ACROSS THE MIDDLE
by Gordon Braban & John Wilkie
Eastbourne Old Bird National - May 2013
Well, the birds went away on the Thursday for the old bird national. I think it was so that the birds would arrive down at Eastbourne in plenty of time so they could get rested and have plenty of time to settle down, instead of travelling down the day before and arriving in the early hours of the morning and having just a few hours before being liberated, which in my eyes is a great idea if the forecast for the race day was going to be good, which was not the case for this week’s race, as all of the NEHU would be liberated together. The Saturday morning was not good enough for a liberation so the birds were held over. In my last article I said that the forecast for the Saturday was not going to be great, but there was a chance of the birds being liberated early, but the line of flight was not that good near the race point and there was rubbish weather approaching the race point, so a good decision was made by all the chief convoyers from each of the other groups that make up the NEHU. Well, that was it for the Saturday it was just fill in the missing hours and enjoy the rest of the day. On the Sunday morning the phone calls started to come in pretty sharp just before 6 o’clock in the morning from friends down the country telling me that the weather was going to be good enough for a race early doors but rain was expected around dinner time, then the main phone call came through that the birds were up at 06-15 in a west wind, so the text messages went out to the people who I have in my text groups on the mobile, which is around 40, at about 06-18, then phone calls came in to ask how long would it take and will they miss the rain? My answer was as long as they are back before 6hours to 6-30 hours then they might miss the rain {some did and some did not}, then the next question was where do you think the combine winner would be? What a stupid question I said, on a west wind where do you think it will be? They will be up the middle area, somewhere, which was not far wrong, but that's a nother story for a bit later on in the section 4 notes.
Like I said, the birds were away at 06-15 when our convoyer and the other convoyers liberated 26-000 pigeons in a west wind. There were 17-000 UNC birds all heading north, so here goes for the first of the combine reports from the ATM.
Section 2 Gateshead Fed & Newcastle West Fed when there were 1636 birds liberated.
Gateshead Fed 1158 birds.
Wrekenton h s 219 birds. After a couple of close calls over the past few weeks the partnership of Terry Elliott & John Watson make it a great win with a yearling blue hen that was clocked in at 12-14-39, that is 5hrs, 59mins 39secs, to record a vel of 1460-55 to take their first win of the season and what a win it will be - 1st club 1st fed & 1st section and probably well up in the combine. Their next pigeon was also a yearling blue hen that was clocked some 7 mins later to be 7th club 17th fed and she was doing 1432-28. Their 3rd bird was a yearling blue cock 16 secs later. T Gray & son Dean clocked 3 birds in within 41 secs to take 2nd, 3rd & 5th club and 7th, 8th & 14th fed. The first 2 birds were a yearling mealy SED cock doing 1436-66, and then 3 secs later a 2year old check hen and their 3rd bird was 2 year old GB blue white hen. Flying well at the moment is the father & son team of Crawford & son who have won the last 3 races but this week could only make 4th, 6th & 8th club and 10th, 16th & 20th fed. Their first pigeon was a check Zring hen doing 1435-71 then they timed in a yearling blue MT hen bred by Walker & Greenlay from Boldon. Their next bird was also a yearling pied Zring hen doing 1431-87.
Dunston h s 227birds. Phillipp Steele & Hubbuck chalked up their first win of the season with a yearling blue cock that took 6hrs 4mins 40secs to cover the 301 miles and doing 1456-58 to be 2nd fed and 3rd section and they also clocked another bird in 6+mins later to be 3rd club 19th fed, a 2 year old check hen doing 1430-04. The 3Gs Gordon, Gray & Gray took 2nd club 12th fed with a 2 year old Belgie blue hen doing 1435-17. Chas & Dave {Morpeth & Scott} were 4th & 5th club 21st & 25th fed with 2 x 2 year olds, first a check cock that takes 2nd place in the fed 2 bird club, next a blue cock 26 secs later.
