AROUND THE UP NORTH COMBINE
by Keith Simpson
2014 Young Birds
After a very difficult old bird racing season, every Up North Combine fancier was hoping for a lot better weather for the young bird season. But pigeon racing never works that way, for once again the weather saw put back races, later liberations and holdovers which saw losses again this season. A number of the losses can be blamed on unhealthy birds being sent, but I also believe a number of losses were caused due to some Federations pulling away from their Sections at the early races. Our Fed was one of them and I have to say this was very disappointing as it does not give the birds the chance to get split up, which results in most Clubs getting a batch of youngsters coming together and when I say batch, one week our Club had around 40 birds come together. That’s not pigeon racing. The youngsters are not getting any experience when this happens and this can cause problems at the later races when they rejoin their normal group. I can understand the longest flying members going a shorter distance for the early races as they are flying 60 odd miles further than the shortest flying lofts.
The young bird season got underway at Selby (Bubwith). The Marske & New Marske loft of Geoff Bavin & Son got off to a great start after filling no fewer than three cells to win a very impressive 1st, 2nd and 3rd Club. With pole position being won by a blue chequer hen bred from Jackie Traynor lines which were obtained by the late John Clayton, who was a very popular member of the Club. The blue card was awarded to another blue chequer hen, only this time the hen was of John Whitaker lines which have done very well for the Club members the past few years. Third in the clock was a blue cock, with the green card scorer youngster being the nestmate to Geoff’s chart-topper. Craig Wedgewood a life-long member of the Club and in his final season racing, pots the yellow with a blue hen of his John Whitaker family. Jimmy Reed was next with a blue cock bred from Jackie Traynor stock. The members never sent to Selby (2) but were back on the road a week later at Worksop (1) where we saw Craig Wedgewood hit the winners enclosure after timing a couple of his entries to win 1st and 5th Club. Top spot was won by a red cock bred down from John Whittaker of Bramley Lofts that went onto chalk up 30th East Cleveland Federation from a 77 members convoy of 2,158 birds. A brother to Craig’s winner won an outstanding 1st Club and 1st Fed Peterborough in 2013. Craig’s second timer was a blue hen that is the same way bred as his winner. Geoff Bavin & Son had another three birds in the frame to lift 2nd, 3rd and 4th Club, with the blue card going to a blue chequer hen from Jackie Traynor stock via late Clubmate John Clayton. The green card was netted by a blue chequer hen from Brown & Hunt x Jackie Traynor, John Clayton lines, and the yellow was potted by a blue chequer cock of the late Jack Brown & Tony Hunt x Brian Ransome of Dormanstown lines. Moving onto Worksop (2) where Geoff Bavin & Son record their second win in three races after timing a couple of babies to win 1st and 5th Club, leading the way for Geoff a onetime Dormanstown member was a red cock of former Clubmate Jack Brown & Tony Hunt x Jackie Traynor lines. Craig Wedgewood clocked no less than three birds to net a useful 2nd, 3rd and 4th Club, with the blue card being chalked up by a blue John Whittaker of Bramley Lofts x Brown & Hunt Verbreck cock. In cell two came a blue hen who is the nestmate to Craig’s blue card scorer, and the yellow card was taken by a chequer cock bred from John Whittaker stock. Jimmy Reed who enjoyed a cracking old bird season hit winning form at Melton Mowbray, in a race that saw the velocities drop from the previous races. Jimmy who has won more than his share of races and averages over the years filled three chambers to win 1st, 4th and 5th Club, with the red card winning baby being a blue cock. With the chart-toppers sire being a Wildemeersch paired to Jim’s Lillers hen who has flown very consistent from over the pond the past few years. The yellow was netted by a Brown & Hunt red cock and he was followed by a chequer Busschaert cock of Tom Gilbertson lines, to round off a good days racing. The inform loft of Geoff Bavin & Son continue to fill the cells after timing two of their entries to lift a useful 2nd and 3rd Club with the blue going to a red Brown & Hunt cock, and he was followed by a blue hen from the bloodlines of former Clubmate Ian “Evo” Everington.
