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Details: Published: 01 January 2020; Hits: 612

AROUND THE UP NORTH COMBINE

by Keith Simpson

SKELTON GREEN HS 2014 PRIZE PRESENTATION

Skelton Green H/S held their 2014 prize presentation evening at the North Skelton Workingmen’s Club, and once again it was a very good turnout for the Clubs biggest event of the year. Once again my sister Shirley, Hayden and me were invited along to celebrate the members big night, unfortunately I missed the start of the evening as I had being visiting Carole in hospital after her operation. Charlie & Nancy Featherstone were chief guests, with Charlie being a former Skelton Green member. Charlie was a member for many years with him starting up in the late 1960s just as the world was putting the first man on the man, and I’m sure if Charlie had being asked to join the mission his footprints would be carved on the moon. Charlie’s loft was located on top of the hills where mountain goats would have feared to roam, Charlie with his little dog by his side had to carry water and corn daily through rain, hail, snow or blow. Charlie has enjoyed success in various partnerships over the years, and even after officially leaving the sport he still kept his hand in, as a sleeping partner to Tony Bannister, with the two lads achieving their fair share of success. The hard working Brotton H/S secretary Terry Callan and his partner Cath were also guests for the evening, Terry has helped the Club out when ever asked about a query about anything to do with the running of the Club. The members had pulled together again in 2014 which is always a great help, with the members sending 5,808 birds which is only a drop of 60 birds on the previous season. I would like to thank the members of Skelton Green for once again inviting us along to their prize night and for Carole’s gift. I also wish them all the best for the 2015 racing season, in the hope that no members get called up for the Must Try Harder prize. After the presentation the group came on for their first spot, which was followed by the pie & peas and the raffle. The rest of the night was enjoyed listening to the music and seeing the crowd take to the dance floor.

Now for Skelton Green H/S list of prize-winners for the 2014 racing season. Alan Beverley took to the floor to receive his Must Try Harder Award; Alan bred a big winner a couple of years ago in one of the Scottish National races, and has previously pulled some good performances from the channel. Jackie Wynn of the Andrew & Jackie Wynn partnership also took to the floor to receive their Must Try Harder Award, as Andrew was hiding behind the loud speakers. Andrew has run out of drawing boards to go back too, so Jackie has banned him from the cocks loft and she has taken full charge, so everyone is expecting a big improvement on their 2015 racing performances. Eion Richardson was the scorer of 1pt with the lad notching up 34th Fed out of old bird Newark before chalking up 6th Club Peterborough. Mr & Mrs Andy Thompson also had one prize card pocketing 2pts with them being potted at Lillers when 5th Club, 20th Fed was taken. Tank Commander Des Williams and his right hand man Roger Wall netted three times with the young birds scoring 1 x 3rd and 2 x 6th Clubs, with the dynamic duo’s first chalk being achieved at Worksop (2) when a couple of babies were timed to chalk up a useful 3rd and 6th Club. Two weeks later when the birds were at Peterborough a single bird was clocked to notch up 6th Club. A couple of days after the prize night I told Hayden that Des used to drive a tank in the Army, so just a word of warning to Des, that the next time they meet Hayden will be wanting to know all about the tank you used to drive. Ian “Evo” Everington was the potter of 2 x 2nd, 1 x 4th, 3 x 6th Clubs and 16pts, Evo got on the score board at old bird Selby when he took 6th Club and then notched up 35th Fed out of the Eastbourne (1) National. The former Loftus H/S and Marske & New Marske member next netted at Peterborough after clocking a couple of his timers to lift 2nd and 4th Club, with the blue card scorer pocketing 26th Fed and the yellow card potter lifting 40th Fed. A week later when the birds were at Rivenhall (2) a single bird was timed to take 2nd Club, 16th Fed, and that was followed up by timing three birds at the Eastbourne (2) National to notch up 6th Club, 19th, 30th and 35th Fed. The loft of Roche, Terry “Benno” & Daniel Bennison & Crame scored seven times in 2014 with the boys scoring 4 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, 1 x 5th, 1 x 6th Clubs and 27pts. The lads got off the mark at old bird Selby when they chalked up 2nd Club, 28th Fed; the partnership were in the frame for the second week running at Newark when two birds were timed to lift a notable 3rd Club, 4th and 22nd Fed. Moving onto Melton Mowbray (1) where another couple of their entries were on the clock to pocket a useful 2nd and 6th Club, 18th and 40th Fed; this was followed up by timing a single bird at Melton Mowbray (2) to chalk up 5th Club, 27th Fed. The forever trying Benno & Daniel returned to the frame at Melton Mowbray (4) where they scored 2nd Club, 13th Fed, and the lads followed that up by chalking up 2nd Club Melton Mowbray (5). The partnership of Jaki Bowden & Terry Treloar were the winners of 3 x 1st, 1 x 3rd, 2 x 4th Clubs and 28pts, the duo hit the winners’ enclosure on day one when they won 1st Club, 21st Fed from old bird Selby when there were 2,204 birds competing. Jaki & Terry who took over the loft and birds of Jaki’s late father Ron “Bonzo” Bowden a couple of years ago recorded their second consecutive win in fantastic style at Newark when they won a most impressive 1st Club, 1st East Cleveland Federation from a convoy of 2,596 birds. A couple of birds were on the clock at Lillers to pocket 30th and 39th Fed; Jaki & Terry who are great workers for the Club got back to their winning ways at Melton Mowbray (3), when their red card winner who topped the Club charts by 3 minutes went onto score a very impressive 2nd Fed out of a entry of 1,305 birds. Moving onto the Eastbourne (3) National where the duo chalked up 3rd Club, 33rd Fed. Jaki & Terry netted twice with the young birds with them potting the yellow at Worksop (2) and they followed that up a week later by chalking up 4th Club, 23rd Fed Melton Mowbray. Jaki & Terry have done really well in their short time in the sport; some of their performances have shown they can mix with the best of them. Your dad would of being proud of you Jaki.

