WELSH SOUTH ROAD NATIONAL FLYING CLUB
PRESENTATION EVENING AND SEASON REVIEW
The annual presentation evening for the 2015 race and trophy winners of the Welsh South Road National Flying Club took place recently at the Grove Country Club, Porthcawl. Chief guest for the evening was the NFC King’s Cup winner Mark Bulled of Harlow in Essex. The club is indeed fortunate to have Mark as guest as he is a very busy man. Mark is regarded by many as one of the best fanciers in the UK at the present time with not only a King’s Cup win from Tarbes to his credit, but also numerous Combine wins on the north road through to Thurso and Lerwick plus wins with the BBC and the now defunct LSECC.
So it was that on Saturday 14th November all roads led to the Grove Country Club on the outskirts of Porthcawl on what was a terrible night as far as the weather was concerned. However, the incessant rain outside did nothing to dampen the spirits of those assembled inside, as a truly great night was had by all.
Our thanks must go to National secretary Charlie Silver who organised the event and to the staff at The Grove for an outstanding meal served quickly and efficiently to the 70 or so members and guests.
With the meal completed it was soon on to the presentation of the prizes. Mark Bulled gave a short speech which was much appreciated by those present and he then set about distributing the prizes to the winners of the Welsh South Road Fed. I will deal with the winners of the Fed trophies in a separate article providing I get the details from the Fed secretary.
It was then on with the prize presentation for the Welsh South Road National and first up here was Daniel Pipe of the R Strickland & Grandson partnership who timed the winner in the Carentan Old Bird National. This one also topped the East section with Williams Brothers, son & Burgham 1st Centre East section , Phil Bloss 1st Centre section and Williams & Watts of Maesteg 1st West section.
The next race was the Falaise National and the winner here was one to the world class Nantyglo partnership of Treharne & son also topping the Centre East section. Ian & Tracy Bromley of Trevethin came in at 1st East section with Brett Jones of Penygraig 1st Centre West section and R Davies & Daughter 1st West section.
The Fougeres National proved to be an excellent day at the office for Daniel Pipe as he had five birds drop together to take the first five positions in both the East section and the Open. What’s even more remarkable was the fact that his Carentan National winner of two weeks earlier was beaten into second Open National by her own son!! This great hen now has 2 x 1st National 1 x 2nd National and 14th Open National to her credit AND she has now bred a National winner. Clubmates of mine at Tonypandy, Norman Bright and son Jason topped the Centre west section with Charlie Powell 1st Centre East section and Brian and Anthony Williams of Ystradgynlais 1st West section.
The Robert Pugh sponsored Nort sur Erdre race was won by yet another world class partnership, that of Ron Scammell and Paul Peploe of Garndiffaith ,near Pontypool. I think this latest National win makes it the round dozen for the partners and these have been won on the north road, south east and south roads into Wales at all distances.
Treharne & son clocked the winner of the Centre East section with Alan Waters 1st Centre West section and Watts & Williams in again at 1st West section.
The Saintes National was flown in conjunction with the NFC and here we saw the Trevethin partnership of Ian and Tracy Bromley time the winner in the East section and Open.
Williams Brothers, son & Burgham came in at 1st Centre East section for the second time in 2015 with John Gauvain topping the Centre West section with one from his 11 bird old bird race team. Mr & Mrs Campbell’s timer topped the West Section.
The Central Southern Classic Flying Club convoyed the Welsh National pigeons to Bergerac, the penultimate race in the old bird programme and here we saw yet another outstanding pigeon come out top in both the East section and the Open, this one to the Crumlin partnership of Lovell Brothers. The National winning hen has more than ten prizes at National level and in this race she was clocked early on the second morning in what turned out to be a real tester of a race. M Collier & son timed the winner in the Centre East section with Donald Chaffe of Maerdy topping the Centre West section.
Last race in the Old Bird programme took place from Tarbes and was flown in conjunction with the NFC. The winner proved to be a truly remarkable pigeon racing to the Abertillery loft of triple National winner Mark Sparey. The winning pigeon, now named Rhiw Park Relentless, has a sheaf of top National prizes to his credit and Mark has now retired the old warrior to the stock loft.
