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LES J. PARKINSON'S

NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES

The young bird season is now on its way and the old birds with the exception of the odd International race are finished. During the two weeks after the hard Niort race I was hearing of pigeons turning up, in fact I saw Vinney Clayton saying he got one, which caught my eye because we had one drop around the same time on that night. Makes you wonder if they were together - you never know.

On the Monday before the first race I spent most of the morning catching the young birds, putting them in the computer, putting the ETS rings on them and Lambournes phone number little sticky labels on the ETS rings. There were only 24 but they took some time but they are all done for the season and no more catching except when they are marked at the club. I corner them and drive them into the crate so am not going round the loft after them. They have been having a 25mls toss each day prior to racing with either Mark Anderson taking them or myself. We have stuck to a good line but they are still coming back out of the north east, they just don’t know when to stop. When they arrived and made a couple of circles they dropped on their first ETS run I was happy to see that they were not nervous thinking “Is he going to catch me”. When they had all gone in I checked the ETS and there were only 20 registered. I did count them down so I could see that there were two missing. However two had not registered but with them going in nearly on top of one another through a single entry it was bound to happen. One thing about the break between old and young bird racing the weather has been good and fanciers have been able to get their training in so they should be right for the first race. Yes the first young bird race of the season, the one when they are going in all directions. The one when most get distracted from what they should be doing and that is racing back home to their lofts. If they are just flying to the perch in the modern day of racing the young birds have to be happy and content to win. I say that because there is so much at stake they are even raced on widowhood or paired to old hens or old cocks. I personally think that they are better treated and raced as young birds and brought on gradually. But there is so much money involved in the later young bird races fanciers are pushing them too early as babies and many are lost or ruined before their life begins. Years ago when these gold ring races started I used to think what a good idea they were but my views have changed because there are so many losses in the modern day of pigeon racing and I keep asking myself “How much of that is down to pushing young birds too far” I do know that there are many of the bigger lofts have two teams of young birds that are treated differently which is why they always get a good old bird team. I would like to see more races where the Gold Ring money is all flown for as yearlings when they are well prepared and not been pushed too hard as young birds.

North West Classic

The last old bird race of the season for the North West Classic Club was the hardest and one that will not be forgotten in a hurry. Not just this club but all who liberated on this day suffered losses and in some cases very heavy indeed. Not quite half the members actually clocked in race time, three days in this case. Having said that from the 24 that were clocked Brian Lee plus W Mellor & Son put four in the clock with Ken & Mark Cliffe and O’Hare & Woodward each having three that appear on the result.

1st Open 1st section B goes to Doug & Irene Niblett racing their pigeons into Middlewich and win the race by 10ypm. This was a nice win for the team who race a good pigeon and this one in particular because his sire has previously won Fougere’s in the Classic so breeding for the specialist races. This winning chequer widowhood cock is from the Marcellis/Soontjen lines that have won well for them over the years. The sire is the old Marcellis cock who has bred no end of winners, he is one of those breeders that we are all looking for. These are bred down from the old pair off John Roberts while the dam comes from the Soontjen lines of Greg & Kevin Johnson from Ickleston, Derbyshire. They have raced pigeons since the 70s but had the odd break when Dougie took to greyhounds but was soon back with the pigeons. He was telling me that he used to be loft boy from one of the well known fanciers from the past Kelly Hough who presented Doug with a pigeon basket for Christmas one year. Both Doug & Irene enjoy the pigeons and it is nice to sit out in the garden enjoying the pigeons in their retirement that is until the young lad turns up and starts sowing the pigeon corn in the garden. I must admit I did enjoy those few minutes sitting there talking about the pigeons in the 70s when we were in our early 20s instead of being today’s pensioners.

Mr & Mrs Dudley Niblett

Mr & Mrs Dudley Niblett's NWCC winner with his hen

2nd Open 2nd section B is once again Graham Mackay who has had a good season in the club racing from his loft in Swinton. This bird is a chequer hen who is raced on the roundabout system and prior to this race she was sent to the National FC Cholet race where she was 30th section 68th open. She was then sent to the NFC Messac race where she was 18th section l 165th Open. She is a Janssen and her sire is “The Two Birder” who won the Atherton 2B twice from Messac and he also won at Fougeres. He is out of  “Galaxy Callisto” by Galaxy Lofts while the dam is also a Janssen known as “The Combine Hen” after winning the Three Counties Combine at Niortand also 2nd in the Three Counties Combine from Mangotsfield against over 6,000 birds.

