NATIONAL FLYING CLUB. Cholet Diamond FOUNDED Patron: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN President: Mr John Edwards.

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1 FOUNDED 1898 NATIONAL FLYING CLUB Patron: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN President: Mr John Edwards. Cholet Diamond Jubilee National Race Hi National members. Here we are at our second National of I was hoping for a very good turnout for this race, but sadly, this was not to be. I do appreciate that there are a lot of special races celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of our Sovereign and Patron of the National Flying Club, Queen Elizabeth II. There are special money prizes on offer too, so it was inevitable that we would have reduced entries. We had 5,700 declared entries for this race whilst this is disappointing, rest assured that these THE CHOLET NATIONAL RACE LIBERATED ON SATURDAY, 2nd JUNE AT 0615HRS INTO A LIGHT EASTERLY WIND PROVISIONAL TOP 30 POSITIONS IN THE OPEN TELEPHONE VERIFICATIONS Nat Sect Birds Pos Pos Name Town Miles Ring No. Velocity Sent 1 1D T Dyer Plymouth 275 GB08N D J Knox & B Stewart Bideford 313 GB10N C M R Staddon Crewkerne 277 GB07N D R Goodier & Sons Marsh Green 277 GB10N D Smith & Hannaford Plymouth 271 GB10N G N Templar Bristol 309 GB10N D Richard Pym Exeter 277 GB09K D Mr & Mrs R Cooper Nr Exeter 284 GB11N D Mr & Mrs A Mabin Buckfastleigh 270 GB11K D Mr & Mrs A Mabin Buckfastleigh 270 GB11N G Mr & Mrs G & M Wile & S Lias Bristol 310 GB11B G L Nicholls Bristol 311 GB08N D Beavis Bros Newton Abbot 270 GB09J C Owers Brothers Wareham 261 GB10N G G Summers Nailsea 313 GB09N C M A & S C King Blandford Forum 266 GB10N J C Bradshaw Jrn Swansea 349 WHU2010S G Brooks Bros Bristol 303 GB10N C G Glaze Shaftesbury 278 GB07C D Mr & Mrs D Murphy Plymouth 271 GB08N D Luscombe Bros Plymouth 274 GB10N D & D Harvey Penzance 300 GB07N C Mr. J. Davies Crewkerne 277 GB09C D E Reilly & Son Barnstaple 312 GB09N D T D & L Hosking Penzance 300 GB09J G John Ludlam Nelson 335 GB10N J Mr D Ford Blaenavon 340 GB10P G S & S Bridges Bristol 303 GB10P G B E Milkins Bristol 310 GB09N G Mr & Mrs P Titcomb Portishead 316 GB11J birds will be at the top of their form and meticulously prepared to give of their best. Here is a bit about where your birds have been. Cholet is a town in the Pays de Loire region of France. It is a prosperous town, owing this prosperity to the weavers living and working there. During the French revolution, the town found itself at the heart of the counter-revolutionary struggle in the Vendee region. As a matter of interest, Richard Boylin, an excellent pigeon racer from England now lives and races in this very region. He does very well too, reading his articles. The Battle of Cholet was fought in 1793, and was won by the republicans and so endured a period of brutal government repression. In 1885, a theatre collapsed on to an audience of over 1,000 causing 150 fatalities. On a lighter note there is a museum in the town housing the machines used to make the handkerchiefs famed throughout the region. Cholet is twinned with Solihul in the Midlands. By the way, Cholet is about 50 kms south-east of Nantes, a racepoint very well known to British fanciers. 1st Section D, 1st Open T. Dyer.

