ESSEX & KENT AMALGAMATION
E. J. SAINS
Newark - 3600 birds liberated on Sunday 15th June 2014 at 1.05pm
3600 birds on board the transporters conditioned and ready for liberation. Average cost to return a lost pigeon £40.00, so minimum value of cargo £144,000, the value to the fanciers considerably more. These are the responsibilities that the convoyers and race advisors have to consider before liberation. These are also the reasons why on occasions the birds have to be brought back to a more doable distance, when the weather is against a liberation. Sometimes the fancier has to be satisfied with a shorter race as was the case on Saturday the 14th June 2014. With bad weather still in place the following day, plus a much longer combine race booked for the following week, the birds were brought back from Ripon to Newark in order to see birds returning consistently and in reasonable condition for their time on the transporter plus the effort afforded to the race.
Ashley & Ron Tubey 1st 2nd 3rd & 4th open Essex & Kent Amalgamation 1st 2nd 3rd & 4th County of Essex Federation velocities 1602 1601 1600 & 1598 ypm
A fitting performance for a partnership that can boast winning many top performances in the past, topping the London North Road Combine on at least five occasions, past winners of Tommy Long trophy as well as many outstanding federation performances year in and year out. 2014 again being no exception, with wins numbering 9 firsts so far this season.
The birds responsible for this performance were the Hereman-Ceusters, a strain that the partnership brought in two or three years ago from the Premier Stud. The Hereman-Ceusters have proved themselves so well that they already occupy half of the widowhood boxes, with four of these 10 widowhood cocks taking the first four spots in the Newark amal. Of these four widowers two were nest mates with the winning pigeon being one of the pair of nest mates.
The partnership usually train the birds consistently as I remember Bob Fenech remarking that the partnership put the work into the birds as he often saw them on the road training, but Ron tells me that the team are flying well at home and they had not been taken out since the third race. Well done Ron and Ashley on an outstanding performance.
Ashley & Ron Tubey
T Devlin & Son 1st East London Federation 6th open Essex & Kent Amalgamation velocity 1583 ypm
Tommy Devlin & Son Tommy Junior’s first bird is an outstanding blue pied Wal Zoonjen widowhood cock; this cock topped the federation taking 4th open in the Essex & Kent Combine Berwick last year as well as putting in a good performance in the Ripon amal. This is the partnership’s third win this year. All three wins have been from Newark, with all three wins coming from their Wal Zoonjens.
Tommy tells me that these Wal Zoonjens fly well short and long. The partnership also house some very good Vandenabeeles that originally came from Peter Bullard. These birds also put in some top performances and make up some of their 15 widowhood cocks.
Tommy Devlin
J Newton & P Wheeler 1st West Essex Federation 11th open Essex & Kent Amalgamation velocity 1559 ypm
Jim and Pam only started in the sport last year. But already Jim and his girlfriend Pam have made inroads into the sport, that often take new fanciers many seasons to achieve. Their 2013 young birds flew well in nine races scoring five times plus also winning the Grays Social Two bird club three times.
The partnership’s first bird, a blue chequer yearling widowhood cock, is a G G Grandson of Ad Schaerlaeckens’ Sissi. This bird was bred by Allan Maull of Wales.
Jim and Pam have been flying 6 yearling widowhood cocks, who have been dropping in one after the other each week, with this cock coming into form since dropping his first flight, the previous week.
Jim Newton & Pam Wheeler
Mark Cooper 1st Essex Central federation 12th open Essex & Kent Amalgamation velocity 1558 ypm
Mark is another outstanding young fancier, who is making a name for himself. Living down in the Grays area gives Mark a unique opportunity to fly in two federations, the Essex Central Federation and the West Essex Federation, which he has certainly made the most of with his wins so far in his clubs and two feds mounting to 6x1st 3x1st federation 2nd amal Wetherby and now 12th amal Newark.
The first pigeon to be timed in from the E & K Amal Newark is a two year old blue Honeysuckle Janssen x Vandenabeele of Terry McCarthy bloodlines. Mark houses 26 widowhood cocks, but there are two nest pairs of cocks that have been doing all the winning, two blues and two red pieds. They are all half Honeysuckle Janssen and half Terry McCarthy blood. The Honeysuckle blood descends from a 2004 hen that has been responsible for winning pigeons for numerous fanciers.
Mark Cooper
Eric Guinchard 1st Havering North Road Federation velocity 1533 ypm
Eric, who is renowned for his sprint racing where he often gets multi drops that take several top prizes, once again tops his federation. The first bird a two year old blue Soontjens widowhood cock was bred by Tim Rodwell of Kent, one of many winners bred by Tim for Eric’s race team.
Eric Guinchard outside his loft complex
Mr Lee Fribbins 1st & 2nd Stour Valley Federation velocity 1376 ypm
When the wind is not in your favour, but your birds are facing a fly of 200 miles or over you have a chance of taking one of the early positions in the amal. For this reason fanciers from right across the radius of the Essex & Kent Amal, some 50 miles or more, enter their pigeons with the same enthusiasm as they would whatever the wind. Unfortunately if they have to be brought back to a lesser distance it becomes very hard for the pigeons to break away from large numbers of pigeons so early in the race. Mistly Flying Club, which has most of its members living on or around the east coast, sent a fair contingent of birds, even though the wind was to favour a north easterly direction. This club, as we all know, has put in some unbelievable performances this year topping combine and amal alike, so although Lee cannot match some of the westerly velocities, his lead in the Mistly club and Stour Valley Federation some 14 minutes ahead, highlights what a good performance this is.
Lee had two hens drop together to take first and second Stour Valley Federation. Lee told me his birds had made a slow start this year, but they had started coming into form in the past three weeks, topping the Saxon Valley Federation championship two weeks in succession when two long distance hens dropped together from the amal race, one a five year old hen that was one of only 20 birds on the day last year in the 500 mile Thurso Essex & Kent Combine, the other hen a long distance hen of the Perry Bros of Kings Lynn bloodlines. This hen spent the day at Framlingham School just prior to this race being looked at and handled by the children, teaching them the importance of secret messages carried by brave pigeons during the second world war. She was then released with her canister and message that was decoded at Lee’s loft and sent back to the school.
Lee Fribbins
Essex & Kent Amalgamation
Top twenty
15.6.2014. Newark
Lib 13.05. North East wind
Approx 3600 birds.
1 A & R TUBEY COE 1602
2 A & R TUBEY 1601
3 A & R TUBEY 1600
4 A & R TUBEY 1598
5 WOOD BROS COE 1593
6 T DEVLIN EL 1583
7 J CRASS EL 1577
8 R HAWKINS & SON EL 1570
9 A GADSDON & SON EL 1568
10 J FENN COE 1563
11 NEWTON & WHEELER WE 1559
12 M COOPER EC 1558
13 D & R NEWLYN WE 1554.9
14 T LING WE 1554.3
15 M/M WOODLEY EL 1553.9
16 D & R NEWLYN 1553.4
17 LING BROS EL 1553.3
18 A GADSDON & SON 1551
19 NIGHTINGALE & DRAPER EC 1545
20 MEGAN BROS EL 1544
OTHER FED WINNERS
E GUINCHARD HNR 1533
L FRIBBINS SV 1376
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