DEESIDE & NORTH WALES
with Paul Jabobs
Saturday, November 25th was the date for Shotton HS annual prize presentation which was held at the Connah’s Quay Labour Club. It was discussed at a previous meeting and thought that the club should hold their presentation in conjunction with the prize winners of the Shotton gold ring race. The thinking behind it was that it would probably increase the turnout of members on the prize night as there had been a slow decline over the years. I think it was the correct decision as there was a brilliant turnout of members, wives and friends on the night which must have totalled over a hundred.
Our guest for the evening was our local Labour MP, Mr Bernie Attridge and his wife. It was quite apt that Bernie presented the prizes as he was a pigeon fancier a few years ago where he flew in partnership with his uncle, the late Tommy Moore. As we sat down, a few of our members went round the tables with a choice of either white or red wine, which I feel is a nice touch. I had the white wine; as if I have too much red I start talking Swahili! Just before our meal, our chairman, Albert Gelder said grace and as we have in the past, we sat down to a beautiful meal that was prepared by the “Savoy Caterers” of Mold. If I’m honest, since we started using this company we haven’t had one poor meal. It is always piping hot and there is always plenty on the plate. Once the meal was finished, all the fanciers quickly cleared the tables away and we prepared the room for the presentation.
Our chairman then got up and said a few words about our lost friend, the one and only Glyn “The Beard” Davies. Glyn was an absolute character and everybody will have their own special memory of him. Glyn lost his brave fight against lung cancer earlier in the year and will be sadly missed by everybody. After Albert's lovely words, the presentation then began with the prize winners of the gold ring race which was held from Eastbourne. This particular race was very difficult with the weather playing a huge part in the outcome. The western half of the country did not have the best of the conditions with it being quite overcast, whereas the eastern side had the better of it with a tail wind behind them but it turned westerly on the way home. So the birds were off to a good start but would find their way into a slight head wind which would probably slowed them down. The winning bird made a velocity of 1242 ypm but it dropped down to 754 ypm, a drop of nearly 500ypm! There were only 57 birds on the day out of a total of 311 birds which proved that the birds didn’t have it all their own way.
Anyway, here are the prize winners of the race from Shotton HS who turned up on the night and the others who travelled from outside the area to pick up their prizes. I’ll start in reverse order, so first up to receive their prizes in 44th place was Shotton's Mr & Mrs Terry and Hilary Jones picking up £15, next up in 31st position was previous winners in 2001, yours truly, V.Jacobs and son winning £65, Little Sutton’s Brian (B.V.) Jones followed in 30th place winning £50 prize money, Shotton’s “Mr. Consistent” Derek Fenwick picked up £103 for finishing in 17th , 38th and 48th spot, Billy “Coppi Cock” Halliwell showed us all how its done by slotting into 12th place and pocketing a cool £116, the “Sandycroft Slayer”, Alan Atkinson had a good race winning 8th, 28th and 51st places and taking home £449, probably the best 2 bird racer locally, Mr. George Harrison, had a fruitful journey winning 6th spot and the single nom to win £812, that’s the corn paid for George! and, in my opinion, having the best race of the lot was Saughall Massie’s Mr and Mrs Pete and Kate Robinson winning 5th, 11th, 15th, 16th and 26th places winning a superb total of £928, a brilliant performance in a very difficult race., in fourth position is a newly formed partnership of two members who have years and years of experience between them. They are Brian Hodson and Ronnie “Squeaker” Martin. These lads won a nice total of £484 for their actions (should be able to buy a new pair of show pigeons eh! Brian?). Well done fellas. now to the winner of the race plus 3rd position and picking up a tidy sum of £1,978 and a junior T3 clock is a super flyer, who has won all there is before him, winning the Chester 2 bird 4 times, numerous club and federation winners and now the Shotton gold ring race, Rhos member, D.Wright and son. Well done Nigel and family on a super win, couldn’t happen to a nicer lad.
