AROUND THE UP NORTH COMBINE

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Elwin Hill
5 years ago
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1 AROUND THE UP NORTH COMBINE WORKSOP REPORT By Keith Simpson 1st Fed and Two Consecutive Club Wins for Craig Wedgewood The Up North Combine was at Worksop for their second race of the 2015 racing season on Saturday 11th April, with the first vehicle arriving at the race site at 10.30pm on the Friday evening and the final transporter parking up at 12.40am on the Saturday morning. There was a delay in getting the birds away due to cloud cover but it was forecasted to break to give sunshine and good visibility with a North West wind and possibility of the odd shower. Chief convoyer Steve Profitt checked the line of flight at Doncaster, Weatherby, York, Thirsk, Pickering, Teesside, Sunderland, Newcastle and Coquetdale, before liberating Group 1 at 10.50am in a cold West North West wind with good visibility and well broken cloud. Group 2 was on the way at 11.05am and Group 3 was up and away at 11.20am, then Group 4 hit the skies at 11.35am. As the convoyer liberated Group 4 he was watching the birds in the distance, approx ¾ mile away when he heard rapid gunshots which made the birds disperse in different directions. Steve then decided to stop liberating and contacted the emergency Police by dialling 999. Whilst waiting for the Police an onlooker told Steve that a relative of his was among the shooting party and that they were just shooting vermin, on speaking to the gunmen the Police were happy to accept this explanation and reported this back to Steve. Steve finds this difficult to accept as the gunfire increased in intensity at the time the birds dispersed with rapid volleys being fired more indicative of shooting at numerous targets as opposed to a few squirrels. Steve was given an incident report by Nottinghamshire Police and he was in constant communication with both the President and Secretary so that the membership were kept informed of the situation. Steve then decided to commence liberating with Group 5 at and Group 6 at The Police remained on site for the two liberations, no more gunshot was heard. Praise goes out to Steve for what must have been a very difficult time for him it cannot have been easy for him. Before going onto the results it was reported on a pigeon website that some fanciers from the early

2 liberations had birds return with pellets in them, as did some fanciers birds the previous week from Selby (Bubwith). This has become a growing concern with the members as some lofts have dropped a few birds from the first two races, with reports that some of the dropped birds being good Pigeons. We, the fanciers, always seem to be on the receiving end of the stick, with the birds having to tackle the sometimes awkward weather conditions, hawk and falcon attacks, overhead cables and pylons and oil slicks on route. We can well do without the shooting of the birds adding to the list of obstacles stopping our birds making it home safely. Now onto the Worksop results, starting with Middlesbrough H/S where ten members entered 274 birds, where we see the loft of D Hutchinson & Son time a 2012 Sunderland Premier rung blue hen covering the 85 miles 1,213 yards in 1 hour 38 minutes 35 seconds to record a red card winning vel of 1529 which was enough to win 1st Teesside Federation from a convoy of 973 birds. The partnership who must have being overjoyed with their pole position Federation win, timed a later bird to lift 3rd 3 Bird Club Nom. Smith & Profitt timed no fewer than three of their entries in the space of 34 seconds to chalk up a notable 2nd, 3rd and 4th Club, with the blue card being awarded to a yearling blue cock achieving 1501 for 15th Fed. The green card was netted by a 2014 bred blue cock making 1495 to take 17th Fed, while the duo s yellow card potter was a 1y blue hen knocking out a vel of 1493 to go onto collect 18th Fed. The two lads also timed one of their fancied entries to lift 2nd 3 Bird Club Nom, to round off a worthwhile days racing. L Young s good picking won him 1st 3 Bird Club Nom. Next stop is Haverton Hill where Appleton & Longstaff top the charts from a nine members entry of 226 birds. With the winner being a 2y blue cock who took 1 hour 41 minutes 9 seconds to fly the 87 miles 1,456 yards to rack up a vel of 1528 to go onto score a very nice and rewarding 2nd Fed. The partnership of Gatley, Harrod & Son timed a couple of their entries to lift 2nd and 4th Club with the blue card being potted by a 2y chequer hen making 1527 which was enough to score a notable 3rd Fed. Second on the clock just over a minute after the blue card scorer in the yellow card position was a yearling blue hen doing 1506 for 12th Fed. Nev & Angela Evans & Cuthbert also clocked two birds to pocket 3rd and 5th Club with the green card going to a 5y chequer pied hen doing 1520 for 5th Fed, and next came a 1y blue cock on 1503 to take 13th Fed. B Letcher & McCabe sneaked a 2014 bred chequer cock doing 1492 for 5th Club, 19th Fed. Moving onto Billingham T U where we see the loft of Tommy Clark & Son win pole position, with the red card being won by a yearling blue hen that covered the 88 miles 1634 yards in 1 hour 42 minutes 51 seconds to achieve a winning vel of 1521 which was enough to pocket 4th Fed. The winning hen is a G/Dtr of Tommy & Gary s 1st Up North Combine winning Dream Maker, who herself is out of the duo s good barless mealy hen. Ali McLeod the winner of 1st and 2nd Club, 1st and 2nd Fed Selby the previous week, timed no fewer than four of his entries in the space of 5 seconds to chalk up a very notable 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Club. With

