GWENT GREATER DISTANCE CLUB
ANNUAL PRESENTATION.
On Saturday evening 24th October, all roads lead to Cwmbran and more specifically the Greenmeadow Golf & Country Club where the members and guests of the Gwent Greater Distance Club gathered to honour the winners of the 2015 racing season and enjoy the company of some of the finest fanciers in Wales in lovely surroundings.
Starting with a membership of just 12 the club has now grown into a 50 member strong organisation that is closely allied to the British International Championship Club. This association allows the Welsh fanciers the opportunity to compete on the International circuit against not only the best fanciers in the UK and Ireland, but also against the top continental lofts.
Given the geographical location of the Welsh fanciers, situated in the far west of the BICC’s radius, and flying into a predominantly westerly airstream, it would seem that they would have very little chance against the cream of the English Fancy let alone the greats of continental Europe.
However, this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the members of GGDC as, over the years members have achieved many top class performances against the odds, with fanciers like the late great Dennis Ford winning 1st Open GGDC and 1st Open BICC plus a top International prize only a few years back. Spencer Jones, Adrian Ware, the Padfield Family and Gareth and Stuart Treharne have all won 1st Open BICC in recent years and other members have won many top Open positions with the BICC.
The 2015 season saw a GGDC member take the highest position yet in an International race, when John Smale of Abergavenny clocked his gutsy yearling cock to win 1st GGDC 2nd west section 2nd Open BICC and 4th Open International from St Vincent at 570 miles competing against 10,700 pigeons from all over Europe.
So it was that 60 or so members and guests sat down to enjoy a lovely four course meal on the Saturday evening. It has been a tradition with the GGDC that we are able to attract some of the finest fanciers in the UK to present the prizes and this year was no exception, as we were pleased to welcome the great National flyer John Halstead of Kington Magna in Dorset along with his wife Mel, to share the evening with us. John has won no end of top prizes at National level at all distances through to 700 miles, including 1st Open Barcelona plus at least 18 x 1st section wins in National races with the BICC, NFC, CSCFC and BBC.
As is the norm on these occasions, formalities were kept to a minimum and after the meal the presentation got underway in pretty short order.
Before getting on to the GGDC Prize Presentation we had the presentation of the RPRA Region Awards with Region President Jim Hooper doing the honours. Major winners here were once again the Padfield Family and John Smale with a number of awards to each. Andrew McFenton from Swansea was 1st and 2nd in the Sprint category with young Morgan Lewis winning the Young Fancier Award. I feel sure that Welsh Region secretary Ann Follows will highlight these winners in a separate article in due course.
All GGDC races take place in conjunction with the BICC and the first race of the 2015 season took place from Falaise when 356 GGDC pigeons were liberated along with 4,187 BICC pigeons.
The winner proved to be a pigeon racing to the Abergavenny loft of Shane Lewis who was competing in his first ever GGDC and BICC race. This one proved to be good enough for 9th west section 202nd Open BICC. Near neighbour John Smale finished at 2nd GGDC 11th section BICC with Scammell & Peploe 3rd GGDC 13th section BICC.
Second race in the old bird programme was the BICC Alencon race when a total of 4,780 BICC pigeons took to the air. The Nantyglo partnership of Gareth and Stuart Treharne did a demolition job her taking 1st ,2nd & 3rd Open GGDC and 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th,14th& 16th west section BICC.
The Treharnes repeated the medicine in the next race from Tours where they finished at 1st, 2nd & 4th Open GGDC 2nd ,3rd & 11th section BICC with John Smale’s timer coming in between for 3rd GGDC and 4th section BICC against a field of 4,187 birds in the Open .
The Poitiers race had an entry of 2,701 BICC pigeons and here we saw John Smale continue his early season form taking 1st & 4th GGDC and 11th Section BICC. Preece Bros & sons came in for 2nd GGDC and 14th section with Strawbridge and Williams 3rd GGDC 35th section.
Next race up was the first of the International races and here the Padfield Family take 1st 2nd & 3rd GGDC plus 6th, 9th & 14th section BICC to maintain their reputation as being amongst the very best exponents of long distance pigeon flying in the UK.
The Agen International race was won by Abertillery fancier Mark Sparey and this was to prove a “taste of things to come” later in the old bird season for this ultra keen fancier. Mark’s timer finished at 1st GGDC 2nd west section BICC with John Smale in once again at 2nd GGDC 8th west section BICC. Terry and Carol Gardner’s timer completed the GGDC top three finishing at 9th west section.
