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NRCC Dunbar

By George Wheatman

There was an outstanding performance in the North Road Championship Club’s first race of the season, from Dunbar, on Saturday when the winner was 65-year-old retired miner, Bob Kellett, of Mablethorpe, with a velocity of 1938 yards per minute.

What the provisional results, based on the first timer verified, don’t reveal, however, is the fact that he is likely also to take second and third.

They also hide the excellent performance of Bob’s Alford clubmates, Jackie Barker and Darren Kingswood, who, while second in the provisional results, are expected to take fourth and, perhaps, fifth and sixth.

Then there is another Alford partnership of Bridget and Geoff Clare, third on the preliminary result, who have staked another claim to be among the all-time greats of NRCC racing with possible seventh and eighth positions, adding to their three outright wins and 13 second places, plus many other high positions.

If that were not enough for East Lincolnshire fanciers, there were also Martin Sharpe and Bob Lancaster challenging for top ten positions.

All were holding their breath as the race unfolded in the strong west, north-west wind, and results of the Norwich fanciers were not yet on the computer screens.

True to form in these conditions the Norfolk fanciers were forcing the pace, just as their promotion-winning football team has done all season, and Section Four winners, Barran and Frew led the challenge from that area, being not too far away from repeating their open success from Perth last year.

Just who is placed where will unravel when race secretary, Ian Bellamy, produces the consolidated results, but one thing is for sure – the winners are the Mr and Mrs R Kellett partnership.

Sadly there is only Bob to take the accolades, although he wishes wife Phyllis was with him to share the joy. Tragically, after a long, and difficult illness, she died last year, and Bob could only say: “I am delighted with the win, I only wish my wife could have been here to share it.”

It was, in fact, Phyllis, who comes from a pigeon racing family, who persuaded Bob to take up the sport after his whippet racing days came to an end, and she played an active part in the partnership before her illness.

Bob, who races 215 miles from Dunbar, was expecting a fast race, and thought they would be even quicker than the impressive velocity of 1938ypm achieved. While argument continues about just how far into the north the strong wind had veered from the west, Bob observed: “A west wind is a helping wind from Dunbar, and it was very strong at Mablethorpe.”

His expectation of a fast race was not deterred by the fact that he did not send his team of 14 in the condition ideally he would have liked.

The winner, a two-year-old red Janssen cock, bred from birds that were obtained in a batch of six bought from Louella Pigeon World, was feeding 20-day old young birds, as it added a much more prestigious win to the one it achieved from Whitley Bay last year.

His second pigeon, a light chequer 2006 Janssen cock bird, would not have been sent had Bob not expected a helping wind, although it had enjoyed Peterborough and District Federation success from Bubwith and Whitley Bay in the past. It had only just had its young birds removed. This is a pigeon bought directly from Louella in a batch of ten.

Bob’s third pigeon was a chequer yearling cock bred from another bird from the same group of ten as the second-placed bird, and had enjoyed past successes.

All of these pigeons had been rearing young birds early in the racing season because Bob had been forced to dispose of his early-bred youngsters after they had been hit by a mystery illness which did not respond to treatment.

Bob races on roundabout from a 16-foot loft, and had timed ten birds by 11-20am, the winner setting the ETS buzzing at one minute past 11. The other four arrived at about 1pm.

Although this is his first open win in the NRCC, he was runner-up from Dunbar in 2004, the year when Mr and Mrs R Piggin, of Norwich, were triumphant. Ironically, they were one of the Norwich contingent chasing hard again this year.

Bob retired from his job as foreman at Welbeck Colliery when he was only 50, as the mining industry was being re-shaped, and moved to Mablethorpe in 1999.

He keeps only 14 pairs, no stock birds, and breeds about 20 young birds. He is a popular, highly respected member of the strong Alford club whose own result this week looks like a duplicate of the NRCC result.

Bob says he has been well pleased with his Janssens from Louella (no wonder with results like this, and a string of club and Federation successes over the years), and feels that they are good value, but he has also been well pleased with birds he has obtained from Honeysuckle Lofts.

The successful Dunbar pigeons will continue to be part of his race team as the season progresses, and having tasted this win at the highest level has whetted Bob’s appetite for more. He will be trying his best to achieve that.

Darren Kingswood, who races with his partner Jackie, as Barker and Kingswood from the small Lincolnshire village of Huttoft – not much more than a stone’s throw from Mablethorpe – said he was “very surprised” at being so well placed in the provisional result, but clubmates had noticed that the partnership had been showing improved form this season.

