Derby Notes.
Sunday November 16th saw the opening show of the series for The Osmaston Park Homing Society. There were three classes, with 124 birds in total. The judge for this show was Mark Darby and with the quality of the pigeons in the pens judging wasn’t going to be an easy task.
Mark Darby who judged the first show.
In The Old Hens class there were 49 birds and it was the Willis Family who dominated this one taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd & Highly Commended also winning Best In Show. In 4th was Stewart Wainwright with John Inger taking Reserve & Commended with Dave Waddington taking Very Highly Commended.
Garry Fletcher presenting the Champion of Champions trophy to Mick Willis & Mick Willis winner of three classes plus two best in shows and the ultimate Champion of Champions winner 2025.
In the Old Cocks class there were 48 birds with the 1st prize going to Stewart Wainwright. Taking 2nd, 4th & Highly Commended was Mick Willis & Family. Third went to Jason & Karen Phillips with Hall & Torry taking Reserve and Andy Greengrass taking Very Highly Commended.
Stuart Wainwright, winner of one class.
In the Any Coloured Young Birds Class there were 27 entries with Andy Greengrass taking the Red Card followed by Mick Willis & Family who took 2nd, 3rd, & Highly Commended. Taking 4th & Reserve was John Inger with Stewart Wainwright taking Very Highly Commended and Jason & Karen Phillips taking Commended.
Andrew Greengrass winner of three classes plus one best in show.
The second show for the Osmaston Park Homing Society was held at their club Headquarters on November 23rd.The entry was slightly down from the previous show but the condition and quality of the birds was first class as usual. The judge on this occasion was Mick Usher who did a first class job. There were three classes and the Willis Family dominated this show winning two of the three classes and getting best in show along the way.
Mick Usher who judged the second show.
In the Young Cocks class there were 20 entries where the Willis Family took four of the eight prizes, winning 1st prize plus best in show. Also taking 2nd, Reserve, and Highly Commended. In 3rd was John Inger who also took Very Highly Commended & Commended with Mr & Mrs Houldsworth ( Alan & Liz ) taking 4th.
In the Young Hens class there were a total of 29 entries with Mick Stone taking the red card also Very Highly Commended. Taking 2nd & Highly Commended was Mick Willis & Family with John Inger taking 3rd,4th,Reserve & Commended.
Mick Stone, winner of one class.
In the Any Colour Old Birds class there were 26 entries with Mick Willis & Family getting the red card also taking 2nd,4th, & Commended. Taking 3rd, & Highly Commended was John Inger with Reserve going to Mick Stone and Alan & Liz Houldsworth taking Very Highly Commended.
Sunday 14th December was the third show for the Osmaston Park Homing Society consisting of three classes, Matched Pairs, Old Hens & Young Cocks. The judge for this one was John Dowd.
John Dowd who judged the third show.
There were 36 birds entered in the Old Hens class and taking the red card was Andy Greengrass also taking 2nd,& Reserve and getting the icing on the cake winning Best in Show was Andy Greengrass who had travelled down from Sheffield.
Taking 3rd & Highly Commended was Mick Willis & Family. Stewart Wainwright took 4th with Mick Stone taking Very Highly Commended and taking Commended was Alan & Liz Houldsworth.
In the Young Cocks class there were 32 entries with Andy Greengrass once again coming out on top taking the red card. Taking 2nd,3rd & 4th were Mick Willis & Family with Alan & Liz Houldsworth taking Reserve. Dave Waddington took Very Highly Commended & Commended with Shenton Brothers ( Ron & Norman ) taking Highly Commended.
In the Matched Pairs there were 24 entered ( 12 Pairs ) and taking the red card in this one was Alan & Liz Houldsworth who also took Reserve. Taking 2nd,3rd,4th,Very Highly Commended & Commended was Mick Willis & Family with Hall & Torry taking Highly Commended.
Alan Houldsworth, winner of one class.
The room at our headquarters where our show took place had to be vacated by 13-00 hrs. The show committee would like to thank everyone who stayed behind on this occasion to put everything away and help clean the room up. ( It was a great help ) Thank you.
Sunday December 21st was the final show for the Osmaston Park Homing Society, consisting of three classes Old Cocks, Young Hens & Eye Sign plus the Champion of Champions class. The judges for this show were John Wheatcroft ( eye sign judge ) & Darren Johnson who judged the other two classes.
Darren Johnson & John Wheatcroft who judged the last show & Dave Stone who judged the Champion of Champions class.
In the eye sign class it was an excellent result for Chris Gulliver who took the first six positions. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Reserve & Very Highly Commended. The winner of this class was a red cock who is no stranger to winning this class as he is a Blackpool eye sign show winner on three separate occasions. Taking Highly Commended & Commended was Lance & Robert Need.
The master craftsman John Wheatcroft plying his trade judging the Eye Sign class.
In the Young Hens class it was another good result for Chris Gulliver taking the red card also 2nd & Reserve with his class winner getting Best in Show. Taking Third & Highly Commended were Lance & Robert Need with Mick Willis & Family taking Fourth, Very Highly Commended & Commended.
Chris Gilliver winner of two classes plus Best in Show.
In the Old Cocks class Lance & Robert Need took the red card also second with Chris Gulliver in third. In 4th were Shenton Brothers ( Ron & Norman ) with Andy Greengrass taking Reserve. Taking Very Highly Commended & Commended were Mick Willis & Family with Hall & Torry taking Highly Commended.
Lance Need, winner of one class.
Then it was the Champion of Champions class with all the previous class winners automatically entered to find the 2025 champion. The judge for this one was Dave Stone.
There was £100 prize money for this one 1st £50, 2nd £30, 3rd £20 which was kindly donated by the shows main sponsor Garry Fletcher ( THANKS GARRY ).
Taking the Champion of Champions title 2025 was Mick Willis & Family who also took second. Chris Gilliver took 3rd with Andy Greengrass taking 4th and Very Highly Commended. Taking reserve was Lance & Robert Need with Alan & Liz Houldsworth taking Highly Commended & Commended.
Thanks to John Dowd who stepped in at the last minute to judge the third show as the original judge was called into work. Thanks John ).
It has been a successful show series with £450 raised over the four shows to be raced for over four races in 2026 ( two old bird & two young bird races each paying out £112.50p per race). Race points to be announced at a later date.
There has been a total payout of £260, £65 per show. Thanks to the hard working show committee Mollie, George Torry, Steve Lambert & Mick Willis with baby Archer keeping his eye on things. The show committee would like to thank all those who took part i.e.-: the fanciers who turned out every week to support the shows, all those who donated raffle prizes & bought raffle tickets and sponsored some of the shows.
Special mention must go to Garry Fletcher who once again sponsored the champion of champions class, bought a bottle of wine for all the class winners and presented the winner with a lifetime trophy.
Garry Fletcher the show's main sponsor.
Just before signing off, the show committee asked me to give a mention to all those who stayed behind on the third show to help clear the room as it had to be cleared for 13-00 hrs thanks again.
The show committee, Baby Archer, Mollie, George Torry, Mick Willis & Steve Lambert.
Well that’s it for another year. Hope you enjoyed the festive season and I along with everyone from the Osmaston Park Homing Society would like to wish all the readers a Very Happy & Prosperous New Year. B.B F.N.
T.3.
