Welsh National F.C Saintes

Sponsored By Verselle Laga

with the welsh national flying club old bird programme drawing to a close with the penultimate race from Saintes an approx distance of 420 miles to most lofts within the welsh boarders which was sponsored by the well known pigeon outlet Versele Laga of Belgium with three trophies up for grabs (winners trophy, best opposite sex to winner and two bird average,

with basketing once again taking place during the Wednesday morning the birds were soon on their travels just over the seven bridge, to liaise with the west of England combine who were to be our transport for this event along with other welsh organisations and others organisations within the southern counties it total it made up an estimated overall convoy of 2,000 pigeons

with everyone on board the transporter departed heading south to meet the ferry arriving in France within the early hours of Thursday morning, after taking a days driving the boys  parked up  and after feeding and topping up the water the birds  were left to settle for the night

Friday morning and with a shorter drive to complete the journey the pigeons were reported to have arrived on site around midday as everyone waited for Saturday morning to arrive

Saturday morning and with ideal racing conditions on site and after consulting the home end the decision was made to cut the strings and get the pigeons air borne at 0600 into light winds during their journey

as the day went on and fanciers prepared to welcome their entries home ,it wasn't until 16.17 after just over ten hours of flying that  the first pigeon into Wales was recorded at the loft of no other than our welsh national chairman Will Holpin who timed in his yearling cheq pied cock to take the honour of 1st welsh national Saintes with a vel of 1247.44 ,the bloodlines of such pigeon comes down through the house of Arden family of pigeons on the sires purchased by Will`s uncle Jimmy Davies and later gifted to Will`s son  whilst on the dams side he was paired to a cheq hen from the Deweerdt lines from Andy Gregson from the north west ,as a yb this winning pigeon was lightly and forced to  retire  after returning injured from the Newbury yb race ,and since has gone to every race in 2017 prior to this winning performance ,will would like to emphasize that it was his son ryan that actually bred this pigeon for him  and would also like to thank everyone for their kind phone calls congratulating him on his win

William Holpin 1st Open Saintes 2017

we head to the 2017 Maidstone national winning partnership of G & M Clayton & Lovell bros from Crumlin who timed in two of their entries to take 2nd and 5th open and upon doing so claimed the Versele Laga best opposite sex to the winners trophy and the Versele Laga two bird average award, their first arrival was a yearling cheq hen on a vel of .. the bloodlines of this pigeon contains previous multiple national winning blood from the distance for retired fancier Mel Mayo from Bargoed, the partnership back up their performance with a second arrival on ... which takes the 5th open ,

for 3rd open we go to Tredegar and the loft of Williams bros ,son & Burgham ,who registered their two year old cheq hen that was sent sitting 14 day old eggs and comes down through the lines pigeons originating from the original Burgham bros partnership pigeons crossed with a son of the tours national winner MR T from retired fancier Hayden Minett from Treharris also included in the pedigree is the boshield flyers  ,this has proven to be a very successful cross and  stands in good stead with many multiple national and combine winners included

for 4th open we come to Pontypool which has been noted as a hotbed for national winners once again on various routes  in 2017 , on this occasion we see Kevin Smith from  Garndiffiath , timing in  a home bred yearling blue jan adren hen which has been flown every race on  roundabout doing a vel of 1212

in 6th we stay in the Pontypool area as the popular name and multiple national winning partnership of  Scammel and Peploe timed in on a vel of 1207

Once again this race proved to be an awkward event from across the channel as whilst some lofts were fortunate enough to record pigeons by nightfall a vast majority weren’t as lucky  and therefore it meant an early start for them the following morning

.. on a more pleasing  note thou it seems as days went on fanciers have had pigeons  turn in a little worse for ware but thankfully they’re home to fight another day

so we come down to the final old bird race of 2017 and this will be from Bergerac a distance averaging around the 500 mile marker and  once again all welsh pigeons will come together under the umbrella of the central southern classic on this occasion .. so for those who are taking on such a challenge we wish them good luck

as for the others they will be setting their minds not only on their domestic young bird racing but the forthcoming, three welsh national events from maidstone ,battle and ramsgate ( which could possibly be altered in the near future )

for our current 2017 winning fanciers we are hopeful  that our sponsor Chris Sutton will be down in the area   shortly to photograph our current 2017 winners as part of his ongoing commitment and sponsorship to the wnfc  ,which we will advice everyone  in ample time once we confirm a positive date

additional to this as previously advertised in 2018 the welsh national ,will be celebrating its 10th anniversary and in such to commemorate the occasion the wnfc will be offering all its  2017 members ,half price membership in 2018 at £10 per loft ,so its still not too late to be a part of the celebrations  and join in the challenge for 2017

1 44WHolpin,1247.447 10:17:22 437,1012 NW16B2682 150.00

2 13G&mClayton&lovellBr,.1239.640 10:6:35 427,445 GB16X21757 £100.00

3 102WilliamsBrosSon&Burgh,1239.561 10:14:45 432,1720 GB15F48804 £75.00

4 115KSmith.1212.045 10:21:40 428,208 W16N03039 £50.00

5 13G&mClayton&lovellBr,1207.363 10:22:48 427,445 GB16X21773 £45.00

6 86Scammell&Peploe,.1189.676 10:34:2 428,1014 NW16C8951 £40.00

7 95Mr&MrsUpham,.1182.976 10:20:38 417,275 W14N02247 £35.00

8 102WilliamsBrosSon&Burgh,1170.120 10:51:14 432,1720 GB16A33032 £30.00

9 10Mr&MrsBromley,1169.741 10:42:32 427,96 GB16N36657 £25.00

10 145PSilverthorne,1165.907 10:47:42 429,118 NW15S1188 £20.00

Tom Harris