Graham Mackay holding another top winner

 

Graham Mackay 2nd open NWCC

3rd Open 1st section A are Ken & Mark Cliffe who had a good race in Congleton and are one of a handful who clocked more than one, it was three in their case. Mark had the following to say. “This is a black cock bred by my dear friend Alistair Ewart of Burton Lazars nr Melton Mowbray. He also bred our 8th and14th open pigeons. Fantastic quality pigeons bred by one of nicest couples in pigeon racing today. “74” arrived home in fantastic nick after 13hrs 25mins in this his fifth channel race of the season he also raced Messac in the National where he was also timed in. He was timed in all the Classic channel races in a very hard season. To time this yearling five times across the channel as a yearling for what many believe the Willy Thas pigeons are sprinters is a tribute to the breeding. “74” has the best of the Thas pigeons in its breeding i.e. full brother of Beckham crossed to a daughter of Beckham on the dam side and the sire through the lines of Pokke crossed to double granddaughter of the Olliepot the best of the Thas lines. I met Alistair through the Lancashire Circle gatherings about 6/7 years ago. The other 2 pigeons again both yearlings are the Frans Werniers these pigeons are similar way bred to our good hen who up to now has won over £1,800 and both yearlings again bred by Alistair. Thanks to Alistair for some real good pigeons. Ken & Mark Cliffe”.

4th Open 2nd section A goes to Roger Sutton who had one of 11 pigeons out of the 14 clocked by members in the Congleton area.

5th Open 3rd section A is another Congleton member Brian Lee who clocked four in what is a good season for him. Brian clocked a dark yearling cock gifted to him by Josh Donnerley from Scholar Green Stoke on Trent, his nest brother also completed the same race as did 8 other yearlings, giving Brian 10 out of 13 entered from a very difficult race. All these yearlings have completed the full channel programme, punctuated with land races in between, most of them scoring along the way. On this very hard race Brian must be pleased with the result because two weeks later some fanciers have no arrivals and others are still more than half missing.

6th Open 3rd section B goes to Tommy Howarth from Northwich who is another fancier having a good season with the club. Tom clocked a dark chequer yearling widowhood cock who was also third Fougeres a few weeks earlier. When Tom started back up he was leant some pigeons to breed from off the well known partnership of R & B Smith of Burtonwood and one pair in particular have bred some exceptional pigeons. The winning cock is aptly named “Jump Street” because every time Tom goes in he jumps out of his box which is something Tom does not like to start with. As a young bird he was 3rd at Yeovil but was raced as a hen because he is not what you would expect a cock to be. He is one of those cocks who is always behind in an easy blow home but when the going gets tough he makes headway and gets amongst the winners. Oddly enough this cock was not destined for the widowhood loft because all spaces were taken but then the hawk struck and there was n empty box. Because of his size Tom was not sure that he was a cock but he did see him attempt to be a cock and so moved him and he paired and gained a box. It just goes to show that we pigeon fanciers are not always right and no matter what if the pigeon has the love of home and a good heart they will make it on race days. There are a couple of photos and they are of Anne holding 'Jump Street' placed 3rd section 6th open and Tom holding 'AJ The Big Red Machine' placed 6th section 19th open, previously 3rd section 7th open in the NWCC Messac race. Besides those already mentioned other fanciers who clocked in this hard race were Wignall & Barnie, Anthony Cooke, O’Hare & Woodward Dave Benn. The next race for the club is an Open race from Bedhampton on the 20th August which is a mid week race. Then there is the Carentan race which incorporates the Gold Ring race to be held in September. The race was sponsored by RPTS transport and the BHW.

