BICC GUERNSEY YB & AA RACE REPORT.

Transcription

1 BICC GUERNSEY YB & AA RACE REPORT. The record entry of 3,951 birds in the penultimate race of the 2017 BICC race programme took place on Saturday 19 th August when the convoy made up of 2,629 young birds and 1,322 old birds was liberated from the island of Guernsey at 7.30am into clear skies and a light west south west wind and excellent visibility. Weather Report from Steve Appleby. A fine day was the forecast for B.I.C.C s race from Guernsey, courtesy of a ridge of high pressure extending up from the Bay of Biscay. Sunshine and high cloud at Guernsey The main concern from a weather perspective was the wind strength over the channel. At first light our convoyers reported a fresh breeze of about 15 mph over the Island. Usually as the day progresses and

2 temperatures rise wind strength increases. With this information to hand race controller Mark Gilbert who was on site decided an early liberation was the best option. John Tyreman our other race controller although on holiday kept in touch with our convoyers Trevor and Steve. Liberation was effected at 07:30 under broken cloud and sunshine with the birds leaving the site in one batch. After waiting some time the convoyer reported that the convoy had faced the open sea and none of the pigeons had returned to the Island. Using web cams to confirm local weather conditions has always been worth while. The one located over looking the runway at Jersey airport transmits streaming images which are very useful. Early on wind direction at sea level over the channel was recorded averaging 20 mph from the west north west but by about 08:30 hours had changed to direct westerly and visibility was first class 20 miles plus. Weather Adviser Steve Appleby. I must stress once again, right at the start of this report, that positions quoted are based purely on the first bird verifications provided in the provisional result. If members have timed multiple pigeons then the final result may well differ. I should also point out that the first young bird in each section sporting a BICC B ring will win 25 for its proud owner. With the strength of the Westerly wind in the English Channel there was only one place that the bulk of the leading pigeons would be found in the East of the country and that is exactly where the winner of both the Young Bird and Old Bird Nationals was clocked. These two

3 National winners at the loft of multiple National winner, Micky Watts of Southminster in Essex. Micky has a terrific record of success in the end of season races having won both the young bird and old bird Nationals on a number of previous occasions. In this season s race he had a number of birds arrive together as his winners in the young bird and old bird races have almost identical velocities of 1641 ypm. Micky & Sally Watts 1st Open BICC Guernsey YB & AA Here s Micky s take on his latest National wins:- First and foremost I would like to thank M&D Evans on providing these pigeons to me. Both pigeons are M&D Evans Vandenabeele. The young bird winner, a young cock bird, was sent chasing a hen to nest has only had two club races this year so I am really pleased with this result and hopefully will provide many wins next year. I was really shocked to find out I had won the old birds and was even more surprised to find I had won the young bird race also. I work hard on the pigeons all year round as does everyone else. And you only

4 dream of winning one big race let alone two on the same day. It takes a lot of dedication to get the birds in top condition and it has finally paid off. I would like to thank everyone for there congratulation messages the phone has rung non stop. It is nice to know that fellow fanciers still support each other in this competitive sport.

5 Runner up in the young bird race is one to one of our great if not greatest lady fanciers none other than Meg Murray of Burnham on Crouch in Essex with a youngster doing 1632 ypm. This is what Meg had to tell me:- First, a huge 'well done' to Micky Watts on his great results. Micky flies in the same club as me and I've already told him he was a bit greedy taking top spot in both races! Meg Murray 2nd Open Guernsey YBs I had three drop together and each one was from a different pair of stock birds gifted to me over the years from Craig Booth of Hartlepool, Co. Durham. Craig sources birds from the best in the country to keep his stock loft in winning form. He knows I particularly like his Busschaert family which he keeps as pure as he can, only adding to it from Fed, Amal and Combine winners. Craig has given me young birds and stock birds that have proved themselves over and over in club and National races and once again I can only say a heartfelt 'thank you' to one of the nicest men in the sport. Next up at 3 rd East section 3 rd Open we see the incredibly successful partnership of Robbie and son Andrew Wilton flying under the banner