Benshamh h s 296 birds. Quinn son, Smith & Noble clocked 5 birds in within 6 mins to take 1st, 3rd, 4th, 8th & 12th club and 3rd, 6th, 9th, 23rd, & 30th fed and 4th, 8th, &11th section. Their first bird was a yearling Zring check hen doing 1447-77, then a yearling blue cock doing 1436-74, then a yearling check cock 4 mins after there first bird. Mark Bainbridge clocked 2 birds in to be 2nd & 5th club 5th & 13th fed, first a yearling blue white hen then a 2 year old NY check cock then 2 yearling cocks 3 mins later. Kenny & Ged Hooker took 6th club 15th fed with a 3 year old check cock that also wins the fed 2 bird club doing 1433-28.
Springwell h s 41 birds. Scott son & Harty were the winners with a yearling GB blue cock doing 1447-02 and 4th fed, and they were also 2nd club 27th fed with a yearling check cock. Saltwell h s 92 birds. J Turnbull, Turnbull & Steele took the red card with a 2 year old pied hen that was doing 14435-21.
Mount Pleasant h s 95 birds. Those likeable lads Howourth, Johnson & Steele took 1st, 2nd & 5th club this week {not on fed sheet}. Their first 2 birds were bred by Colin Chapman from Seaham. Sid Coulter was 3rd & 6th club and Hulme & Larvin were 4th club.
Birtley h s 112 birds. Jeff Morris & Son were the winners for the 2nd week running. Potts, Walker & Birlleson were 2nd club, McCabe & ptns were 3rd and Mr & Mrs Bradlay & dtr were 4th {also not on fed sheet}.
There was 34 yards splitting the top 30 birds in the fed this week, with most members still birds missing on the night and not many turning in the next day.
Newcastle West Fed 478 birds.
This week’s fed winner is one of the furthest flyers in the section and comes from the little village of Hazelrigg. Grant {Butchy} Robson is his name, flying 308 miles and clocking in at 12-27-9, that is 6hrs 12mins 9secs, to record a vel of 1458-04t o be 2nd section with a yearling blue hen that was a long way clear of the next pigeon in the club.
British Legion h s. Decca Lamb was the winner with a yearling blue white hen taking 6hrs14 mins 9 secs. This young hen has scored before. She was 2nd fed 7th section doing 1438-29. A&M Wharton & Porter were 2nd & 4th club 3rd & 6th fed with 2 x 2 year old hens, and the Burns bros took 3rd club 4th fed with a yearling blue hen.
Westerhope h s. Copeland & Bolam clocked 3 year old blue hen in to win the club doing 1432-08 and be 5th fed, Graham son & Brown were 2nd club 9th fed with a 2 year old check hen that was 14th fed from Peterborough, and the singing sparkie Davy Little, son & Ray Southgate took the next 3 position with 2 cocks and a hen, the hen was first doing 1418-23 then the cocks some 15 and38 secs later.
D Rutherford was the winner at the Coxlodge club with a blue cock that was 8th fed and W Anderson was 2nd club 20th fed.
There was 48 yards between 1st and 20th fed with quite a few birds missing over at the west side.
Mid Tyne Federation. Eastbourne.
For this the first of the seasons classics 33 federation lofts sent a total of 644 birds, this being well down on last year. Was it the change of race point or the poor start we have had this season? I don’t know. Boldon Colliery HS's share of this entry being 14 lofts and 366 birds and it was from these that the winner came. Once again the Walker & Greenlay loft put up a tremendous performance taking the first three in the club, this their third win on the trot and the first three in the fed, the winner doing 1459.6ypm. The winning pigeon is the nest mate to the one that was 1st club 2nd fed last week, these from stock that the lads obtained from Soderlund & Maddison. Not content to take the first three positions they were also 5th 7th 10th 11th 14th 17th & 20th fed, the last of these recording a velocity of 1423.7ypm. Ken Young was 4th & 14th club 4th & 16th fed on 1446.3ypm & 1428.0ypm. Kevin McFarlane 6th club 6th fed 1439.2ypm, Billy Gates & Sons 8th club 8th fed 1437.3ypm, Graham, Gilchrist & Brennan 11th club 13th fed 1430.6ypm, with McKenna Bros 13th club 15th fed 1428.4ypm. At Jarrow Mr & Mrs Davy Mills were 1st & 2nd club 9th 18th fed these doing 1435 & 1425ypm. This is also Davy’s third club win with his first on the clock being 1st club 3rd fed Peterborough and the second one being 1st club 1st fed from Newark, two good pigeons these. Third Jarrow went to Scott & Son 1424ypm this at 19th fed.