2 NATIONAL FLYING CLUB Cholet National Race Provisional Top 10 in each section (1st bird only) telephone race result SECTION A Pos Sect Name Town Miles Velocity Sent 65 1A D & K Jones Havant A W Walker Bedhampton A F A Couzens Havant A Mr & Mrs R Oldfield Clanfield A D & D McFadden Cranleigh A John Salt Rudgwick A Mr & Mrs R Oldfield Clanfield A Mr M J Skidmore Havant A Mr & Mrs Brian Wall Havant A A E Shepherd Emsworth SECTION B 41 1B Mr & Mrs S Harris & Daughter Porchester B P Priddle Southampton B Mr & Mrs S Harris & Daughter Porchester B Horn Bros Portsmouth B Berry & Matthews New Milton B J Austin & T Austin Portsmouth B J M Edwards Southampton B Mr & Mrs M S Gower Nr Fordingbridge B D Human Petersfield B M White & Son Bournemouth SECTION C 3 1C M R Staddon Crewkerne C Owers Brothers Wareham C M A & S C King Blandford Forum C G Glaze Shaftesbury C Mr. J. Davies Crewkerne C L J Fry Dorchester C C A J Riley Blandford Forum C C A J Riley Blandford Forum C P L Hutchings Bridport C Mr J P Halstead Kington Magna, Nr SECTION D 1 1D T Dyer Plymouth D J Knox & B Stewart Bideford D R Goodier & Sons Marsh Green D Smith & Hannaford Plymouth D Richard Pym Exeter D Mr & Mrs R Cooper Nr Exeter D Mr & Mrs A Mabin Buckfastleigh D Mr & Mrs A Mabin Buckfastleigh D Beavis Bros Newton Abbot D Mr & Mrs D Murphy Plymouth SECTION E 113 1E R V Ball Northchurch E Jutla Bros London E Terry Haley Nr Watford E G & M Bicknell Reading E Mr E Higginbottom Sandhurst E R J Lowe Reading E R Besant & Son Worcester Park E Mr & Mrs E Corkett & Sons Leighton Buzzard E J F Haynes Maidenhead E M Gilbert Winkfield SECTION F 54 1F Crowley & Green Compton Bassett F Crowley & Green Compton Bassett F Mr & Mrs P Kendal Wantage F F Lloyd & E Kelly Abingdon F A Crook Newbury F E Ilsley Wantage F Mr & Mrs E Upton Newbury F J & P Parker Reading F P Kenny & V Segesdy Wantage F Cosmin Talas Oxford SECTION G Pos Sect Name Town Miles Velocity Sent 6 1G N Templar Bristol G Mr & Mrs G & M Wile & S Lias Bristol G L Nicholls Bristol G G Summers Nailsea G Brooks Bros Bristol G John Ludlam Nelson G S & S Bridges Bristol G B E Milkins Bristol G Mr & Mrs P Titcomb Portishead G J & D Staddon Shepton Mallett SECTION H 184 1H A Smith Wellingborough H D MacGuire Baldock H G Caple Northampton H G P T Raku Kettering H S Petherbridge & Son Milton Keynes H Rusted & Hayward Baldock H C Crick & Son Stopfold H Patmore & Rayner Saffron Walden H R.G.Aldhouse Great Shelford H John Searle Cambridge SECTION I 50 1I K L Elstone Nr Rugeley I Cliff Sanders Atherstone I Mr & Mrs Ray Grimsdell Burton-on-Trent I Robert J Rome Cheltenham I Prince Bros Cheadle I Mr & Mrs Broom, Son & Dtr Redditch I Peter Slack Stoke-on-Trent I T & J Mather Matlock I S J Wain & Son Foston I T J Durows Birmingham SECTION J 17 1J C Bradshaw Jrn Swansea J Mr D Ford Blaenavon J I J Barnbrook Bridgnorth J D F & H A Cook Gloucester J G & C Machin Telford J B Williams & Son Swansea J Bradshaw & Family Swansea J A Jones Stourbridge J Pete Barlow Coombe Hill J M Williams Hereford 352 SECTION K 199 1K R & N Dennett Meden Vale K Mr S J Cooper, Son & Dtr Sheffield K C Gordon Pontefract K Mr T Roebuck & Son Rotherham K S Harrison & Son Bradford K J & K Heeley Chesterfield K Hall & Hibbert Dinnington K A Holland Shipley K M McGrevy & Co Rotherham K Lord & Day & Jordan & Dtr Barnsley SECTION L 114 1L L Davison & Son Liverpool L Paul Hart Heywood L F & M Hough Macclesfield L E S Entwistle Bury L Tom Jackson Preston L Green & Hilson Bury L B P Lee Congleton L O'Hare & Woodward Middlewich L R & B Smith Warrington L Mr E Little & Son Chorley

3 1st Open on nest. 1st Section D, 1st Open T. Dyer. On to the race now. I was up early, as usual, and in my loft by It was fairly dull and misty here in Cheshire with a very light variable wind. I knew that it was forecast to clear up later and that we would get some sun. Little did I know that the NFC had already liberated 15 minutes before, at 0615 in fact and the race was on. Your birds, so carefully prepared for this race were already racing home across northern France. Race Advisers Report. I spoke to Terry Scholey at 17.00hrs Friday and was informed that it is likely to be a difficult race once again due to the easterly winds and low pressure in the English Channel. The forecast for tomorrow is light and variable winds at Cholet or possibly sesterly and east to north-east enroute. We arranged to speak again at 06.00hrs Saturday. I rang Nigel Rigiani and gave him the above information, and arranged to speak again immediately following my conversation with Terry Scholey at 0600hrs Saturday. Terry Scholey rang at 0550hrs as arranged and I was