6 of D Wilton & Son.The Wilton s timer records 1630 ypm. This is the third near miss in the South Road Nationals this year for the partners as they were R/U to the Padfields from BICC Barcelona and also R/U in a recent BBC race. Add to these close calls another Combine win with the LNRC with old birds this year and you have what most fanciers would describe as a dream season. Andrew Wilton with daughter Roxie and son Louie 3rd Open BICC Guernsey YBS In this Guernsey race the partners had three birds drop together and the first bird that actually went across the pad to be 3rd open is a chequer hen bred from a son of Winters Little Gem the NFC Tarbes National winner when paired to a daughter of Mark Bulled s Legacy 1st NFC Tarbes when Legacy was paired to Bump 2 nd Open BBC Bordeaux. Second on the ETS was a blue cock containing Brockamp s Valhalla x the partners 2 nd Open BBC National winner. Third bird over the board is down from Robbie and Andrew s LSECC Tarbes Merit Award winner Classic Boy. The Wilton s youngsters are raced on the sliding door system. They are separated all week then allowed to run together for an hour or so on basketting night. The young bird team have been trained well down to the coast a couple of times a week throughout the season so are well educated and fit for the job in hand. Mickey Harvey of Bowards Gifford, a former Chairman of the BICC, comes in at 4 th East section 4 th Open with a youngster doing ypm.

7 Michael Harvey 4th Open Guernsey YBs Mickey had two young cocks drop together and these are a combination of direct Houben and Meuleman bloodlines containing the lines of Beckham and Socks with multiple first prize winners in their genetic make up. Mickey has asked me to thank Robbie Wilton and Dave and Gary Heywood for all their help since he returned to the sport. In a very close finish the partnership of Martin & Watts come in just behind with a bird on ypm to finish at 5 th East section 5 th Open. Jack Martin is the former flying partner of Micky Watts and writes on the Essex racing scene as Tail end Charlie. Here he clocked a Frans Zwols hen bred by Formula 1 Lofts. She has had every club race inland before her first tilt at the briney from Guernsey. Jack Martin of the Martin & Watts partnership5th Open Guernsey YBS

8 The Basildon partnership of J A House & Son take 6 th East section 6 th Open vel ypm. Joe has asked me to firstly congratulate all the winners. The pigeon timed is a chequer cock. Home bred, the sire is a gift pigeon from friend and club secretary Tony Coker and the dam is of Minderhoud bloodlines obtained via Ponderosa Stud. Guernsey was his third race and he had just started to take notice of an old hen on basketting. Mr & Mrs Jenkins of Canterbury timed one of their young bird team on ypm to finish at 7 th East section 7 th Open. This is a Lambert x Red Barcelona bread by Westbury brothers of Aylesham and fed on Vanrobaeys Four Seasons all year. The partners timer had raced from Bedhampton at 100 miles three times before going to Guernsey. Mrs Jenkins 7th Open BICC Guernsey YBS Then we have a bird flying to the Ipswich loft of Jeremy Nicholson to take 1 st North East section 8 th Open vel 1617 ypm. Jeremy had this to say about the race:- Firstly I would like to congratulate Micky Watts for a fantastic performance winning both the YB and the OH s races and also congratulations to all the other section winners. I sent 8 young birds to the race which have all been raced to 77 miles then jumped to Guernsey. My first bird is Blue chequer Louis Cooreman cock from Bob Fenech stock. He has performed very consistently so far this year and he won t be stopped, I had 5 within 1 hour of my first bird so I think there may be 1 or 2 others close in the section. I would also like to thank Terry and Jacquie Ivatt for running the new Ipswich marking station and all the others who turn up and don t send just to make sure it all runs very smoothly. Lastly thank you to all at the BICC for all their unseen hard work.

