The continued upward spiral of Eddie Bateman Bros & Son
Race five for The West Cheshire and North Wirral Amalgamation was competed from Yeovil with the pigeons travelling from 154 miles to 170 miles to the into the Wirral peninsular. Yeovil is situated at the southern boundary of Somerset, close to the border with Dorset, 130 miles (209 km) from London, 40 miles (64 km) south of Bristol and 30 miles (48 km) from Taunton. It lies in the centre of the Yeovil Scarplands, a major natural region of England.
Some interesting information about Yeovil: In April 2006 Yeovil became the first town in Britain to institute a somewhat controversial system of biometric fingerprint scanning in nightclubs. Individuals wishing to gain access to one of the town's nightclubs were asked in the first instance to submit their personal details for inclusion in a central system. This included a photograph and index fingerprint. Thereafter, each entry to one of the participating premises required a fingerprint scan.
The scheme is no longer in operation. According to Nigel J Marston, Licensing Manager of South Somerset District Council, the scheme was short lived as, "The Company that originally supplied went through various changes of ownership and the project became unsupported. This allied to several of the venues closing down lead to the death of the scheme."In February 2007, Yeovil Town Council became the first English council to ban the children's craze Heelys in the centre of the town and High Street. Skateboards, roller skates and roller blades are also illegal in the area. Councillors have stated this is due to "numerous complaints about the activities of youngsters".
Having arrived at Yeovil the convoy of some 3083 pigeons (sent by some 138 members) were liberated by Dave Cotgreave into a north easterly wind at 08.45, with an anticipated speed of just under 50 mph it would put the pigeons onto the Wirral in around 3 hours 30 minutes.
The racing to date has been extremely competitive and although the Amal has some 130 plus members sending weekly the result sheet has been dominated somewhat by very few lofts that have had their pigeons in some extreme form from the start. With east in the wind it would favour the North of the Wirral again although with mention of North and the anticipation of a slower race could help the shorter fanciers.
As early times emerged and the early results were known from the clubs that strike early it was transpiring that the race winner would need to be travelling at some 46 plus miles per hour to win the Amal. Early times show the same protagonists as last week are leading the way once again with probably the most consistent loft on the Wirral at the moment striking the front of the Amal for the first time this season is Eddie Bateman Bros & Son. Racing the some 169 miles to the Bateman loft and with birds that can only be described as super fit and super motivated giving conditions it was no surprise to see this loft appearing at the front of the Amal leader board.
Racing on the classic “roundabout” system this week’s game Amal winner is a yearling cheque cock which has been produced by means of an excellent relationship Eddie has with National Flying Club and Midland national Flying Club ace Derek jones of Holt North Wales. Derek (known as the farmer locally by fanciers) bred Eddie pair of youngsters from a procurement cock of his known as the Duke of Rutland (a national winning pigeon himself); this cock has been producing for Derek and has now produced the sire to Eddies Amal winner. On arrival Eddie dropped one of the pair off the loft and so put the other into the stock loft.
When paired to a sister of Eddie’s top breeder “The General” the pair produced three pigeons to score, the Amal winner, his brother who has won twice and his nest mate who has won no less than 15 cards. Having struck the Amal “cross bar” taking 2nd and 3rd in previous weeks and also seeing his great mate Robbie Thomas steam role all before him the previous week it’s great to see this loft get its “just deserves” and take the lime light this week congratulations Eddie and really well done from everyone right across the AMAL.
Eddie Bateman (E Bateman Bros & Son)
Just to give you a flavour of the outstanding consistency of this loft here are a couple of their results from the first four weeks of racing:
Week one: Hereford(90 mile) 1st and 2nd club Prenton HS, 5th 12th and 21st NW Federation, 6th 14th 16th and 27th WC and NW AMAL, also 1st club Rock Station HS.
Week two: Hereford (90mile), 1st Club Prenton HS, 1st North Wirral Federation 2nd, 7th 9th and 20th WC and NW Amalgamation.
Week Three: Monmouth (109 mile), 1st Rock Station HS 1st 16th20th and 24th WC Federation 2nd WC and NW Amalgamation. 1st & 2nd Prenton HS 2nd 13th 22nd and 30th NW Federation, 3rd & 18th WC and NW Amalgamation.
Week Four: Monmouth (109 mile), 16th 20th 21st 24th WC Federation. 25th 26th 29th NW Federation.
Week five: Yeovil (170 MILE), 1ST 8TH 18TH 23RD WC and NW Amal 3000 pigeons.