informed that the current weather conditions were in the main not perfect being east to north-east at Cholet in sunshine and as the bird come north the cloud cover increases and by the time they arrive in England, the winds will be variable from 7-10 mph with rain in the West Country moving east from 1200hrs, The outlook for Sunday and Monday is no better at best and I was advised to liberate as soon as possible. Nigel Rigiani rang whilst I was speaking to Terry Scholey and he informed us that the weather conditions at the race point were perfect, with this in mind and the possibility of rain moving in from the west it was mutually agreed to liberate as soon as possible. Nigel rang and informed me the the birds had been liberated at 0615hrs in a light easterly in sunshine and they headed north immediately. Many thanks to all concerned. PAUL CLEMENTS Race Adviser The race day was a day of differing weather conditions. The wind was roughly from the same direction although in parts was a bit fresher. There was some drizzle about, especially in Wales and the west but this did not appear to stop the birds. Once again, we must pay tribute to our convoyers, as everyone I spoke to was really pleased with the excellent condition of their birds on return. I know that in part the very good up-todate transporters are responsible for this, but it is the convoyers that have the welfare of the birds at heart. These chaps ensure that the birds are well

4 The lofts of T. Dyer. cared for and rested, that the transporters are levelled and water is available at all times. Our birds can water whilst travelling too, thanks to a very good system. In addition, the birds are fed in the baskets by separate troughs not as others who use the time honoured method of pouring a measured amount of corn into each basket. All in all, our birds are looked after very well and are able to give of their best and when liberated are in the same or even better condition than when they were basketted. Thanks to all our convoying team on behalf of the members. I noted that the longest flying bird on the day was timed in Lancaster, 492 miles by R & M Graystone. Well done to them. The Welsh fanciers although as yet are small in number are not lacking in quality. These intrepid lads timed birds to win 1st Section, also 17th Open C Bradshaw Jnr Swansea, J Ludlum from Nelson is 26th Open, Dennis Ford who is 27th Open etc. Of course these positions may change as the clocks are Opened but my point is that even with an easterly wind, these birds fly way off the line of flight and have the Bristol Channel to contend with too. I can see this area s fanciers joining the NFC in greater numbers now they can see for themselves that they can gain good Section and Open positions. You will all be made very welcome if you join us. Mr & Mrs Mabin from Devon timed two good birds together. Mr & Mrs Titcomb only sent one and timed the bird to gain an excellent prov 30th Open. It is remarkable to me that fanciers who prepare and enter only one bird still put up really good performances so well done to them too. Cotterell, Richmond & Son from Dorset timed two good birds in two seconds. Well done to you too. Last but by no means least there are at least 11 past Open winners in the provisional first 100 in this Open. These fanciers put up great performances year after year. In addition, our younger members put up smashing performances too showing that newer fanciers are learning fast and even beating our more experienced members. They learn fast these days, due to much information being available in DVDs, the internet, books etc. Having said that, these fanciers have to put this info to good use, compile a system which suits them and then stick to it no matter what. They know that eventually results will come but it happens quicker these days. The honour of 1st Section D, 1st Open went to T Dyer of Plymouth 1st Section A. 1st Section A D. & K. Jones. with a cheq pied hen, bred from good friends Mike Birt and Andy Nolan. Some of her recent performances include th Club Poole, 1st Club, 1st Section, 4th Open Federation Salisbury, 4th Club, 5th Section, 12th Open Federation Ramsgate nd Club, 21st Federation Yeovil, 1st Club, 1st Section, 6th Federation, 6th Section, 9th Open Combine Messac 24th Section, 480th Open she badly smashed her keel at Biggleswade and did not race again that season. I was very surprised she lived never mind race again. In 2012 she was sent to Fougères with the NFC and won 133rd Section, then Cholet where she made history. Diamond Lil as she is now named was racing to 15 days eggs. Just to cap off a grand racer she has also