Jimmy Reed recorded his second young bird win off the belt in great style at Peterborough, where the lad filled no fewer than four cells to win a top notch 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Club. Leading the way was a blue pied Homer & Williams x Brown & Hunt cock, while the green card was chalked up by a red Brown & Hunt cock. A mealy cock of Brown & Hunt lines takes 4th spot and he was followed by a blue cock bred down from stock obtained from Tom Gilbertson of Carlisle. Geoff Bavin & Son are in the frame for the fifth consecutive race to pocket 2nd Club, with Geoff’s blue card scoring baby being bred by Malcolm Morrison of Newcastle. The youngster was obtained as a result of a chance meeting while holidaying in Benidorm, Malcolm offered to breed Geoff a few birds with this being one of them. Craig Wedgewood notched up his second young bird win of the 2014 racing season at Rivenhall, with pole position being won by a blue chequer cock bred down from John Whittaker of Bramley Lofts stock. Jimmy Reed timed three of his entries to pot 2nd, 3rd and 4th Club with the blue card being awarded to the blue pied Homer & Williams x Brown & Hunt cock that won the previous week from Peterborough. In cell two was the blue Wildemeersch x Jim’s blue Lillers hen lines that won 1st Club Melton Mowbray, and he was followed by the mealy Brown & Hunt cock that potted the yellow at Peterborough the previous week. Geoff Bavin & Son are in 5th spot with a red cock bred from Brown & Hunt stock. The highlight of the 2014 young bird racing season is the Maidstone National, with Geoff Bavin & Son flying the best young bird so far in the Club and it was no surprise they returned to winning form. Geoff timed no less than three of his entries to win a top notch 1st, 3rd and 4th Club, with the red card winner being the red cock of the late Jack “The Lad” Brown & Tony Hunt bloodlines that was 5th Club the previous race from Rivenhall. No details on the green card scorer but in cell three came the Malcolm Morrison of Newcastle gift bird that notched up 2nd Club Peterborough. Jimmy Reed is in the blue card position after timing a blue cock bred down from his Tom Gilbertson of Carlisle stock. Club secretary Martin Hogarth comes into the frame for the first time with the young birds to take 5th position with a chequer Kevin Hurst - Van De Rhee x Brown & Hunt cock. I would like to thank Martin for gathering the info each week and also thank Jimmy, Craig & Geoff for giving the info throughout the racing season. Sadly the Club has reduced in membership the past few years, so much so it looks like the lads are going to have to join another Club, which is a great shame. The Marske & New Marske lads are a great help at the Federations Combine race marking where they always seem to be going something, as soon as I put our baskets down the lads always come straight over and race mark our birds, which I thank them for. Wherever they fly in 2015, I wish them all the very best; and I know Craig will be missed now he has left the sport. Once again thanks lads, you are a credit to the sport, where we are badly in need of a lot more like you.
