Paul Coombes Ellesmere Port
First
North West Combine Portland 6912 Pigeons
Lakota (GB15Z83431) First Open North West Combine Portland bred by Phil Bates & Son(Neil) Baguilt and raced by Paul Coombes Ellesmere Port
Paul Coombes holding Lakota first North West Combine Portland 2016 6912 pigeons
Race six for the West Cheshire and North Wirral Amalgamation was to join with the next step to superb competition and compete with the North West Combine from Portland. This is to be the first of eight old bird races under this banner and as such take racing onto the Wirral peninsular to another level of competition. North Wirral fanciers have had the experience of winning these prestigious events in previous years and now with the second season of the Amalgamation under our belts the anticipation of competing as a combine must be like competing at national level on a weekly basis.
The flying a distance from Portland varied from 185 mile to the shortest fanciers out to some 275 mile into the rugged Cumbrian territory. Portland 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.
Isle of Portland looking south from West Fleet (Photograph courtesy of Alex Joy)
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".
Portland is also known for its fishing, with a near locality of Chesil beach makes great sea angling for shore anglers throughout the summer and the winter. Fishing at night appears to produce the best sport for bot cod and the bass in their respective seasons. Another aspect of this part of the Jurassic coast is the perfect habitat for raptors. This area can boast numerous sightings for the avid bird watcher with a huge array of wading birds, but if raptors are your thing then they are hear in numbers. Check out the Portland Bird Observatory and Field Centre
Twitchers on Portland Bill
Portland Bird Observatory and Field Centre
Having arrived at Portland the convoy on the West Cheshire Transporter of some 2368 pigeons (sent by some 117 members) were liberated by Dave Cotgreave into a West South West Wind at 07.45, with an anticipated speed of just under 60 mph it would put the pigeons onto the Wirral in around 3 hours 10 minutes.
The racing to date has been extremely competitive and although the Amal has some 140 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 South West in the wind it would favour those mid length fanciers into the Wirral although with mention of West and the anticipation of a fast race could help the longer flying fanciers.
With 21 less members sending and the birdage dropping by some 600 pigeons from the previous race and the fact that the birds were liberated with the North West Combine there was some anticipated apprehension on the Wirral that the birds would go cascading into Liverpool and fall back into the Wirral after the Liverpool birds had timed in.
As early times emerged these concerns were to be unfounded as 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 53 miles per hour to win the Amal. Early times show the same protagonists are again in the mix at the front of the Amal. It was then to emerge that the westerly Wirral lofts would emerge on top with first AMAL going to the West Cheshire and Ellesmere Port loft of Paul Coombes.
Racing the some 189 miles to the Coombes loft and with birds that compete at this level year in year out this performance was to prove one of the best ever to this particular loft. With the club results completed and the federation top ten known we could turn our attention to the AMAl, it would not be long before Robbie Thomas and John Waters (North Wirral and AMAL sec) would know the top ten in the AMAL with the red hot favourite Paul Coombes prevailing by some 14 yards per minute over the Brombourough loft of Tommy Hayes.
This would now take the tally in the West Cheshire verses the North Wirral fed to 4 to 2 in favour of the North Wirral. The next rumour to emerge was about the times into Liverpool (which on the back of whispers) were looking to be on a par with the AMAL pigeons and not streets ahead as anticipated. With amount of federations involved in the North West Combine it takes a hell of a lot of time to collate the individual fed results and then collate them into a positional combine result. I can honestly say that the anticipation was nerve racking for the main protagonist’s as times and velocities were banded around the internet like a pin ball machine.
As the combine result was published for the first time in 2016 by (what must have been a very tired secretary) Mrs Irene Hartless it emerged that not only had Paul Coombes won his federation and his AMAL but he had also topped the great North West Combine. This yearling blue cock (Now named Lakota) was a gift pigeon as a youngster from the ace Bagilt, (North Wales) lofts of Phil and Neil Bates (P Bates &Son) known affectionately locally (and probably nationally) as the “chip shop boys”.