Now to Shotton’s main presentation. And again I’ll start in reverse order. In 24th place and first up to collect their prizes was Joe Mason and son, Mike. they won 1 x 6th, 1 x 8th and 1 x 9th and £5.15, in 23rd place were Mr and Mrs George Harris with 1 x 5th and 1 x 8th place and £3.00, race controller, Tony Peers and son, Ian filled 22nd position and won 1 x 6th and 1 x 7th prize and £29.42, in 21st position were Terry and Hilary Jones with 1 x 6th, 1 x 7th and 2 x 10ths and a total of £74.82, my mate and “Mr. Universe” Jeff Lawless finishes in 20th place and wins 1 x 5th and 1 x 6th and £90.76, 19th position and W. Amos and Son wins 1 x 4th, 1 x 6th, 3 x 8ths and 2 x 10ths and £6.00, Derek Williams and Son slots into 18th place winning 1 x 2nd and 1 x 8th and £6.00, 17th place was taken by Harold Moore winning 1 x 1st position where he also finished in 6th fed and 10th Deeside Amal Hereford from 3,063 birds, Harold won Shotton by 83ypm that day! Harold takes home £7.00, 16th spot and Billy “Coppi Cock” Halliwell wins 1 x 1st and 1 x 9th place, Billy’s first prize from Frome also seen him topping the fed and Championship Club as well (it got out the basket that day Bill!), Billy walked away with £111.28, the Ellis Peters Cup and the Show Cup, Northop’s Linden “Seth” Jones in 15th place and won 2 x 5ths and 1 x 6th (when he could be bothered to send with us!) collecting £29.04, new partnership, Brian Hodson and Ronnie Martin fills 14th place and won 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, 1 x 7th, 1 x 8th and 1 x 10th with £75.09 pools and prizes, 13th place and R. Wilkes and Son (Lennie) won 1 x 1st, 1 x 3rd and 1 x 10th and £36.32, Lennies first prize coming when he won our longest old bird race from Fougeres also topping the Fed and Championship Club, he also ended up 5th Deeside Amal from 1,259 birds, 12th spot was filled by Eric “Egger” Davies who only flew young birds and did very well winning 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, 2 x 7ths and 1 x 8th and £13.00, Derek “Mr. Consistent” Fenwick ended up 11th place with 1 x 3rd, 3 x 6ths, 2 x 7ths, 1 x 8th and 1 x 9th and a total of £61.26 (Derek has been concentrating more on the MNFC races and by his results, they seem to be bearing fruit), into the top ten now and in 10th Terry Andrews of CLM lofts fame won 1 x 1st, 1 x 3rd, 1 x 5th, 1 x 6th, 3 x 8ths and 1 x 10th, £27.09 and the Des Peters Cup, his first prize coming from West Bay where he won 11th Fed and 29th Deeside Amal from 2,644 birds, 9th position was won by Mel Jones with 1 x 1st, 2 x 3rds, 1 x 4th, 1 x 9th and 1 x 10th, Mel won the A. Frizzle trophy and £28.09, Mel’s first prize was won from West Bay where he put up a marvellous performance winning 1st Fed and 1st Deeside Amal from 1,774 birds, well done Mel, 8th place now and having a very good old bird season was Dee Roads Reuben Wilkes who won 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, 3 x 4ths, 1 x 7th, 1 x 8th and 2 x 10ths picking up £75.86, 7th spot now and having a steady year was Shottons Jos Jones and son (Roy and Brian), these lads won 1 x 2nd, 2 x 3rds, 2 x 4ths, 3 x 6ths, 4 x 7ths and 2 x 10ths plus £270.49, having a good year was Shotton’s chairman, Albert Gelder who slips into 6th position after winning 3 x 2nds, 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, 3 x 5ths, 2 x 6ths, 1 x 7th, 2 x 8ths and 1 x 9th and a nice £216.53, good flying Ab, into the top five and flying a good bird this year with 12 positions in the first 10 spots was the “Shotton Lane Scouser”, Joey Evans and son winning 1 x 1st, 3 x 2nds, 3 x 4ths, 2 x 5ths, 2 x 7ths, 1 x 9th the W.A. Chesters Trophy and £226.44, Joey’s first prize came from the first West Bay where he ended up 14th Fed and 21st Deeside Amal from 2,656 birds (Your secrets revealed Joe! We know where your new stock’s from now!), in 4th place with 24 positions in the first 10 was Doug Morris who flew a good bird this year, especially with his good yearling cock “31” which won lots of prizes in Club, Fed, Championship Club and Chester 2 Bird, Doug won 2 x 1sts, 1 x 2nd, 3 x 3rds, 1 x 4th, 4 x 6ths, 2 x 7ths and 9 x 9ths plus a huge £439.64 and the E.G. Roberts Cup, the Edgar Smith Cup and the Ted Speed Cup, Doug’s two firsts were won in the young bird season from Ludlow where he won 3rd Fed and 5th Deeside Amal from 2,369 birds and Chepstow (1) where 21st Fed and 26th Deeside Amal from 3,741 birds was won, well done Dougie, next to the table in third place is the “Ash Grove Assassin” Vic Cooper, another good season for Vic winning 18 places in the first ten positions, Vic won 2 x 1sts, 1 x 2nd, 3 x 3rds, 2 x 4ths, 3 x 5ths, 2 x 8ths, 3 x 9ths and 2 x 10ths also taking home the J. G. Davies Cup, the J. Reddin Cup, the Albion Cup and the Continental Averages as well as pulling £157.09, Vic’s two wins were gained from a new race point to us which was Truro, where he won 1st Fed and 7th Deeside Amal from 1,859 birds, his second first was from Chepstow where 14th Fed was earned, well done Vic, into second position and taking 34 places within the first 10 places was ourselves, V. Jacobs and son who won 2 x 1sts, 3 x 2nds, 4 x 3rds, 4 x 4ths, 4 x 5ths, 2 x 6ths, 4 x 7ths, 4 x 8ths, 2 x 9ths and 5 x 10ths as well as the K. J. Brookes Trophy, the Peters Brothers Rose Bowl, the Old Bird Average and the Old Bird Inland Averages and a total of £390.43, our two wins were gained from Frome where we won 1st Fed and 2nd Deeside Amal from 3,110 birds and the other first was from the first channel race which was Lessay where again 1st Fed was won along with 7th Deeside Amal from 1,080 birds.