3 the blue card being awarded to a yearling blue pure Gaby Vandenabeele hen doing 1519 to lift 6th Fed; her Sire won 2 x 1st Feds before being put to stock and her Dam is Ali s no1 stock hen. The green card went to a 2014 blue pure Gaby Vandenabeele hen making to go onto pocket 7th Fed. While the yellow was potted by a 3y chequer pied Gaby Vandenabeele x Frans Van Wildemeersch cock knocking up a vel of to net 8th Fed; the cock is a previous winner and scorer of many cards including 15th Up North Combine Lillers. His Dam is a G/Dtr of Ali McLeod & Keith Perkins st Up North Combine old bird Folkestone National Gold Medal winning Little Grini from a convoy of 22,375 birds. Fourth on the clock was a 2y blue hen achieving a vel of to collect 9th Fed and round off a very good team performance, the hen is a previous winner and scorer of many minor cards. Brian Atkinson & Keith Perkins timed their wellfancied yearling chequer pied cock to lift 6th Club, 11th Fed and 1st Fed Nom on Next stop is the Beechwood & Easterside where the loft of the late Wyn Cole, Steve Wheatley & G/Son hit winning form in great style after timing no fewer than three birds to win a top notch 1st, 3rd and 4th Club, leading the way was a yearling chequer cock that covered the 84 miles 1627 yards in 1 hour 38 minutes 40 seconds to record a chart-topping vel of 1514 to score 10th Fed. The green card potting 2y blue hen achieved a vel of 1497 to notch up 16th Fed; while the yellow was netted by a 2y blue cock making 1491 for 20th Fed. I have a couple of results from Martin Hogarth the Marske & New Marske secretary, starting with Selby (Bubwith) where Craig Wedgewood got off to a flying start after timing no fewer than three birds to win 1st, 3rd and 4th Club. Top spot was won by a 3y pencil blue widowhood cock recording a top vel of 1264 which was more than enough to win 1st East Cleveland Federation from a 62 members convoy of 1,303 birds. The Sire of Craig s pole position Fed winner is the previous winner of 1st Club, 1st Fed Rivenhall. The green card was awarded to a 4y red cock of John Whittaker of Bramley Lofts lines; the red cock is the previous winner of 1st Club, 1st Fed old bird Huntingdon in 2013 when there were 2,349 birds competing. The yellow card was chalked up by a yearling blue cock of John Whittaker lines to round off a great start to the new season. Martin Hogarth was in 2nd spot with a 2y blue roundabout cock bred down from the late Jack Brown & Tony Hunt lines. Jimmy Reed clocked a 3y blue chequer Jan Aarden cock off Jimmy s good Lillers winning hen to notch up 5th position. Now for the Worksop result where we see Craig Wedgewood record his second consecutive win after filling three chambers to win 1st, 3rd and 4th Club, with the red card being won by the same 4y red cock who took 3rd Club out of Selby. The green card went to a no stranger in the clock blue chequer John Whittaker cock who is well known for his frequent winning performances. Third on the clock came the pencil blue cock who won 1st Club, 1st Fed out of Selby the previous week. Jimmy Reed who enjoyed a cracking 2014 racing season filled a couple of cells to lift 2nd and 5th Club with the blue going to the chequer cock who took 5th Club Selby, and he was

followed by a 2014 bred chequer cock of Tom Gilbertson x Homer & Williams lines. That is all I have for this week, thanks to the lads who have taken time to forward their information.

4 followed by a 2014 bred chequer cock of Tom Gilbertson x Homer & Williams lines. That is all I have for this week, thanks to the lads who have taken time to forward their information. Next week s race report will be from the new race point Oakham, in place of the previous Melton Mowbray race site. Any news to Good Corn 6 Boulby Drive Loftus Saltburn Cleveland TS13 4JN. Tel; or ; goodcorn@virginmedia.com April 2015 Gary & Tommy Clark, with their 1st Club, 4th Fed Workshop winner

in better with the time he had available. When it came to Lerwick a team of pigeons was sent with the first four pigeons clocked taking 10 th, 11 th,

in better with the time he had available. When it came to Lerwick a team of pigeons was sent with the first four pigeons clocked taking 10 th, 11 th, Lerwick once again The race point of Lerwick in the Shetland Isles is probably the most difficult of race points for our pigeons to negotiate, more so for the pigeons that fly into the London area at a