bred winners. Not many about like this hen. 1st Section A is D & K Jones from Havant in Hampshire. I know this area well as many years ago I taught mechanical engineering in Bordon Hants. First of all I would like to congratulate Stevie Harris & Daughter on two fantastic performances from Fougères and now Cholet. Our Section winner,now named Emily Lou, is a 2y medium size blue hen, pure Jacob Poortvliet, from the lines of the new miracle pair bred by my good friend Dave Waterhouse of Wyering Portsmouth (he has promised me a cock to go with her). As a yearling she won 5th Open CSCFC Messac, 2,855 birds This year she has had three races, Carentan with the Solent Fed and Fougères with the National where she won 2nd Section A, 94th Open. All the birds are raced on the roundabout system, the hens go out from 7am to 8am and the cocks from 5pm to 6pm. I would like to thank my Mum for looking after the stock pigeons for me, from feeding to cleaning out and producing some fantastic babies for me. Also I would like to thank the convoying team as the birds looked in great condition on their return on a very hit or miss day. 1st Section B is Mr & Mrs Harris & Daughter from Porchester in Hampshire. I would like to thank Derek Hayward of Portsmouth for breeding me the Section winner, a Janssen, which was a gift. My 3rd Section bird is a gift pigeon from Mr & Mrs Cross & Son of Gosport, this pigeon has also been 9th Open in 2011 CSCFC as a young bird, and this 1st Section B Mr & Mrs Harris & Daughter.

5 1st Section C M. Staddon. year it was 4th Open, 2nd Section Fougères NFC. I fly widowhood, and this is my first full season at my new address as I only raced young birds last year. On the day I got six out of ten pigeons, all yearlings. I use Versele Laga and Gem Supplements. My plan is to send in a fortnight s time to Messac with NFC. I would also like to thank my wife, Yvette for her patience. 1st and 2nd Section C is Mike Staddon who timed the Pied Pier, a 5y cheq pied cock which has been a super racer all his life. He has won a 1st prize every year and has always flown his best races in east winds, especially National races. Previously he has won 1st Section B, 3rd Open BBC. National Messac beaten by two pigeons on the Channel Islands in a north-east wind, NFC Fougères 2012, 8th Section, 50th Open, 7, 064 birds and now provisionally 1st Section, 3rd Open NFC Cholet. Taking 2nd Section is another 57 dark cheq cock. This is another great racer, winner of 5 x 1sts and many prizes in NFC and BBC Nationals which was timed three minutes behind Piper to win 2nd Section C, 6th Open provisional. Both cocks have the best Andre Roodhooft bloodlines (through my great friend Sheldon Leonard of Arklow, Ireland). Both cocks, paired up in February, reared a pair of young birds, then went straight on to widowhood, not roundabout. All the birds are fed on Versele-Laga corn. I m a great believer in supplements purchased from local supermarkets. May I also congratulate the winner Terry Dyer in Plymouth, couldn t happen to a nicer fancier. There are some fantastic flyers in Plymouth and when they get a chance in the Nationals, they certainly take it! 3 x 1st Nationals in Plymouth 2012, fantastic. 1st Section E goes to the loft of Ron Ball from Northchurch, Hertfordshire. May I first congratulate Mr Dyer, the winner of the Cholet National and all concerned with the running of the National Flying Club. My Section winner, Grand Union, is a 3y widowhood cock. Last year he was M. Staddon with 1st Section C. 10th Section E, 114th Open NFC Cholet, 8745 birds, winning 492, then 3rd Section E, 10th Open NFC Tarbes, 590 miles also winning 1st Open Greater Distance Single Bird Club, total winnings in the race 3, 883. The sire of Grand Union is a cock I had on loan from Eamon Kelly (Lloyd & Kelly). He is a son of Little Margaret, 1st Open NFC Pau on the day, when paired to Morning Glory (twice 2nd Open NFC Pau bred by Paul Kendal). Dam of Grand Union is a hen bred by myself, Sire bred by Geoff & Barbara Kirkland, from their No1 Flor Engels pair when paired to the best stock hen I ever owned (Dutch Gold). She bred many outstanding birds for me including Hussar, 4th Open NFC Herstal 1,600, Bombardier, 5th Open Nantes 3,000, and my best ever racing hen Astra which won in National racing 4th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 50th and 69th all Open positions, winning over 5,500. 