Tom Howarth and his better half with their two Niort pigeons in the NWCC

Stray

Had a call from Derek Woodward who was telling me that on the winning day of the Tarbes race a stray dropped into his loft with the young birds when Marjorie was getting them in from training at 2.30pm. So Derek and Marjorie decided to report the pigeon with the ring number on the pigeon. The pigeon belonged to Graham Cooke of Kings Lynn which is over the other side of the country and was one of his entries in the National Tarbes race. After a discussion Graham and Derek agreed that this 2yo red hen from the Jan Aarden/Busschaert lines stay at the Wincham lofts. Derek said he will breed from her next year and see how they go. Here is another good story about members of the sport and how they will help others to get their birds back without costs involved. If you remember a few weeks back we had the pigeon for Mr Schofield reported and sorted, well the same gentleman would like to thank two people for getting his birds back in the loft. Firstly Colin Earp from Crewe reported a pigeon of Mr Schofield and with no other thoughts than getting the pigeon back to the owner Colin offered to have a day out and take the pigeon back. Colin used to work on the railway and therefore could sort the problem out quite easily. The other fancier concerned is Mr Ratcliffe from Stoke who also reported a pigeon that belonged to Mr Schofield and through a third party John Appleby that pigeon is also being returned. It’s refreshing to know that there are still fanciers in the sport willing to put themselves out for others.