Mr Tony “Simply The Best” Bannister & Col Robinson netted thirteen times throughout the season, with the two lads winning 3 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 2 x 4th, 2 x 5th, 4 x 6th Clubs scoring a total of 59pts. Banno & Col had three of their entries on the clock at old bird Newark to notch up 6th Club, 13th, 21st & 23rd Fed; and they followed that up my netting a useful 2nd Club, 5th Fed out of the Eastbourne (1) National. Banno & Col who have flown in the Club a great number of years but only went into partnership a couple of years ago, after Col joined Banno at their current loft location, hit the winners enclosure at Melton Mowbray (1) after timing a couple of birds to win a enjoyable 1st and 5th Club, 17th and 34th Fed when there were 1,796 birds away. The following week when the birds were at Rivenhall (1) the boys clocked another two birds to chalk up a useful 2nd and 6th Club, 3rd and 30th Fed. The partnership were in the frame for the third race running at Reims (1), the second of five channel races of the season, when they won 1st Club by a awesome 24 minutes and to go onto win a top notch 1st Federation by 7 minutes from an entry of 330 birds, with the Federation chart-topper also going onto score a most impressive 22nd Up North Combine from a convoy of 5,195 birds. Its top performances like this that makes you wonder if Tina Turner was really singing about Banno in her hit “Simply The Best”. Banno & Col were in the points for the fourth consecutive race at Melton Mowbray (3) when the inform duo clocked a couple of their entries to net 4th and 5th Club, 37th and 41st Fed. The boys next points were notched up at Melton Mowbray (4) where they timed a single bird to lift 3rd Club, 33rd Fed. The laid back Banno & Col’s first young bird points were achieved at Worksop (1) when they timed a couple of their entries to pocket a useful 4th and 6th Club, and their next points came at Melton Mowbray when 6th Club was notched up. Banno & Col were in the frame again at Rivenhall when the duo took 2nd Club, 17th Fed, the lads season came to a close when they had two babies in the clock to chalk up a notable 3rd Club, 7th and 37th Fed.

