NORTH WEST GRAND NATIONAL FLYING CLUB
The Annual Prize Presentation will be at Blackpool, Saturday the 21st January 2012.
The North West Grand National Nation Flying Club held its annual prize presentation and dinner dance at the Ruskin Hotel, date as usual Saturday of the Blackpool Pigeon Weekend when sixty members and guests enjoyed the usual top quality four course meal. As Brian Smith of the R & B Smith partnership said, ‘I have been to plenty of presentation but for quality of food, warmth, banter and sheer relaxed atmosphere he enjoys this one the best.
Chairing the evening, Rob Owen retiring secretary first thanked the club sponsors Alan Bamford and the NWHU. He went on to praise the National performances of some of the members present including R & B Smith 1st open MNFC Carentan and Green & Hilson 2nd open NFC Fougeres. Also noted that each of the clubs race winners had timed multiple entries in the top ten when winning the race and just a glance at the result had proved they were worthy winners indeed.
Rob went on to the current year and mentioned the changes the club where currently undergoing with the new web site NWGNFC.CO.UK being well received. The club had also purchased a new result package which would enable the club full race and financial management when fully implemented over the next few years. In the coming all races would be again transported by Diane Bonney and Keith Iddon the channel programme starting at Caranten on the 26th May, Fougeres on the 9th of June and Messac on the 23rd of Junes. The young bird races and dates where yet to be decided but where likely to be Portsmouth and Littlehampton.
The chief guest of the evening was Neil Blakemore, president of one of the largest organisations in the North West namely of Liverpool Amalgamation. As Rob mentioned he was a very close friend of Neil’s having started with him in partnership in 1964 flying as Owen & Blakemore and they had remained in constant touch to the present day. Neil thanked the club for inviting him to such a prestigious presentation and he was honoured to be in the company of so many good fanciers and indeed friends.
Falaise the first race was flown on the 28th May and a good percentage of members sent with plenty of pool money. Liberated @ 07:30 in a WSW wind the nationally known Bury loft of Green & Hilson put up a magnificent performance in having four birds together flying 337 miles and taking the first four positions in a good racing velocity. Also in the east section V Bebbington timed three in a minute all in the top ten. A performance that caught eye in the prevailing conditions of the day was Don McCartney flying 377 miles to the north west coastal town of Bolton le Sands and finishing 1st section B and 7th Open, magnificent! 1st West section and 10th Open previous winners the St. Helens loft of Molyneux & Hayes timed in a fancied bird whilst new member F. A. Wilson of Kendal flying 393 miles pushed Jim Sephton into second place in A.
What can one say about George Hilson and George Hilson? The have had a fabulous old bird season and in this race timed four in 36 seconds flying 377 miles into a north west wind. This one of several great team performances the partnership put up in season 2011. Who can forget the difficult NFC Cholet race when they timed 15 on the night with most lofts and indeed some sections struggling for birds? The loft also was first, second; fourth section L Saintes, another tough race with only a handful on the day. The loft regularly exchanges birds with Crammond & Wagstaff to the benefit of both lofts and yet again it was one of these exchange birds that took premier honours from Falaise. Winning a tidy £570 the birds where well fancied
Falaise Section B winner Don McCartney timed in his well-known champion ‘The Classic Cock’. This cock was voted ‘ace distance bird of the year’ in the NW Classic club when winning 1st section 2nd open Niort 547 miles He has also taken, 4th North Ashton 2-bird club Poiters. As I have stated Don race’s to Bolton-le-sands on the west coast so this was a brilliant performance on the day and of course it was another bird pooled to the hilt Don’s birds are Van Loons purchased from Staddon Bros and are of ‘golden pair’ lines. Don has found none to beat these up to now. Peter Heywood also enjoying a great season and always a threat in the NWGNFC had two together to win 2nd & 3rd section B.
The Falaise west section winner Molyneux & Hayes is a loft with a good record in NWGNFC races. Their winning bird has been very consistent this year some positions won being 11th Ormskirk West Amal Cheltenham, 10th Open 1st west section Falaise,.19th Open 5th west section Fougeres. On the sires side is a Janssen from Oak Villa Stud and on dams side Pouw Bros through Derek Pedley x Jan Kuijer through Steve Williams of Prestatyn. These have bred a NW Combine winner, also region meritorious award.
