WELSH NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

Tom Harris

2011 Presentation Night

Saturday 17th December saw the joint presentation of the Welsh National Flying Club and Welsh North Road Federation at the Seamans Mission club in Newport. This settled weeks of uncertainty leading up to the event as a result of a mix up in dates with the original venue and the clashing of other organisations’ presentation nights.

The evening got underway with Terry Tremeer, chairman of the WNFC, welcoming everyone to the evening and he went on to praise the secretaries for their hard work in re-arranging the night at such short notice and the chairman of the Seamans Mission club, Edward Watts for his continued hospitality not only throughout the year at our headquarters but for hosting such a prestigious evening.

With the formalities out of the way the ninety or so fanciers, families and friends were treated to one of the best three-course meals we have arranged to date, consisting of a traditional turkey dinner with more than enough to cater for every individual appetite. The meal was swiftly served and the tables cleared by our catering staff in such a manner that we have already confirmed their services for our 2012 presentation night on December 15th 2012.

We then moved onto the presentations. As is traditional, the Welsh North Road Federation was invited to carry out their awards first. John Humphries as secretary and Iddy Davies as chairman were called upon to carry out this procedure under the watchful eye of Glyn Picton, who called out the award winners in turn to receive the recognition for their achievements for the 2011 racing season. A full report covering their winners for the past year will obviously come into print by their press officer in the coming weeks.

We then swiftly moved onto our main part of the evening to present the section and open national winners for 2011. Terry Tremeer once again thanked everyone present for their attendance and the catering staff for such a tremendous service before calling upon Edward Watts to come forward and present the trophies. Each of the winners in turn received an engraved silver salver presented with individual presentation box thanks to our trophy suppliers and sponsors Cambrian Trophies in Newport. We once again thank them.

First to the table were Kidd & Cooke for first south section, G&M Clayton first centre section and D.K. Flowers with first north section first open in the Malcolm Gibbons sponsored Maidstone national event.

From Folkestone two weeks later, winning 1st south section once again were the partnership of Kidd &Cooke, 1st north section D.K. Flowers, and 1st centre section 1st open national awards were presented to new members Tovey & Stephens recieving the R. G. Davies Corn Supplies crystal award.

We then crossed over the channel for our next event to the town of Lillers in western France. Receiving the awards for 1st north section it was once again the brothers Derek and Clive Flowers flying as D.K. Flowers. 1st centre section were Davies & Coombes and 1st south section 1st open national winning the West Country Oroducts trophy were the partnership of Kidd & Cooke.

from Brussels with an average distance of 340 miles the south section was once again won by Kidd & Cooke, 1st north section was awarded to D.K. Flowers and 1st centre section 1st open receiving the Proff Sport and Dutch Spring Fayre organisation sponsored national winners trophy were the partnership of Lovell Bros.

We then moved on even further to Huy towards the eastern border of Belgium and Germany where the high profile loft of Iddy Davies headed the centre section, whilst in the north section it was Mr & Mrs I. Bromley who claimed the 1st section prize and yet again winning the south section and 1st open, winning the Versele Laga and Paget Pets of Cardiff Pet Supplies sponsored national, it was the ever present partnership of Kidd & Cooke.

We then moved onto the longest race on the 2011 race programme from Bonn in Germany. This race has been kindly sponsored by our transporting organisation, the Welsh North Road Federation. 1st south section once again and completing a full house in old bird racing and dominating the section was the ever present loft of Kidd & Cooke. Mark Tantrum claimed 1st centre section and it was that loft again of D.K. Flowers who took the honours of 1st north section 1st open winning the Welsh NR Federation challenge trophy.

We then moved onto young bird racing. This started off at Maidstone where D.K. Flowers carried on where he left off the old bird programme on winning 1st north section. T. Hawkins family flying their first year from a new location claimed 1st south section, whilst 1st centre 1st open winning the Andy Kidd Gardening Services sponsored winners trophy was the Bargoed loft of Iddy Davies.

From Folkestone two weeks on we had the Europa Classic one loft race and the Jack Jenkins memorial sponsored race and it was Peter Goodright in Cardiff who won 1st south section. 1st north section went to Williams Bros & Son of Tredegar, whilst in the centre section winning first open, in fact taking the top four open positions, were the partnership of Morris & Lucus, receiving the Jack Jenkins memorial winners trophy.

We finally closed the season off back in Lillers in late September where 1st south section went to T. Hawkins Family. Iddy Davies once again took the honours in the centre section whilst 1st north section 1st open winning the Mr & Mrs T. Tremeer sponsored trophy was the Pontypool lofts of Mr & Mrs Ian Bromley.

Well that summed up the race award winners. There were then a few trophies remaining. These were the Versele Laga two bird average winners trophy which was awarded to Kidd & Cooke, the Versele Laga best oppesite sex to the winner which was awarded to Hayden Minett and the Mr & Mrs T. Harris young bird average winners trophy which was once again claimed by Iddy Davies of Bargoed.

There were still a few presentations to go. These were in the form of vouchers. The first was the continued sponsorship from Paget Pets, who from the start of our formation have supported us in awarding each section winner from the Versele laga and Paget Pets sponsored race with corn vouchers. These were presented in turn to Kidd & Cooke, Mr & Mrs Bromley and Iddy Davies. The final voucher to be awarded was to Mr & Mrs K. Upham on winning the Europa one loft race sponsorship. This voucher entitles them to enter a free team of pigeons into the 2012 one loft race so again we thank Russell and Derek at Europa, europe’s leading one loft race organisation, for their continued support in 2011. It was then the women’s turn to be thanked for their involvement within the WNFC over the past year. First up was Mrs Chris Tremeer as chairman’s wife followed by Mrs Rosemary Humphries as race sheet auditor and finally Gaynor Harris. Each was presented with a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for their input. Once again our sponsor and resident photographer Clive Hughes was present to not only photograph the evening but to award each national winner with a photo of their winning pigeon, which finished off proceedings.

Before clearing away the presentation table, we were once again honoured to have some of the top lofts in Wales for 2011 in the form of D.K. Flowers winner of the WHPU Queen’s Cup and the partnership of Kidd & Cooke winners of the r.u to the Queen’s Cup winner and the Taffy Bowen sprint trophies of 2011. These partnerships were called forward to be congratulated by all present for their performances. It is at this time whilst we congratulate the Kidd & Cooke partnership that we remember that during the 2011 season Trevor Cooke, a partner in the team, sadly passed away before some of the loft’s achievements were confirmed. He would no doubt have been proud to have been here on the night and to have been involved in such a remarkable season at club, fed, national and WHPU level. It was also a great gesture on Andy Kidd’s part to invite Val Cooke, Trevor’s wife, and his daughter Jennifer to join the family on the night and he insisted that Val joined him at the table for each of the presentations awarded to them.

Well, that summed up the main proceedings and it was then time to lower the lights for our entertainment in the form of a disco to entertain us playing a mixture to suit all ages for the remaining hours. With a hearty meal and a constant flow at the bar, this went on until 3am, to everyone’s enjoyment. That was it for the night for 2011 and we now look forward to 2012 and whatever that throws at us.