ACROSS THE MIDDLE
by Gordon Braban & John Wilkie
The next race was from Melton Mowbray, around 152 miles to Washington. The race this week was sort of a funny race. The weather for the Saturday morning was not that good, so it was just sit tight and wait for word to come back to us saying that the birds were going to be liberated and wait. We did and it was not until around the 12-15 mark that the sky down there started to shift a little and Steve Proffitt and his lads started to cut the strings on the first groups that were going, which was sections 1 & 4 at 12-25 then it was 25 mins later when they liberated sections 2, 3 & 5 at 12-50, all into a west south west wind which should have taken the birds around 3 hours on a normal day of 50mph but there must have been a little help somewhere along the road, so lets have a look at the results and see what times they did starting with section 2 where around 2863 birds were liberated. Gateshead fed had 1786 birds, Newcastle West fed had 795 birds and Chester Le Street fed had only 282 birds.
With the wind in a west south west direction you would think that all the birds would be on the east side of the fed, well that’s not the case with the Gateshead fed result this week and nearly all the clubs were represented this week on the sheet.
Gateshead Fed.
Mount Pleasent h s 197 birds. With 6 birds on the sheet from the Mount the winning loft belongs to Ray Howourth jnr who timed a young blue cock that took 2hrs 51mins 16secs to cover the 155 miles. This young cock was the only bird in their area that was doing over 1600 vels. Ray also got another 2 birds 5 mins later that went over the pads together to take 3rd & 4th club 13th & 14th fed with vels dropping down into the 1550s. Harry Tonothy was 2nd club 9th fed with a check hen that was doing 1559-55, and David Hulme& Craig Larvin took the next 2 positions in the club with 2 check hens that ended up 26th & 30th fed.
Bensham h s 276 birds. The Gray bros {Bob & Mick}, well what can I say? These lads are having a great young bird season up to now and especially with the 1 pigeon, that is the mealy hen {so I’ve been told that it’s a hen}. These lads took 1st 3rd & 4th club this week and the mealy was their first bird that gives this pigeon 2 x 2nds, a 4th and a 6th fed up to now and it also wins the 1bird club and the 2bird club for the second week running {what will this bird do next week?}. Their other 2 pigeons were 28th & 29th fed 4 mins later. Quinn, son Smith & Noble were 2nd club 20th fed with a blue cock doing 1554-04.
Dunston h s 382 birds. Tommy Mollett was the club winner by 4 yards with a blue cock that was 3rd fed doing 1581-28. Morpeth & Scott {Chas & Dave} were 2nd, 5th & 6th club this week. Their first pigeon was a check cock that was 4th fed and the next 2 birds were both checkers; the 2nd check was 23rd fed and the 3rd check was 25th fed - this cock was 23rd last week from newark {I understand that Charlie is still away on his hols, that’s why}. John Jobey & Keith Main were 3rd club 8th fed with a £ 10 Z ring. Neil {the salad dodger} Peart was 4th club 22nd fed with a blue cock that takes 2nd in the 2bird club.
Springwell h s. Scott, son & Harty had the only bird on the sheet from Springwell. This blue wh hen was 5th fed doing 1576-89.
Wrekenton h s 463 birds. Crawford & son timed a £10 Z ring pied hen in to win the club. This hen was a good 60 odd secs in front of the next bird on the allotments where these lads fly and she ended up 6th fed. Elliott & Watson timed 2 cocks in to be 2nd & 4th club 7th & 11th fed. Their first bird was also a £ 10 Z ringer and he was doing 1563-81 and the next cock was doing 1558-53. Tommy Gray & son Dean were 3rd and 5th club 10th & 12th fed with 2 hens, Laskey & Robinson timed in 2 hens with only 3 secs splitting them to be 15th & 16th fed, A&M Hirst was 17th fed with a check wh cock and Billy Matfin was 21st fed with a blue hen.
Highfeild h s. Dawson & Rutledge took 1st & 3rd club this week, firstly with a pied cock that took 18th fed then a blue hen that was 27th fed. F Curry & son were 2nd club 19th fed with a pied cock.
Well this week’s race was also the Wrekenton Breeder/Buyer race with over £5,000 to fly for. The overall winner was T Gray & son with a young bird they bought off Freddie Thompson and this blue wh hen was the only bird that made the Gateshead fed sheet. These lads get £650 each. 2nd was Bowman, Scott & Kelly {B, S, K}, the breeder was Graham Calvert and they get £ 550 each. 3rd W Matfin, the breeder was Georgeson & Ridley and they get £ 450 each. 4th was Crawford & son, they were breeder and buyer and they get £700. 5th was Derek Campbell, the breeder was Hulme & Larvin and they get £ 250 each. 6th was Decca Lamb, the breeder was G Greenhow and they get £ 150 each and 7th place was Laskey & Robinson who also bought their own bird back and they get £234. This breeder and buyer has gone from strength to strength each year it has been on and it is always worth a gamble so if you fancy your chances at breeding a winner next year then have a go. Next week it will be the Chester Le Street fed’s B/B from Peterborough - good luck.