W & L Curry were the victors at Heworth HS 1431.9ypm this for 12th fed. Billy missed this race as he was in hospital recovering from surgery, but the birds were in good hands being looked after by his very good friend Sid Rushton, hope every thing went OK Billy and a speedy recovery follows. G. Thompson had the winner at Hebburn East End.
Section 3 Houghton Fed 728 birds
Washington Celtic hs. Dyson & Nichols made it 2 fed wins in a row and 3 in total this week when they timed a 2 year old check hen in, taking 6 hrs and 12 secs to cover the 297 miles and record a vel of 1455-04 to take 1st club, fed 2nd, section and 27th UNC then 7 mins later they clocked 2 more birds in to be 4th & 5th club 7th & 8th fed doing 1427. Mr & Mrs Hindhaugh & Donaldson clocked a yearling MT blue hen that was 2nd club 5th fed and 172nd combine doing 1432-99 taking 6hrs 4mins 10 secs. Micky Thompson & Mel Laidler {Stud & Buckshot} timed a 3 year old blue hen in that was 3rd club 6th fed and she also wins the fed champ club doing 1431-12. This hen was 8th fed last week from Rivenhall. Herron & Sons took 6th club 10th fed with a blue white cock, and Kirby & Smith took 19th fed with a red GB cock.
Penshaw h s. Wilson, son & dtr clocked there 3 year old blue SS hen in that topped the fed out of Newark 3 weeks ago; this week she was 2nd fed 96th combine. They were also 2nd club 12th fed with a 2 year old check cock that was doing 1423- 63.
Shiney Row h s. Laidler & Simpson made a clean sweep of all the positions in the club this week when they timed their first 2 birds in on 6hrs 1 min 14 secs & 42 secs. These 2 birds were 3rd & 4th fed 100th & 120th combine. Their next 3 birds were timed in within 1min 21 secs to be 9th, 11th, 14th fed. All the birds were yearlings and a mixture of cocks & hens.
Dubmire h s. The Jacksons did it again this week taking the top few positions in the club. Hughie & Colin are flying well with gift birds that have been bred in for them and this week they clocked another 1 of Ronny Evans from Sunderlands birds. This week it was a yearling blue cock doing 1422-61 and was 13th fed. These lads were also 25th & 29th fed.
North Biddick h s. The Fort Bros took the red card this week with a yearling blue cock that took 6hrs 6mins 49 sec and was 16th fed. In 2nd club 28th fed were Clennel, bros & Curry with a yearling blue hen.
The Gardeners h s club was won by Jeff Jobling who clocked a 2 year old blue hen and ended up 21st fed and Braban & son were 2nd club.
