DEESIDE & NORTH WALES
with Paul Jacobs
Saturday, February 3rd 2007 was the date for the joint presentation evening of the Deeside and North Wales federation and the North Wales Championship Club. We held our presentation at the Carlton Club in Shotton which has been our location for the last couple of years. This is my first attempt at trying to organise a presentation night as it is my first year as secretary of the North Wales Championship Club and I must admit that my stomach was doing somersaults! I was hoping there would be plenty of people coming, hoping the group would turn up and most of all; I wouldn’t drop any bottles as I had to bring down 36 bottles of spirits! I didn’t need to worry as everything went quite well after all. Guest of honour this year was Mr. Dave Burkey who races his birds in Neston HS which is a member of the West Cheshire federation; the position that Dave holds is that he is the transport manager for the West Cheshire federation. Dave was accompanied by his friend, Mr. Ray Gargan. I’ve never met Dave before but when I chatted with him, I found him very easy going and a lovely fella to boot. The turnout wasn’t fantastic but we did manage to sell nearly sixty tickets which I was very happy with as the room isn’t very large so it looked like it was full! I’d personally like to thank Billy “Coppi Cock” Halliwell as he managed to bring a party of twenty people along, thanks Bill! Anyway, less chat and on to the prize winners.
DEESIDE AND NORTH WALES FEDERATION
I’ll start with the Deeside and North Wales federation prize winners first and as there were forty two fanciers winning points I will just mention the first twenty positions as I will have a lot to go through. Our federation has a points system to work out our highest prize winner with 12 points for 1st prize going down to 1 point for 12th prize. Only two birds are allowed points so if you were 1st, 2nd and 3rd fed (I wish!) you would just receive 12 and 11 points for the 1st and 2nd positions and no points for 3rd, whoever would be 4th fed would receive the 10 points available. I think is a fair way to work out things as it is just two birds against two. I’ll now do the prize winners in reverse order.
In joint 20th position and winning 20 points each were two Shotton members namely W. Amos and sons (Mike and John) and Mr & Mrs. B. Hodson & R. Martin, the latter partnership also won the Best Yearling from Fougeres, the best average from the two channel races which were Lessay and Fougeres and lastly, the channel average, well done Brian and Ronnie (the squeaker’s got you back on top Brian!) Bill Jones of Holt was 19th with 24 points and 1 x 1st fed from West Bay (2) old birds, 18th spot went to Saltney HS member, Ray Newell and son on 25 points, 17th place went to none other than “the Duke”, Mel Jones of Shotton who also won 1 x 1st fed from with a screamer of a bird from West Bay (3) old birds which also went on to win the Deeside Amal from 1,774 birds, Mel won 26 points, another Shotton member and a character of the sport occupied 16th place, Eric (Egger) Davies won 28 points which was good flying as he only raced young birds, Well done Egger, Saltney’s Eric Rose ended up in 15th position with 30 points, 14th place went to a partnership which must be one of the first drops in the federation, Holt’s Jones and Pugh won 42 points and won 1 x 1st fed from the first race of the year, Hereford (1) old birds, well done lads, Shotton HS Reuben Wilkes won 46 points to gain 13th position, Reuben also won a television for his first nominated bird from Lessay (be able to watch more Coronation Street now Reub!) Doug Morris of Shotton ended up in 12th place with 53 points, onto the top ten now, in joint 10th position was Shotton’s Joe Evans and son and Hightown’s J.R. (Roy) Morgan who both won 54 points, Roy also won 1 x 1st fed from Frome (1) old birds and 1st Deeside Amal from 2,887 birds, Shotton’s chairman, Albert Gelder won 56 points to slip into ninth spot, 8th position again went to Shotton’s Roy Jones and partner, Brian Cadwallader with 59 points, in 7th place was Hightown’s Steve Burgess who won 67 points and won 1 x 1st fed from Chepstow (1) young birds as well as winning 1st Deeside Amal from 3,741 birds, Saltney’s “Bearded Burbler, Ray Powell won 86 points to claim 6th position, into the first five positions now and in fifth place was Shotton’s Vic Cooper and son, Vic had a good year winning 96 points and 1 x 1st fed, Vic’s fed win came from Truro which was a strange race with many good birds missing, fourth spot and 123 points went to ourselves, V. Jacobs and son, we won 2 x 1st feds which were from Frome (2) and Lessay old birds, we also won the old bird averages in the Deeside federation, into 3rd place now and here is a household name who has won all before him for many a year, who is it? It’s none other than “Mr Tele Savalas”, Alan Atkinson, Alan has had another cracking year winning 183 points and 3 x 1st feds which were from Chepstow (1) and (2) old birds as well as Ludlow young birds, Alan also topped the Deeside Amal from Chepstow (2) old birds from 3,408 birds and Ludlow young birds from 2,369 birds, well done Alan, second position went to yet another household name, Derek Jones, I would like to say that the winners that this man has clocked over the years must run into hundreds and I’m not joking, believe me to win the Deeside federation against fanciers of the calibre of the two men just mentioned, you must have a good one! Derek was in an unfamiliar position this year as he has won highest prize winner on a number of occasions, but I think he won’t be too unhappy as he topped the fed four times! Derek also won 189 points as well as the best average for the longest old bird and young bird race. Derek’s fed wins came from Hereford (2), West Bay (1), West Bay (4) old birds and Frome (1) young birds, as well as his four 1st fed wins, Derek also topped the Deeside Amal three times and these were from West Bay (1) old birds 2,656 birds, West Bay (4) old birds 1,977 birds and Frome (1) young birds 2,398 birds, a season not to be sniffed at! Well done, Derek.
