me and we better get back to the race from Carentan when 134 members sent 1346 birds which were liberated at 10-15 in a strong north east wind, and strong it certainly was because the birds found it hard going [as did our other birds in another race from Fougeres]. It was certainly not going to be the fastest race in the world but congratulations must go to W Burgess from Packmoor who was first and second, winning with a two year old cock on 1141 and taking second with a yearling hen on 1140, so superb flying Mr Burgess. The next positions in the fed went to Rick Geary & son from Macclesfield on 1132 with a three year old hen then another one on 1123 and this was a yearling cock and they had yet another one on 1110 which was a yearling cock - extremely good flying from this pair. R&J Goodwin & son were on 1118 with a two year old cock, P Stanway from Poynton was next with a four year old cock on 1116, K Pettitt from Blythe Bridge had the next two spots with two three year old cocks on 1114 and 1112, and the tenth place went to C G Knowles from Longdendale on 1105 with a two year old cock . Well done to all these fliers with their birds getting through on an extremely tough day but also well done to everybody who entered the race.

The convoy was made up of the west section sending 711 birds from 74 members and the section and race wre won by W Burgess. The north section had 27 members sending 315 birds and this section was won by P Stanway and the east section had 33 members sending 320 birds. There were a few clubs who did not send any to this race. Also incorporated in this race was the 5 bird yearling and on the day 24 members had entered 96 birds with 87 actually making it to the race and the winner of the 5 bird yearling race was also W Burgess from Packmoor, runners up were R Geary &son from Macclesfield with B&J Smith also from Macclesfield in third place, fourth were team Stopka from Stafford and fifth were F&M Hough also from Macclesfield. Rick Geary and son from Macclesfield were the highest money winners in the fed open pools winning £112.95 but there was a lot of money to be had in the prize and pool money in the 5 bird yearling race and at the top of the money list was 5 bird yearling winner W Burgess taking a haul of £441 and Rick Geary & son were second in this part of the race and they took £171. Third here were Brian & Jill Smith winning £228 and fourth were team Stopka winning £357 so it is definitely worth having a go at the 5 bird yearling as you can see there is quite a lot of money paid out.

Some club news from Carentan now and starting with Ipstones where 7 members entered 53 birds and taking the red card on 1118 with a two year old cock were R&J Goodwin&son, and they also took the next three places with a yearling hen on 1076, then a yearling cock on 1060 and another yearling cock on 1039. Meir now where 7 members sent 49 birds and taking first place here was J Lawrence with a blue hen on 1059 and he was also third on 996 with a cheq hen. Second place went to Challenger & Collett on 1009 with a blue cock and fourth spot went to C Kemp with a cheq cock on 936. Blythe Bridge where 5 members sent 57 birds and taking a clean sweep of the first four places was K Pettitt. His first bird on 1114 was a three year old cock, his second bird also a three year old cock on 1112, third bird was a two year old cock on 1104 and his fourth was also a two year old cock on 1043. A fantastic result here with it being a hard windy day. Last but not least my own club Hayfield where six of us entered 55 birds and taking the red card were the partnership of Clarke & Garvie [yes that's me and my wife Liz] on 1024 with a yearling red pied hen which is bred down from a pair of stock birds I brought with me when I moved from Scotland and they are probably the best pair of birds I have hence the reason they came with me [they also bred our second bird to the loft from this race, a latebred red pied cock] so needless to say we were very happy with the result. Second and third was Chris Mourne on 1014 with a three year old cock which I think Chris said won this race last year and a yearling cock on 1001. Fourth place went to David and Jean Ashby on 977 with a two year old cock.

So that is the first of the fed's water races over with three more water races to go and, as usual, if you have anything you wish to send to me then e-mail me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or give me a call on 01663 733317 or send anything to Brian or Jill so it can be included on the fed's website at www.moorlandsfedpigeons.co.uk. That is all for now from TG.

PS. For those of you interested in the tales of Badger,which is Liz's pet, he returned later on the Sunday.