Section 4 / Sunderland Dist Fed 661 birds
Well what can I say about this fed? This week’s race saw 661 birds going away for the Eastbourne Nat and who was to say that not just the combine winner would be in just 1 fed or section but 8 out of the top 10 birds in the combine were in section 4 [unless you fly in section 6 or the E,C fed}. This race saw 2 birds hit the High Southwick allotments at the same time and these 2 birds would take the top 2 positions in the combine flying against 16,894 birds, and the overall winner was the Woodroffe bros when they timed in a 3 year old blue hen which took 5hrs 57 mins 9 secs to cover the 297 + miles doing a vel of 1467-44. This hen was bred for the brothers by Alfred Hawthorne from Benwall, which is in the Newcastle west area, making it the 4th combine wins for the Woodroffes - well done lads. This loft flew a cracking race that day because just 1min and 18 secs later another 2 birds were to drop in to their loft which were 2 yearlings to take 2nd & 3rd club and 3rd & 4th fed and 6th & 7th combine; these 2 were doing 1462-1 & 1461-7. Another 3 birds were to drop in some 60+ seconds later to round off a great day. The others were all hens and these hens took 6th, 10th, 11th & 14th fed and 19th, 42nd, 46th & 99th combine; this was all in the Cornhill club. J Ridley clocked a yearling check hen that would be 4th club 5th fed 8th section & 9th combine doing 1461-44. At the High Southwick club 278 birds, just half a yard behind the combine winner was the loft of R A Evans, Dixon & Gibbon who timed a yearling check hen in which would go on to be 1st club, 2nd fed, 2nd section and 2nd combine doing 1466-25. That was the first of 5 birds that was timed in that made the fed sheet and the next 3 birds were all yearling blue hens that would take 2nd, 3rd & 4th club 7th, 8th & 9th fed with only second splitting the first 2 hens and then about 1min later their 4th hen. These 3 would be 20th, 21st & 41st combine. Ray Atkinson & McDonald had to settle for 5th club, 12th fed and 62nd combine.
Geordie Kelly was the winner at the Town End Farm club with a 2 year old blue cock that ended up 176th combine doing 1432-63.
Farrington h s 79 birds, Prest Snowdon & Prest took 1st, 3rd, 5th & 6th club this week. Their winner was a yearling blue Busscheart cock and their next bird was a yearling Janssen hen bred by H, J, S from Gateshead.
Out of the 2,928 section birds that went away 77 made the top 200 in the combine.
South Shields Fed
The 2Js Soderlund & Maddison made it their 3rd fed win of the season this week, not only winning the 2 clubs that they fly in but taking the first 4 in the fed with 2 yearlings and 2 x 2 year olds to finish up 4th, 16th, 31st & 36th combine. Herbie Elliott had to settle for 3rd club 6th fed 49th combine in the Central club and G Dingwall made it 3rd club 5th fed at the Raglan West Park club. Ray Moore & Geordie Gleghorn were the winners at the Whiteleas club.
North East Fed. Richardson, son & Young bros took top spot at the Seaham club taking 1st club, fed and 9th section and 10th combine. Naylor, sons & Richardson were the winners at the murton club also taking 2nd fed 26th combine. Chapman & sons took 2nd & 3rd club at Seaham and 3rd & 4th fed. J & B Ayre were the winners at the Wearside club.
Sunderland Prem Fed 1112 birds
Sportsmans & Comrades h s 328 birds. The Dunn bros took top spot in the club and fed this week with a 2 year old NEC bird doing 1463-13 and ended up 5th combine. Joe & Stephen Barnes clocked the same pigeon this week that topped the fed from Rivenhal last week. It is a yearling blue Soontjen cock which ended up 39th combine doing 1449-97. These 2 lads have never been outside the top 2 in the club this year and they win the Ford 2 bird club as well. Small & Naisbit were 3rd & 5th club 13th & 15th fed. These 2 birds were 63rd & 68th combine only 13 secs apart. Thurlow & Strong took 4th club 14th fed and 67th combine. Castletown h s 118 birds. Summers bros & Rose were the winners with a 3 year old bird that ended up 8th combine doing 1461-63 and Chipp & Kibble were 2nd club 11th fed and 54th combine with a 4 year old pigeon.
Plains Farm h s 203 birds. Wormleighton & Swinney had another winner this week when they clocked a yearling in to be 3rd fed 22nd combine. Armstrng & Shergold took 2nd 3rd & 4th club 4th 5th & 8th fed 34th, 37th & 42nd combine with 2 yearlings and a 2 year old. Welsh & Rowe were the winners at the Oddfellows and Mr & Mrs John Bell took the red card at the Detford club.
---