And now onto the Deeside and North Wales federation premier prize-winner for 2007 and what a season this partnership had. Racing just SEVEN cocks and THIRTEEN hens and a small team of 34 young birds they flew an absolutely tremendous campaign winning from the first race to the last and also a few in between! The partnership in question is none other than Davies and Baker. As you might know, Tommy lost his partner the one and only Glyn “The Beard” Davies through lung cancer but I think he would have been ever so proud of what their birds achieved this season. Looking back to what they won now. A small matter of 5 x 1st feds during a race season is something we all dream of doing, well Davies and Baker won this and many more positions within the first ten places. What made this season so spectacular is that they won their five fed wins during the young bird season! Their first fed winner came from Hereford (1) then Hereford (2) where they also topped the Deeside Amal with 3,775 birds competing, Chepstow (2) was where their 3rd fed winner was clocked and yet again they won the first prize in the Deeside Amal from 2,118 birds, Frome (2) was Davies and Baker’s fourth fed winner and finally they clocked their fifth fed winner from the final young bird race from West Bay. The partnership won a total of 199 points and also walked away with the federation young bird averages. Well done Tommy, superb flying. Although we are a small federation, the members within it are absolutely top class as their achievements within the Deeside Amal have proved that on our day we can compete with anyone. Over the season we have flown 22 races and our members have won the Deeside Amal 10 times, good going is that for a small federation! Let’s hope in 2007 we will have a problem free season and have a full channel season with no interruptions.
NORTH WALES CHAMPIONSHIP CLUB
Now onto the North Wales Championship Club prize winners and there were 27 members winning money so I’ll start in reverse order again. In 20th were Terry and Anita Andrews of CLM lofts fame. Terry and Anita won 2 x 5ths and £40 prize money and a litre bottle of vodka, 19th was the “Shotton Lane scouser”, Joey Evans. Joey won 1 x 4th and 1 x 6th plus £61.84 in pools and prizes, 18th was occupied by Keith and Eileen Marshall, Keith and Eileen won 1 x 3rd and £103.75. I would like to add my congratulations to Eileen on becoming the Deeside and North Wales federations new Chairman, I’m sure Eileen will do a cracking job as she is very keen indeed, Deeside federation secretary Glenys Huxley finished in 17th position with 1 x 2nd position and £73.52, well done Glenys, 16th place was won by Holt’s Derek Jones, Derek won 1 x 4th, 1 x 6th and 1 x 10th plus £74.06 in pools and prizes, in 15th spot and having a good season within the Championship Club were Shotton’s Terry and Hilary Jones, Terry and Hilary were in the prizes most weeks and they won the best average over all races which meant that they walked away with the title of “Champion of Champions” and a brand new T3 clock, well done to the two of you! Terry and Hilary won 1 x 6th, 2 x 7ths and 3 x 9ths plus £118.32 and a litre bottle of whisky, Tony and son, Ian Peers ended up in 14th position with 1 x 3rd, 1 x 7th and 1 x 10th and £118.48 and a litre bottle of whisky, club president, Saltney’s Ray Powell was in 13th with 1 x 1st and £161.92 plus 2 litre bottles of whisky, Ray won the club’s third race which was from West Bay, in 12th spot was Dougie Morris of Shotton who had a steady year winning 1 x 3rd, 1 x 8th, 1 x 9th and 1 x 10th and a total of £126.24 plus a litre bottle of whisky, 11th place was won by Reuben Wilkes of Shotton HS who claimed 1 x 2nd and 2 x 6ths position and a total of £159.75 plus 2 litre bottles of whisky, into the top ten now and in 10th was Shotton’s W. Amos and sons, Mike and John won 1 x 1st, 1 x 5th and 1 x 10th and £103.50 and four litre bottles of whisky, their win came from the club’s first race which was from a new race point, Truro, in 9th was Shotton’s R. Wilkes and son with 1 x 1st, 1 x 4th and 1 x 7th plus £118.53 and a litre bottle of whisky, Lennys first prize came from the longest race of the season, Fougeres, “Sandycroft Slayer” Alan Atkinson ended up in 8th place with 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, 1 x 5th and 2 x 7ths and £196.81 plus a litre bottle of whisky, in 7th was Shotton’s J. Jones and son, Roy and Brian won 1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 8th and 2 x 10ths and £200.53 plus a