Around Middlewich
(24th May)
The inland racing for old birds into Middlewich is well under way and the Channel races are with us and as expected with there being so many races about fanciers are spreading their birds out so not a lot going to some of the races, even so the channel races are there to be won and they are with the Combine so there are good races to be had in good North West competition. The latest race saw the Middlewich FC came back to a shorter race from Cheltenham when W Wilson & Son took 1st & 3rd on 1569/1530ypm with a 2yo blue cock and a yearling chequer cock their first being the only one on the fed result from the club finishing 17th fed. Peter & Dawn Latham are 2nd after clocking a 2yo blue cock recoding a vel of 1562ypm while 4th goes to Alan Groom on 1527ypm with a 3yo blue cock who collects the first chare of the pools and Alan also has the second share with his next pigeon. Alan was saying that this blue cock has been there every week and has been a real good pigeon for him. The Mid Cheshire fed where the Middlewich FC race saw 63 members send 942 birds that were liberated at 9am in a South West wind with the first 4 positions going to Colin Lindop racing with the Crewe West End.The Middlewich 5B were at Portland when 8 sent 90 birds that were liberated at 8-15am in a West South West wind with the top spot going to Ken & Stan Bosson who are having a good season with the club, in this race they clocked a 3yo blue cock on 1485ypm and collect the first share of pools with the second bird to the loft. 2nd & 3rd go to Ron Woodward who clocked two 2yo cocks being a blue and chequer recording vels of 1484/1482ypm with Jimmy smith being 4th after seeing home a yearling chequer cock on 1481ypm and also collected the second share of pools with his third in the clock. None of the 5B pigeons made the fed result this week where 56 sent 702 birds that was won by Mick Stockton.
(1st June)
The weekend for racing saw some mixed views on how the races went with the first race of the season for the channel pigeons to this area having a tough time depending on where in the North west you are living and this being from the same liberation. In the Middlewich FC D J & C J Wilkinson are 1st & 3rd after clocking a 3yo chequer cock and a yearling chequer cock recording vels of 1050/947ypm. Syd Latham, son 7 Daughter are 2nd on 1012ypm with a 3yo blue cock. Unusual for a channel race but none of the Middlewich FC pigeons finished on the fed result this week which saw Curtiss-Wall-Lunt top the list and were also 3rd 17th & 18th. The Middlewich 5B had two races the first from Carentan where 9 sent 55 birds, the numbers generally decrease when we go across the channel but not everything is thrown into the races. The top spot goes to W Wilson & Son with young Billy looking as though he had enjoyed the clock checking night too much, see photo. They clocked a 2yo blue hen on 1143ypm that also finished 2nd fed which saw G&K&C Hitchin top the list in this first channel race of the season for the South West Cheshire fed when 42 sent 254 birds liberated at 7am in a North, North East wind. The club had a good race in the fed taking 5 of the first 9 positions. 2nd & 3rd go to Dave & Lynn Healey who saw home a yearling blue hen and a 3yo blue cock recording vels of 1128/1126ypm. 4th goes to Ken & Stan Bosson who saw home a 2yo blue pied cock on 1123ypm. The club also had a land race on the same day when 10 sent 117 birds to Frome to be liberated at 11.45am. This was a good race for Mark & Heather Smith who won the club and also topped the South West Cheshire Fed where 67 members sent 788 birds. Mark clocked a 3yo blue cock on 1437ypm and took the first share of pools and was also 4th with a yearling blue cock on 142ypm. W Wilson & Son are 2nd & 3rd after clocking two yearlings being a chequer hen and blue hen recording vels of 1428/1423ypm.
(8th June)
This was a hard weekend with most holding over including the National FC, word is that the Staffs and Moorlands went later on the Saturday and had a good race. The Middlewich FC latest race was from Mangotsfield for a comeback race between the channel events with Peter & Dawn Latham having a good weekend. In this race they topped the list with a 2yo blue cock on 1418ypm ahead of W Wilson & Son who are 2nd & 4th clocking two yearling hens being a chequer and blue W/F recording vels of 1414/1405ypm. Alan Groom is 3rd on 1409ypm after clocking a 3yo blue cock. Racing with the Mid Cheshire Fed just the winner managed to make the result in 20th position from an entry of 45 from 63 members where Malcolm Hewitt topped the list. The Middlewich 5B were at Bath when 21 sent 174 birds liberated at 12.30pm after an extra day in the baskets and it is noticeable on the result that from the 26 shown there is only one hen. The winner is Jimmy Smith with a yearling chequer cock recording a vel of 1460ypm and collected pools further down the result with another of his entries and finished just ahead of Peter & Dawn Latham who clocked a yearling chequer cock on 1456ypm. 3rd & 4th go to Mark & Heather Smith with two blue cocks these are a 4yo & yearling on 1454/1453ypm and collect the first share of pools with another further down the list, thought we could select better than that. These birds race with the South West Cheshire Fed and this was a good week for the club taking the first 4 positions from an entry of 780 birds from 70 members.
