Its week three for the welsh national flying club programme  ,and after overcoming a difficult two inland races from  Maidstone and Ramsgate ,we took our first journey over the channel to Fougeres ,after such ordeals we agreed that a last minute  change of programme was a right move after consultation with our convoyers the wnr federation had taken place and in light of  the uncertainty of numbers that would be sent by the members , contact was made with the Solent  federation on the south coast who agreed to convoy our welsh entries to Fougeres and liberated together for both this race and the next  from Messac

so with the birds needing to be  on the south coast by 10pm at the latest to carry out the transfer of the birds ,the basketing hours were brought forward to allow ample time for the convoy to reach their destination in time for the ferry across to France .

with approx 1,000 welsh entries safely on board joining up with the Solent and Berkshire pigeons they all departed on time on the overnight journey to the race point

with pigeons arriving by late morning Friday they were fed and watered and left to settle in preparation of an early liberation the following morning

saturday .and with low cloud and the expectations of showers throughout the morning at the home end, we were informed that the weather on site and across the channel was improving and moving north wards as the morning went on we were informed that the 2,700 estimated convoy were liberated at 0800 into a brisk south westerly wind heading over the channel to the uk`s southern regions.

Here in Wales we were still experiencing poor conditions as the hills and valleys were closed in with low cloud and showers heavy at times however with the pigeons five hours away we were hopeful that by the time they were expected on welsh soil everything would improve

taking the top honours with first open is the Newport husband and wife partnership of mr & mrs k Upham timing in at 12.50 with a vel 1434 .. the winning pigeon is a 2 yr old cheq pied hen, which originates from the loft of retired fancier Hayden Minett from Treharris ,this game hen as a yearling was sent to Bergerac as a yearling and returned a few days later ,this season she has experienced every race on the domestic programme coming consistent to the loft prior to basketing for the Fougeres race ,as we pass on our congratulations to them both

for 2nd and 3rd open we go to the Pontypool area to the loft of Adam Owen who timed two of his arrivals on velocities of    the first being a yearling blue cock of  m& d Evans bloodlines originating from Shane and Kelly Lewis from Abergavenny flown on roundabout during the inland programme and repaired in preparation for the channel  sent sitting 4 day eggs in the nest on basketing previous performances include 2nd club 12th federation 11th wnfc Maidstone and now 1st club 2nd wnfc 1st north section 2nd open welsh north road federation forgers Adam’s second arrival was yet another yearling this time a grizzle hen Vandenbrade again from the Abergavenny lofts of mr& mrs Lewis she was sent also repaired for future races although she’s flown consistent this year this is her first achievement in 2017

for 4th we remain in the same area of Torfaen as mr & mrs Ian and Tracey Bromley  timed in a yearling blue hen  of Vandenabeele of m& d Evans lines  flown on roundabout to date although she hasn’t scored any positions to report on the partnership are hopeful for her future ,for 5th and 6th we go east towards the Bristol channel to the Caldicot loft of John Gardner who timed in two of his entries on  velocities of 1368 and 1365,both two year olds the first is a blue Soontjen hen flown on roundabout from the Kimberly lofts of john salt this hen was sent on roundabout and has flown consistently over the past weeks ,the second arrival was a blue cock which has had many club positions to its credit including a few 1sts prior to this race ,this pigeon was purchased at a federation fundraising sale as a baby and comes from our past  national winning loft of Jason Lovell from Curmlin who is now in partnership with g&m Clayton

with the leading pigeons make good time from the south coast to the welsh borders, it was unfortunate that as the day went on the weather did improve slightly and pigeons were recorded at most lofts, however the rain stayed with us until early evening and as a result most lofts reported some losses by nightfall, fortunately though the following morning was favourable with blue skies and as a result most of the pigeons that had a night out came through

we thank the Solent federation and their conveyors for the looking after of our entries and for the opportunity of travelling with them to Fougeres and experiencing a testing but rewarding race, and to again having the pleasure of travelling with you in future weeks as we head further south in preparation for the distance challenges from Messac and Saintes and the final old bird race from Bergerac approx 500 miles

Conveyors report for Fougeres ....Finished loading at 01:00. Arrived at Portsmouth at 01:30 watered birds. Arrived at Cean at 14:00 fed and watered birds on route. The weather on was clear skies full sun and about 28 degrees. On arrival at Fougeres we parked in the shade and watered birds. Phoned Tony at 19:00 he said that it's looking good for tomorrow and he would ring about 06:00. We topped up water. Saturday Tony phoned at 06:00 we had full sun and light south west wind, Tony said that the channel is clearing its all moving north you can get ready for about 09:00. I phoned Tony at 07:45 and said I can see dark clouds coming from the south west, I thought that it looked like rain. Tony and my self decided to liberate at 08:00, as we did have a good line of flight. into very light south wind and full sun all birds cleared very well.On route back to the port we had full sun and light south west wind.

 Mr & Mrs K Upham

As always heres this weeks top ten

1 95Mr&MrsUpham,. 1434.283 4:50:44 236,1637 W15N02141

2 146AOwen,. 1420.800 5:6:56 247,1371 NW16C7637

3 146AOwen,. 1416.416 5:7:53 247,1371 GB16V30197

4 10Mr&MrsBromley,. 1378.804 5:15:17 246,1754 GB16N14884

5 33JGardner,. 1368.716 5:2:6 234,1652 GB15L35404

6 33JGardner,. 1365.402 5:2:50 234,1652 GB15X24772

7 4Bainton&Evans,. 1354.664 5:20:46 246,1571 W16C6835

8 86Scammell&Peploe,. 1345.444 5:25:6 248,944 W14T00004

9 41THawkinsFamily,. 1343.841 5:10:21 236,1701 NW15S8014

10 35PGoodright,. 1342.239 5:12:2 237,1706 NW16B1732

for all the latest welsh national news and current winners  come and see us at www.welshnational.co.uk

finally.. in our latest report the partnership of Davies and Coombes indicated that their second arrival from Ramsgate was a 100% Leon Boers however on checking their records it proved to be that there was a cross with the nearly cock lines from the Scammel and Peploe nearly cock lines from Pontypool and wish to give the credit to the partnership where due.