Colin Neal’s timer finished at 1st Centre East section with John Gauvain of Maerdy timing his second section winner of the old bird campaign at 1st Centre West section.
Carentan was the venue of the young bird National and here we saw a little red hen race home to the Llanhilleth loft of Steve and Michelle Roach to win 1st East section and 1st Open in the Roaches first attempt at National racing.
Elwyn Styling of New Tredegar topped the Centre East section with Silver, Mabey & Lewis of Maerdy topping the Centre West section and Watts and Williams of Maesteg claiming their third section win of the season at 1st West section.
Other trophies presented on the night were the Carentan & Fougeres Old bird race Average to Daniel Pipe.
Ron Scammell and Paul Peploe hoovering up the the Falaise / Fougeres; Saintes/ Nort sur Erdre; Longest Race Averages and Longest OB and YB Race Averages.
Wyndham Rees of Treharris won the Gold Ring Scheme for Young Birds.
The final trophy to be presented was the massive Gold Cup. This is adjudicated on the night by the guest for the evening and is presented to the pigeon with the most outstanding performance or series of performances during the season. This year it was presented to a two year old pigeon raced by Preece Brothers & sons of Cwmtillery for a series of performances that were truly outstanding – 3 x 5th Open and 10th Open in Old Bird Nationals in 2015. One word describes this feat – outstanding.
Each National winner was presented with a Chris Sutton sponsored photograph of their National winning pigeon and I would like to thank Chris on behalf of the members for his continued generous support of the WSRNFC and for providing many of the photos that accompany this report.
Presentation done and dusted it was time for the assembly to enjoy the “close to the bone” but extremely funny repartee of the singer comedian before making our way home after a good night spent in excellent company.
I have reviewed the 2015 National race winners in the section printed below.
The WSRNFC race programme started with a race from Carentan and the winner here proved to be a three year old blue w/f hen raced by Daniel Pipe of the Strickland & Grandson partnership from Pontypool. This three year old hen was bred by Daniel’s good friend Brett Jones of the Rhondda and is a previous winner of 1st National in 2014.
Next race up was the Falaise National and here we saw the top class Nantyglo partnership of Gareth and Stuart Treharne lead the way when they clocked two pigeons together to finish at 1st & 2nd Open velocity 1286. The first bird was a yearling hen a Hans Eijerkamp Van Loon X Janssen. The second bird, also a yearling hen, bred from a direct son of Raoul and Xavier Verstraete’s Top Star when he was paired to a direct daughter of IVO of Rutz and sons .
We then moved on to the Fougeres National and here we saw Daniel Pipe enjoy an outstanding race clocking five birds in a matter of seconds to take 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Open.
The first in the clock was a yearling cock raced on the round about system as are all of Daniel’s race team. His sire is a winner of 2 x 1sts and is of Iddie Davies of Bargoed bloodlines. The dam of the National winner is something of a phenomenon herself as she is a winner of 2 x 1sts and 14th Open in National races over the channel and she has now bred a National winner and been beaten into second spot in a National race by her own son having won 1st National Carentan herself in the first National race of 2015.
Third across the ETS sensor was a hen of Wall, Lunt & Green bloodlines followed by a cock of the same lines in fourth place. At fifth open was a Soontjen hen.
Fourth race in the calendar was from Nort sur Edre roughly 300 miles to most South Wales lofts. The winner of the race was the Pontypool partnership of Ron Scammell and Paul Peploe. In fact the partners had two round about cocks drop together one a yearling in its first ever channel race and the other a two year old having his SIXTH trip across the briney in 2015 on six consecutive weekends. The yearling crossed the ETS pad first so he proved to be the National winner and is of M & D Evans Vandenabeele Shadow lines x Graham Thomas and son’s Ad Schaerlakens bloodlines.
The second cock across the ETS pad has the following NATIONAL positions to his credit in 2015 alone:-
2nd National Nort sur Erdre;3rd National Messac[the week before Nort s Erdre];4th National Falaise;21st National Fougeres; 29th National Carentan and 31st west section BICC Falaise. Not bad for a lifetime let alone a six week period in one season.