Barcelona International is THE race for those long distance enthusiasts and in the 2015 event we saw the Padfields show their class yet again with a 1st , 2nd & 3rd GGDC plus 1st, 2nd & 3rd section and 2nd, 6th & 9th Open BICC only beaten in the open by a pigeon racing to the Essex loft of triple Barcelona winner Dave Delea of Rainham.
Then we come on to the St Vincent International and the scene of John Smale’s great performance. John clocked a yearling cock on the day at 570 miles, to win 1st GGDC 2nd section 2nd Open BICC and 4th Open International. A terrific performance given that the cock was flying to the most westerly location in the International on the day.
Taking 2nd GGDC plus 4th section 4th Open BICC and ….. International was yet another yearling to the loft of club stalwarts Gordon and June Mears of Caerleon. Smith & Jones of Cwmbran complete the top three GGDC positions
with 3rd Open plus 7th west section 12th Open BICC.
The Le Mans race attracted a total of 3,059 birds with the BICC and leading the field in the GGDC was one to the multi National winning loft of Derek and Clive Flowers of Pontypool. This one also takes 2nd west section BICC. John and Pat Webber of Six Bells take 2nd & 3rd Open GGDC plus 4th & 5th section BICC.
The Perpignan International race flown in early August is the final race in the International race calendar for GGDC members and the winner here , being the only bird recorded in race time, was clocked at the Ponthir lofts of Ray Strawbridge and John Williams to take 4th section 44th Open BICC. I think this is the third time that Ray has timed the winner of the Perpignan race.
Next we moved on to the young bird races from Guernsey and in the first of these events we find that man again John Smale of Abergavenny with two birds taking 1st & 2nd GGDC and 15th & 18th Section BICC. Don Goldsmith of Cardiff comes in with one for 3rd GGDC and 24th section BICC.
The final race of the season for the GGDC members was the second BICC Guernsey race flown in early September and here Cardiff fancier Keith Donnelly comes in for 1st GGDC 19th section BICC with Cwmbran fanciers Smith & Jones taking 2nd & 3rd GGDC and 22nd & 28th section BICC.
Below I reproduce the list of Trophy winners:-
1st Falaise – The Dave Whitefield Cup . Shane Lewis
1st Alencon – Adrian Ware & Dtr Challenge Trophy . G Treharne & son.
1st Tours – Padfield Family Cup. G Treharne & son
1st Poitiers – Dan Driscoll Cup .John Smale.
1st Pau – Mr& Mrs Mears Cup . Padfield Family.
1st Agen – Mark Jude Trophy . Mark Sparey.
1st Barcelona - Brian Corten Cup and Terry Ash Perpetual Trophy. Padfield Family.
1st St Vincent – Strawbridge Family Cup. John Smale.
1st Le Mans – Dave Whitefield Cup. Derek Flowers.
1st Perpignan – Glyn Cousins Memorial Cup. Strawbridge & Williams.
1st Guernsey [1] YB – Gareth Evans Cup. John Smale.
1st Guernsey[2] YB – Strawbridge Family Cup. Keith Donnelly.
Chalenge Cup [Best Ave 3 longest races]. Padfield Family.
Watkins & Cockcroft Trophy [Highest Open position with BICC] Joint winners Padfield Family and John Smale , both 2nd Open BICC.
Tina Ware Memorial Trophy [Highest Velocity in BICC races] – Shane Lewis.
Dennis Ford Memorial Trophy [ Highest Points total in all GGDC races] – John Smale with 110 points. I’m sure that Dennis will be well pleased that his good mate “Smaley” has won this!
There was one further presentation and one which took me by complete surprise. This was a gift to me of a crystal glass decanter and wine glasses, given in recognition of my work on behalf of the GGDC members in bringing their pigeons’ performances to the attention of the general fancy over the past eight or so years. I can tell you lads that it has been entirely my pleasure and I can assure you that the gift will have pride of place in my cabinet alongside my National winning trophy. Many thanks.
The rest of the evening was spent in conversation or listening to the artist who gave those present renditions of a medley of popular songs from different decades.
Finally, my thanks to Tony and Kath Coombs for providing the transport for the evening.
