LES J. PARKINSON'S
NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES
I am getting itchy fingers and want to pair the racers up but I keep walking away from the lofts because I have made my mind up that I will not breed off them this year and I am trying to stick to that. The reason that I keep looking at them is because the pigeons have not settled as well since moving them from Crewe where they have spent 7/8/9yrs of their lives. Could this be anything to do with it? I doubt it because they were in the loft for some time last year where some of them reared a nest of young. One thing I do know is I have never had this happen before. The other view is are they being disturbed in this new loft by something? I say new, it is new to the pigeons but 2yrs old. This disturbance is more than likely the reason because they were in the loft last year.
Photos
Crewe pigeon photographer Charlie Peel sent me a few photos of winners racing to the lofts of Gerry Clements of Audenshaw. These are 5 good quality pigeons with many more to back them up. Most fanciers will know Gerry who has been winning with pigeons for as long as I can remember. He is one of the most prolific winning fanciers in the North West and has a very good record in the National and Classic races. He is also a regular on panels over the winter months where he has his own views and is never afraid to give them no matter what the subject may be. Gerry is a big helper for charity events where he is one of the first to come up with help in one way or another. I have watched Gerry move from club racing to the Nationals but he still keeps his hand in with the club racing and is still one to beat when he does send. Gerry wins at all levels of competition and over the years his record has been second to none in the area and the members of the North West Classic Club have felt the power of his racing capabilities over the years especially when the specialist racing comes into force. I had a lot to do with the Classic a few years ago and Gerry was a great help. The club has had a lean spell and I am hoping the likes of Gerry come back into the club because they are the fanciers you want to beat. Having said that, the the competition is still tough in the club with some good winning fanciers already in place. I remember writing about Gerry some 15yrs ago when he was telling me he had turned over a new leaf and he was setting his sights less on club racing and more with the specialist races through to National level. This was a path that he had chosen and was happy to stick to at that time. Knowing how keen he is to compete at all levels I did wonder how long it would last before he got back to some kind of weekly racing. However he is still keeping at it with the Nationals and some club races where he is getting good results but as we know, every year is different and as we move into the 2014 season who knows who the winners are going to be.
Club/Fed News
Boundaries have been on many fanciers’ minds recently, this being where clubs have extended their invitations to others to join. I don't totally agree with it because there are fanciers who move to put themselves in the best position to win a card or two and that's the way the sport is. However I must stress and it is a known fact that is not the reason why the Acton Bridge club opened their boundary. "Hi Les. Just a quick update as I know Geoff had been discussing the fact that Acton Bridge had opened up their radius. At our last meeting we accepted 5 new member: Phil Sylvester, Tony Lackin, Bob Fell, Hosae Perez and Curtiss-Wall-Lunt with no votes against which I think shows the level of sportsmanship at the Acton Club. Cheers John". Well done to the club and I hear there are still more waiting to join. The North West Classic Club secretary Mark Cliffe sent me the following letter to add to these notes. "Dear Members, Firstly let me thank all members for the way you have treated myself and Laura last season. As everyone knows last season was one of the hardest we can remember, saying that I believe the Classic had very good racing with better than average returns so thanks are extended to Phil Brown and Anthony Evans our transporters who gave us excellent service. Secondly may I thank all the helpers at both Middlewich and Preston, in particular the ICS Mike O’Hare Middlewich and Keith O’Hara Preston for doing us a great service and fantastic job. Next some great news, we are opening a new marking station at Cheadle with Ray Bullen being the IC there. The Manchester men can now join in with the season’s racing. We also have a number of pigeon fanciers in the North Wales area who look like joining us and strengthening section C. So if you were looking to go elsewhere please just give the Club another chance. We’ve already had over 15 new members from all 3 sections. We will be increasing prize money this year as we made a small profit and I believe with your support this club will be heading back to the fantastic club it used to be. Thanks Mark Cliffe, secretary".
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