9 Gladwin, Jarvis & Family are also past winners of the BICC and here they clocked on 1614 ypm to finish at 8 th East section 9 th Open. The partners had two birds drop together and the first pigeon on the clock is a Formula 1 lofts bred Vanwanrooij x Frans Zwols. The sire is from two of Vanwanrooij best breeders with the dam coming from Rik Hermans Cow Girl. The dam is a Frans Zwols that was bred from stock and is from the partners ace breeding cock the Pommeroy when paired to the super Tip Top she is dam g. Dam of well over 20 x1st prize winners. The second bird over the ets pad is direct from Frans Zwols Speed Champ she was sprint champion of Holland. Speed champ was also grand dam yesterday of 3rd National in Holland with 14,000+ birds competing. Both John Cowlin, John Gladwin and Theresa would like to say well done to Micky Watts on another great performance and well done to their club mates who took many of the top positions in the two races. Finishing off the top ten in the Open result we have the winner in the Centre section racing to the Isleworth loft of Ken Wise and recording a velocity of 1610 ypm. Despite phoning the number given on four occasions and leaving messages, I failed to get any info on the Wise pigeons in either the old bird or young bird races. This is a pity as the timers were both winners in the Centre section finishing at 6 th & 10 th Open respectively. Well that s the first ten in the Young Bird National Open result covered so let s go around the sections The first three in the East section have been covered already so we ll move over to the Centre section and the winner here is Kenny Wise s youngster. In the R/U spot also taking 11 th Open on the provisional result is one to M & J Adcock & son on 1608 ypm. The partners clocked a blue hen bred by Mick Betts of Doncaster from his No 1 stock pair of Stickers Donkers. She has had every club race in the lead up to Guernsey and has always been in the first batch to the loft. Richard Kent of Walton on Thames comes in at 3 rd Centre section vel 1603 ypm.

10 Peter Wraight of Bluntisham timed the winner in the North Central section on 1434 ypm. Peter clocked a chequer cock bred from D Stanways Black family. David Paine of St Neots comes in at 2 nd section with a bird doing 1416 ypm. This is a Herman Ceuster cock bred by a very good friend of David s. The cock has been to all the young bird races this season and has previously had a 3rd club from Honiton. Raced on the darkness system he was unpaired and flying back to a perch. Then we have J Huckle of Langford s timer on 1354 ypm taking 3 rd section. In the North East section, the winner which finished at 8 th Open for Jeremy Nicholson on 1617 ypm was well clear here with David Downing coming in at 2 nd section on 1481 ypm. Here s what Dave had to tell me about his young bird timer:- My first young bird on the clock was a hen racing to the perch having her fourth race of the season and although she has not been at the front before the Guernsey race she has been consistent. She is the result of a pairing from a cock loaned by a friend that is a g-son of Jan Hooymans world famous Harry which he loaned me for this season to pair to my best Vandenabeele stock hen and we have shared the progeny. Interestingly enough this stock hen is also the dam of one of my two hens that scored in the OB race and she is bred from my original Heslop and Evans foundation pair that have bred me 20+ winners and is from the best Evans bloodlines. All my young bird team are bred in February after pairing after the Blackpool show and raced on darkness and this year they have again been consistent winning 3 of the 4 races in my local club before going to Guernsey. The Mildenhall partnership of L Rix & son take 3 rd section vel 1457 ypm.