Club/Fed News

Old Lodge HS held there any age open race on Saturday 12th July, the birds were liberated into south westerly wind. Ian Pedder of Garstang took the first 3 positions with his team of old hens. First in the clock for Ian was Golden Girl bred from direct Leo Heremans stock and a great granddaughter off Olympiade, this hen was 1st NWGNfc Bedhampton in 2013. Golden Girls’ nestmate took the 2nd card and Ian clocked a Koopman x Janssen to take 3rd. Gary Spavin finished 4th with a Hereman- Ceusters widowhood cock bred out of his original stock he purchased from the Hereman- Ceusters partnership in 2001. This cock has won 1st Lancaster Inv and 1st North West Lancs Fed at Mangotsfield this year, in fact Gary has had a fantastic season this year in Lancaster Inv winning every land race with his old birds. Another highlight for him was timing his good hen Black Magic in the Carnforth 2 Bird at Messac and her winning the well supported 2 Bird club for the 3 rd time in her racing career. All in all the open races during the channel season have been a great success thanks to the local fanciers who have supported them. Thanks also to Anthony Evans transport who has given us 4 good races and hopefully he will be up for the job again in 2015. The first young bird race of the season 43 members from the West Coast Fed sent 926 birds that were liberated at 11.30am in light west wind. Just three fanciers took the top 14 in the fed Kirkham & Wesham members Jones & Harrison finished the race in 1st 2nd 5th & 6th positions clocked in 18 seconds. Pilling Inv members Tom Roskell & Williamson clocked six in one minute to collect 3rd 4th 7th 8th 9th & 10th places. Ron & Shirley Mott from the Blackpool Col saw four in 4 seconds for 11th 12th 13th &14th positions, when mine go through that fast and I am referring to training they don’t always clock. J McLellan from the Fleetwood & Dist also had a good race with three in the clock in 5 seconds with the other places going to Staining HS winner JA Devalle being 16th. Fleetwood HS leaders Blane, Edge & Blane 18th & 20th. Other club winners in the fed are Marton Village members Cornell Lofts with P Hodgkinson winning the Queens Inv and I cannot see a winner for the Thornton & Cleveleys club. The Rudheath winner from Niort is Malcolm Hewitt who clocked two on 690/638ypm, they are a Staf Van Reet/Syndicate Lofts and a Brugeman but no more details unfortunately. In the Lostock FC race from Mangotsfield Derek Woodward took the top two positions with a yearling blue cock and a 2y/o blue pied cock recording vels of 1324/1322ypm. 3rd goes to Ian Cooper with a 2y/o blue cock on 1291ypm while Kenny Burke clocked a yearling chequer hen with a vel of 1220ypm for 4th place. The club then moved on to Messac when the red card went to Ian Cooper who as always is not far away after clocking a yearling chequer  pied hen on 1477ypm. 2nd & 4th go to Kenny Burke who saw home a 2y/o blue cock and a yearling blue pied hen with vels of 1445/1390ypm. Keith Herbert is 3rd after seeing home a yearling chequer hen on 1413ypm. The next race for the club is from Frome that saw another 1st & 2nd for the Wincham Wizard Derek Woodward who saw two 2y/o chequer cocks go through the ETS on 1450.62/1450.35ypm. Kenny Burke and silent partner Gary Hodkinson are 3rd with a yearling chequer hen on 1435ypm while K Riley & Son clocked a yearling blue cock with a vel of 1380ypm. They then moved on to another channel race from Fougeres when 8 sent 53 birds that saw the top spot go to Keith Herbert with a yearling dark chequer cock on 1130ypm a pigeon that was bred by Tony Gibbons from South Wales and is also 2nd Cheshire Combine beaten by a decimal so very unlucky Keith. Next are K Riley & Son who clocked a 3y/o blue cock recording a vel of 1088ypm. 3rd sees Tommy Howarth clock a yearling chequer hen on 1013ypm while 4th goes to Kenny Burke with a yearling chequer hen doing 983ypm. It was then back to another Frome race when 8 sent 91 with another 1st & 2nd going to Derek Woodward with a 3y/o blue cock and a 2y/o chequer cock on 1278/1275ypm. Ian Cooper takes the next two positions with a blue pied hen followed home by a blue cock recording vels of 1265/1261ypm. Still with the Lostock club we move on to Yoevil when 7 sent 66 birds. 1st & 2nd places go to Derek Woodward who saw home a two 2y/o chequer cocks on 1335/1335ypm. These are the two cocks that I mentioned above, the two 2y/o late breds. Ian Cooper is 3nd after seeing home a yearling blue pied hen on 1263ypm. Kenny Burke & Gary Hodkinson pick up another card this time being 4th with a 2y/o chequer hen on 1257ypm. The clubs last weekend for the old bird season saw two races the first to cover is the hard Niort race when 6 sent 31 birds might not be many but when we get to these races they are normally tried and tested pigeons with the addition of a few yearlings bred to race from the 500ml mark. Kenny Burke & Gary Hodkinson had a good race taking the top three positions on 1095/826/784ypm. Their winner is a yearling blue cock being a De Rauw-Sablon cross Marcel Aelbrecht. The sire is a son from the great breeding hen Het Fijn Blauw crossed with a direct daughter from the Cerafin second Cheshire Combine. They then clocked a yearling chequer cock bred from the inform family of Koopman/Van Dycks that are now doing so well. Their other is a slatey hen both parents bred by Dennis Hubbard. Tommy Howarth is next after seeing home a yearling dark chequer cock from their good team from the Burtonwood lofts of R & B Smith and clocks up 742ypm. On the same day the club were also at Mangotsfield when Derek Woodward once again clocked the nest pair of 2y/o chequer cocks recording vels of 1596.55ypm 2nd fed beaten by decimal and 1596.16ypm finishing 4th fed. The next two positions go to Kenny Burke & Gary Hodkinson clocked a yearling chequer hen and a 2y/o blue cock on 1593/1573ypm the first being 5th fed. PO Garry has apologised for the late results as he is working away from home takes all his time up. George Mainwaring has sent me the winners in the old bird competitions for the Rudheath club. There are nine races for the old bird inland average with the winner being Ian Cooper on 1584ypm. These were always going to be close and that is the case with 2nd and 3rd with Derek Woodward getting the better of Malcolm Hewitt by less than one yard. B & G Mainwaring are 4th in this series. Malcolm Hewitt had a good season with 5 x 1sts which included three of the four channel races and so collects the old bird combined average.  

Photo

I went round to take a couple of photos at the lofts of Mr & Mrs Dudley Niblett who were the North West Classic club Niort winners. Just going through the gate and I could just see the owner standing there talking to someone and from the direction he was looking I could see a photo opportunity and sure enough there was one. Out came the camera before I went round the corner and I quickly snapped Mr Niblett and Mr Wilkinson talking over the fence, I could pass a remark but in this day and age I would probably be had for misuse of the English language or something like that. I am sure the ladies at the BHW will know what I mean.

Dave Wilkinson and Doug Niblett over the fence

Les J Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ, +44 (0)1606 836036.  +44 (0)7871 701585. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Web site: www.elimarpigeons.com 

 

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