FLYING INTO THE NORTH WEST OF IRELAND
BILLY KNOX
TULLAMORE 1
The first race of the new season took place from Tullamore on Saturday 14th April 2012, and as with the first race of every season, the race itself turned out to be somewhat erratic. Many fanciers saw a number of empty perches on the day, with only the odd next day arrival. Speaking to a number of fanciers, the heavier losses were put down to late breds, first timers and birds not being trained properly, if at all. When you add to this, a very cold day and a biting north easterly wind, losses were probably inevitable.
Another fact that we must always bear in mind, is that all the North West fanciers are flying around 120 miles, if not more. When you speak to other fanciers from around the country and from across the pond, they all find it hard to believe that we fly so far for our first old bird race. In saying that, our young birds start at 100 miles plus as well. Some of these fanciers don’t even train their old birds, and if they do, it is perhaps to ten or twenty miles. Why so little training I asked, only to discover that their first race could be anywhere between 40 and a massive 70 miles.
Moving on to our results, we see many familiar names cropping up again and producing some fine performances indeed to start the season off again. Unfortunately I couldn’t get hold of the results for all the section H clubs as Pigeon Network seemed to be down over the weekend. If any of the clubs want to be included in the weekly round up for the North West, all they need to do is e mail me with the results and even better, a photo of the winner to include in the write up. The weekly column is to try and promote the North West and its fanciers, and to give the members a bit of publicity that otherwise we probably wouldn’t get.
Looking at the Derry clubs first and as I said previously, a lot of familiar names this week.
In the Maiden City R.P.S, two men dominate with Martin Healy taking first and fifth, while Pat McLaughlin fills second, third and fourth spots. Martin has been training very hard this year and it is already paying dividends. Pat, who normally starts slowly and builds towards the longer races, also gets off to a flying start. Martin takes 14th in Derry this week, while Pat takes 15th, 19th and 20th. The result was as follows, 1st P+M Healy 1151 ypm, 2nd P Mc Laughlin 1150, 3rd P Mc Laughlin 1144, 4th P Mc Laughlin 1140, 5th P+M Healy.
Martin Healy who wins the Maiden City.
On then to the Foyle R.P.S, where one man dominated this week, that man being Jim Diamond, who had the first three birds in the club, closely followed by James Gallagher and Paul Maxwell. Jim’s bird is the second bird in Derry this week. The result was as follows, 1st Jim Diamond 1194 ypm, 2nd Jim Diamond 1174, 3rd James Gallagher, 4th James Gallagher, and 5th Paul Maxwell.
The result from the Londonderry R.P.S was very similar to that of the Foyle, with one man, Leo Flannagan, dominating the club. Leo takes the first three positions, with Sean Gallagher and Billy Houston making up the top five spots. Leo takes three of the top seven spots in Derry this week. The full result was as follows, 1st Leo Flannagan 1191, 2nd Leo Flannagan 1174, 3rd Leo Flannagan 1174, 4th Sean Gallagher 1166, 5th Billy Houston 1157.
Leo Flannagan, first three in the Londonderry club.
Again, as with the other clubs, the Derry and District club is dominated by one man, Anthony Mc Crudden. Anthony not only wins his club, but has the first and third birds in Derry this week, while Sean has the fifth bird back to Derry. The result was as follows, 1st Anthony Mc Crudden 1197, 2nd Anthony Mc Crudden 1192, 3rd Sean Duffy 1190.
In Limavady this week, one man again cleans up. Ronnie Whiterow, Section fancier of the year for the last two seasons, takes the top three positions. Unfortunately, I don’t have Ronnie’s velocities.
I also had no results for the Rock, Strabane, or Omagh which is a pity as we can’t put together a full round up for the Section. Again, it’s a pity we haven’t got photographs of all our winners. It’s always nice to have a face to go along with the names. That being said, I do have a few photos that I have saved and can use this week. Anyone who wants to forward any photos or details of the winning birds such as what strain they are and breeding etc for the rest of the season can send them to me at