11 The North West section winner can be found at the loft of Nigel Matthews recording a velocity of 1248 ypm. Nigel clocked three chequer hens all containing Alwyn Hill s Wing Down bloodlines. Then we have the Corwen partnership of Talent and Westbury in at 2 nd section on 1194 ypm. Here s what Martin Talent had to say about the race:- The BICC Guernsey was a tough one for the North West section due to the strong westerly wind so we were understandably over the moon to have clocked five of our six youngsters flying 240 miles into Wrexham, North Wales. The youngsters we sent to the BICC were bred very early and rung as soon as the rings were available. These youngsters went through a natural darkness and had gone through the moult by the end of February. They were then trained with the old birds, prior to the old bird season. The youngsters were then allowed to pair once sexually mature and re-trained prior to the young bird season to various nest conditions. The young hen that came for us was flying to a seven day old chick. She is a Franz Zwols crossed with a Walter Docx. We have cultivated our family of pigeons over the years flying into Corwen in the Berwyn Mountains through the upper Dee valley where only the hardiest of pigeons get through. We have now raced our family of pigeons in Chirk, Wrexham for the last three seasons and they have performed very well for us at both club and national levels. Ian Barnbrook of Alveley comes in at 3 rd section with a bird on 1091 ypm. The pigeons in the West section had it all to do on the day to battle against the fairly strong westerly wind and the winner here on a velocity of 1258 ypm was clocked at the Warminster loft of Tom Powers. This is what Tom had to tell me about his section winner:- Hi Gareth, sorry but I have just got back from work. Special job could only be done on Sunday when the store was closed. Any way, details on the West Section winner.

12 The bird was a red hen bred for me Dave Dredge of Westbury. It is mainly of Van Hee Motta lines going back to original lines brought in from Louella Lofts. It was flown natural, no darkness. This was its 3rd race this year but the first time it was first to the loft. It had previously been arriving about an hour behind my other pigeons but did then continue flying around the loft for quite a time before landing. I felt that she needed a bit more of a challenge and this race with the BICC was it. On a personal note I am very pleased with this win as I have note raced any National races in recent years because of three house moves. So this was a nice way to return for me. My congratulations to Micky Watts for the fantastic achievement of winning both Nationals. Then we have C & J Howse of Devizes timing one of their young birds on 1254 ypm to take the R/U rosette. Chris and Jane had this to say:- We would like to congratulate the winner of the race and also Tom Powers for topping our section. The bird we timed is mosaic hen bred from a cock from Janet and Ken Wilcox and the dam is a hen which was second open high Littleton Tours young bird National in We had a good race with 7/8 on the day with five within twenty five minutes of our first timer, they returned in excellent condition our thanks to the convoyer. Chris&Jane Howse Third section with a youngster racing right into the heart of the Welsh Valleys at Nelson, was a bird to the loft of John Rum Rat Ludlam and his flying partner Keith Hibbard. This one records a velocity of 1055 ypm. There was an outstanding performance achieved in this section, by a young bird racing all the way down to the far end at Sancreed near Lands End in Cornwall to the loft of Mick and John Angwin and clocked at pm on the day. How many miles this bird flew is anyone s guess but it was certainly far more than the 144 miles attributed to it. Assuming that it followed the drag, the bird must have made landfall in the Sussex/ Kent area along with the majority of the convoy and then broken away from the main group and made its way, against the wind and probably alone, crossing Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and the length of Cornwall to be clocked at its Sancreed home - an outstanding performance on the day given the conditions. I believe this one has a strong influence of the Padfield Family s bloodlines in its make up obtained from House of Aarden.

13 Right, now I ll move on to cover the winners in the Old Bird National. As mentioned earlier, the winner here is once again Micky Watts of Southminster with a bird on 1641 ypm. This is a 4 year old Vandenabeele hen again bred from M & D Evans stock. She has flown Guernsey many times, but as Micky tells me she is normally a middle of the road pigeon. She was sent to this race after pairing to a new cock pigeon for two days and obviously she wanted to get home to him in a hurry to make up for lost time!! Micky Watts with his 1st Open Guernsey YB and AA winners Guernsey-YB-OH Well done Micky on a truly outstanding double. A comprehensive loft report on the Watts set up can be found on the BICC web site. Tony Buckfield comes in next on 1638 ypm to take 2 nd section 2 nd Open. Once again I have to admit my failure to get any information on the Buckfield pigeon, this despite phoning the number given on several occasions and even enlisting the help of two third parties who were well known to Tony. John Cowlin s timer takes 3 rd East section 3 rd Open on 1634 ypm. John s