Paul sets his stall out annually to compete from the get go out to Messac, with his pigeons paired usually on the first full moon in January this cock along with the rest of his race team was paired and reared a pair of youngsters. The cock along with the rest of Pauls young bird race team were raced weekly out to West Bay (some 177 miles) but did not show a great deal and was never near the front against Pauls own pigeons as a baby. Put on the classic roundabout system and raced as a yearling this cock scored in the club from Monmouth (102 miles)arriving with a loft mate the loft mate trapped to take third club. This cock kept flying on his arrival and this is a trait of this pigeon when he arrives Paul says.
In the December of 2014 Paul met Neil Bates at the Saltney Social Christmas show and after what appeared like hours of deep discussion the pair had hatched a plan to exchange pigeons, which would then inevitably result with Paul having access to some youngsters from the stock lofts of Phil and Neil and ultimately allow Paul to complete for him has been a major target since the West Cheshire federation joined the North West Combine.
The pigeon is bred down from Ron Williamson’s heartbreaker and crossed with lines from one of Frank Bristow’s national winners. For those who have never had the luxury to stand and behold the Bagilt lofts of Phil and Neil Bates it’s a site you will have never witnessed prior to the visit. The research that is put into finding their pigeons and the investment made on the same has produced some outstanding results locally and nationally. I don’t need to write a great deal about this partnership as better scribes than this scribbler have done it all before. However if you have a spare five minutes put the name Phil Bates and Son into the Google search bar and see the results for yourself. Amazing. One result from 2016 that I feel is worth mentioning is the fact that among all their other results from this year this father and son partnership won the very coveted yearling classic from Carentan with the extremely respected Chester 2 bird specialist club.
Phil and Neil Bates (Bagilt) breeders of Lakota First North West Combine 2016 6912 pigeons
(Photo courtesy of Peter Fox Syndicate Lofts)
Paul has his own tale to tell while waiting for his Portland pigeons. Paul’s best mate and loft companion is Jack Davey of Ewloe in Deeside North Wales. Jack and Paul share a couple of allotments and while Paul grows the vedge for the table Jack cultivates the flowers (mainly chrysanthemums) for the local and not so local shows. I can tell you know I don’t know of any show ever that Jack has shown in where he has failed to take a card.
This particular afternoon Paul tells me that the pair were once again n there places and waiting for their pigeons. Paul can (Like most fanciers) get anxious as the witching minutes arrive in anticipation of a pigeon arriving and hopefully a good trap. On 22nd May the pair would be waiting and talking about post liberations (Jack is an ex conveyer) and of races won and lost on similar days. Paul thinks that the only mention of the combine was that the birds would be in Liverpool today.
The sky was dark and there was rain about, it felt cold Paul recalls but it was dark and getting darker, then as the time approached that we expected them “here’s one” Jack shouted. As it got closer Paul recognised the cock and let out a couple of expletives which translated into “please don’t go around and lose time again please trap” as the cock turned at the loft on his first approach Paul shouted “drop you illegitimate person!” the cock folded and hit the trap immediately. Paul checked his watch and both agreed that this cock was slightly ahead of the time they had given them even with a helping wind. However Paul wasn’t convinced that he would win his club (The Victoria HS, Ellesmere Port) never mind his fed, his AMAL or the North West Combine.
There is a saying or a quote some may call it “how sweet is life but we're crying” lyrics from an Irish song “Only Rivers Run Free” describes this win, this win is a reflection of what we all probably (even sub consciously want to achieve) no punching of the air, or feelings scoring that winning goal in a football match, no screaming at the horse to go quicker and win, no crowd ovation rising to a huge crescendo as the winner is announced, just a simple glance to the sky with a tear in your eye. Congratulations Paul “Van” Coombes.