The North section into Cumbria timed plenty of birds and some of our new members in the Kendal area enjoyed the race. First section and 33rd open was Arthur Wilson and this good bird finished ten minutes clear of M & J Sephton and B. S. Wilson. Arthurs Section A winner a 3 year old Cheq Cock NW08X3004, in the 2010 season he was 7th Messac flying 452 miles and 7th Niort flying 564 miles in the Kendal & Lakes H/S .The sire SU05AF1874 was a gift bird from D&D Hay of Inverbervi, Montrose In 2008 season club racing 4th Lessay, 4th Fougeres, 2nd Messac, 1st Niort. Four races between 380 miles and 550 miles. Dam was a GB06AF1830 a gift bird from J&J Edwards of Inverbervi. Jim Sephton’s 2nd section bird was bred by Jim himself from Preston ace Joe Dorning’s national winning stock
The Fougeres race a fortnight later was another good test of fitness and quality, and once more the champion loft of Green and Hilson came out on top with one of the best velocities out of Fougeres on the day. The loft continued on top form by clocking five birds at 366 miles in just a few minutes and it took another top loft R & B Smith’s excellent 1st West Section 2nd Open winner to prevent a clean sweep. Mr & Mrs Jefferson, Dave Brookfield and 1st section B winner Don McCartney in yet another outstanding performance completed the top ten. Order was restored in the Cumbria section A with one of Cumbria top lofts Johnson & Lilleby making a mockery out of their loft position and taking top honours for the umpteenth time although B. Blamire gave them a run for their money.
As I stated in the east section Green & Hilson 1st,3rd,4th,5th, & 6th open made the race appear easy although not the case. Two of the birds time where also in the first six from Falaise with 31898 surely in the running for bird of the year having a 1stt & 3rd open to its credit. Mr & Mrs Jefferson 6th east section 7th Open winning the nom was also worthy of note. I had a chat with George Hilson and he was over the moon with the lofts performances particularly over the channel, and was full of enthusiasm for the tasks ahead.
1st West section and 2nd Open R & B Smith is another top loft on superb form.Well done to them for their Midlands National win and well deserved after some narrow misses. Their section winner ‘84’ was one of the performances of the race. Yet another top hen for the loft and a previous top performer having won of 2nd club 9th fed Lulworth,3rd club, 15th fed Mangosfield.1st section 2nd open N.W.G.N, Fougeres, 1st St Helens 3 bird Fougeres. 6th North West Nantes open yearling Fougeres. This hen blossoms out of Fougeres.
1st B section 9th Open Don McCartney put in another performance which defied loft position and the strong west wind. His timer, the ‘49’ cock previously won 2nd section,7th open N.W. Classic club beaten by his loft mate, again a Staddon Bros of ‘golden pair’ lines. The bird was pooled to the hilt for another good pay day for Don. Peter Heywood timed the next three in the section timing three birds in just a few seconds over the 386 miles. What good consistent flying!
1st A section for the umpteenth time was Barrow loft of Johnson & Lilleby. When you see where Barrow is on the map you can see there is no hiding place for these birds in this loft has some of the best distance De Klacks anywhere. They are simply outstanding tough birds and the loft thinks nothing of doubling them back the week after in cross channel racing. This loft won the GB middle distance award from the RPRA in 2009. They have proved time and time again that there is no substitute for quality and they are simply the loft to beat in Cumbria particularly at the distance.
The final race of the old bird programme was Messac and after a one day hold over the birds where liberated at 06:45 in an ESE wind. As always with east in the wind and poor visibility on the south coast the race proved somewhat unpredictable for some and yet others had 100% returns.
Winning 1st, 2nd & 3rd Sec B and 1st 3rd and 4th Open with a great team performance was Peter Heywood and after Don McCartney just holding him off in the first two races in section B there was no stopping Peter from Messac. A well-deserved winner with five birds in the top nine positions in the race. Paul Hart 1st East Section, 2nd Open and Dave Brookfield 1st West Section 5th Open prevented a clean sweep. Section A had a great race with Palmer & Shields and Johnson and Lilleby being 12th and 14th Open respectively.
Peter reports that their 1st Open, 1st section B was an M & D Evans ‘Vandenabelle’ with Shadow Ebony Jester and Carrie in her pedigree, named Miss Katrisse. Her mate was lost four days before basketing for the race, which resulted in her sulking and lifting from her eggs. Later Peter observed her showing up to a young bird outside the aviary so put her with him the day before basketing and look what happened. She is a very consistent racer scoring in Bamfords Gold Ring Race last year and 2nd Bamber Bridge Open from Stafford this year. Peter has won eleven first in Club race and eleven positions in the first four in the Federation including two 1sts. Other achievements for 2011 Old Bird Racing Season are 2nd N.L.W. Two- Bird Cholet, 11th and 12th Open NWGN Falaise.12th 13th 14th 29th 37th Open NWGN Fougeres, 1st 3rd 4th 8th 9th Open NWGN Messac2nd Central Lancs Combine
1st West section 5th Open belongs to David Brookfield of Croston. This 3 year old hen had previously won 2nd West Section (8th Open) in the NWGN Fougeres race two weeks earlier. After racing well on the roundabout system as a yearling, including 15th Open NWGNFC Falaise, she disappointed as a 2-y-o and, for 2011, was raced as a natural pigeon. Following two land races, she was sent to the NWGNFC Fougeres sitting and, for the Messac race, was feeding a five day old youngster. The hen is the product of the mating of two gift birds. The sire came from Les Barrow of Blackpool from his Wonder 05. The dam was bred by Scammell and Peploe of Garndiffaith, South Wales.