14 timer is a yearling hen which due to injury did not race last year and has been left until the young birds started and was trained with them. She is a Formula 1Lofts Frans Zwols, her sire is the one and only Prince of Rekkem which was a super racer for Frans and now a super breeder. When racing he won 2nd Rekkem 19,000+ birds beaten by the King of Rekkem on the trap. The Prince of Rekkem also won 3rd, 15th & 18th all 9,000+ birds and 47th 17,429 birds plus other positions. The dam is a hen called Dreamy and she is a daughter of Amor when paired to Dream girl 200. Dreamy also bred 2nd section NFC in last year s young bird race and also some good inland birds. The Basildon firm of solicitors Gibbs, Chaplin & White timed a bird on 1632 ypm for 4 th East section 4 th Open. The partners clocked a 2 year old hen that had been on the celibate system earlier in the season but was sent paired up and sitting eggs for this race. She is of Hereman Ceusters x Willy Stanaert bloodlines. A Hammond & Son of Burnham on Crouch come in at 5 th East section 5 th Open velocity 1617 ypm. Unfortunately, the number I have for the Hammonds is unobtainable so I have no details on their pigeon. Topping the Centre section with the old birds as well as the young birds was one to Kenny Wise of Islewoth on 1609 ypm. Again no details available through being unable to contact. Multiple BICC and NFC National winners Dave and Gary Heywood come in at 6 th East section 7 th Open on 1600 ypm. Dave and Gary clocked a great grand daughter of The Blue Laureat from JPS Lofts and a sister to their NFC winner Celebration. They sent 7 and had 5 in 6 minutes. Can t be bad.

15 Canvey Island fancier, Frank Aloisio timed a bird on 1591 ypm to finish at 7 th East section 8 th Open. This is a Busschaert that has been raced on the north road before being switched south to Guernsey. Then we have Neil Emberson of Chatham who clocked on 1590 ypm to finish at 8 th East section 9 th Open. Here s Neil s take on the race:- I would first like to congratulate Micky Watts for another great win in both young birds and old bird Nationals. My pigeon is a fantastic hen for me. She is a two year old Van Reet from my father s family of Van Reets. She is closely related to his 1st open NFC winner named Ellie who is her grandmother. This hen has won 1st club,5th mid Kent Fed Exeter;17th Kent Combine;1st club Truro,20th Mid Kent Fed;1st club Kingsdown,3rd mid Kent Fed and last year in the BICC Guernsey she was 57th section 137th open. She was sent to Guernsey sitting on 14 day eggs. P Jackson of Bromley comes in with his first in the clock to take 9 th East section 10 th Open vel 1582 ypm. First arrival was a 2 year old chequer hen which is a direct daughter of the Jackson s ace racer Black Jack when paired to a full sister of their LSECC Winner Old Hens Guernsey. These pigeons bred down through the SARS lines of JOS THONE. The second arrival just 1 second behind was blue hen, another 2 year old, which is bred down though the partners National winning line. These are down through JOS THONE s ace producer SUMO. Both hens have been lightly raced due to work commitments and are raced on a jealousy system. Around the sections and as with the young bird report the first three in the East section have been covered in the top ten Open winners. Centre