Alan & David Wright scored nineteen times to win 3 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 4 x 4th, 4 x 5th, 2 x 6th Clubs and 67pts, Alan & David were also the Winners of the Channel Average with 58pts, R/U Old Bird Combine Average with 67pts and Winners of the Channel Bird Of The Year, with 9pts. The lads started the old bird season scoring from the first 4 races with them notching up 5th Club at Selby and then followed that up by taking 5th Club, 9th Fed out of Newark, before potting the yellow at Huntingdon. Alan & David recorded their first win of the season at the Eastbourne (1) National after clocking a couple of their squad to win 1st and 6th Club, 4th and 23rd Fed when there were 1,341 birds competing. After being out of the frame at Melton Mowbray (1), no fewer than five birds were on the clock a week later at Lillers to pocket a notable 2nd and 3rd Club, 11th, 13th, 32nd, 33rd and 38th Fed. Alan & David scored from the second channel race running when they timed three of their entries to net a useful 3rd and 4th Club, 11th, 27th and 35th Fed. The lads were back in the channel frame again at Reims (2) after clocking a couple of birds 33 minutes apart to win a top notch 1st and 2nd Club, 4th and 13th Fed out of a entry of 205 birds. Alan & David have flown a notable channel Pigeon in their time together, winning the Club channel average a number of times and in 2014 they had scored in three of the previous four water races. The lads flew an outstanding Pigeon from the Ypres World War 1 Centenary race after timing no less than six of their entries to win a most impressive 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Club, 2nd, 17th, 18th, 21st, 27th and 36th Fed out of 661 birds, with the lads red card winner being 38 minutes in front of their blue card scorer to polish off a great channel season. The late Peter Winspear & Son in their first full season back in the sport, headed by the whistle blowing Derek and his son Mark chalked sixteen times to win 4 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 5 x 3rd, 4 x 4th Clubs and a total of 82pts. Derek & Mark started their 2014 racing campaign by netting 3rd Club, 29th Fed at old bird Selby, and followed that up the next race by potting a notable 4th Club, 7th Fed. After notching up 31st Fed out of the Eastbourne (1) National, the two lads timed a couple of birds at Melton Mowbray (1) to pocket a nice 2nd and 6th Club, 4th and 41st Fed. Derek & Mark were not doing bad for themselves as they were only racing a team of yearlings, they did ok again at Rivenhall (1) when they clocked another couple of birds to chalk up a useful 3rd and 4th Club, 12th and 20th Fed. All Derek & Mark’s hard work paid off when they broke their duck at Peterborough, when their red card winner went onto score a useful 12th Fed from a convoy of 1,586 birds. Still reeling from their first win, the father & son partnership were in the frame again a week later when the birds were at Rivenhall (2), after timing two birds to lift 3rd and 5th Club with their green card potter going onto net 17th Fed. Moving onto the young birds where Derek & Mark got off to an earth-shattering start at Selby (1) when eight youngsters dropped together and timed in the space of 11 seconds to win the first 8 Club positions. The lads made it two young bird wins out of two at Selby (2) after timing three squabs to win a top notch 1st, 3rd and 4th Club. The inform Derek & Mark recorded their third consecutive young bird win at Worksop (1) when the duo timed a couple of babies to win 1st and 5th Club, with the red card winner going onto chalk up 32nd Fed when there were 2,158 birds competing. The boys were in the frame for the fourth race running at Worksop (2) when then timed a single bird to pocket 5th Club, the partnership returned to the frame at Rivenhall to net 6th Club, 22nd Fed and that was followed up by taking 3rd Club, 22nd Fed at the Maidstone National. I’m sure Derek & Mark will be looking to improve on their old bird racing season now they will have a team of 2 year olds to help their yearlings out.