Gareth Watkins
ANNUAL PRESENTATION.
On Saturday evening 24th October, all roads lead to Cwmbran and more specifically the Greenmeadow Golf & Country Club where the members and guests of the Gwent Greater Distance Club gathered to honour the winners of the 2015 racing season and enjoy the company of some of the finest fanciers in Wales in lovely surroundings.
Starting with a membership of just 12 the club has now grown into a 50 member strong organisation that is closely allied to the British International Championship Club. This association allows the Welsh fanciers the opportunity to compete on the International circuit against not only the best fanciers in the UK and Ireland, but also against the top continental lofts.
Given the geographical location of the Welsh fanciers, situated in the far west of the BICC’s radius, and flying into a predominantly westerly airstream, it would seem that they would have very little chance against the cream of the English Fancy let alone the greats of continental Europe.
However, this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the members of GGDC as, over the years members have achieved many top class performances against the odds, with fanciers like the late great Dennis Ford winning 1st Open GGDC and 1st Open BICC plus a top International prize only a few years back. Spencer Jones, Adrian Ware, the Padfield Family and Gareth and Stuart Treharne have all won 1st Open BICC in recent years and other members have won many top Open positions with the BICC.
The 2015 season saw a GGDC member take the highest position yet in an International race, when John Smale of Abergavenny clocked his gutsy yearling cock to win 1st GGDC 2nd west section 2nd Open BICC and 4th Open International from St Vincent at 570 miles competing against 10,700 pigeons from all over Europe.
So it was that 60 or so members and guests sat down to enjoy a lovely four course meal on the Saturday evening. It has been a tradition with the GGDC that we are able to attract some of the finest fanciers in the UK to present the prizes and this year was no exception, as we were pleased to welcome the great National flyer John Halstead of Kington Magna in Dorset along with his wife Mel, to share the evening with us. John has won no end of top prizes at National level at all distances through to 700 miles, including 1st Open Barcelona plus at least 18 x 1st section wins in National races with the BICC, NFC, CSCFC and BBC.
As is the norm on these occasions, formalities were kept to a minimum and after the meal the presentation got underway in pretty short order.
Before getting on to the GGDC Prize Presentation we had the presentation of the RPRA Region Awards with Region President Jim Hooper doing the honours. Major winners here were once again the Padfield Family and John Smale with a number of awards to each. Andrew McFenton from Swansea was 1st and 2nd in the Sprint category with young Morgan Lewis winning the Young Fancier Award. I feel sure that Welsh Region secretary Ann Follows will highlight these winners in a separate article in due course.
All GGDC races take place in conjunction with the BICC and the first race of the 2015 season took place from Falaise when 356 GGDC pigeons were liberated along with 4,187 BICC pigeons.
The winner proved to be a pigeon racing to the Abergavenny loft of Shane Lewis who was competing in his first ever GGDC and BICC race. This one proved to be good enough for 9th west section 202nd Open BICC. Near neighbour John Smale finished at 2nd GGDC 11th section BICC with Scammell & Peploe 3rd GGDC 13th section BICC.
Second race in the old bird programme was the BICC Alencon race when a total of 4,780 BICC pigeons took to the air. The Nantyglo partnership of Gareth and Stuart Treharne did a demolition job her taking 1st ,2nd & 3rd Open GGDC and 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th,14th& 16th west section BICC.
The Treharnes repeated the medicine in the next race from Tours where they finished at 1st, 2nd & 4th Open GGDC 2nd ,3rd & 11th section BICC with John Smale’s timer coming in between for 3rd GGDC and 4th section BICC against a field of 4,187 birds in the Open .
The Poitiers race had an entry of 2,701 BICC pigeons and here we saw John Smale continue his early season form taking 1st & 4th GGDC and 11th Section BICC. Preece Bros & sons came in for 2nd GGDC and 14th section with Strawbridge and Williams 3rd GGDC 35th section.
Next race up was the first of the International races and here the Padfield Family take 1st 2nd & 3rd GGDC plus 6th, 9th & 14th section BICC to maintain their reputation as being amongst the very best exponents of long distance pigeon flying in the UK.
The Agen International race was won by Abertillery fancier Mark Sparey and this was to prove a “taste of things to come” later in the old bird season for this ultra keen fancier. Mark’s timer finished at 1st GGDC 2nd west section BICC with John Smale in once again at 2nd GGDC 8th west section BICC. Terry and Carol Gardner’s timer completed the GGDC top three finishing at 9th west section.