We B & K Simpson enjoyed our young bird racing with us winning 1st Club, 14th Fed Selby (1) with a Louis Cooreman from a convoy of 1,612 birds, three more babies were timed to lift 23rd, 28th and 39th Fed. Skinningrove Clubmates White Bros Malc & Stuart netted 2nd and 3rd Club, 17th and 18th Fed while Mike Prokopowicz & Son Lee took 4th, 5th and 6th Club, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th and 29th Fed; with Titch Richards & Alice Marsay taking 26th, 27th, 30th, 32nd, 33rd and 34th Fed. Andy Crooks of Staithes won the first 8 Fed positions. We notched up 34th, 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th and 40th Fed out of Selby (2); the loft of Mr & Mrs Ian & Liz Purver won 1st and 4th Club, 14th, 16th, 30th, 31st and 32nd Fed. Mike & Lee Prokopowicz potted 2nd Club, 15th Fed; while Titch Richards & Alice Marsay took 3rd and 6th Club, 16th, 20th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 29th and 35th Fed and Sayers Bros netted 5th Club, 19th, 26th, 27th, 28th and 33rd Fed. Dean “Deano” Ward of Staithes winning the first 3 Fed positions when there were 2,355 birds competing. We returned to the winners’ enclosure at Worksop (1) after timing three birds to win 1st and 2nd Club, 15th, 16th and 33rd Fed with the winner being a Louis Cooreman. White Bros scored 3rd and 6th Club, 21st Fed and 24th Fed while young Darren Sayers notched up 5th Club, 27th Fed. Andy Crooks was at it again winning the first 4 Fed position out of an entry of 2,158 birds, Clubmate Chris “Strongbow” Cook who took 9th Fed out of Selby (1) netted a useful 5th, 6th and 7th Fed. We had a couple of youngsters on the clock at Worksop (2) to win 1st and 2nd Club, 6th and 8th Fed with the winner being a Louis Cooreman. Steven Bedingfield & Sons came into the frame to lift a notable 3rd and 5th Club, 19th and 22nd Fed, with Prokopowicz & Son pocketing 4th Club, 20th Fed. Brian Clennan and the late Frank Hanson of Staithes won 1st and 2nd Fed when there were 2,310 birds away; with Chris Cook chalking up 3rd Fed. Moving onto Melton Mowbray where we timed four of our entries to win 1st, 2nd and 5th Club, 10th, 11th, 26th and 36th Fed, with the red card winner being a Leen Boers bred by Tumley Lofts. Mr & Mrs Ian & Liz Purver timed a single baby to net 3rd Club, 17th Fed; while the loft of Steven Bedingfield & Sons timed a couple of their entries to take 4th and 6th Club, 18th and 33rd Fed. Bill Chapman, Sons Steve & Colin and the late Tommy Swinburne of Skelton Green won 1st Club, 1st Fed from a convoy of 1,897 birds. White Bros won 1st Club, 1st Fed Peterborough out of 1,375 birds, with us timing two birds to pocket 2nd Club, 2nd and 22nd Fed. Mike & Lee Prokopowicz had nine birds on the clock to notch up 3rd Club, 3rd, 11th, 12th, 13th, 21st, 27th, 28th, 29th and 34th Fed. Steven Bedingfield & Sons took 4th Club, 5th Fed and the partnership of Titch Richards & Alice Marsay potted 5th Club, 7th Fed, then Sayers Bros netted 8th, 9th and 10th Fed. B Sayers & Partners were 15th and 26th Fed; and the late Gordon Peirson M.B.E. & Sons Sack & Jim notched up 31st Fed. Mike & Lee Prokopowicz timed five birds at Rivenhall to win 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th Club, 2nd, 4th, 10th, 13th and 31st Fed. Sayers Bros were 3rd Club with Dave, Brian & Kenny’s green card scorer going onto notch up 7th Fed while we B & K Simpson took 5th Club, 11th and 29th Fed. Steven Bedingfield & Sons picked up 26th Fed and Brian “Brunks” Laity 27th Fed, Mr & Mrs Bob & Barbara Moore of the Brotton 6 Bird Club won 1st Club, 1st Fed out of an entry of 1,097 birds.