The loft of Bill Chapman, Sons Steve & Colin & (The Late) Tommy Swinburne have flown a outstanding Pigeons for a great number of years winning many Club and Federation averages including 2 x 1st Up North Combine. In 2014 Bill, Colin & Steve netted twenty eight times winning 6 x 1st, 7 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 7 x 4th, 6 x 5th and 5 x 6th Clubs. The very highly successful Bill, Steve & Colin were also R/U Old Bird Inland Average on 57pts, Winners of the Young Bird Average with 63pts, R/U Combined Average with a total of 121pts, and JT Winners of the Young Bird Of The Year, with two of youngsters scoring 13pts each. The lads season started when they pocketed 4th Club, 37th Fed at old bird Selby and followed that up by netting an impressive 2nd Club, 2nd Fed out of Newark. Then they notched up 6th Club from Huntingdon and took 5th Club, 21st Fed at the Eastbourne (1) National, after missing out at Melton Mowbray (1) the boys were back in the frame at Lillers to take 6th Club, 27th Fed. Bill, Colin & Steve were in the points again at Melton Mowbray (2) where they netted 4th Club with their yellow card potter going onto chalk up 23rd Fed. A couple of birds were on the clock at Melton Mowbray (3) to collect 2nd and 6th Club, with the boys blue card scorer going onto pot 20th Fed. A single bird was timed at Peterborough to lift 3rd Club, 34th Fed; and then a week later when the birds were at the Eastbourne (2) National no fewer than five of their entries were timed to lift 3rd and 5th Club, 13th, 17th, 28th, 36th and 39th Fed. Bill, Steve & Colin recorded their first win of 2014 at Melton Mowbray (4) when they timed no less than four birds to win an enjoyable and very impressive 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th Club, 1st, 26th and 27th Fed when there were 874 birds competing, with their red card winner topping the Club charts by 5 minutes. The hard working partnership hit the winners’ enclosure for the second consecutive race at the Eastbourne (3) National after the lads clocked three of their squad to win a top notch 1st, 2nd and 6th Club, with the winner scoring 12th Fed and the blue card potter going onto net 15th Fed out of an entry of 788 birds, and then a single bird was timed at Melton Mowbray (5) to lift 4th Club. The boys enjoyed a cracking young bird season with them scoring in eight of the nine races, with them only failing to score from the first race which is an outstanding record by anyone’s standards. Bill, Steve & Colin timed a single baby at Selby (2) to lift 2nd Club, and they followed that up by timing a couple of birds at Worksop (1) to chalk up a notable 2nd and 3rd Club. The lads recorded their first of four young bird wins at Worksop (2) when their red card winner went onto net 28th Fed when there were 2,310 birds competing. Young bird win number two off the belt was achieved at Melton Mowbray when their pole position winner that topped the Club charts by 4 minutes went onto win an outstanding 1st East Cleveland Federation from a convoy of 1,897 birds. A week later when the birds were at Peterborough two birds were on the clock to lift 4th and 5th Club, with the yellow card potting baby going onto notch up 40th Fed. At Rivenhall three birds were on the clock to pocket 4th and 5th Club, 20th, 21st and 28th Fed. Bill, Colin & Steve had their youngsters on song with a number of top performances so far, and they continued their good form when no fewer than four of their Maidstone National entries won a top notch 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Club, 5th, 21st, 26th and 29th Fed when there were 993 birds competing. With the partnerships red card winner going onto chalk up 70th Up North Combine from a convoy of 10,755 birds. Bill, Steve & Colin rounded off their outstanding young bird season in the winners’ enclosure when they timed two birds in the space of 2 seconds to win a very impressive 1st and 2nd Club, 2nd and 3rd Fed when there were 472 birds away.