Newcastle West Fed 38 members sent 795 birds.
With most of the other feds around the area the winner has been out on its own, but not in this case as there are only second decimals splitting the top 2 birds this week in the N.W.F. The first pigeon belongs to the Burns bros from the British Legion club who timed a check wh hen in doing a velocity of 1596-69 to be 1st club and fed and also 2nd section. These lads timed this hen in from Pontefract when she was 18th fed, then just a midgies behind were A&M Wharton with a blue pied cock this cock doing 1596-67 to be 2nd club, fed and 3rd section. Decca Lamb must have thought he had won all day when he got his first pigeon which was a blue wh hen doing 1586-42 to be 3rd club and fed this week and she was 3rd club 4th fed last week. She was 4 mins in front of his next pigeon that was 5th club and fed which was a check hen that was doing 1552-63. K Maughan & son got 3 birds in a min to be 4th, 6th& 7th club and fed. The first bird was a blue cock that was doing 1553-08 then the next 2 birds went over the pads at the same time to record vels of 1549-66.
W. Anderson was the winner at the Coxlodge club with a blue pied hen doing 1548-89 to be 8th fed then Norman Feren got the next 2 positions with a blue cock and a blue wh hen 9 secs apart {and he’s on the rubbers}; these 2 were 11th & 14th fed. R Trattles & son were 1st, 2nd & 3rd club at the Skinnerburn club with 3 cocks that were 10th, 12th & 18th fed.
Graham, son & Brown took the top 3 spots at the Westerhope club. First was a blue wh hen that was 13th fed then a grizzle cock that was on the fed sheet out of Pontefract when it was 11th fed, then a check hen that also made the fed sheet out of Wetherby when it was 10th. B Wallace & son Jeff took the next 2 positions in the club and were 19th & 20th fed. Park & Young were the winners at the Hazelrigg club with a blue wh cock that took 17th fed.
Chester Le Street fed 282 birds.
Morris & son were the Birtley h s club winners this week. This partnership took 4 positions out of the top 5 in the club, with 10 mins between their 1st pigeon and their 4th bird. The first pigeon was a blue £10 Z ring hen that was doing 1593-98 which will be 4th section then 6mins 30 secs later they clocked a pied £10 Z ring hen. This hen was 3rd fed, then they clocked another 2 pied hens in with 2mins 30+ secs to split them to be 6th & 10th fed. Irving & son took 4th club 8th fed with a check hen that topped the fed last week from Newark and it also wins the Birtley 4 bird club doing 1508-6.
Perkinsville h s. Gordon & son clocked 2 check hens in to be 1st & 4th club and 2nd & 9th fed. There was 4mins + between them and the first hen was doing 1536-3157 yards behind the fed winner. Mr & Mrs McGow were 2nd & 3rd club 4th& 5th fed with a red cock and a check cock.
Eltringham & Hall were the winners at the Kibblesworth club with a blue hen that was 7th fed.
96 yards splits the top 10 birds in this fed from 150+ miles.
Section 3 Houghton fed 1112 birds.
Flying 152 miles and like I said before about close finishes, I think that there was only N.W.F. that was close because our fed winner was nearly 3 mins in front of his next pigeon, which was Dyson & Nichols. Their first bird was a check hen that took 2hrs 47mins 49secs then another checker that took 2hrs 50mins 40secs to be 1st & 2nd fed. They also timed 3 birds in within 27 secs to be 3rd, 5th & 6th club and 6th, 8th & 9th fed. Bobby Matthews was 4th & 7th club 7th & 12th fed with a mealy cock and a check hen. Braban & son took 8th club 15th fed with a check Busschaert cock.
Shiney Row h s was won by Mr & Mrs Tucker Wells with a blue hen that was doing 1572-25 and was 3rd fed. Laidler & Simpson were 2nd & 3rd club 10th & 11th fed with a mealy wh cock and check hen.
Mr & Mrs Sharp were the winners at the Dubmire club with a check hen that took 4th fed and the Jacksons were 2nd, 3rd & 4th club 14th, 21st & 25th fed with a hen & 2 cock birds.
Davy Makepeace & Surtees took the red card at the Gardeners club with a blue wh Z ring hen that was 5th fed.
North Biddick h s was won by the Fort bros with a check pied cock and the Clennel, bros & Curry were 2nd & 3rd club.