litre bottle of whisky to round off a good season, their first prize came from our first channel race of the season, Lessay, well done lads, in 6th position was ourselves, V. Jacobs and son with 3 x 3rds and 2 x 6ths and £258.33 which will come in pretty handy! We also won a litre bottle of vodka which was opened when we got home! Top five now, and doing well yet again was none other than the “Old Coppi”, Billy Halliwell, Billy won 1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 5th and 1 x 8th plus £291.19 and 3 litre bottles of spirits which were whisky, gin and bacardi, Billy’s first prize came from a speedy race from Frome where he also topped the federation, I think Billy it’s time to cut down on your Sunday Chinese meals now Billy, judging by what I seen the other night, one of your buttons nearly hit me in the eye when you breathed out! Only joking “Copp’s”, into 4th position now and this was occupied by the Deeside federation’s highest prize winner, Davies and Baker, Tommy won 1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 4th and 1 x 10th and £290.04 plus 3 litre bottles of whisky, vodka and gin, Tommy won the last race of the season which was the West Bay young bird race, 3rd place was won by Shotton’s Vic Cooper and son, Vic was the only member to win two races this year and these were from West Bay old birds and Frome young birds, Vic won a total of 2 x 1sts, 1 x 7th, 1 x 8th and 1 x 10th and a total of £325.46 plus 2 litre bottles of whisky and one of bacardi, 2nd spot was won by Hightown’s J.R (Roy) Morgan, Roy had a good season winning 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, 1 x 5th, 1 x 8th and 1 x 9th and £160 prize money plus litre bottles of gin and whiskies, our highest prize winner for 2007 was a very hard working man namely Albert Gelder and son, Albert holds the position of Chairman in Shotton club and is also chief clock setter, Albert is a very dangerous man when racing with his Lefebre Dhaenen and Busschaert family and his clock is always one that we wait to see read, I’ve got to admit its nice to see the workers reaping the rewards, Albert won 2 x 2nds, 2 x 4ths and 1 x 8th plus £303.49 and litre bottles of whisky, vodka and gin this season to claim the highest prize winner’s mantle by £10 from Roy Morgan. A couple of bouquets of flowers were presented to Albert’s wife, June Gelder and my wife, Janet which I think went down well. This rounds up both presentations and also ends a steady season which thankfully wasn’t disrupted too much by the bird flu situation as we at least got a few channel races under our belts.
Our night continued with a lovely buffet prepared by Glenys Huxley’s daughter. It was noted that a certain Mr. Hodson was going up for his dessert before most of us had even had our first bite! After our meal it was time to clean up and then get ready for our entertainment. It was provided for us by a local three piece group called “Twilight Zone”. These lads played a wide variety of music which I think a lot of the audience enjoyed. Well certainly Alan Atkinson did as I’ve never seen him move so well! Bet you were aching the next day Al! The boys did two spots and the second half was mostly Queen songs which I was over the moon at as I’m a closet Queen fan! I think everybody enjoyed the group as there was a lot dancing and singing going on. The night closed with a couple of slow songs so we could all have a grapple with the wives! But all too soon it was over. I’ve got to admit the presentation of 2007 went better than I thought it would, but I didn’t need to worry at all as it all went swimmingly in the end. I personally would like to thank Tommy Baker for stepping in and compering for the evening, as we know Tommy has the gift of the gab and he done a superb job on the night, also I would like to thank Glenys for her help with the evening and her daughter (I’m sorry I didn’t catch her name, Glenys) for the beautiful buffet. Roll on next year!
DEESIDE MIDWEEK BREEDER BUYER.
I had a phone call the other evening from Dick Piggott. Dick announced that the Deeside midweek flying club are to have their annual breeder buyer event again. Every year this club pay out over a thousand pounds in prizes which goes to show that it is always well supported. The breeder buyer will be held at Shotton Lane Social Club on Monday, 2nd April and it will start at 6.30pm prompt. Donations are welcome so if you are interested and you would like to enter the breeder buyer race for 2007 give Dick a ring on (01244) 533008.