Top prize-winners for 2014 was the loft of Bowden Bros, Mick & Boss who scored forty six times which is a fantastic achievement, winning 9 x 1st, 6 x 2nd, 9 x 3rd, 7 x 4th, 9 x 5th and 6 x 6th Clubs. Brothers Mick & Boss were the winners of the Old Bird Inland Average with 86pts, R/U Channel Average with 28pts, Winners of the Old Bird Combined Average with 114pts, R/U Young Bird Average with 51pts, Winners of the Combined Average with a total of 165pts. Mick & Boss were also the Winners of the “Ron “Bonzo” Bowden Memorial” Overall Combined Average Trophy, which must have given them great pleasure to win their late brothers trophy. Mick & Boss were also the Winners of the Old Bird Of The Year with 21pts. After taking 24th Fed out of old bird Newark, Mick & Boss hit the winners’ enclosure in great style at Huntingdon when the duo timed no fewer than four birds to win a awesome 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th Club, the red card winner who was 3 minutes in front of the lads second timer went onto score a notable 3rd Fed, while the blue card potter netted 35th Fed and the bird in the green card position took 36th Fed from a convoy of 2,483 birds. Three more birds were in the clock at the Eastbourne (1) National to pocket 3rd and 4th Club, 11th, 14th and 36th Fed and that was followed by taking 3rd and 4th Club, 24th and 27th Fed out of Melton Mowbray (1). Mick & Boss were in the points for the fourth race running at Lillers to record their second win after timing a couple of their entries to win a handy 1st and 4th Club, 3rd and 15th Fed when there were 829 birds away. The two lads were out of the points at Melton Mowbray (2) but returned to their winning ways at Rivenhall (1) when they clocked two of their team to win 1st and 5th Club and a notable 2nd and 25th Fed from a convoy of 1,612 birds. The brothers had a canny clocking day at Reims (1) when they timed three of their channel entries to notch up 2nd, 5th and 6th Club, 8th, 30th and 34th Fed. Moving onto Melton Mowbray (3) where 3rd Club, 33rd Fed was taken and that was followed by timing another single bird at Peterborough to pick up 5th Club. Onto the UNC longest race of the season Bourges, where the two lads clocked the only bird in race time in the Club to win a most impressive 1st Club, 2nd Fed out of 105 birds, where only 10 birds were clocked in the Fed in race time. Rivenhall (2) saw Mick & Boss record their fifth old bird win of the season when they timed two birds to win 1st and 4th Club, with their red card winner who won the Club by 4 minutes going onto score a very nice 3rd Fed and the duo’s yellow card potter netted 31st Fed when there were 1,392 birds away. Mick & Boss were in full flow again a week later at the Eastbourne (2) National when the boys timed no less than six of their birds to win a very happy 1st, 2nd and 4th Club, 2nd, 7th, 15th, 20th, 25th and 27th Fed. A single bird was clocked at Reims (2) to lift 3rd Club, 19th Fed and that was followed by timing a couple of birds at the Eastbourne (3) National to lift 4th and 5th Club. Mick & Boss rounded off their outstanding old bird season by timing no fewer than four birds at Melton Mowbray (5) the final old bird inland race of the 2014 racing season, to win a most impressive 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th Club. The two lads had three of their Ypres entries on the clock to chalk up 6th Club, 28th, 35th and 39th Fed. Next stop the young birds where Mick & Boss flew a very good youngster with some good performances along the way, to follow up their fantastic old bird season. The brothers first young bird points came at Selby (2) when a couple of their entries were on the clock to notch up 5th and 6th Club. Then a single baby was timed at Worksop (2) to pocket 2nd Club, 34th Fed; the lads enjoyed a good clocking day a week later at Melton Mowbray when no fewer than three birds were clocked to chalk up a notable 2nd, 3rd and 5th Club, 15th, 21st and 27th Fed. Things got better for Mick & Boss the following week at Peterborough when they timed three birds for the second race running to win an outstanding 1st, 2nd and 3rd Club, with the duo’s three timers going onto score 25th, 35th and 39th Fed from a convoy of 25th, 35th and 39th Fed. Mick & Boss were one of two lofts in top notch form with them standing toe to toe with the equally inform loft of Bill, Colin & Steve Chapman. It was like a tug-o-war match with Bill, Steve & Colin pulling and gaining ground one week and then Mick & Boss digging their heels in to gain a bit of ground in the search for the jewel in the crown. Mick had enjoyed much success over the years with much of that success being achieved when flying in the partnership of Bowden Bros (Mick) & Dave Drinkhall where the lads won 2 x 1st Up North Combines. Mick also flew a good Pigeon before that flying as Bowden Bros, with his late brother Stan. I often laugh to myself when thinking of Stan; he was a great lad and one of life’s characters who will always be greatly missed. Back to the present day where the Karaoke singing Boss who takes no credit for the brothers success, is enjoying their success. The two lads recorded their second consecutive young bird win of the season at Rivenhall when they timed two birds to win 1st and 3rd Club with the pole position winner who topped the Club charts by 3 minutes going onto score a very nice 3rd Fed, while the green card potting youngster went onto chalk up 18th Fed when there were 1,097 birds competing. That was followed up by taking 6th Club, 39th Fed out of the Maidstone National, and then three birds were clocked at Selby (3) to pot 4th, 5th and 6th Club, 9th, 10th and 11th Fed to round off a fantastic 2014 racing season.

That’s the Skelton Green presentation evening report over for another year, once again thank you for inviting me along to be part of it. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I wish you all a Happy And Peaceful New Year. With that I will close until next time. Any news to Good Corn 6 Boulby Drive Loftus Saltburn Cleveland TS13 4JN. Tel; 01287 643624 or Email; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hayden with Boss Bowden of Bowden Bros with their outstanding array of silverware

YB Ave winning Steve Chapman 6 x 1st, Benno 4 x 2nd etc, Andy Thompson 1 x 5th and his Good Lady.

Tony “Simply The Best” Bannister & Col Robinson winners of 3 x 1st Clubs and 1 x 1st Federation.

David Wright of A & D Wright the Channel Average Winners, and his Good Lady.

Hayden, Mike Johnson with Chapman, Sons & Swinburne’s Colin Chapman winners of The YB Average and YB Of The Year.

Charlie presenting the Must Try Harder Award to Jackie Wynn.

Mick Bowden of Bowden Bros, winners of the OB Ave, OB Combined Ave, Combined Ave and OB Of The Year receiving the Ron “Bonzo” Bowden Memorial Trophy from Jaki Bowden.