West Cheshire and North Wirral Amalgamation (117/2368) Honours favour West Cheshire this week not only winning the AMAL but posting twenty two of the top thirty pigeons. Competition has now arrived in the shape of the huge combine so the West Cheshire win takes them to two AMAL wins to the North Wirral feds four wins.
With a quicker race this week the competition is still fierce as the first thirty in the Amal are covered by some 44 yards (last week was 43 yards and the previous week 29 yards). Taking first, and twenty fourth AMAL is Paul Coombes. Taking Second place along with sixth and twenty second AMAl is the Bromborough Bomber Tommy Hayes. Taking third fourth and twenty ninth is Steve Williams. In fifth, eleventh, thirteenth and fourteenth place we have Mr and Mrs Archie and Sue Price. In seventh position we have Roy and Robbie Sandland.
The effervescent Robbie Thomas of the Jones and Thomas partnership nips in at eighth, tenth. Seventeenth and eighteenth. Splitting Robbie’s first two pigeons in ninth position is the Wirral Wizard himself Mickey Locke, Mickey also takes fifteenth position with his second pigeon. Alby Davies and sons Alan and Alby take twelfth with James Farnworth taking sixteenth. Carl Curran takes nineteenth place with John Clews (JJ & DM Clews) taking twentieth. Last week’s winner Eddie Bateman takes twenty first place while Arthur Wilde takes twenty third and thirtieth position. Twenty fifth place goes to T Walton and Sons and twenty sixth place f=goes to Jones lamb and Daughter. Closing the top thirty we have Bob Tudor in twenty seventh and Roy and Jean Parkinson in twenty eighth position.
WEST CHESHIRE FEDERATION (Portland 64/1414). Victoria HS (11/304) first M Paul Coombes second and third Mr & Mrs Archie and Sue Price. Willaston HS (10/261) First R & R Sandland, Second M K Locke, and Third Jones & Thomas. Rock Station HS (10/245) First and second S Williams third J Farnworth. Thornton Hough (1o/156) First and second R Gordon with R T Ducket taking third. Hooton HS (10/234). First JJ and DM Clews. Second Jones ,Lamb and Daughter and Third Graham Sefton. Moreton HS (6/77) First and second is R Lang and third K Chadwick. Chester (7/137) First Mr and Mrs G Hughes, second K Turner and third Mr and Mrs G Hughes.
Notable federation performances this week come from Mr and Mrs Sue and Archie Price four pigeons in the op eleven of the federation. Steve Williams for the second consecutive week running putting four pigeons in the top thirty of the federation.
Around the Feds NORTH WIRRAL FEDERATION (Portland) 53/954 Bebington (17/274). First and second Tommy Hayes. Third R Tudor. Prenton HS (11/187) First and Second Jones & Thomas. Third E Bateman Bros & Son. Birkenhead HS (18/383) First T Walton &Son; Second Roy and Jean Parkinson, and third Eddie Casey and Terry Rainbow (Casey & Rainbow. Wallasey HS (7/110) First and Second Harris and Bolton, third J Barchha.
Notable performances are Jones and Thomas three in the top five (four in the top six last week). T Walton & Son three in the top twenty one. Casey and Rainbow three in the top thirty of the fed.
The “Brombourough Bomber” Tommy Hayes First and Second North Wirral Federation Portland.
Local Club Results:
Victoria HS: (11/304) with a slight increase in birdage on the previous week and another with a quicker race into Ellesmere Port. This week would see Paul (van) Coombes taking the top spot for the second consecutive week with Mr and Mrs A J Price (Sue and Archie) into second third and fifth position. 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 has now seen Paul take the mighty North West Combine, congratulations Paul from all your fellow Victoria HS members.