Well, what can one say about the season that this man had? Awesome! Fantastic! Brilliant! These are some words that could be used. But when you consider that he only flew 7 old cocks and 13 old hens as well as 34 young birds and won what he did, well, this was racing from another planet! The partnership concerned is Davies and Baker and as we know Tommy Baker raced the birds in 2006 due to the tragic loss of his partner, Glyn “The Beard” Davies and what a super job he did too, he broke the record of the most firsts in the club (which he took off the Bin Bag Boys! Swine!) As well as topping the Fed five times and the Deeside Amal twice, we can only put our hands together and applaud him for all the hard work that he put in. anyway, lets see what this partnership won in 2006. 10 x 1sts, 7 x 2nds, 1 x 3rd, 3 x 4ths, 5 x 5ths, 1 x 6th, 1 x 7th, 1 x 8th and 2 x 9ths with a total of 31 cards in the first ten positions and taking home the Bass Charrington Trophy, the Sparta Trophy, the Rennes Cup, the Tommy Hawkins Cup, the E.G. Roberts Cup, the Bob Roberts Cup, the Young Bird Averages, the Combined Averages and the Bird of the Year as well as winning an awesome £608.50 pools and prize money. Tommy’s first prizes came from Hereford (1) where he was 4th Fed and 17th Deeside Amal 2,009 birds, Chepstow (2) and 2nd Fed and 2nd Amal from 3,408 birds with the same hen that won the Hereford race, Frome (1) next where Tommy won 1st Club 2nd Fed 2nd Amal again against 2,887 birds, 1st Club was won from the West Bay (4) race and 12th Fed 13th Amal 1,977 birds, onto the young birds now and this is where he really went to town, Hereford (1) and Tommy won 1st Club 1st Fed 6th Amal 3,625 birds, Hereford (2) 1st Club 1st Fed 1st Amal 3,775 birds, Chepstow (2) 1st Club 1st Fed 1st Amal 2,118 birds, Frome (1) 1st Club 7th Fed 13th Amal 2,398 birds, Frome (2) 1st Club 1st Fed 10th Amal 1,811 birds and finally West Bay where he won 1st Club 1st Fed 2nd Amal 1,434 birds. I’m sure you will all agree that this is a truly tremendous season.
After the presentation we all sat down to a five piece band called “Nostalgia” who truly went down a storm, they played a range of music that most of the audience could relate to which was mostly rock and roll. I think that the lead singer was trying to base his appearance on “Meatloaf” as he was quite a big man, but he could definitely belt out a tune. After the group finished, we all got up to dance to “Bobby’s Disco” which was provided by our good friend Bobby Williams (I’m looking forward to Blackpool Bob, we’ve got our bottle of Aussie white already!). Even I got up to dance, which is not a pretty sight, must have had too many lemonades! So that was the presentation night which was enjoyed by all, I think it helped having the two presentations together as the room was packed and it gave everybody a chance to have a bit of banter with some of the lads and lasses from out of the area. So, everything being well, it will be the same time, same place next year.
Down at the loft saw me pairing up the stock birds on December 13th. I was originally planning around the 6th to the 10th of December but I was 12 hour days on the 7th and 8th so them days were out of the question. I I was 12 hour nights on the 9th and 10th so I could have started to pair them on the 9th but to be honest the weather was quite shocking and I couldn’t face traipsing down to the loft and keeping my eye on them in the pouring rain. So the 13th it was and it was up and early off my night shift and with the weather improving quite significantly I set off to pair them up. To be honest it’s not my favourite time of the year with all the squabbling but I didn’t have too much trouble as I kept most of the pairs the same as last year except for two pairs. I also had three newcomers to the stock shed as I retired three of my best racing cocks to stock and they had yet to be accustomed to their boxes as when they were separated I had all the boxes closed, but as they were paired to hens which already had their own boxes they behaved quite well, apart from one pair, the cock I call “Millwards Cock” I tried to pair him to my good stock hen “Harwoods Hen” but she took an instant hatred to him and would chase him all around the nest box with him doing his hardest to try and get away from her! So instead of trying to persevere with it as it was going nowhere, I paired her to my good mealy cock and the change was instantaneous. She absolutely adored him, so that was that problem solved. Later in the week though, I tried to break “Millwards Cock” to his box, but do you think he would go back to his box, would he heck! He’d go to the box above or below but not his own, so he’s had a couple of days in his box with his hen, being let out for food and water regularly but only when all the other boxes around him were locked. He’ll soon calm down.
Onto something different now. One thing I found to make life easier for me during the breeding season was to surround the nest bowls in newspaper basically because it adds warmth to the nest and also they are easier to clean at the end of the year, I’ve got to admit that was one job I used to hate but now all I have to do is remove the old newspaper, give the nest bowl a brush over and then put away in the shed until I pair them up again, I used to detest scrubbing the nest bowls down until my hands were red raw.
I would like to thank all the people that have wished me luck for doing the scribing for the area. It really makes it all worthwhile and I appreciate their good wishes. Until next time.
24/12/06