16 section winner is Kenny Wise which finished at 6th Open followed by one to T & J Gunn to take 2 nd section on 1559 ypm. We then see Newhaven fancier D Deveson come in with a bird on 1551 ypm for 3 rd section. In the North East section the winner was clocked by David Downing on 1535 ypm. David had a good days racing as he also featured at 2 nd NE section with the young birds Here s what he had to tell me about the old bird race:- I sent five yearling hens to this race having decided at the end of the OB season to have a go at the OB race for the first time. I selected a team of six to work with four hens who had flown as widowhood hens and performed well and two who had been used as widow hens for my racing cocks - and put them in the YB section and have conditioned, trained and raced them each week with the YBs in our local club. First through the trap was a Hardy Kruger bred from direct Premier Lofts stock. This hen had raced well in the OB season scoring three times but had not paired with a young cock so I did not think she was that motivated! Right behind her recording the same second on the ETS was a Vandenabeele bred out of a g-son of Benetton paired to my best stock hen from my original Heslop and Evans foundation pair that have bred me 20+ winners again of predominantly Benetton lines. This hen again had also raced well in the OB season and I fancied her as she was keen sitting on eggs paired to a young cock. I was really pleased with the way the team came on the day having two together and a further one a few minutes later to provisionally win 1 st 2 nd and 4 th section with the final two home within 35 minutes to all figure provisionally in the top ten in the section. R/U here is one to Graham Seaman of Dickleborough on 1493 ypm. This is a 2 yr old hen now named Eve racing on the natural. She was bred for Graham by Trevor Booth of Lincolnshire. Her sire is 'Adam' a half brother to Marcel Sangers 'Young Gun, the Dam was bred through lines of Verbart 46 and Magnum Force. Having clocked a few birds close together Graham may well have a number of other pigeons well up on the section result.

17 Norwich fanciers G & J Hunt finish off the top three in the NE section with a bird on 1458ypm. Here s what Gary had to tell me:- My partnership is G+J Hunt My dad John Hunt is holding my first yb which is 8th NE section and I'm holding my first old hen 3 rd NE section 41 st open. The old hen is through Mick Bundy s Gabby Vandenabeele blood, Eisenhower x One so wonderful lines. She has won for me before in the strong Diss and District RPC and was sent to Guernsey sitting eggs. North Central section winner on 1423 ypm was clocked by R Holmes of Lower Fulney. Dudley s hen is proving to be a very reliable bird. She is a direct daughter of Dudley s BICC Le Mans winner when paired to a daughter of 3 rd open MNFC and 1 st section winner from NRCC. She started the season being used as a mate for a widowhood cock. She was then exercised and had a few races on a form of roundabout, winning 4 th Section in the NFC Jarnac/ Fougeres race. At the end of the OB racing season, she was allowed to lay and has been trained with the young birds in preparation for Guernsey. T Head of Willington takes 2 nd NC section velocity 1418 ypm. Clive Brown of Alconbury comes in with a bird on 1406 ypm for 3 rd NC section. This is the same chequer pied Jan Aarden hen that was 1 st NC section in the 2016 BICC Le Mans race for Clive. North West section winner is none other than Rushwick fancier John Rodway who clocked a bird on 1287 ypm to take the red rosette yet again. This is what John had to tell me about his latest section winner:- The bird is a blue chq hen competing in her first race of 2017,

18 having had just one trainer from Purbeck, the previous week with the Malvern Club Young birds. This hen has never had a mate and just lives on her own perch with both the young and old birds. The race for myself was rather erratic; flown in a strong and sometimes blustery west wind, which meant that the birds were well out to the East and spaced out. My returns on the day were 9 out of 13 old birds and 2 out of 3 young birds. May I extend my thanks to the Evesham Marking station, to Gavin Duggan and his helpers, and also to you Gareth for all your hard work reporting for the BICC. Ray Scriven of Alveley comes in next on 1252 ypm with Nigel Matthews timer on 1235 ypm taking third North West section. John and son David Staddon top the West section with a bird on 1239 ypm. This is what David had to tell me about their latest section winning performance:- Once again a great race from the BICC with the birds returning in immaculate condition as usual. Our huge congratulations to Micky Watts on a fabulous race and all section winners in both races and a special mention for the young birds that flew into Plymouth & Penzance into the teeth of a gale force westerly wind. Outstanding courage. The wind was gale force westerly here in Somerset so we were thrilled to time two hens close together to win provisionally 1st & 2nd west section against the wind with the birds making a much quicker time than I had predicted. The two hens, both yearlings, are full sisters. The section winner has been a good hen already this year wining 3rd west section 706 birds, 5th Open against 4065 birds in the first BICC race this year from Falaise. The two hens are bred from our Mark Gilbert pigeons. Mark continues to be a massive help in our success offering good advice when asked, as well as supplying top class bloodlines. The sire is a grand son of Southfield Supreme, Drum, Gerrie & Lazergun and has been a prolific breeder for us with a son winning, 2nd sec 3rd open BICC 2017 & 5th section 18th open NFC Messac 2016 winning over 1000 in pools. The dam is a daughter of our Miracle Pair from Mark Gilbert. These are without doubt some of the fastest and most reliable pigeons we have