In fourth spot we have Alby Davies and Sons (Alan & Alby) with Carl Curran in sixth. Seventh place is Arthur Wilde with eighth place is Wesley Ellis. Alan Coombes and Son take ninth just beating Sharon Thurston in tenth. Freddie Davies and Son take and Joe Ellis occupy eleventh and twelfth spot with A Shinton in lucky thirteenth. Kenny Johnson takes fourteenth with Richie and Ronnie Denny taking fifteenth spot.
Arthur Wilde wins the club knockout wrestling this out of the hands of Archie and Sue Price who retired their good dark cock which basically used to win this on his own. Arthur beat Alby Davies and his lads Alan and Alby in the final.
Arthur Wilde winner of the Victoria HS Old Bird Knockout at his lofts in Ellesmere Port
The Rock Station HS: (10/245). This week’s winner at the Rock Station is one of the most consistent lofts in the area. Taking first, second, fifth and eighth club is Steve Williams. In third place is James Farnworth, James also takes ninth club, with last week’s AMAL winner Eddie Bateman & Son in fourth and tenth place. T Rix & bather takes eleventh with F McNamara & Son in twelfth. G Rogers takes the lucky thirteenth spot with A McNicolas in fourteenth. Closing the result in fifteenth is R Charles.
Steve Williams First and second Rock Station HS.
Prenton Social HS: (11/187) Over at Prenton Social with the only one less fancier sending and a drop in birdage that reflected that the winner this week is last week’s runner up which is the partnership of Jones and Thomas, also taking seconds position Jones and Thomas relegate last week’s winners E Bateman Bros and Son to third and fourth respectively.
T Rix and Bather take fourth and ninth positions this week one position upwards from last week. J Heggarty takes fifth and fourteenth positions while F McNamara & son take seventh and eighth. John Waters take’s tenth and fifteenth position while Mark Croker takes eleventh and twelfth position. C Smith tales thirteenth and seventeenth place while Clark and McGettrick take sixteenth and eighteenth position. Next in the result taking nineteenth and twentieth position is R Donnelly and closing the Portland result is P Jones and Son in twenty first and twenty second place.
Robbie Thomas (Left. Jones and Thomas) First and Second Prenton HS Portland
There are not many fanciers that Robbie Thomas looks up to but obviously Graham May is one.
North West Combine
Portland
409 members sent 6912 pigeons which were liberated on 22nd May 2016 at 07.45 into a light West South West Wind Key to federations West Cheshire Federation (WCF) North Liverpool Federation (NLF) Ormskirk W AMAL (OWA) North Wirral Federation (NWF) Southport Federation (SF) Birkdale Federation (BF) Widnes Federation (WF)
With the conditions appearing to favour the shorter fanciers there are some cracking performances into some of the longer fliers with 58 yards per minute covering the top 100 in the combine it has to be classed as a great race especially when you have the chance to compete against 7000 pigeons, Congratulations to the organisers for such a great event.