The fifth race in the old bird programme took place from Saintes and here we saw the outstanding Pontypool partnership of Mr & Mrs Bromley add to their list of National wins with 1st East section 1st Open.
The National winner is a two year old round about cock which won 1st Fed as a young bird plus many other Fed turns in the past two years. His sire is a M & D Evans Vandenabeele bred by Chris Vasey of Portsmouth and purchased by the Bromleys at an Europe Lofts auction. The dam is a Scammell & Peploe Staf Van Reet and this pair has now bred six 1st Fed winners plus a Saintes National winner plus the partners’ 2011 Lillers young bird National winner.
Next race up was the Bergerac National and at 500 miles a good test for both pigeon and fancier. The winner proved to be the outstanding blue pied hen raced by the Crumlin partnership of Lovell Brothers.
The Bergerac National winner is a four year old blue pied hen which finished at 4th Open National in the equally hard 2014 Bergerac race. She has at least TEN National positions to her credit, plus seven first prizes at club level. Raced as a pure widowhood hen she homes to her mate after every race. Her sire is a Lefebre Dhaenen containing Mel Mayo’s Bonn National winner bloodlines. Her dam is a Carrera from birds obtained from Graham and Martin Clayton. She in turn has won 1st National Folkestone and has already bred pigeons to win 1st and 2nd National - a truly outstanding racing pigeon.
The final race of the old bird season took place from Tarbes a distance of more than 600 miles to the south Wales valleys. The winner of this difficult race proved to be yet another outstanding pigeon racing to the Abertillery loft of Mark Sparey.
Mark clocked a four year old widower on 954 ypm which is bred down from birds obtained from Mark Gilbert, containing the bloodlines of the Gilbert Dax International winner, “Southfield Supreme”. This one was well fancied and pooled right through the card to pick up more than £350 for the Sparey war chest.
Mark clocked another of his star performers, a half brother to the Tarbes winner from the same sire, the great Rhiw Park Tomos at 20.38 pm to record 777 ypm and this great racer takes 4th Open into the bargain.
We then moved on to the one race in the young bird programme from Carentan. Here we saw the Llanhilleth partnership of Steve and Michelle Roach come out on top in their first ever attempt at National racing. In fact the partners enjoyed a super race here also taking 3rd & 4th Open into the bargain. The National winner is a Red Pied Hen or Princess Ruby as she is now known is a Jan Theelen x Busschaert. The Sire is Jan Theelen that came from David and Roy Douglas.
The Dam is a Busschaert that was very kindly given to Steve and Michelle by Martin and Graham Clayton.
One last note and an important one. During the evening I spoke to Steve Evans who told me about a charity event he was helping to organise. This is a sale of pigeons from some of the top fanciers in Wales to aid a young lady from the village who is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. The sale will be held in the Trevethin Sports Club in Pontypool on December 5th. Viewing 3pm – 4pm. Sale starts at 4pm
There will be a singer afterwards and a buffet will be provided by landlord Mike and Nicky. Everyone is welcome More than 60 birds will be on offer from fanciers throughout the UK including top winning lofts e.g. Scammell and Peploe, Mr and Mrs Bromley, Mark Sparey, Andrew Mc Fenton, Brett Jones, Morris and Pugh, Strickland & Grandson, John Smale, Derek Flowers, Adrian leach to name just a few.
That’s it for 2015. Good luck to all for 2016.
Gareth Watkins
PRESENTATION EVENING AND SEASON REVIEW
The annual presentation evening for the 2015 race and trophy winners of the Welsh South Road National Flying Club took place recently at the Grove Country Club, Porthcawl. Chief guest for the evening was the NFC King’s Cup winner Mark Bulled of Harlow in Essex. The club is indeed fortunate to have Mark as guest as he is a very busy man. Mark is regarded by many as one of the best fanciers in the UK at the present time with not only a King’s Cup win from Tarbes to his credit, but also numerous Combine wins on the north road through to Thurso and Lerwick plus wins with the BBC and the now defunct LSECC.