Many of David's best birds originate from the Scammell & Peploe lofts. An annual exchange of youngsters was instigated many years ago between Paul Peploe and George Baybutt, David's friend and helper. They were work colleagues and saw each other often during George's visits to the factory in South Wales. David's mealy cock that won 1st Section, 1st Open in this race last year was sired by an S&P cock, and his NW Combine winning bird in 2008 was part of this exchange and was bred at the lofts in South Wales. The S&P pigeons have proved to be tough birds that excel at distance racing. In fact, Scammel & Peploe have recently taken 1st and 2nd positions in the Welsh SR National from Cholet, demonstrating how these birds find form at this stage of the season. The South Wales' pigeons together with a family of Gevaerts from David's friend, Richard Gaskell of Leigh, form the basis of David's racing team.
1st East section and 2nd Open was Paul Hart. Paul has been excellent all year especially over the water taking good positions nationally, combine, fed and club level and it was no surprise to see him hit the top sport in the section, this two year old self bred widowhood hen, was a fed winner as a yearling and is bred down from Paul’s Jan Grondelaer stock.
1st A section and 12th open Messac flying 438 miles Palmer & Shields. Isn’t it great
to see all four sections represented so high up in the result? Terry Palmer & Dave
Shields cheq hen
was sent sitting 10 day eggs; her sire was bred by Dave's good friend
Gerald Thurston with the dam being one Dave brought at the late Jimmy Cowan’s bereavement
sale. She wasn't raced as a young bird, but has been a good steady racer always there
or there about. Prep for this race
was a few inland races and the early NWGNFC Falaise.
Dave is a dyed in the wool fancier from the north east who was bitten by the pigeon
bug early and just loves distance racing, it must be contagious as Terry his partner
who at one time hated waiting for birds from the distance but is now getting the
buzz of seeing them come the water. Dave who hasn't enjoyed the best of health.
The first young bird race early September was from Southsea. In what proved a difficult race there was evidence of some clashing with the MNFC race which liberated 15 minutes early from nearby Chale and members had birds reported into Yorkshire. Defying the west wind to put a great performance on the day flying to one of the most westerly locations Hesketh Bank partnership Alan Jones and son Steven took 1st Open, 1st West Section timing a couple of good birds into the top ten. Indeed Hesketh Bank and the Southport area had a cracking race compared to other sections. Derek McGrath, Mick Burns amongst others in the money. Hesketh Bank members usually perform exceptionally well in the longer young bird races no doubt the schooling on Alan Jones training service being used to good effect. Ste Jones enjoyed the presentation and was enthusiastic about the Brian Denney he has introduced. The North Section into Cumbria had a torrid time with the rain failing to clear, returns were sparse. Clear winner was Stan Heywood with one of his Soontjen’s. Stan had a good young bird series and tells me he has purchased some Jan Arden’s to have a go at the distance national races. M. Evan, B Lloyd, J New & Son and Johnson & Lilleby where other members timing game birds at the distance. Over in the East Section Mr & Mrs Jefferies took first prize from the Maylett & Crack partnership, whilst Maurice McCartney & Son timed a cracker to take Section B from John Salthouse & Son. It was good to see all sections represented in the top twenty.
A fortnight later the club was at Portland when the birds where liberated in a South West wind. In this race the East Section dominated the race led from the front by a magnificent performance by sprint aces Wall, Green and Lunt. The partnership timed sixteen birds in just a few minutes to blitz the opposition. Wonderful flying and par for the course for this partnership. Other top timers being G. Holker & Sons, Maylett & Crack and Hilson and Green. Peter Heywood and Jim Kenyon dominated Section B with birds tumbling in, whilst over in the West Section Naylor Bros confirmed their top class young bird form by winning the West Section. The St Helens Smith dynasty in the shape of gold ring ace Alex Smith and the powerful R & B Smith team took other top honours in the West Section. Once again section A was won by Stan Heywood of Kendal who was first and second. Also timing good birds A & K Young, ex Rainhill fancier Frank Blick in the Kendall & Blick partnership and John New & Son.
George Hilson & George Hilson deservedly collected highest prize winners and all average winners. Their performances this year have put them in the highest bracket amongst the countries elite.
Peter Heywood another North West ace was runner-up. Peter has a wonderful record in the club and to see him time five or six birds at 400 miles plus in just a few minutes makes you realise the quality of the lofts. Whilst third highest prize-winners where North West legends R & B Smith.
Special mention to West Section combined average winners Frost, Owen & Moss and North Section combined average winners, one of Cumbria’s most powerful lofts, Johnson & Lilleby.
Rob Owen
The NWGNFC have a new secretary in Niki Waterhouse. Ring sales have gone well including Gold rings and the club can look forward to 2012 with confidence having plenty of new members joining once more in the last few months.
Photographs here