West Cheshire and North Wirral Amalgamation (138/3083) Honours would appear to be split fifty fifty this week with both federations with the west Cheshire posting sixteen in the top thirty and the North Wirral posting fourteen into the top thirty. With competition coming building to a nice crescendo with the anticipated start of the combine racing with the first North West Combine the North Wirral fed still are out pointing the West Cheshire 4 to 1 in wins. It will get even more interesting as we reach the combine racing.
With a slower race this week the competition is still fierce as the first thirty in the Amal are covered by some 43 yards against last week’s 29 yards per minute. Taking first, eighth, eighteenth and twenty third positions are Eddie Bateman Bros and Son. Second place is The Wirral Wizard himself Mickey Locke. Taking third fourth fifth and sixth is last week’s winner the effervescent Robbie Thomas of the Jones and Thomas partnership. Seventh Seventeenth and thirtieth is the Rock Ferry partnership (and previous Amal winners) Roy and Robbie Sandland.
Taking ninth position is Upton’s Paul Stewart with Shaun Evans of Thornton Hough in tenth. Birkenhead’s Casey and Rainbow take eleventh and nineteenth with R and L Clare in twelfth. Bob Tudor takes thirteenth position with C levy and Sons in fourteenth. Paul Coombes takes fifteenth with Sue and Archie Price (Mr and Mrs A J Price) in sixteenth position. We now go to Tommy Hayes in twentieth place just touching off Alby Davies and Sons in twenty first place. R P Bellis and Grice take twenty second while Yates and Rogers take twenty fourth. Mo Ward and Mickey Cullen (ward and Cullen) take twenty fifth prize while Birkenhead’s Gary Dodd takes twenty sixth. P Balson is in twenty seventh position with the Amal president and race controller Steve Williams closes the result taking twenty eighth and twenty ninth Amal.
Around the Feds NORTH WIRRAL FEDERATION (Yeovil) 60/1226 Prenton HS (12/270) First E Bateman Bros & Son, second and third Jones & Thomas. Birkenhead HS (21/474) First Paul Stewart; Second and third Eddie Casey and Terry Rainbow (Casey & Rainbow. Wallasey HS (9/182) First Ward & Cullen, Second P Balson and third J Barchha. Bebington (18/301). First Bob Tudor. Second C Levy & Sons and third Stephenson Bros. Notable performances are Jones and Thomas four in the top six of the fed for the second consecutive week. Mo Ward & Mickey Cullen (Ward & Cullen) four in the top thirty of the federation. Bateman Bros and Son three in the federation top thirty for the federation for the second consecutive week.
WEST CHESHIRE FEDERATION (Yeovil 78/1857). Willaston HS (10/285) First M K Locke, second and Third R & R Sandland. Rock Station HS (11/282) First second and third Bateman Bros and Son. Thornton Hough (14/324) First Shaun Evans with R and L Clare taking second and Robbie Gordon third. Victoria HS (11/288) first M Paul Coombes second Mr & Mrs AJ Price with A Davies and Sons taking third. Hooton HS (14/326). First Mr and Mrs W Moore with second and third are Jones lamb and Daughter. Moreton HS (6/88) Fist is M jones with R Lang taking second and third.
Notable federation performances this week come from R And R Sandland putting four in the top thirty of the federation. Steve Williams yet again putting four pigeons in the top thirty of the federation. Bateman Bros and Son putting three pigeons into the top thirty.
The WIRRAL Wizard M K Locke winner first West Cheshire Federation Yeovil
Local Club Results:
Victoria HS: (11/288) with another slight drop in birdage on the previous week and another steady race into Ellesmere Port. This week would see a reversal in positions with Paul (van) Coombes taking the top spot and relegating the previous (and last four weeks winners) Mr and Mrs A J Price (Sue and Archie) into second place. Paul has been knocking the door over recent weeks and his birds are starting to show the consistency that has kept him at the top level in the Vic and the West Cheshire Federation over the last five or six years.
In Third and fourth spot we have Alby Davies and Sons (Alan & Alby) with Carl Curran in fifth. Sixth place is Wesley Ellis with seventh for the second consecutive week we have Arthur Wilde again just touching off his daughter Sharon Thurston in eighth position. Joey Ellis (9th) and Alan Coombes (10th) close the top ten positions.
Arthur Wilde takes 11th 9with his knockout pigeon) with Kenny Johnson in dropping from last week’s eleventh to this week’s twelfth. In thirteenth spot is Mr & Mrs A J Price (with their knockout pigeon) while A Davies and Sons time their knockout pigeon to take fourteenth (and £5.00 pools) just touching off cousin Freddie Davies and Son in fifteenth with Joey Ellis closing the result with his knock out pigeon in sixteenth.
