WELSH NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

Transcription

1 WELSH NATIONAL FLYING CLU MESSAC REPORT JUNE 2015 y Tom Harris the principality, which resulted in the final marking station at pill in Newport taking on the task of transhipping all the additional entries into their required crates prior to heading across the ristol channel to hand over to the WO England Combine for onward travel to the race point J Newbury 1st Open WNFC Messac 2015 Thursday 11th June and once again the Welsh National Flying Club were basketing again for another adventure across the water into France from the town of Messac an average distance of 270 miles. With a constant flow of members once again having a go, the allocation of baskets by the WOE Combine soon filled up around Once again there was an uneventful journey south as each stage was highlight on the relevant websites as the lorry travel to Portsmouth harbour where the water was topped up and monitored throughout the journey when the convoying team reported back to the UK that the arrived safely on site Friday evening at 6pm and after feeding and watering their cargo once again, they and the pigeons settled down for the night confident of liberating the following morning. Sat morning and with mist and fog reported on site and across the channel the race advisory committee had no alternative other than to delay the liberation for a few

2 hours, with the knowledge that reports indicated that this was to clear gradually as the morning went on and with a watchful eye on the low pressure later in the day with rain approaching the southern counties of the UK by mid-afternoon we were advised of a liberation update on the situation at approx 10am The team 10 am and with a vast improvement reported on site and along the line of flight we were informed and pleased to hear that the strings were cut at and the 3,000plus combination of English and welsh pigeons soon headed off into a light west by south westerly wind, in a tight pack the pigeons were clear of the site and en route north. The convoying team reported fine weather throughout the journey home with very little wind and they were confident that the pigeons would make good time and home before the rain. At the home end as preparations were underway, rumours were circling around as to when the first pigeons would start to appear and with five and half to six hours seeming to be most favourable amongst us just prior to this time, from the west the dark clouds were starting to roll in and accompanied with light misty rain we knew then that the pigeons would have to work through some wet conditions as the valleys began to close in as the visibility began to close in, we were keen at this stage to hear news of the leading arrival across the ristol channel, as pigeons started to appear in the ridgewater area shortly after 2pm indicating and hoping that before long sightings and verifications would soon appear on welsh soil. Taking top honours after covering 267 miles timing in at and clear winner with a vel of Is the Risca lofts of John Newbury timing in a 3yr old gay pied cock of Sheer brothers from Wellhampton bloodlines bred down through the Kannibal and Keas osua lines crossed with the Lee asto Willy Thas pigeons. The winning pigeon was sent on roundabout and has been a consistent for this loft scoring many club and federation positions inc 1st club 4th sec Newbury, 2nd Swindon 3rd Ramsgate 4th sec 13th open. On behalf of everyone within the WNFC we pass on our congratulations to John on this achievement. As he says, it s taken a long time in the sport to get this result against such strong competition. He thanks fanciers and friends who congratulated him on this performance and offers a special thank you to Gordon Johnson for doing the honours of verifying the winning pigeon on their behalf shortly after its arrival. We move slightly up the valley for 2nd open to the Abertillery loft and partnership of Frampton and price timing in a and a vel of with a yearling chequer hen

3 flown on the roundabout, and descending down through their own blend of families cultivated over many years crossed with stock obtained from John and Dave Stadden from Somerset of Mark Gilbert of Windsor pigeons. 3rd and 4th we move across to Pontypool and the consistent welsh partnership of Ronnie Scammell and Paul Peploe, in two of their arrivals at and with nothing to split these two it was down to the electronic timing to see which one would take the highest position with both on a vel of ,first of which is a 2 yr old cheq cock of the old Karl Herman crossed Jan Arden cross Phil Edwards of Abertillery flown on the roundabout previous national positions include 3rd WSR National Messac, 4th WSR National Falaise 21st national Fougeres and 29th nat Carentan and at the time of publishing this game pigeon once again scored highly in the recent Nord sur Erdre national taking 2nd national beaten by loft mate, when the partnership once again scored 1st and 2nd WSR national The partnership s 2nd arrival was yet another roundabout cock a dark cheq yearling which is a double grandson of the well-known nearly cock which originated from local fanciers John and Pat Webber and John urgham. So another successful outcome all told, and as a result a few lofts did better on the day at clock checking compared to others, however birds which were away at night seemed to turn in the following morning giving us a low loss count once again. So congratulations to the successful lofts and the convoying team race controllers and committee of the West of England combine in providing such good racing over the Channel once again in Convoyer s report: asketing We arrived at Portsmouth docks at 2am on Friday and ensured the drinkers had water in them for all birds before turning in for the night. Rose at 5.30am and before boarding the ferry again ensured that drinkers were half-full for the crossing. On arrival in Caen we again ensured birds had water before them before continuing to Messac where we arrived at about 6.30pm. The birds were fed and watered after settling and we turned in for the night at 11pm. Rose at 5.30am. It was misty/foggy and not suitable for liberation. Consulted with the race advisor and it was agreed that as soon as the mist/fog cleared we should liberate as the route home through France. The Channel was fine. Rain in the UK was expected to clear the combine area except perhaps for the most northerly clubs before

4 the birds were due to arrive home. There was no wind at the race-point. The misty conditions cleared quickly before 9am and we cut the strings, liberating the birds at 9.15am into sunshine and clear visibility. They cleared immediately with no stragglers which was remarked on by other convoyers on the site. The journey back to Caen was in lovely weather with little wind. I hope you all had a good race. Martin pike Chief conveyor So we move on to the two longest old bird races overt the next few weeks from Pau approx 580 miles ( 3.75 per pigeon) and ergerac 500 miles ( 3.25 per pigeon) and for these we come under the umbrella of the Central Southern Classic for transportation and liberations, and are hopeful that our good fortune will continue to round off yet another successful old bird season both inland and across the water. Please see Results table below and on the following page. Tom Harris June 2015 As always this week s top positions: 1 I Newbury :4 4:45 267,355 W13N Frampton & Price :57:17 275,795 G14H Scammell & Peploe :2:5 275,133 5 W13N A C D E Scammell & Peploe :2:5 275,133 5 W14N Durham & George :2:52 276,130 W14N Thawkins family :48:11 263,161 0 W11N Durham & George :5:6 276,130 W14N cont d

5 8 Durham & George :5:8 276,130 W13N A C Nicholsson & g.son :6:28 276,303 W13N A Mr & Mrs eresford & son :55:9 267,113 G14S S Lewis :16:28 282,11 G14Z Frampton & Price 13 Mr & Mrs eresford & son :8:0 275,795 G13E :57:40 267,113 W13T Williams rosson urgh & :15:59 279,133 6 W13N A Williams rosson urgh & :16:25 279,133 6 W13N

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