19 ever owned. The Miracle Pair have bred 4 x 1st WOESRC; 2nd NFC, 4th NFC, 4th BICC, 9th BICC plus many more top performances. Both hens were sent sitting eggs after being repaired after the Jarnac/Fougeers NFC race. They will be kept on the go for the next few weeks in the OH races. We'd also like to say well done to Gary & Prilly Hodges our club mates from Glastonbury FC who win 3rd section, with other timers likely to fill 4th & 5th section too. This is a good pick me up for Gary who has spent some time in hospital recently. Thanks for the kind comments Dave. The Templecombe husband and wife partnership of Mr & Mrs Hodges take the r/u spot on 1210 ypm. Here s what the Hodges had to tell me:- First of all we would like to congratulate the winner Mr Watts and all the section winners especially our club mates and good friends John & David Staddon on being likely 1st & 2nd section. The bird we timed is a Roger Lowe x Mark Gilbert. raced on the jealousy system ( two hens to one cock.) all season but for her last two races she was sent sitting.in her previous race with the NFC she was 4 th section 64 th open and now 3 rd section BICC. We ll have to try her on squeakers next. We also clocked two more hens on 1204 & 1189 that could be 4 th & 5 th section. Clive and Jill Rogers and Neil Sales have enjoyed a good season s racing with the BICC and here they are in once again at 3 rd West section velocity 1187 ypm. Their timer is a yearling chequer hen. She was bred from a cock purchased from Terry Preddy of High Littleton aptly called The Palamos Cock as he was 7 th Open, 3 rd Section BBC Palamos. The dam was a hen purchased from Ray Strawbridge of Newport which came from Ray s old family of winning bloodlines, which go back to the Padfield Family s The Don. Clive, Jill & Neil would like to congratulate Micky Watts on his top

20 performance, winning both the young and any age races and also, in particular those in the West Section who were flying against the strong west wind to time young birds in both Cornwall and Wales. Once again, I have to apologize if the detail on some birds is sparse and in other cases non existent. I have done my best to contact as many fanciers as possible in the time allowed if I am to meet the publication deadline. Why some fanciers fail to contact me with their pigeons details mystifies me. I can only do so much to help you. Rita Good has asked me to thank on her behalf all the members who attended her marking station at South Ockenden and stayed behind to help load up the transporter. Well done lads your help and consideration is much appreciated by the old girl. Finally, some information on a gallant little battler that returned from the recent Perpignan International race to its home loft in Cardiff after I had submitted my report on the race. This is a 3 year old widowhood cock that recorded a velocity of 299 mpm over the 682 mile course to finish at 2 nd West section. The proud owner is Keith Donnelly and the breeder was Colin Neale. This one contains all the best of Little Meg, Indy, Marseille King and Euro Diamond in his genetic make up. He also has some previous performances with the BICC scoring at Poitiers this season and also taking 161 st Open BICC Pau International and now 2 nd section 29 th Open BICC Perpignan plus 2 nd Open Gwent Greater Distance Club. Gareth Watkins