GWENT GREATER DISTANCE CLUB
Reports by Gareth Watkins
END of YEAR REPORT 2009
Robert Davies of Crumlin, one of the club's sponsors
The Gwent Greater Distance Club was formed in the winter of 2006/7 with the firm intention of competing on the National and International stage with the superbly organised BICC. Since those early days membership has increased dramatically and the success of the members has grown exponentially. Adrian Ware of the small mining village of Beddau was the first GGDC member to taste success with the BICC when he won the National race in 2007. In the 2008 season both Spencer Jones of Pontypool and Dennis Ford of Blaenavon won 1st Open National with the BICC and various other members went on to amass a sheaf of top section and open prizes.
So we come to the 2009 season which has exceeded all expectations with members winning 7x 1st section; 7 x 2nd section and 5 x 3rd section with many, many more top twenty section positions plus 2x 2nds; 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 7th, 9th,11th,13th,16th etc in BICC Open competition, competing against many thousands of pigeons entered by some of the best fanciers in the British Isles. It should also be noted that these positions have been won flying into a predominantly westerly airstream and, in the International races, often with appalling weather conditions of heavy rain and high winds in the home stretch.
The season started well with Spencer Jones winning 1st & 5th section in the Falaise 2 race. Andrew Vincent of Llanhilleth came in for 2nd GGDC plus 4th section BICC to start his excellent run of form in GGDC races during the 2009 old bird campaign. Other members to take good section positions in this race were Jude & Prosser at 4th club 7th section and Darren Roberts up there in Wrexham who gained success in the North section of the BICC. John Williams of New Tredegar came in next with a very creditable 8th section.
The Alencon race saw our North Wales member Darren Roberts clock two excellent birds to win 1st & 2nd GGDC plus two top prizes in the North section. G. Lewis & son of Llanhilleth come in for 3rd club, with Andrew Vincent in once again at 4th club, followed by the Padfields, Vince and Dave, at 5th club. Section prizes here were as follows:- 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th,18th, 21st & 26th.
The next race, this time from Saran, saw 32 members enter 242 birds and it proved to be an exceptionally successful race for the Welsh contingent. Spencer Jones followed up his earlier success from Falaise to win 1st GGDC 2nd section 2nd Open BICC. The multi National winning Preece partnership of Cwmtillery were 2nd GGDC 3rd section 3rd Open BICC followed by one to the loft of Kevin and Tyrone Arnold which finished at 3rd club 4th section 4th Ope . Jude and Prosser of Cwmbran were next up at 4th club 5th section 5th Open. G. Lewis and son come in for 5th club 7th section 7th Open and finally we have Dennis Ford in with a timer for 12th section 13th Open. This was a truly remarkable race result for the GGDC members, competing against many thousands of pigeons drawn from lofts throughout England and Wales.
Next up was the Poitiers race and the small GGDC entry of 92 birds was up against a field of 2,500 pigeons entered by BICC members. The race was flown in ideal conditions and that man Andrew Vincent was in the shake up once again with an early timer to win 1st GGDC, 1st section 31st Open BICC. Preece Brothers and sons came in next to win 2nd club, 2nd section with John Smale of Abergavenny getting one on the clock for 3rd club 4th section. Spencer Jones clocked one of his team of hens for 4th club 5th section and finally we had Dennis Ford in with one for 5th club 6th section. In this race GGDC members finished with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, & 10th section.
The Saintes race was held in conjunction with the Welsh SRNFC and an entry of 87 birds from 17 lofts saw Dennis Ford come out on top winning 1st club 1st section 3rd Open National more on Dennis’s winning pigeon later in this report. G. Lewis & son of Llanhilleth came in for 2nd club followed by Andrew Vincent at 3rd club. All three pigeons featured well up in the National result.
The Bergerac race a short time later saw Dennis Ford clock the same pigeon that had won the GGDC from Saintes, also winning 3rd Open National, to win yet again 1st GGDC plus 1st section 1st Open WSRNFC; 2nd section 16th Open CSCFC. The same pigeon had also previously won 8th section 66th Open BICC Poitiers earlier in the season! Not a bad tool to have in your tool bag. He was bred by fellow club mate John Williams and gifted to Dennis and is bred from a Ray Strawbridge Jan Aarden cock when mated to a Patrick Brothers hen. Oh, incidentally this cock had also previously won 6th National as a yearling. The Preece partnership of Cwmtillery win 2nd GGDC 2nd section 3rd Open National with Andrew Vincent coming in for 3rd GGDC followed by Arnold Brothers and Spencer Jones - all five lofts featuring well up on the National result.
The Pau International race has limited entries so everyone is on a the same footing, nevertheless it proved to be a stern test for all competing pigeons. The Cwmtillery partnership of Vince and Dave Padfield and their team of long distance pathfinders like nothing better than a good hard slog and they certainly got one here. The result showed the Padfields at 1st & 2nd GGDC plus 1st & 2nd Section and 16th& 39th Open BICC. This was an excellent performance given the conditions prevailing at the time of the race. Terry and Carol Gardner clocked one of their Invincible Spirit x Tommy Ingrams to take 3rd GGDC plus 3rd section & 64th Open BICC.The Gardner timer was to go on to achieve an even greater feat a month or so later in the Marseille International race. Jim Hooper and Gordon and June Mears mopped up the remaining prizes also winning respectively 4th & 5th section and 71st & 74th Open BICC.