1st and 2nd Section F is once again Crowley & Green from Compton Bassett in Wiltshire. You will remember this partnership winning 1st Section F from Fougères two weeks ago. Not only have they won 1st Section again, it is with the same fantastic blue cock, what a performance, and what a pigeon. Having not raced last week because they did not like the high east winds forecast in the Channel Anna Crowley & Richard Green almost completely emptied their lofts for the Cholet National only keeping five back for the MNFC Fougères Diamond Jubilee race and five for BICC Tours next week. The remaining 56 birds, 28 widowhood cocks and a mixture of 28 roundabout/widowhood hens were sent to Cholet. Their first bird once again was the 3y blue Leo van Rijn widowhood cock called Vagabond on 1399 to take 1st Section F, 54th Open. Only two weeks before he had won 1st Section F, 11th Open from Fougères with the NFC to add to the top class performances of last season when he won 3rd Open BBC Bordeaux, 142nd Open CSCFC Carentan and 217th Open NFC Poitiers. Vagabond was accompanied by a very promising yearling Arien-Verreckt chequer cock timed two seconds later to take 2nd Section F, 55th Open. Once again they were very pleased with their team performance as they clocked another five pigeons within 23 1st Section E. R. V. Ball. 1st Section F Crowley & Green.

6 1st Section G N. Templar. R. Green holding 1st Section F Cholet and Fougères. minutes which will probably finish up 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th Section. They had 35 from their 56 entries on the day and seven more early the next day. Richard and Anna would like to congratulate the race adviser and convoyer for an excellent race. 1st Section G is Nigel Templar from Bristol, in the county of Avon. This bird is a Arien Verreckt, one of 40 bought in 2009 x a Raymond Moleveld hen purchased in In 2011 y 1st Section winner 2as 3rd Section, 25th Open Saintes National. All the birds returning from Cholet were in very good condition, so well done NFC 1st Section H was timed to the loft of Cliff Sanders from Atherstone Derbyshire. It was first thought that Cliff was 2nd Section but he was promoted when an error was noticed, though the early times etc stayed the same. I called Cliff this morning to get details of his Section winner. All I heard when I told him was a sharp intake of breath and a crash. I thought I had caused the poor man to have a heart attack as he was completely unaware he was in the running. Luckily the crash was Cliff kicking the drinker over, nothing serious, thank goodness. This is a dream come true. I started in pigeon racing in 1957 as a 10 year old boy, and flew in partnership with his father for 35 years till he sadly passed away in I have flown on my own since. As a partnership with my father we topped the Section of the MNFC five times, being 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the National. Also we achieved 5 x 2nd Sections in the Midland National. I am a retired mine worker of 45 years and I have concentrated on the NFC. In 2011 I was 2nd in the averages for Section I, to Steve Redfern and in 2010 I was 4th in the Section I averages. In the early 2000 s I was 3rd Section from Saintesand 2nd Section to Eddie Froggatt a few years ago. I also bred a pigeon for Walter Cowans, a good friend, who was 2nd Section twice in the early 2000s from Saintes. The pigeon that has topped the Section for me in 2012 was bred by myself from a hen gifted to me from Brian Jones of Crewe. The sire was bred by myself from pigeons from Belgium from Mark & Lilly Verheyde. The Section winner was 4th Club two weeks ago from Carentan. I would like to thank my wife Monica for all her patience, my good friend Gadge for looking after the pigeons when I am not available, all the well wishers for their congratulations, the markers and staff of Alveley marking station for all their good work and help; finally thwe NFC and Mr & Mrs Sid Barkel for all the help they have given me in the past. 1st Section J is to the loft of C Bradshaw Jnr who flies an excellent bird into Swansea in Wales. It s not easy to get a Section position here never mind a win so very well done to him on a great performance. The Section winner is a 2y Van Bruaene x Steele widowhood cock now called Dukey. It was a latebred, so not raced as a young bird. As a yearling he was trained with the South east before switching South for the Channel racing where he won first West Section Welsh South Road National FC from Niort flying natural. As a 2y we paired him in February and put him on widowhood once the youngsters were weaned. Cholet was his second Channel race this year. His first was from Alençon with the BICC, being our third pigeon home taking 67th Open. I must thank my daughter Natalie who does most of the hard work throughout the year and my wife Katherine who helps us during racing time, without their help I would not be able to race due to work commitments. 