SHOTTON & DHS GOLD RING RACE 2007
BUMPER PAYOUT ASSURED!
Jeff Reynolds popped round the other day with some good news regarding the Shotton Gold Ring race 2007 and this is what he had to say. “Gold rings for the above society’s race from Eastbourne on August 28th are going better than any of the previous seven races and to date nearly 1,000 rings have gone out to fanciers from the surrounding areas. The guaranteed 1st prize is 31,000 but the way the rings are going this will probably be increased as will the amount of prizes which is normally around the thirty mark.
It’s good to see plenty of rings going out to the North Wales Coast lads who are having a proper go this season and why not? Any east in the wind and they are in with a shout and it’s been of note that in the last few seasons the easterly winds have been more prevalent, you have only got to look at the west section fanciers in the MNFC to prove this point out.
I’ve got a few irons in the fire with regards to sponsorship which hopefully will add a few more prizes, so it’s a case of “watch this space” for that one.
For all the fanciers who are yet to order their rings there is still time yet and when you think that four of the previous winners of this race were bred in April and May, why rush? All six of the federations that are eligible for rings have provided the winner in previous years so you can’t get much fairer than that can you?
It’s also good to see plenty of new fanciers having a go this season, to date over twenty five new lofts will be in with a chance of the bumper pot in August however; there are still over five hundred members from the local federations who are yet to have a go. Just imagine what the prizes would be if just 50% of those five hundred had a go, you would probably be looking at a £20,000 total with a possible £5,000 first prize! It’s not dreaming, it’s a possibility, but it’s all down to you, the local fanciers, if your not in it, you can’t win it and that’s a fact!
Ring entry forms are still at all the local corn merchants, but failing that you can always give Jeff Reynolds a bell on (01244) 813958 or send forms to 149, Normanby Drive, Connah’s Quay, Deeside, Flintshire. CH5 4LH. I would like to thank Shotton Chairman, Albert Gelder and Secretary Terry Allen for distributing the rings whilst I was away in New Zealand, cheers fellas!” Thanks Jeff!
DEESIDE AMALGAMATION OF FEDERATIONS
I had an e mail the other day from Deeside Amalgamation secretary, John Rixon. It mentioned that there will be an AG.M for the above organisation on March 27th at Neston R.B.L commencing at 7.30pm prompt. Thanks John.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE LOFT?
I got round to pairing up the roundabout pairs on the 22nd January, the day after Blackpool. I’ve got to say that this year was definitely the best year we have had when pairing up the racers as they have been no trouble whatsoever. As I’ve said before we catch paired the birds quite a few times so I think this helped us quite a lot as at least the pairs were acquainted with each other before pairing time. All was quite calm and content the first day so at the end of the day I locked all pairs in half of their boxes with food and water on the outside of the boxes. The next day all pairs were cuddling up nicely with each other so it was time to start getting them used to their boxes. We let them out one box at a time for about 15 minutes each which takes some time as there are sixteen boxes and after that we let them out two boxes at a time, making sure the boxes that we let out weren’t near to each other so as they couldn’t go into each others boxes to fight. After a long day I left a few pairs out which were paired up last year overnight and I locked up the rest with food and water. On the third day we let all the pairs out of their boxes and left them to it and, apart from a few hens going in the wrong box and getting knocked out there wasn’t any trouble, and since we paired up there hasn’t been any fighting at all whereas in the past you usually get a couple of pairs having a beating! I had my first egg after eight days which was a yearling hen and after thirteen days all pairs had laid which is very good for us as usually get a couple of hens not laying. I floated a few eggs from my stock birds under my racers after six or seven days sitting and then gave my racers a 7 day treatment for canker when they had all been sitting about six or seven days. Up to the present day now and all my youngsters have hatched so I will be ringing them pretty soon.
NORTH WALES CHAMPIONSHIP CLUB
Don’t forget that the North Wales Championship Club have organised a race from the first channel crossing this year (dates and race point are yet to be confirmed) where the first prize is a single prize of £1,000! Marking will be at the Shotton and DHS headquarters, the Connah’s Quay Labour Club. Other marking stations can be organised if there is enough interest in the race which if I am right there will be! All you have to do is send your application to the North Wales Championship Club to myself at the address below along with your subscription which is £20, if you send a cheque make it out to the “North Wales Championship Club” and I’ll look forward to hearing from you. You’d be a fool to miss out.
Well my finger and eyes are aching a bit now so I’ll sign off now. If you have anything you want me to put in the column, let me know as I’m just a phone call away.
Don’t forget you can contact me Paul Jacobs at 20, Lon Dderwen, Connah’s Quay, Deeside, Flintshire. CH5 4WG and phone (01244) 819934 or e mail at