A lot of this he puts down to the work Jackie has done, particularly in undertaking the extra training that has become the routine this year, and generally looking after the birds while Darren is away at work. “She will do everything except clean out,” he said.

They had three birds drop together. First through the ETS trap was a red MarcellisxVan Reet yearling cock bird, whose brother, another red, was the third of the trio to be timed.

Sandwiched between these two was a blue yearling Delbar hen which saw Darren biting his nails as she is paired to the first pigeon, and he was fearful that they would “perform” on the loft before waiting to be re-acquainted inside. He need not have worried. They all trapped well.

Two more were timed at 11-09, as most of his entry of 29 tumbled in. At the time of writing just two were missing.

There were signs that all the extra training undertaken by Jackie was beginning to reap rewards when the partnership was fifth and sixth among the stars of the Alford club the previous week – in a strong east wind which was far from their liking.

The west wind suited them much better on Saturday, obviously. “We were in one of the best positions on Saturday,” said Darren, who also flies in partnership with his dad, as M and D Kingswood, on the south road with the Marshchapel club, and they completed a successful day for the family by taking second club from Portsmouth.

His dad flies from the hotbed of Louth, but while many fanciers there have turned to the north to torment NRCC members (many of their ex-national winners were not far away from the limelight again from Dunbar) he has persisted with the south route because he likes channel racing.

It was with his dad that Darren started in the sport as a 15-year-old in the late 1980s (he is 37 now), and his dad was the source of the Marcellis lines which produced Saturday’s first timer, and they exchange young birds most seasons. Hence now there are some Braspenning bloodlines in the Barker and Kingswood loft, and they are showing promise.

There is no doubt that Jackie and Darren have reaped the benefit of the extra effort they have put in to preparing for races this season. Darren said they became fed up of finishing near the bottom of the list each week when, last year, they had only eight old birds on widowhood.

So they raced their young birds through the programme and put them, and the four old birds that survived the season, on roundabout – and gave them a lot more training.

Darren has what one can imagine is a stressful job as a senior member of staff in a care home for adults with a learning disability, and finds that pigeon racing is a welcome change from the stresses of work. But, because the job entails long hours away from home, Jackie is so important to the partnership.

However, just as they are gaining impetus, they are going to miss the next two races because of a family wedding.

Dunbar is the third successive NRCC race to be won by Alford members and one of these races – last year’s old hens race – was won by the Bridget and Geoff Clare partnership, who are third in the provisional result, and could be seventh and eighth open when the dust settles. Sloothby may be a sleepy Lincolnshire village, but there is nothing sleepy about this couple as they tackle pigeon racing, and life, with ceaseless enthusiasm.

Few members have been more consistent over the years, and this time round they had two arrive together. The first to set the ETS in motion was a blue yearling Janssen cock bird from Gerhard Schlepphorst, the German ace whose pigeons the Clares have been marketing in recent years.

The second was a consistent light chequer Simmonds Bros Van Den Pasch two-year-old hen.

The dream of Bridget and Geoff is to win one more NRCC championship before they move to live in Australia to be near their daughters and grandchildren.

It will need to be this season as they plan to move towards the end of the year, subject to house, business and pigeons being sold.

While obviously conditions suited, in particular, East Lincolnshire fanciers in Section Two, on Saturday, it has to be remembered that both fancier and pigeons have to be good enough to take advantage of a favourable day.

Also, as usual, there were fine performances elsewhere, and it is especially commendable to win your section in any NRCC race.

These are the other section winners who can take a deserved salute:

Section One – W Jenkinson and Son, Lincoln, 1753ypm.

Section Three – Frank Bristow, Horbling, 1791.

Section Four – Barran and Frew, Norwich, 1908.

Section Five – B and J Andrews, Raunds, 1726.

Section Six – K and D Batch, Norwich, 1876.

Section Seven – J Connolley and Son, London, 1614.

Section Eight – RW Jones, Nazeing, 1769.

The first race for the club in 2011 always throws up that “extra” excitement, when all us north road fliers join together to race against each other.

Convoyers Report

We give a big thank you to Russ Skinner and his helpers for the cleaning of the crates earlier in the week.

Marking went very well at all stations, and the three vehicles headed their separate ways to arrive at Grantham Station. The two feeder vehicles were unloaded, water provided as necessary, before loading on the trailer after Merv’s arrival, and finally setting off for the A1 at 3.30pm. We had only a few spare “holes” on the vehicle, with a total convoy of 4500 birds.