So it was that on Saturday 14th November all roads led to the Grove Country Club on the outskirts of Porthcawl on what was a terrible night as far as the weather was concerned. However, the incessant rain outside did nothing to dampen the spirits of those assembled inside, as a truly great night was had by all.
Our thanks must go to National secretary Charlie Silver who organised the event and to the staff at The Grove for an outstanding meal served quickly and efficiently to the 70 or so members and guests.
With the meal completed it was soon on to the presentation of the prizes. Mark Bulled gave a short speech which was much appreciated by those present and he then set about distributing the prizes to the winners of the Welsh South Road Fed. I will deal with the winners of the Fed trophies in a separate article providing I get the details from the Fed secretary.
It was then on with the prize presentation for the Welsh South Road National and first up here was Daniel Pipe of the R Strickland & Grandson partnership who timed the winner in the Carentan Old Bird National. This one also topped the East section with Williams Brothers, son & Burgham 1st Centre East section , Phil Bloss 1st Centre section and Williams & Watts of Maesteg 1st West section.
The next race was the Falaise National and the winner here was one to the world class Nantyglo partnership of Treharne & son also topping the Centre East section. Ian & Tracy Bromley of Trevethin came in at 1st East section with Brett Jones of Penygraig 1st Centre West section and R Davies & Daughter 1st West section.
The Fougeres National proved to be an excellent day at the office for Daniel Pipe as he had five birds drop together to take the first five positions in both the East section and the Open. What’s even more remarkable was the fact that his Carentan National winner of two weeks earlier was beaten into second Open National by her own son!! This great hen now has 2 x 1st National 1 x 2nd National and 14th Open National to her credit AND she has now bred a National winner. Clubmates of mine at Tonypandy, Norman Bright and son Jason topped the Centre west section with Charlie Powell 1st Centre East section and Brian and Anthony Williams of Ystradgynlais 1st West section.
The Robert Pugh sponsored Nort sur Erdre race was won by yet another world class partnership, that of Ron Scammell and Paul Peploe of Garndiffaith ,near Pontypool. I think this latest National win makes it the round dozen for the partners and these have been won on the north road, south east and south roads into Wales at all distances.
Treharne & son clocked the winner of the Centre East section with Alan Waters 1st Centre West section and Watts & Williams in again at 1st West section.
The Saintes National was flown in conjunction with the NFC and here we saw the Trevethin partnership of Ian and Tracy Bromley time the winner in the East section and Open.
Williams Brothers, son & Burgham came in at 1st Centre East section for the second time in 2015 with John Gauvain topping the Centre West section with one from his 11 bird old bird race team. Mr & Mrs Campbell’s timer topped the West Section.
The Central Southern Classic Flying Club convoyed the Welsh National pigeons to Bergerac, the penultimate race in the old bird programme and here we saw yet another outstanding pigeon come out top in both the East section and the Open, this one to the Crumlin partnership of Lovell Brothers. The National winning hen has more than ten prizes at National level and in this race she was clocked early on the second morning in what turned out to be a real tester of a race. M Collier & son timed the winner in the Centre East section with Donald Chaffe of Maerdy topping the Centre West section.
Last race in the Old Bird programme took place from Tarbes and was flown in conjunction with the NFC. The winner proved to be a truly remarkable pigeon racing to the Abertillery loft of triple National winner Mark Sparey. The winning pigeon, now named Rhiw Park Relentless, has a sheaf of top National prizes to his credit and Mark has now retired the old warrior to the stock loft.
Colin Neal’s timer finished at 1st Centre East section with John Gauvain of Maerdy timing his second section winner of the old bird campaign at 1st Centre West section.
Carentan was the venue of the young bird National and here we saw a little red hen race home to the Llanhilleth loft of Steve and Michelle Roach to win 1st East section and 1st Open in the Roaches first attempt at National racing.
Elwyn Styling of New Tredegar topped the Centre East section with Silver, Mabey & Lewis of Maerdy topping the Centre West section and Watts and Williams of Maesteg claiming their third section win of the season at 1st West section.