1st Section K is R & N Dennett from Meden Vale in Nottinghamshire. Here are some of our performances over the alst three years. In 2010 we were the MNFC avarage winners with 4th Section,1 4th Open Tours, 1st Section, 3rd Open Bordeaux, 3rd Section, 13th Open Bordeaux and 1st Fed Messac. In 2011 we were MNFC average winners with amongst other results 1st, 2nd and 4th Section, 3rd, 13th and 30th Open Bordeaux and Bird of the Year MNFC. We came 3rd Section K Cholet NFC and 7th Section K, 49th Open Tarbes. This year so far we have come 2nd and 4th Section K with four in the first eight from Fougères, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th Notts South Road Fed Falaise and now 1st Section K Cholet. J12 Hen is 2y, her dam is a de Klak purchased eight years ago from Cosworth Stud. He has bred 2nd North-East Section MNFC and our Gold Medal winner from Messac. The dam is a van Loon gifted to us by Pete & Chris Lee from their wonderful Sam Cock. On closing I would like to thank Colin Dixon, Albert Swindal and Pete Lee for all their help and all the best to Pete Hagland, hoping he will soon be well enough to compete again. Nigel Templar holding his 1st Section and probable 6th Open winner, Cholet. Members of Towers FC who were 1st, 2nd and 3rd Section G Cholet. Steve Lias & Garth Wile parthership, 2nd Section and Les Nicholls 3rd Section.

7 1st Section I C. Sanders. Section L was won by L Davison & Son who fly to Liverpool, Merseyside. This chap was so excited when I called him for details and he could hardly speak. This loft is not very far from where I live in Cheshire, just across the Mersey in fact. When I first rang I got a lady who I guess was his wife. I said who I was and the lady, not really listening said are you the doctor luv. I said no and before I got any further the poor woman said, C. Sanders with granddaughter and 1st Section I. I m awful sorry but I m not well and waiting for the doctor to call. They ve told me to leave the line free for him. I managed to get a mobile number from her and rang off. If you know people from Liverpool, all this was conducted in a very strong Liverpudlian accent and at the time was very funny. I do hope that it was nothing serious and that you are on the mend now. The partnership consists of a father-and-son team, dad Lee and son Ryan. Ryan helps out with birds when he can and is keen on looking after the youngsters but not too keen on using the scraper, ha-ha. Lee has been brought up with pigeons since he was a teenager and started racing on his own in 2003 with reasonable success racing in the North Liverpool Federation, but is now trying to concentrate on building a National winning family of pigeons. This Yearling Hen was raced as a young bird out to Carentan and now this season, raced on roundabout, has been coming on well as only a fortnight ago was 5th Section L from Fougères 360 miles. She is bred from a Marcelis mealy cock now retired to the Stock loft after gaining 6 x 1st Clubs and many top Fed positions when paired to a hen which Lee purchased from a Charity Auction which was donated by Darren Peters (Fenland Stud). This Hen is bred from the Only Double MNFC winner Max when paired to The 131, bred and raced by Darren Peters and C. Bradshaw Jnr holding 1st Section J. 1st Section J C. Bradshaw Jnr. R. & N. Dennett holding 1st Section K.

8 1st Section L L. Davison & Son. full of National winning Soontjen bloodlines. The sire and dam were bred by G Daykin & Son. Lee sent six 2y and four yearlings and had four home on the day and three the next morning. The thing that surprised Lee was that three of the four birds home on the day were his yearlings which got home from a very tough day s racing. Lee would like to thank a lot of people who have helped him along the way to this success but most of all he would like to thank Mark Dorrington (Litton) for all the help and advice he has given him over the last yeatr and the quality pigeons he has came away with from this top National winning loft. Well another National race has been and gone. I enjoyed contacting the L. Davison & Son, 1st Section L. winners and getting their information from them. We look forward to our next race now. In addition, we are heading for the ultimate race in our National calendar namely Tarbes. This is the one race that all National members would love to win. Everyone should enter this one. Don t forget that Tarbes in 2011 was won into the north by a single entry. That s all for now. Look out for more from me soon. GEOFF BLACKHALL NFC Press Officer