P Coombes 1553 (WCF) 2. Kelly Bros, Duffy Bros & Devine 1546 (NLF). 3. D Woods 1541 (OWA). 4. Lloyd, Moran & Healey 1540 (NLF). 5. Lloyd, Moran & Healey 1539 (NLF). 6. T Hayes 1539. (NWF). 7. S Williams 1534 (WCF). 8 S Williams 1533 (WCF).9 Mr & Mrs A J Price 1532 (WCF). 10 T Harrison 1529 (NLF). 11. T Hayes 1526 (NWF). 12 R & R Sandland 1525 (WCF). 13. Liddle & Field 1523 (SF). 14. Jones & Thomas 1522 (NWF). 15. M K Locke 1522 (WCF). 16. Jones & Thomas 1521 (WCF). 17. G Unsworth 1520 (OWA). 18. Mr & Mrs A J Price 1520 (WCF). 19. A Davies & Sons 1519 (WCF). 20. Mr & Mrs A J Price 1519 (WCF). 21. Mr & Mrs A J Price 1519 (WCF). 22. A Halsal 1518 (NLF). 23. M K Locke 1518 (WCF). 24. S Moffitt 1518 (NLF). 25. J A Farnworth 1517 (WCF). 26. Jones & Thomas (NWF). 27. Jones & Thomas 1517 (NWF). 28. A Dutton & Son 1517 (BF). 29. C Curran 1515 (WCF). 30. JJ & DM Clews 1515 (WCF). 31. Kelly Bros, Duffy Bros & Devine 1514 (NLF). 32. Pimlott Bros 1513 (SF). 33. Pimlott Bros 1513 (SF). 34. E Bateman Bros & Son 1513 (WCF). 35. T Hayes 1513 (WCF). 36. J McDowell & Son 1512 (NLF). 37. T Harrison 1512 (NLF) 38. Campbell Bros 1512 (OWA). 39. A E Wilde 1512 (WCF). 40. J McDowell & Son 1512 (NLF). 41. P Coombes 1512 (WCF). 42. R Howarth 1511 (WF). 43. T Walton & Sons 1510 (NWF). 44. Jones Lamb & Daughter 1510 (WCF). 45. R Tudor 1510 (WCF). 46. R & J Parkinson 1509 (NWF). 47. S Williams 1509 (WCF). 48. A E Wilde 1509 (WCF). 49. J McDowell & Son 1509 (NLF). 50. A Davies & Son 1508 (WCF). 51. J J Harding 1507 (WF). 52. M Bentham 1507 (OWA). 53. R Tudor 1507 (NWF). 54. O’Hare Bros 1507 (OWA). 55. O’Hare Bros 1506 (OWA). 56. L Conlon 1506 (WF). 57. S Stringfellow 1506 (OWA). 58. R & R Sandland (NWF). 59. B Halsal 1506 (NLF). 60. Lloyd, Moran & Healey 1506 (NLF). 61. D McGloughlin 1506 (WF). 62. A Halsal 1505 (NLF). 63. L Morris (SF). 64. J & L Maguire 1505 (NLF). 65. Team Heague 1505 (NLF). 66. F J Hannon 1504 (OWA). 67. Cuddy, Catherall & Johnson 1504 (WF). 68. J Bowman 1504 (NLF). 69. D Brookfield 1504 (OWA). 70. J Perry & Son 1503 (NLF). 71. Casey & Rainbow 1503 (NWF). 72. Lloyd, Moran & Healey 1503 (NLF). 73. A Halsal (NLF). 74. I Mayor 1502 (BF). 75. J Wheadon 1502 (WC). 76. G Sefton 1502 (WCF). 77. Liddle & Field 1502 (SF). 78. Southern & McCrudden 1502 (SF). 79. Bateman Bros & Son 1501 ((NWF). 80. S Powell 1501 (NLF). 81. F J Hannon 1500 (OWA). 82. B Hughes 1500 (WCF). 83. P N Wyatt 1499 (BF). 84. B Mawslsey 1499 (WCF). 85. M Nixon & Sons 1499 (NLF). 86. O’Hare Bros 1499 (OWA). 87. Team Heague 1498 (NLF). 88. R Lang 1498 (WCF). 89. L Conlon 1498 (WF) 90. J Perry & Son 1498 (NLF). 91. C & A Baker 1497 (NLF). 92. Newsholme & McCardle 1497 (WF). 93. Newsholme & McCardle 1497 (WF). 94. Liddle & Field 1496 (SF). 95. G Dodd 1496 (NWF). 96. J McLaughlin 1496 (NWF). 97. Harris & Bolton 1496 (NWF). 98. V Magurie 1496 (NLF). 99. J McDowell & Son 1496 (NLF). 100. S Williams 1495 (WCF).
Congratulations to all who enabled this race to take place especially conveyers and race controllers and of course the secretaries who had to submit the results and spare a thought for the lady who does the sterling job of collating all this information into one result a very unenviable task indeed so extreme thanks to Mrs Hartless.
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