When the Stichelbauts came to Sycamore Cottage
Part 4
THE CREATION OF CHAMPION BARCELONA DREAM
"Champion Barcelona Dream"
By 80 my No 1 PAIR of Dark Destiny and Dt of Darkness had produced hens and cocks to be pigeons of great class and distinction,both hens and cocks as real performance birds that went on to found a dynasty for myself and others. In 93 I set about sending my yearlings to NFC Nantes at the middle distance of 466 miles.In 95 I noticed the early morning arrival of the big dark cock from Nantes .
He had an aura about him,nice and quite to behold,yet huge and light in the hand-a very powerful and bouyant in the hand. The sire was very inbred to Diabolos from my No1 Pair yet outbred for the coveted heterozygosis,or hybrid vigour to top marathon lines of Denney and Vanwanroy-the Denney carried related Stichelbaut influence too.
A pedigree extract showing Barcelona Dream's parents & g. parents
Jim holding Mystical Queen and mum Dorothy with the champ "Barcelona Dream"
My 6 birds were fuelled up to the eyeballs and entered into the Barcelona International race of 1995. At 879 miles often against the winds of Nor. East he remains the BICC long distance flight record holder. Today in 2016 is a pairing with 216 times inbreeding to my no1 pair. After 21 years,I promote this to be beaten. We have close inbred relatives of all my many key birds waiting to produce another champion after our great Musgrove Addiction. Who will it be ? The bird will be of mixed ancestry as all others are.
A great memory as illustrated by the BHW and the Mensa Magazine back in 2008.
I find it lovely to reflect on the days when the stars shone for Mum.
Jean and I - the realisation of my little Barcelona Dream.
PROFILE OF A BARCELONA PIGEON
It is simple to identify one. They are the ones you time in race reality. Existentially the geno and phenotypes i.e. the total being of the bird are fit for purpose-Results my friends results!
I like a bird of 2yrs old and upwards,compact,balanced and bouyant to feel with the human hand. I like nice breast muscles,vibrant to the touch,a briiliant eye expression and dark ch in colour to reflect my 40 yr old strain. Hens may excel on the first yb of the year,or cocks on eggs. In this the stamina/navigation/survivability/genes/instincts will manifest itself as arrivals in race time. The top ones drop on the second day in the UK, unless over 800 miles. I judge the bird on the results in each actual Barcelona race - smacks of reality to me.
Dream big, race hard, enter the 1 great race of a lifetime!
Jim Emerton