The marking at Middlewich for the North West Classic Bedhampton open went well with not as many as expected but there were some real good fanciers competing for the prizes. Two fanciers secured the first 7 positions between them when Nigel Shaw took 1st 2nd & 4th positions with Derek Rooney being 3rd 5th 6th & 7th. It was no wonder there was a delay on the result with the first 4 all being on the same yard then there was a break of 25yds before Derek had his next three on the same yard. Mr & Mrs Nigel Shaw are 1st 2nd & 4th section B and also the same in the Open the first one being his section pooler. Their first pigeon was a blue celibate De Mayer yearling he was bred by C Pountain & Son from the Midlands this came about when they did a swap of six young birds so this won and one he had off the partnership won the same weekend from Carentan. Next in the clock is another celibate being home bred from the original Sangers pigeons that they bought in 2001 when Nigel went across on his motorbike to collect them. The brother to this cock scored in this race the last time they entered and Nigel did say that this has been a good line for many years for their own loft and also their good friend Eric Taylor who has won well with them for many years. Len Hopton had one which flew well for him as well. The third pigeon is a widowhood yearling hen bred by the partnership out of some old Gabby Vandenabeele's they bought off Eddie Speed of Whitchurch they came originally from M & D Evans through Jack Walker Cannock. Nigel finished with, "I would like to say well done to Mr Rooney splitting them up with less than half a yard between the first 4 in the race". Mr & Mrs Shaw have been a good winning loft for many years and have had some real good pigeons and with the work rate put into the birds they get their satisfaction from the results.
The lofts of Mr & Mrs Nigel Shaw
Derek Rooney is 3rd 5th 6th & 7th section B and the same in the open and also clocked a pooler in first. Derek was that due to business commitments he has been out of racing pigeons for a few years but started back 2yrs ago so this year raced a good team of yearlings that have shown real promise for the future. This team are based on the Gabby Vandenabeele's and the popular Jan Hooymans with the famous Harry featuring in the breeding. The first in the clock being a dark w/f cock is already a 1st prize winner. The next three are all chequer cocks with the last of the four being a grandson of Harry and a previous winner of 1st club 5th fed plus 6th club 6th fed so a promising start for this team of yearlings. Derek was saying these will be going to the MNFC a few days after these notes have been made so it will be interesting to see how they go on. 1st section A 8th open is Brian Lee with a fancied pigeon that was pooled well taking the section pools and the last of the open pool money. This section winner is a yearling blue from the De Ruaw Sablon cross the "Drum" line that has won several prizes including 1st Wrekin fed Cheltenham as a young bird. The Sablon sire was bred for me by John Brocklehurst of Congleton from his Premier stud stock with the "Drum" hen being purchased from John Machin of Mow Cop. The nest mate to this one was 3rd section L, 2nd Eccles 2 Bird Club Y/B Guernsey National. 2nd section A 9th open are Garnett, Moore & Withers previous National winners, the partnership is changing because work has taken glen moore away from pigeon racing and Bren Withers has his own loft as well so time is limited. Anyway this one is from the Van Den Driesche pigeons that are winning more than they are getting credit for, not only in this loft but others as well. This is a yearling chequer cock raced on the roundabout system and bred on both sides from the very good Kronnen cock of Chris Hebberecht who is highly rated on the continent but not as well known over here in the UK. The sire is a son of Kronnen with the dam being a granddaughter being out of "The Chattearoux". Dave was saying they have not had the best of seasons because things were running late with changes to the interior of the loft reducing boxes and then cocks did not settle as quick as they had hoped. Dave also said that although they started with 30 cocks they have had several hawk attacks which has made a hole in the team. However things are starting to head in the right direction. 3rd section A 10th Open goes to R J Davies & Son emailed but received no details. The NWCC then went to Carentan when 30 members sent 230 birds which saw Brian Lee from Congleton have a real good race taking the top three positions in both section and open all being yearlings. The first two are sisters with the sire being a Gabby Vandenabeele from the Amber Louise cross Shadow lines and bred for Brian by his good friends Mike O'Hare & Ron Woodward. The dam is a "Last of the Janssen's" Zoon Merck x 455 hen purchased at Blackpool. The third placed pigeon is a winner of prizes including 3rd section L, 2015 in the Y.B National Guernsey race. This hen is a De Rauw - Sablon x Drum hen and Brian is confident that this hen has a big future. As always Brian wastes no pigeons as they are all raced on the roundabout system.
Three of the fabulous racing hens of Graham McKay
Graham Mackay is a very good fancier who figures prominently in the Classic races and this one was no different after he took the first three in section B to go with 4th 6th 7th Open. First section B 3rd open was won with a yearling chequer hen she was bread out of the very successful John Wheatcroft Heremans & Ceusters she also won the fed at Portland last year. 2nd section B 6th open is also with a yearling chequer hen, she also won the West Pennine Amal Tewkesbury this year. The sire to this hen won the NWCC as a in and a sister to the hen won the NWCC yb race last year for Ray Bullen she is a Hermans & Ceusters x Van Dyck they are also bred down from the Wheatcoft birds. 3rd section 7th open was won with another chequer hen named "The Reject Hen" she is all so a Hermans & Ceusters and again out of the Wheatcroft birds. All three of these hens are flown on the jealousy system and on this system they exercise for a long time so they only go out once a day. Graham dropped on some very good pigeons when he introduced the Wheatcroft pigeons because they have really won well for him.
Westlands
