THE NORTH/SOUTH DIVIDE
by Jim Emerton
Humans tend to be prejudiced into believing or asserting that fanciers in the south or north are the best, especially in England. The motivation is often a seeking of superiority allied to the male ego! In UK racing different distances can be involved, say up to 700 plus miles in the south to over 900 in the north of England or 1000 into Scotland. We race for personal reasons from club to international levels with success dependent on many factors. Degree of difficulty may be related to time on the wing - distance and environmental conditions being some of the variables. I have lived north, south, east and west and believe me, there are quality fanciers and birds in all those quadrants. For myself, I am biased towards racing in the north of England over 700 miles and in internationals. The latter is difficult and I hope to see more participation in this onerous task. In the final analysis each race is what it is and may you derive pleasure from the activity. In the future many records will be broken and sporting icons will emerge from the heat of competition.
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