Onto the Maidstone National where the convoy of 10,755 birds were liberated at 11.20am into a North-East wind, which was going to be a hard race for the youngsters, especially the Border Federation birds that were dropping in at the home end after 7pm and doing so right up until and after dark. I really felt for the longest flying babies for they plodded on for home after 8 and 9 hours on the wing, flying over 300 miles, very brave birds indeed. The East Cleveland Federations entry of the 68 members entry of 993 birds was topped by Clubmates Mike Prokopowicz & Son Lee, with their pole position winner going onto score 2nd Section and 34th Up North Combine. The father and son partnership timed a second bird to notch up 14th Fed, 197th UNC. B & K Simpson timed six of their entries to chalk up 2nd, 5th and 6th Club, 7th, 11th, 12th, 25th, 33rd, 35th and 40th Fed, 116th, 160th and 176 Combine. While Mr & Mrs Ian & Liz Purver had three birds on the clock to lift 3rd Club, 8th, 27th and 32nd Fed, with their green card potter going onto pocket 136th UNC. White Bros Malc & Stuart timed a couple of birds to take 4th Club, 9th and 18th Fed, 139th UNC; while Titch Richards & Alice Marsay picked up 13th Fed and 178th Combine. Keith Wren & Margaret Stone took 17th Fed and the loft of Brian Sayers & Partners; Simon “Pole Tax” Coultas collected 24th Fed. The final young bird race of the 2014 racing season was raced from Selby (3) when the 30 members entry of 472 birds were up and away at 9.55am flying into a very testing North-West wind that was going to make it a harder race than most first thought. Brian Clennan and the late but not forgotten Frank Hanson won 1st Club at Staithes, with the well out in front Club winner going onto win 1st Fed. At Skinningrove B & K Simpson won 1st, 4th and 6th Club, 5th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 28th and 38th Fed. With the red card winning youngster being a Louis Cooreman bred from a pair of Bob Fenech gift birds and the nestmate to Brian & Keith’s 1st Club, 15th Fed Worksop (1) winner. With Brian being away on holiday Clubmate Sack Peirson came over to watch the birds in, with him flapping the fantail while I was timing the birds in. Mike & Lee Prokopowicz chalked up 2nd and 5th Club, 6th, 14th, 25th, 26th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd and 33rd Fed; while Sayers Bros notched up 3rd Club, 12th and 21st Fed. Well that’s the 2014 racing season done and dusted, a season when very little seemed to go right with many looking back and thinking the worst season we have suffered for a long time, with the weather once again dominating the weekend chores. I spare a thought for Pam Grange the very hard working Up North Combine secretary for it cannot be easy changing everything at the drop of a hat and trying to keep everyone happy. We all spit and kick when things are not going our way but Pam has to make sure she still has the drivers on hand when basketing for races is put back 24 or 48 hours, and the race point is still available. There’s a lot going on in such a short time. I believe the UNC has done extremely well to finish the racing on time. Well done Pam and all Club and Federation secretaries on a job well done in 2014. I have had a lot on the past few weeks with Carole not being too well, which resulted in her spending a couple of weeks in hospital. One of the problems has been her little toe that has being giving her trouble and a lot of pain for months, so much so Carole has another hospital appointment in November when she has to go in to have her little toe removed. We just hope that the operation is a success and it gets rid of the bug eating the bone away.
Former Skinningrove and Brotton member Ces Rawson, now flying at Loftus has struggled with his health this season. Ces seems to be just getting back on the mend when he suffers another setback. After a spell in hospital and slowly making progress Ces has started to get over to see to his pigeons, which have being looked after by his Clubmate Alan Scott while Ces has been unwell. Let’s hope Ces returns to the best of health and enjoys his racing next season. I was shocked to hear of the deaths of John Miller of Pelton Fell and Les Rigg of Brotton. We first met John, a very popular fancier in the North East area, in the early 1980s where we took to him straight away. John was a very good pigeon man who would help anyone he could, giving advice and breeding winners for many, many fanciers including ourselves. We have met up a few times over the years, and every time it was the same John, always happy and friendly. I can honestly say that I have never heard a bad word said about John in all the years we knew him. And in pigeon racing, that speaks volumes because you don’t hear someone say that very often. R.I.P. John, you are going to be greatly missed. Les was brought up with pigeons by his late father Bill, and in the latter years Les helped out at the loft of Bill Heslop where they enjoyed great success. When Bill finished racing a couple of years ago, Les still took an interest in the birds by visiting a few lofts in the area to pass the time of day away. R.I.P. Les, you also are going to be greatly missed.
Well that’s my racing reports finished for the season; I will be putting together a couple of reports throughout the winter months with a loft report in the pipeline. With that I will sign off until next time. Any news to Good Corn 6 Boulby Drive Loftus Saltburn Cleveland TS13 4JN. Tel; 01287 643624 or Email;
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