We had a really good trip to Dunbar, stopping for a coffee and an evening meal north of Newcastle, before arriving at the race point at 10.15pm, when we levelled the trailer ready for watering in the early morning. Brian Garnham had telephoned to give us the rundown on the weather forecast for the race day, and all appeared fine for an early liberation, with showers forecast pm Saturday. A well deserved bottle was enjoyed before going to bed at just past midnight.

We were both about at 5.30am, and the birds were watered immediately, with most drinking as soon as the troughs were filled. The crates were then corrected for liberation against the release gear before we had a cuppa. It was very chilly at 6.00am, and we were in the middle of a band off showers, that could be seen out to the east over the sea, so a wait for something a little warmer and drier was on the cards. Following calls to Brian and contacts en-route, it was decided to go for a 7.45am liberation if the temperature increased. This did happen, and the 4500 birds in the convoy were liberated in a West Wind, with a broken sky and unlimited visibility. The wind was very fresh and reported to turn north of west further down the coast, so my prediction was for a winner on the Lincolnshire coast or over in Norfolk

The liberation was fantastic, as all birds cleared in one huge batch without turning, and were out of sight in a couple of minutes. Sandy Ainslie, past member I007 from Ipswich, witnessed the liberation as usual, as he now resides back in Dunbar, and he again saw a wonderful liberation. Great thanks to Merv our driver, who is a brilliant help at all parts of our journeys together.

Our President tasked me to give them a faster race than last year – well Bob, job done!

I arrived home at 6.00pm, to find 12 out of 14 birds home! Pleased but disappointed, as my real fancied bird had not made it, probably gone down south for a few days away! Hopefully, she will get her head right and return another day.

We look forward to Perth, a race point that I have not been to for some years, and hope another successful race is provided to the members.

Stephen Spinks

NRCC Dunbar section winners 2011

By George Wheatman

That doyen of the famous old North Road Championship Club, Peter Crawford, will celebrate his 82^nd birthday this weekend (May 28) – and he will be seeking his 14^th section win in this hotbed of racing as the “Champions of the North Road” compete from Perth in their second race of the season.

Section win number 13, and an early birthday present, came a couple of weeks ago in the season’s opener from Dunbar, when the Ipswich veteran topped Section Eight with a three-year-old chequer cock bird the same way bred as his hen bird which was the section winner from Lerwick last season.

After a lifetime in the sport, Peter still lives and breathes pigeon racing, and, in his illustrious career has built up an impressive range of successful, and influential, fancier friends.

That is how he came to own the parents of his two most recent section winners from his friend Geoff Clare, of Sloothby in Lincolnshire, who provided a pair of Simmonds Brothers Janssens which have produced the two successful pigeons, albeit in different nests.

And that is how he came to blend a family of sprint pigeons with his old, favoured distance stock of Westcotts, because another firm friend from Lincolnshire, Frank Bristow, of Horbling, was the source of highly-rated Wily Thas pigeons. “I cannot speak highly enough of these two fanciers,” said Peter.

Peter sent to Dunbar what was, for him, a big team of 10, and had seven home within half an hour of timing his first. “Years ago I would have sent no more than three,” he recalled, remembering the days when long distance racing was his main aim.

Proof that he has mastered the short game, too, comes from this season’s early results in club racing, where he had not been out of the first three until last week – when he was fourth. He had been first and second three times out of five races.

Peter races his birds on roundabout or, more accurately, on his own system of roundabout, varying how he treats the birds before and after a race, using his inbuilt talent as a pigeon fancier to judge what is the best approach for a particular occasion.

Another of his many good friends in the sport is the legendary Ipswich distance flyer, George Colthorpe, and they meet up a couple of times a week to chew over pigeon racing topics.

While talking about the latest of the long line of Peter Crawford successes, it gives me the opportunity to correct a statement I made in my last article about the Bridget and Geoff Clare partnership. I sold them short when saying they had won three NRCC open races – two short, in fact. For they have five outright wins to their credit. And this Section Eight winner from Dunbar is one of many more that have come from their stock.

Dunbar must be one of the favourite racepoints for Joe Connolley, and son Micky, for, after three successive Section Seven wins from there in young bird nationals, they also topped their section last week.

This was with a four-year-old blue widowhood cock bird which has Desmet Mathis, Janssen and Jos Thone bloodlines, and has a sixth place London Combine from Stonehaven on its impressive cv.

