Kidd & Cooke -  1st south section 1st open Maidstone

by Tom Harris

The Welsh National Flying Club got their 2013 campaign underway on Saturday 5th May with the Malcolm Gibbons sponsored trophy Maidstone race. The race advisory committee of the Welsh North Road Federation who convoy our entries had done their homework throughout the week and predicted that poor weather which was bringing in persistent rain and cloud cover from the west overnight and during Saturday morning, which was slowly moving easterly, would hinder any chance of an early liberation, so it was no surprise to receive the first call of the morning just after 7am, informing us that the rain and low cloud which was covering the line of flight  was moving slower than initially predicted giving no chance of a liberation until early afternoon at the earliest, so rather than keep fanciers hanging around all morning , an early decision of the race advisory committee headed by John Watkins was to release the next update at 1pm.

Early afternoon, we got news we were waiting for that the line of flight was reported to have cleared and the remainder of the bad weather was now over the racepoint and would shortly clear the Kent area where we were positioned. All this information was endorsed by other federations in front of us cutting their strings from 2pm and would therefore give us a clearer line of flight. At 2.30pm we heard preparations were to be underway to get the convoy in the air with an expected liberation planned before 3pm, however news came through informing us that the birds were up and away at 2.45 liberated into west south westerly wind on site, turning more westerly on the home fronts indicating that a three and half hour flight into a headwind was on the cards over the 155 mile journey to the Welsh borders.

Andy Kidd

Leading the field for the first national event into Wales in the 2013 season was the Newport partnership of Kidd & Cooke timing in at 18.22.28 to record a velocity of 1249. As most will be aware, Trevor Cooke sadly passed away two years ago, however Andy still remains to fly in the partnership’s name and location that has brought them so much success over the past years within the Welsh fancy. The winning pigeon is a yearling blue cock which is flown on roundabout bred down through the Galaxy Loft Rietvinks of Jack Cornes crossed with Frank Sheader of Scarbourgh Soontjens. This pigeon came into form the week previous from Newbury a distance of 75 miles where he was amongst Andy’s leading three pigeons on the clock. Since the disappointment of being quarantined in 2012 where the partnership’s old bird racing was suspended, they have since bounced back to the top within their respected clubs and federations in the first few weeks of the 2013 season, and we congratulate them on this winning performance.

1st open Maidstone winner

For 2nd & 4th open 1st & 3rd centre section we head north to the Rhymney Valley to the loft and partnership of Morris & Lucas, yet another multiple national and federation winning loft that doesn’t require any introduction. The first arrival was yearling dark cheq roundabout hen at 18 40.to record a vel of 1245. The bloodlines of this hen come down through Derek Flowers’ Gieseen hen crossed with a Mark Gilbert x Marc and Lilly Verheyede cock. This pigeon was a late bred in 2012 and was only lightly raced prior to the gallant performance.

For 3rd and 5th open 2nd and 5th centre section we go to last year’s Folkestone father and son winning partnership of Mathew and Joseph Hughes from Treharris timing in at 18.44 recording vel of 1243.38. The partnership on this occasion timed in a yearling widowhood hen which is a full daughter of their 2012 Folkestone national and Olympic bronze medal winner in the WNFC. The family of pigeons, which originate from Marc and Lilly Verheyde crossed Raymond Moleveld, have now scored on many occasions for this partnership at club, federation and national level over the past few years.

We remain in the Bargoed area at the loft of Davies & Coombes of Hengoed for 5th centre section 6th open timing at 18.40.31 vel 1234.37. Once again it’s a highly successful loft that dominates the top of the score sheet. Kim informs me that their first pigeon comes down from their original Leon Boers pigeons crossed with the Kees Bosua family. This yearling cock was lightly raced as a youngster after returning home suffering a hawk attack and after a little TLC he now finds himself back on the road. Brothers and sisters of this pigeon have also scored highly in national events over the years including a 1/2 brother that was 4th national Folkestone.

On completing the final result it appears that these leading lofts also went on to time in a few more arrivals which altered the leading result but it was only fair after contacting these fanciers that I include their performances in relation to the probable result at the time of putting together this report. A more up to date reflection on the final outcome can be seen on the final result.

Well that’s it, the first of nine national events under our belts. As expected there were always going to be a few birds away on the night as a result of the time of liberation, the head wind and the fact that some pigeons are yet to reach racing fitness, but it’s pleasing to hear that most lofts reported just a small number away on the night and those that failed to reach their perches turned up the following morning none worse for their night out and ready to go again.

So we now move forward to Ramsgate next week where we are now reaching 200 miles. We are hopeful for a larger number of entries from there in preparation for the channel programme as the birds will be heading overseas to Fougeres two weeks later on May 25th with an average distance of 250 miles.

We also are pleased to see a few new faces this year on our membership list since turning a more southerly route overseas. Maybe it’s the added interest growing since announcing that the WNFC will now be accepting times from the Central Southern Classic FC. If any of our members wish to join and broaden their opportunity of competing against another organisation then the door is now open for them to do so. This has become possible as the CSCFC will be convoying Welsh North Road Federation and WNFC pigeons to both Tarbes and Bergerac in the weeks to come. Please note that only WHPU calculated distances will apply as there is a significant difference between WHPU and RPRA calculated measurements, so could we ask our members to ensure that their distances for these new race points are clearly marked on their race sheets, as without these obviously no velocity can be calculated.

Finally there still seems to be a little confusion regarding marking of pigeons, so to clarify for our members, the appointed Welsh North Road clubs e.g. Pill, Pontlainfraith, Wolfscastle and Fairwater are the designated approved central marking stations within the federation who can accept pigeons from Welsh North Road and outside members. These can then be duplicated back to members’ base clubs and too the WNFC. Some fanciers are still listening to rumours and the misinterpretation of the procedure. The Welsh National FC are no longer responsible for marking of pigeons. This is now being done by appointed officials by domestic club officials.

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