NORTH ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP CLUB
Looking back at Lerwick . . . No 10
By George Wheatman
The North Road Championship Club was conceived and born as the embers were dying on the 63 years seven month reign of Queen Victoria.
The first ten races, in 1901, and the next nine from Lerwick, were held during the reign of King Edward V11. There were no races recorded in 1905 and 1906.
By 1913, a year before the start of the First World War, when William Laurence Thackray was the winner, a new King, George V, was on the throne.
The name of Mr Thackray is significant because secretary Ray Knight has received an e-mail from Australia in relation to this victory.
It was from Andrew, the great-grandson of the race winner, and he also included a photograph of the silver Royal Trophy that was awarded to the winner on that occasion.
The Royal Trophy won by WL Thackray in 1913.
Andrew writes: “My great grandfather was William Laurence Thackray, of Old Malton, who won the Lerwick race in 1913. I am currently the custodian of that trophy after my father William Anthony Thackray recently passed away. I currently reside on the NSW Central Coast of Australia and thought you might like to know that this very precious trophy is being well looked after.”
In a subsequent message to me, Andrew adds: “I have my great grandfather’s pigeon racing clock, however I am not sure how it works. It is in a timber case and has been looked after. I'll get it out and take some photos and send them to you.
“I have a picture of WL Thackray which I have attached. I believe that it was taken out the front of his house which was 121 Town St Old Malton. I'm not sure what the occasion was when the photo was taken.”
WL Thackray, winner from Lerwick in 1913.
Andrew also says that his father stipulated that the trophy must not be sold, and must be retained in the family, so it was obviously a very proud moment for the Thackrays when William was the winner from Lerwick all those years ago.
The winning velocity is not recorded in the NRCC handbook, but the distance the bird flew is listed as 416 miles, which makes it the shortest flying winner of the 99 races held so far.
Old Malton is a village in North Yorkshire, but there are two more Yorkshire winners listed: A Braithwaite, of Leeds, in 1908, and A Crawford, of Pickering, in 1909, so presumably they would have flown similar distances.
It is difficult to imagine what pigeon racing was like all those years ago, without the luxury of communication and transport links that we have today, but those intrepid pioneers had an adventurous outlook to the sport, and were looking for a new challenge.
By the way, back in 1913, women were still fighting for the vote, and Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to three years servitude for her part in the campaign to secure something that is, rightly, taken for granted now, and another Suffragette, Emily Wilding Davison threw herself under the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby.
Who is the best never to have won the King’s Cup?
Back to more recent history of this famous old club, and the legendary race from the Shetland Islands . . . and a question for you: Who is the best fancier never to have won the King’s Cup?
Well, of course, there can be only one winner each season, and that means a lot of good fanciers have not managed to lay their hands on this coveted trophy.
Kevin Lawson several near misses from Lerwick.
But if we are looking for the most successful NRCC performer who has never won the race from Lerwick, perhaps we should look no further than Ollerton and the loft of the legendary Kevin Lawson who has won (and had multiple timings in the result) from Thurso (2005), Fraserburgh (2006 and 2009) and Perth (1993, 2003 and 2009).
The Lerwick race has, however, eluded him, but only just on occasions because he has been runner-up twice, and placed third four times.
Had the hours of darkness rule been as it is today, he may well have won one of those races.
In both 2004 and 2005 Kevin was both second and third; in 2006 he was third; and last year he was again third when he sent only one pigeon.
This is what I wrote on the occasion of the last of those four near misses:
“Remember that there were just 10 birds home on the day, so what were the chances of someone sending only one being on the list of nine fanciers who verified day birds? Pretty slim, you would think.
But that is what ace fanciers do, and the NRCC currently has such an ace in Kevin Lawson, who appears to be returning to something like the form that saw him dominate race after race a few years ago.
“Yes, he sent just one bird to Lerwick, timed it on the day, won Section B and was third open. Done and dusted, loft closed as many good fanciers waited in vain.
“If I had sent 40, I would have picked this one as my fancied bird,” said Kevin. “The race suited him. He has been coming well. Last year the race was too quick for him, but this year it was head wind and just the race he wanted.”
“The bird in question is a three-year-old chequer widowhood cock which was timed at two minutes past eight. He had had every race of the season, had topped the Federation from Alnwick, was third section NRCC from Perth, and came home from NRCC Fraserburgh in good nick. He was 2nd Federation from Lerwick last year.
A Soontjen x Van Loon, he is half-brother to the pigeon that won the section from Perth this year. Father is the famous Starlight.
“He is a good pigeon,” said Kevin, “and he was well pooled. I shall race him again next year because I still have his mum and dad. I think the eight-hour fly from Fraserburgh helped put him in the right condition.”
Kevin has had a change of mind about the future of this very good pigeon, and he is now in the stock loft, being paired to a number of specially selected hens, including Geoff Cooper lines.
Kevin believes that many fanciers underestimate what it takes for a pigeon to fly Lerwick and, depending on the conditions, says they fly much further than the measured distance.
Sometimes, he says, birds that have not excelled at other distances can conquer the Lerwick challenge.
Although Kevin has not managed to win the race, the name Lawson is actually inscribed on the King’s Cup. However, WA Lawson, of Ravenstone, who won a hard race in 1973, on a velocity of 868ypm, is no relation.
Father and son winners
Now aged 87, Alf Parkinson, of Spalding, has had a lot of enjoyment and success from pigeon racing, but one memory that is still very clear is of a day back in the summer of 1982 when, in partnership with his father, he won the King’s Cup from Lerwick, flying 510 miles when, in a west-north-west wind, the winning pigeon recorded a velocity of 1327ypm.
This pigeon was a four-year-old dark chequer Krauth cock bird flying on the natural system, and was subsequently named Life’s Ambition not surprisingly.
Alf Parkinson winner of the King’s Cup in 1982, in partnership with his father Frank. He is pictured with John Bellerby.
It was the best of the 2645 birds entered in the NRCC race that day but, even more impressively, recorded the best velocity of the total number of birds liberated in Lerwick as part of the convoy, and that number totalled 5,312 pigeons.
“It was a good pigeon,” recalls Alf, “very reliable and you always got him on a hard day. It was his third race from Lerwick, but he did not race again after that and went on to breed a Federation winner from Perth.
“A brother of his, sold to Graham Groom, of Northampton, bred a Thurso winner.”
Recalling the partnership with his father, a highly respected quality butcher and a smallholder, Alf said: “He was good at racing the birds, but I was more interested in the breeding side, so I suppose that is what made it a good partnership. I still think that breeding is an important part of the sport.”
Alf proved that he has not lost the winning touch with a section win from Thurso last year. This is a race point from which he has enjoyed considerable success over the years.
Their has been a lot of behind-the-scenes activity in the pigeon racing scene in Spalding during the off season and, as a result, a number of fanciers have turned to south road racing for 2016. Alf is one of those making the switch, but has retained a small team of north road pigeons in the hope of competing in the full NRCC programme. These are experienced pigeons so, who knows, he could be celebrating his 88th birthday with another NRCC win.