This week saw the second leg of the clubs knockout competition. And after a couple of the favourites “bit the dust” last week the two to go forward to the final next week is Arthur Wilde and last year’s winners Mr and Mrs AJ Price. Morris Thornhill (club secretary) will no doubt have the odds board going and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if it is Morris that is picking Arthurs pigeon out. It’s the first of the North West Combine inland races next week and the final of the club knock out can’t get any better than this. Watch this space.
Paul Coombes bags his first winner of the season
The Rock Station HS: (11/282). This week’s winner at the Rock Station is one of the most consistent lofts in the area already featuring at the top of this report with topping the Amal with his North Wirral fed pigeon and taking the first three in the Rock Station is Eddie Bateman Bros and son. In fourth fifth sixth and ninth we have Steve Williams. John Wheadon takes seventh eighth and tenth with Brian Hughes in eleventh. Twelfth place we have James Farnworth with G Rogers in thirteenth. F McNamara and Son take fourteenth with T Rix and Bather in fifteenth. R Charles tales sixteenth position and closing the result is A McNicholas in seventeenth.
Prenton Social HS: (12/269) Over at Prenton Social with the only one less pigeon sent than the previous week produced yet another extraordinary result. Eddie Bateman Bros and Son are still bang in form and having been deposed by their good mate Robbie Thomas last week they managed to turn the table son Robbie this week and take the top spot along with fourth place. Not to be denied Robbie Thomas (Jones and Thomas) take second and third club. T Rix and Bather take fifth and thirteenth position while J Heggarty takes sixth and seventh position. In eighth and ninth place are F McNamara & son with M Croker takes tenth and sixteenth position.
In twelfth and fourteenth place we have federation and western region secretary John Waters with the next positions (fifteenth and eighteenth) being taken by Clark and McGettrick. P Jones and son take’s seventeenth and nineteenth positions while C Smith takes twentieth place. Closing the result in twenty first position this week is R Donnelly.
I finish this week’s report on a sad note, as on the 10th May Mr Jim McCosh Prenton Social H.S Birkenhead sadly passed away. Jim had been a member of the Prenton Social H.S for fifty plus years, both secretary and president. He was very well known in the pigeon world, and to most known as "Coshy". As well as being a pigeon man he was a very personable and approachable character.
“I will copy the script as per the obituary from Lynne and Dave Ogilvie as they express their condolences in their own fitting words”: As well as being a pigeon man he was also a very good personal friend to many of us. We all remember good times and good-parties, the last one many of us attended was Jim's 80th birthday party. Jim had a lovely family, wife Mary, daughter Jan and sons Phil and Jimmy. Also his much loved grandchildren.
Jim stopped racing pigeons some time ago but still kept in touch with his pigeon pals as well as being a scribe for The Racing Pigeon. He had endless knowledge of racing pigeons and kept many people fascinated by his tales of early racing when birds were transported by train from Woodside and birds clocked in by stopwatches. We had some great prize presentations hosted by Jim, where he always gave a good speech. Sad to say the pigeon fraternity will not be the same without him. Mary, his wife was also very involved with the club and our heartfelt condolences go to her. I can truly say a really great couple.
On a personal note, my husband Dave and I will miss Jim very much as we have been friends of the whole family for nearly forty years, attending family weddings, birthdays and other special occasions. I know I speak for many members and friends that we will all miss "Coshy" and may he rest in peace. Lynne and Dave Ogilvie & members old and new of the P.S.H.S
“Another Jim McCosh tribute from John Waters”: I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Jimmy McCosh “Coshy” on 10th May. Jim was a lovely gentleman and did vast amounts of hard work for the sport within the Wirral Area. He was secretary of the Prenton Social HS when I was first introduced into pigeons and Jimmy took me under his wing and invited me to his house in James Street to see his pigeon set up. He was a brilliant showman taking many cards in the local shows. He was a very hard working secretary for the Prenton and this was acknowledged by his standing of Life Vice President.
Jim did an enormous amount in terms of giving the local fanciers plenty of publicity with his writings for BHW, RP and the Pigeon Sport. His writings were enjoyed by many both near and far.
Jimmy will be sadly missed by all who knew him. On behalf of myself and family, North Wirral Fed President, Committee and members we send our deepest condolences to Mary (His long standing wife), and the rest of the family. God bless Jim and rest in eternal peace. John Waters North Wirral Federation Secretary
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