Barcelona International is THE race for those long distance enthusiasts and in the 2015 event we saw the Padfields show their class yet again with a 1st , 2nd & 3rd GGDC plus 1st, 2nd & 3rd section and 2nd, 6th & 9th Open BICC only beaten in the open by a pigeon racing to the Essex loft of triple Barcelona winner Dave Delea of Rainham.
Then we come on to the St Vincent International and the scene of John Smale’s great performance. John clocked a yearling cock on the day at 570 miles, to win 1st GGDC 2nd section 2nd Open BICC and 4th Open International. A terrific performance given that the cock was flying to the most westerly location in the International on the day.
Taking 2nd GGDC plus 4th section 4th Open BICC and ….. International was yet another yearling to the loft of club stalwarts Gordon and June Mears of Caerleon. Smith & Jones of Cwmbran complete the top three GGDC positions
with 3rd Open plus 7th west section 12th Open BICC.
The Le Mans race attracted a total of 3,059 birds with the BICC and leading the field in the GGDC was one to the multi National winning loft of Derek and Clive Flowers of Pontypool. This one also takes 2nd west section BICC. John and Pat Webber of Six Bells take 2nd & 3rd Open GGDC plus 4th & 5th section BICC.
The Perpignan International race flown in early August is the final race in the International race calendar for GGDC members and the winner here , being the only bird recorded in race time, was clocked at the Ponthir lofts of Ray Strawbridge and John Williams to take 4th section 44th Open BICC. I think this is the third time that Ray has timed the winner of the Perpignan race.
Next we moved on to the young bird races from Guernsey and in the first of these events we find that man again John Smale of Abergavenny with two birds taking 1st & 2nd GGDC and 15th & 18th Section BICC. Don Goldsmith of Cardiff comes in with one for 3rd GGDC and 24th section BICC.
The final race of the season for the GGDC members was the second BICC Guernsey race flown in early September and here Cardiff fancier Keith Donnelly comes in for 1st GGDC 19th section BICC with Cwmbran fanciers Smith & Jones taking 2nd & 3rd GGDC and 22nd & 28th section BICC.
Below I reproduce the list of Trophy winners:-
1st Falaise – The Dave Whitefield Cup . Shane Lewis
1st Alencon – Adrian Ware & Dtr Challenge Trophy . G Treharne & son.
1st Tours – Padfield Family Cup. G Treharne & son
1st Poitiers – Dan Driscoll Cup .John Smale.
1st Pau – Mr& Mrs Mears Cup . Padfield Family.
1st Agen – Mark Jude Trophy . Mark Sparey.
1st Barcelona - Brian Corten Cup and Terry Ash Perpetual Trophy. Padfield Family.
1st St Vincent – Strawbridge Family Cup. John Smale.
1st Le Mans – Dave Whitefield Cup. Derek Flowers.
1st Perpignan – Glyn Cousins Memorial Cup. Strawbridge & Williams.
1st Guernsey [1] YB – Gareth Evans Cup. John Smale.
1st Guernsey[2] YB – Strawbridge Family Cup. Keith Donnelly.
Chalenge Cup [Best Ave 3 longest races]. Padfield Family.
Watkins & Cockcroft Trophy [Highest Open position with BICC] Joint winners Padfield Family and John Smale , both 2nd Open BICC.
Tina Ware Memorial Trophy [Highest Velocity in BICC races] – Shane Lewis.
Dennis Ford Memorial Trophy [ Highest Points total in all GGDC races] – John Smale with 110 points. I’m sure that Dennis will be well pleased that his good mate “Smaley” has won this!
There was one further presentation and one which took me by complete surprise. This was a gift to me of a crystal glass decanter and wine glasses, given in recognition of my work on behalf of the GGDC members in bringing their pigeons’ performances to the attention of the general fancy over the past eight or so years. I can tell you lads that it has been entirely my pleasure and I can assure you that the gift will have pride of place in my cabinet alongside my National winning trophy. Many thanks.
The rest of the evening was spent in conversation or listening to the artist who gave those present renditions of a medley of popular songs from different decades.
Finally, my thanks to Tony and Kath Coombs for providing the transport for the evening.
Gareth Watkins