The Connolleys, from the heart of Canning Town, are members of the increasingly strong London Greater Distance club which is made up of members competing in Section Seven of the NRCC – a club with outstanding members and, says Joe, wonderful camararderie. “They are all good flyers,” said Joe. “There are no mugs, but there is a real friendliness about the club.”

Joe, as usual, gives most of the credit for his loft’s success to son Micky, who is very pigeon savvy and does all the training.

They took advantage of the excellent Spring weather this year to prepare thoroughly for the new season with plenty of training tosses from Bishop Stortford, and this has paid dividends with one of their best ever starts to a season. Before the Dunbar race they had registered four club wins, and had topped the Federation.

They fly 327 miles from Dunbar, and their section winner was doing a velocity of 1614ypm. Now it becomes even tougher as the NRCC programme evolves, and the boys from The Smoke face daunting distances every time.

Joe is particularly pleased with their Jos Thone pigeons, having bought the originals direct from Jos’ first auction in this country.

“Our birds have certainly been buzzing this year,” he said. “We sent 12 to Dunbar, and got 11. I was a bit disappointed about the one we dropped.”

They are staunch NRCC supporters and contend that, one day, with all the conditions right, the big result will come to one of these ambitious Londoners.

Kevin Batch, of Norwich, had a dream day on May 21^st. Perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime day, when he won three separate races, including 1^st Section Six from Dunbar with the NRCC.

Forty-nine-year-old self-employed plasterer, Kevin has teenage daughter Demi in his pigeon racing partnership, but her role is more giving moral support than hands on these days.

The K and D Batch partnership climaxed an outstanding start to the season with these three impressive performances – 1^st Section Six from Dunbar with the NRCC; 1^st Essex and Suffolk Border Federation from Scotch Corner; and 1^st Norwich and Norfolk club from Sleaford.

Perhaps his biggest achievement was putting the rubbers in the right clock, something which had worried him a little, but liberation times and distances turned out to be helpful in this respect.

The NRCC section winner was a two-year-old widower cock bird, one that – to quote Kevin –“had always been there, but had never reached the heights.” Until last Saturday, that is.

Kevin, who admits to liking the shorter races because that suits his temperament (he doesn’t like all that waiting for long distance birds), sent four birds to Dunbar, six to Scotch Corner and 14 with his club to Sleaford.

Going into the first national of the season, Kevin was on a good run of form, having already grabbed six club firsts, but admits to be “elated” by this performance. “It was a brilliant day,” he said.

He puts a lot of his success down to his friendship with Frank Dixon, of Wallasey. “He is a brilliant help,” said Kevin. “I could not fly a kite on a windy day without him. He is one of the best people in pigeon racing. I always run things past him, and he is full of sound advice.

“I bought some Bert Camphuis pigeons off him a few years ago, went to see him on The Wirral, and we have stayed friends ever since. Two heads are always better than one, and that is perhaps where partnerships have an advantage. If I have an idea, or a problem, he always has an answer. I would like to say a big thank you to Frank.”

The Batch loft is 280 miles from Dunbar, and this weekend’s Perth race is likely to be the last old bird race with the NRCC this season, because of his aforementioned feelings about distance racing, but he will be eager to go for the young bird classic where he was section winner last year.

Kevin, who has raced pigeons since the age of 17, being introduced to them by his dad, also has Van Loon Janssens and Kees Bosua birds in his loft in addition to the Camphuis. He likes to try out a few new birds every season.

Among his friendly competitors at club level are the King family, no strangers to NRCC success themselves, and Kevin is highly complimentary about their excellent sportsmanship, win or lose.

“The season has got better and better so far,” he said, “But you learn to keep your feet on the ground with fanciers of that calibre around.”

To keep his birds on their toes, he likes to give them two 18-mile tosses each week.

Winners of Section Five were Barry and Joy Andrews, of Raunds, with a two-year-old Corbett Busschaert dark chequer pied hen sent sitting 12 days.

Seventy-two-year-old Barry is one of those unsung heroes of the sport, having been President of the Raunds club for 40 years, and a member for 50 years, following his father into the sport, and his success from Dunbar follows Federation-topping performances with the Northants Fed, a particularly good pigeon being Perth Express which won the Federation from Perth, and was third Amalgamation.

Formerly a manager in the printing and packaging industry, he has been retired for eight years, and has built the partnership’s team of 15 pairs of naturals around birds bought from Louella Pigeon World, usually in their offers of six or ten birds. “I think they are good value for money,” he said.

Wife Joy is a big help and is always on hand to get the birds in after a training toss, especially important because there is a hawk problem in the area.