63 yards splits our fed this week and the returns were about 97% with only a few birds going missing from most lofts around the area.
Mid Tyne Federation, Melton Mowbray.
This week saw 36 federation members send 986 birds, slightly up on last week. Taking top honours is the Jarrow Alexandra HS partnership of Scott & Son, the main man though being the son Paul. Their winning pigeon recording a velocity of 1600.52ypm is not only 1st club 1st fed but also 1st section 3 is also the nest mate to the pigeon that was 1st club 15th fed for the loft last week from Newark. These two pigeons being GB rung were bred by Dave Atkins from Lincoln which Paul purchased, a very good buy indeed Paul. Second at Jarrow are Mr & Mrs Dave Mills this one doing 1575.37ypm came in at 13th fed. At Boldon Colliery HS where 14 lofts sent 552 birds Walker & Greenlay put up a fantastic performance to be 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 6th 7th 8th & 9th club 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 8th 9th & 10th fed the first of these doing 1597.3ypm and the last one on 1577.25ypm. The loft stopping the lads doing a clean sweep is that of Kevin McFarlane at 5th club with another at 11th club these two at being 6th & 14th fed on1580.5 & 1575ypm. Billy Miller was 10th club 11th fed 1575.7ypm Graham, Gilchrist & Brennan 11th 13th club 12th 15th fed these on 1575.5 & 1570ypm. McKenna Bros had a couple to be 14th 16th club 17th 19th fed 1569 & 1568.46ypm, Billy Gates 15th club 18th fed 1568.48ypm with John Blackburn & Son 17th club 20th fed 1567.5ypm. At Heworth HS it was Birks, Frail & Birks making it three wins in a row being 1st club 16th fed on 1569.7ypm as I understand it all of these were bred by Walker & Greenlay. A new name is in top spot at Hebburn East End, this being George Thompson, this is in fact George’s first ever win. He has been a breeder of budgerigars for a number of years but George fancied a change a couple of years back and decided to have a go at racing pigeons. So congratulations on your first win George.
Section 4 / Sunderland Prem Fed 1748 birds lib 12.
Like I said with the NW Fed, not many other feds have had such a close finish with different lofts from the same club, but in this case it happened with 2 separate lofts from 2 different clubs.
Firstly we have the fed winners club which is the Oddfellows h s who were flying against 540 birds. Top loft this week belongs to S Potts & sons who were doing 1604-87 for the 150 miles then came Taylor bros just half a yard behind them doing 1604-36. These 2 lofts were 1st& 2nd fed and also the fed noms. 3rd club was T Armstrong & son doing 1596-78. C&R Greenhow had the next 2 birds on the gardens taking 4th & 5th club and 7th & 8th fed with only a couple of seconds splitting them and just edging Brown, bros & McKinnie into 6th club 9th fed. All 3 birds were doing 1595.
Deptford h s 128 birds. Joe Adams & sons were the winners for the 2nd week running and this bird takes 3rd fed and fed noms doing 1601-51. Mr & Mrs Lavelle & ptn were a close 2nd club doing 1601-00 to win the Ford 2bird club. J Adams & sons were 3rd club 13th fed 13 yards behind their first pigeon, and Tommy Aysccough took 4th club 20th fed.
Sportsmans & Comrades h s 440 birds was won by Murphy & Ayre. This was their 2nd club win in as many week doing 1596-83. J & S Barnes took 2nd & 3rd club 14th & 15th fed with only seconds splitting these 2 birds.
Plains Farm h s 335 birds. Wormleighton & Swinney made it 2 out of 2 this week with the only bird from the farm on the fed sheet. Theses velocities were a little better then the group’s vels that were up 25 mins later and the returns were about the same at 97% - a good weekend race.
Just a few things before I sign of this week. Firstly a correction to the section 3 overall winners, that I made the mistake of putting in the other week. Top loft in the section was Walker & Greenlay with 632 points and 2nd was GGB with 348 points. But no mistake about the section channel ave winner, it was still Braban & son with 128 points. Lastly I must say yet again about the jobs the lads and lasses in the union office are doing. With all the young birds that have gone missing over the past couple of months with either the birds training or from the races, if it was not for these people who go into the office and sort these lost birds out, some of them would be sitting in far off places for days upon days. So from most of the union lads, a big thank you to Dave Powers, Tony and Lisa.
Well that’s it from me this week. If you have anything to say to me or report to me I live at 14 ELLEN TERR, SULGRAVE, WASHINGTON, NE37 3AS OR CALL 01914177745 or 07526267979 but no solicitor’s letters - I have enough paper to start the fire with. THAT’S ALL FOLKS, GORDON.