The Barcelona International is probably the most prestigious pigeon race in the world. It’s also one of the most difficult and hardest to win, with an annual entry in excess of 25,000 from lofts throughout Europe. The British section of this race was won on the second day by the husband and wife partnership of Mr& Mrs R. Elliott of Chadwell Heath in Essex. A few hours later on the same day and 200 miles to the west, the Padfields clocked one of their entries to win 1st GGDC 1st section 2nd Open BICC to record a truly fantastic performance in trying conditions. At a little after 11 am on the third morning Vince and Dave clocked the second of their team to win 2nd GGDC, 2ndSection 13th Open BICC. Both these timers contain the bloodlines of Invincible Spirit and both have many other top prizes in Classic competition. The Barcelona winner also receives a photograph of the winning bird kindly sponsored by Clive Hughes Photographics of Tonypandy. Wilf Reed, the 2008 winner of the Barcelona race with the GGDC comes in next with a bird to win 3rd GGDC 3rd section 18th Open BICC to maintain his phenomenal record of success in top class long distance races.
The Tarbes International race proved to be a difficult affair with just 4 gallant birds clocked into the U.K. on the first day. The GGDC was won early on the second morning by our naturalised Welshman – Wilf Reed. Wilf clocked three sharp ones at more than 600 miles to win 1st, 2nd & 3rd GGDC plus 9th, 27th & 40th Open BICC. These all contain the bloodlines of “Endurance Pride of Wales”, Wilf’s Palamos National winner, with a bit of Spanish Queen blood thrown in for good measure. Ted Garwood and Jimmy Bullock got two close behind to take 4th & 5th GGDC plus 4th & 5th section and 41st & 52nd Open.
The Marseille International is a stern test of both pigeon, fancier and management as it is the most easterly of the International race points and the convoy have a tendency to swing up the Rhone valley that leads up through France into southern Germany. There were no day birds recorded into the U.K. and conditions in Wales on the second day can only be described as atrocious with torrential rain and high winds for most of the day. Given these conditions it was impossible for any pigeons to make progress homeward. Around tea time the rain began to slacken and the wind dropped and at 20.35 on the second evening Terry and Carol Gardner saw their chequer cock swing into the loft from over the Severn Estuary to be the only bird clocked in the West section on the second day. This three year old of Invincible Spirit x Tommy Ingrams bloodlines had previously won 3rd section 64th Open BICC in the Pau International race a few weeks earlier, and had previously won 11th WSRNFC from Tarbes in 2008. He has now flown four 600+ mile races in two seasons and in the Marseille race he finished as 1st GGDC 1st section 11th Open BICC. It would be hard to find a long distance race where the name of Wilf Reed does not feature and in the Marseille race he clocked another good one to finish 2nd GGDC, 2nd section 17th Open BICC. Club stalwarts Gordon and June Mears clocked once more to take 3rd GGDC, 3rd section 30th Open BICC. So yet another hattrick of section prizes for GGDC members.
The final race of the old bird season took place from Perpignan in early August. Club chairman Ray Strawbridge really had his team on song for this 670 mile race as his five entries all made the journey and all five featured on the BICC Open result. Ray’s first in the clock finished at 1st GGDC 2nd section 23rd Open and this two year old hen had previously won 16th Open National from Bergerac ,500 miles a month before going to Perpignan. The second timer coming in for 2nd GGDC, 5th section 40th Open is a three year old cock. All five of Ray’s timers contain the bloodlines of his champion Wim Muller stock hen “My Little Gem” which is responsible for at least 15 x 1st prize winners and is grand dam to Dax and San Sebastian National winners. The other bloodlines in the mix are some Padfield and R.O.Jones Jan Aardens, plus a bit of Morgan & Cook “Iron Man” seven times Lerwick blood and finally a hint of Bowen Brothers double Lerwick National winning “Cambrian King and Queen” blood thrown in for good measure. I think it’s fair to say that Ray had “all the long distance bases” covered in the breeding of his entries!! Adrian Ware spoiled Ray’s chances of a 1-2-3 when he clocked his Brian Sheppard bred Jos Thone widower for 3rd GGDC. This one had previously flown the disastrous Giessen smash of 2008. Terry and Carol Gardner come in for 5th GGDC and also take a prominent section and Open position with one of their Invincible Spirit x Ingrams.
So we come to the final race of the GGDC calendar – this one from Falaise and again convoyed by the BICC. Terry and Carol Gardner once again came up trumps clocking a young chequer cock to win 1st GGDC 1st section 7th Open BICC. This was a truly remarkable performance as the young cock had previously only received three 53 mile training spins and a couple of 10 mile tosses from across the Severn estuary before being jumped 150 miles into a cross channel race against thousands of other youngsters from all over the south and east of England. The Gardners also clocked two more youngsters from their four bird entry to win second and fourth prizes with Gordon and June Mears mopping up the final share of the prize money in 3rd position.
That then is a brief resume of the winners in the club during the 2009 season. Our sponsors should also be thanked for their support, none more so than Robert Davies of Crumlin who has been with us from the outset and kindly presents two bags of corn, of the winners choice, to all race winners. I have included a photograph of the 2009 recipients of Robert’s generosity taken at Robert’s corn stores. Many thanks once again to all our sponsors, your generosity and continued support is greatly appreciated.