They sent 17 birds to Dunbar and had good returns, including 15 home before 2pm.

With Joy having become conversant with computers in recent years, one thing they enjoyed about race day was being able to keep up to date with timings on the NRCC website.

With the wind so strong, and so predominantly in the west, the early timers in Lincolnshire kept their fingers crossed and their eyes firmly fixed on computer screens, anxiously waiting to know the results of the proven stars from Norfolk.

One partnership they had in mind, in particular, was that of Bob Barran and Nick Frew, who, as winners of the Perth race last year, had proved they could prepare pigeons for the big occasion. And it was a fast race again, just as it had been in their moment of triumph.

Those early contenders were wise to be wary of these two top-class fanciers whose combined pigeon knowledge makes them such dangerous competitors, as, it transpired, they were the first to break the Yellow Belly stranglehold.

They won Section Four, and finished tenth overall, with a velocity topping the 1900ypm mark with a two-year-old blue cock bird that was no stranger to consistency. They had returns of 9 from 11 for the 277-mile race, all racing on widowhood.

Nick said they were impressed by the performance of race winner Bob Kellett, who deserved congratulations for taking the first three open places.

Barran and Frew will be names fanciers will be looking out for again this weekend as they pull out all the stops to try to win the Perth open again. Maybe, it is against all the odds, but no-one will be trying harder.

To try to improve their chances, they gave their race team a rest during the past weekend.

Just when I feel jaded, and conjecture that it is about time I gave up this writing lark after a decade as NRCC Press Officer, and with a memory that is becoming less retentive (by the day, it seems), I speak to Frank Bristow – because he has won Section Three. Again.

After a few minutes, I feel a change coming on. A wave of enthusiasm returns. How else could it be with Frank at the end of the line? I have suggested it before, but I will repeat the idea. The RPRA should package Frank up and send him around the country to talk about pigeon racing to anyone who would listen. That would be the way to stop the decline in membership.

Pigeon racing daft, Frank is like a good wine. He seems to become better as the years go by, certainly with his NRCC results, and all this in the face of his battle with the most unpleasant, painful, ailment of rheumatoid arthritis.

His section winner is a two-year-old blue chequer Ceulemans widowhood hen, which earned the title of Bird of the Year in the Sleaford club last year, plus winning three firsts in the Bourne club. Fittingly, Eric Ceulemans, the source of many good pigeons for Frank in recent years, was present to see the bird arrive.

The Bristow loft at Horbling, Lincolnshire, assisted by Frank’s right hand man, another talented fancier in John Bellerby, has a record littered with fine performances, and national wins from both the north and south, and has made a fantastic start to the 2011 season.

It becomes repetitive to mention all the wins, but they are in plentiful supply once more.

The bloodlines are first-rate, the preparation top-class, and the knowledge that goes in to running a big team of pigeons seldom bettered.

Frank likes racing hens on widowhood, being meticulous in their preparation, racing them to what he calls their Sugar Daddies – old racers that have served him well, and are rewarded by being paired to yearling and two-year-old hens. (Pity some such scheme could not be found for old men!).

His name has always been a regular on big day race results, but it seems to be more prominent than ever these days. Success is unlikely to go to a more popular man.

Section Two, of course, was won by race winner, Bob Kellett, of Mablethorpe, whose success in taking the first three places, has already been immortalised in print. Members of that successful team were featured in the Alford club results last weekend, just seven days after their epic performance.

There was also a 1-2-3 hat-trick for Section One winners W. Jenkinson and Son, of Lincoln – another outstanding performance.

It is 54-year-old Gary who runs the loft now, carrying on from his late father William.

The section winner was a two-year-old blue Gaby Vandenabeele cock bird, flying on widowhood; the second timer was another blue two-year-old cock of the same breed; and in third place was a three-year-old Busschaert.

Flying in the Lincoln Newport club, whose members are making their presence felt in the Peterborough and District Federation, this was Gary’s second win of the season.

He was brought up in the sport, alongside his father, and always felt the section winner could do better than it had done previously. His theory was proved right from Dunbar.

He said he was “over the moon” with this success, having changed to flying the widowhood system from natural. He trains twice a week from 25 miles, and always shows the hens before sending the cock birds to races.

So there you have it – the section winners in the NRCC’s first race of the season. With the strong wind in the west there were, inevitably, some lofts in better positions than others. But study the result carefully, and you can spot many fanciers who were not blessed with the right conditions, still produced good performances. There are quality fanciers spread throughout this great club.