Other trophies presented on the night were the Carentan & Fougeres Old bird race Average to Daniel Pipe.
Ron Scammell and Paul Peploe hoovering up the the Falaise / Fougeres; Saintes/ Nort sur Erdre; Longest Race Averages and Longest OB and YB Race Averages.
Wyndham Rees of Treharris won the Gold Ring Scheme for Young Birds.
The final trophy to be presented was the massive Gold Cup. This is adjudicated on the night by the guest for the evening and is presented to the pigeon with the most outstanding performance or series of performances during the season. This year it was presented to a two year old pigeon raced by Preece Brothers & sons of Cwmtillery for a series of performances that were truly outstanding – 3 x 5th Open and 10th Open in Old Bird Nationals in 2015. One word describes this feat – outstanding.
Each National winner was presented with a Chris Sutton sponsored photograph of their National winning pigeon and I would like to thank Chris on behalf of the members for his continued generous support of the WSRNFC and for providing many of the photos that accompany this report.
Presentation done and dusted it was time for the assembly to enjoy the “close to the bone” but extremely funny repartee of the singer comedian before making our way home after a good night spent in excellent company.
I have reviewed the 2015 National race winners in the section printed below.
The WSRNFC race programme started with a race from Carentan and the winner here proved to be a three year old blue w/f hen raced by Daniel Pipe of the Strickland & Grandson partnership from Pontypool. This three year old hen was bred by Daniel’s good friend Brett Jones of the Rhondda and is a previous winner of 1st National in 2014.
Next race up was the Falaise National and here we saw the top class Nantyglo partnership of Gareth and Stuart Treharne lead the way when they clocked two pigeons together to finish at 1st & 2nd Open velocity 1286. The first bird was a yearling hen a Hans Eijerkamp Van Loon X Janssen. The second bird, also a yearling hen, bred from a direct son of Raoul and Xavier Verstraete’s Top Star when he was paired to a direct daughter of IVO of Rutz and sons .
We then moved on to the Fougeres National and here we saw Daniel Pipe enjoy an outstanding race clocking five birds in a matter of seconds to take 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Open.
The first in the clock was a yearling cock raced on the round about system as are all of Daniel’s race team. His sire is a winner of 2 x 1sts and is of Iddie Davies of Bargoed bloodlines. The dam of the National winner is something of a phenomenon herself as she is a winner of 2 x 1sts and 14th Open in National races over the channel and she has now bred a National winner and been beaten into second spot in a National race by her own son having won 1st National Carentan herself in the first National race of 2015.
Third across the ETS sensor was a hen of Wall, Lunt & Green bloodlines followed by a cock of the same lines in fourth place. At fifth open was a Soontjen hen.
Fourth race in the calendar was from Nort sur Edre roughly 300 miles to most South Wales lofts. The winner of the race was the Pontypool partnership of Ron Scammell and Paul Peploe. In fact the partners had two round about cocks drop together one a yearling in its first ever channel race and the other a two year old having his SIXTH trip across the briney in 2015 on six consecutive weekends. The yearling crossed the ETS pad first so he proved to be the National winner and is of M & D Evans Vandenabeele Shadow lines x Graham Thomas and son’s Ad Schaerlakens bloodlines.
The second cock across the ETS pad has the following NATIONAL positions to his credit in 2015 alone:-
2nd National Nort sur Erdre;3rd National Messac[the week before Nort s Erdre];4th National Falaise;21st National Fougeres; 29th National Carentan and 31st west section BICC Falaise. Not bad for a lifetime let alone a six week period in one season.
The fifth race in the old bird programme took place from Saintes and here we saw the outstanding Pontypool partnership of Mr & Mrs Bromley add to their list of National wins with 1st East section 1st Open.
The National winner is a two year old round about cock which won 1st Fed as a young bird plus many other Fed turns in the past two years. His sire is a M & D Evans Vandenabeele bred by Chris Vasey of Portsmouth and purchased by the Bromleys at an Europe Lofts auction. The dam is a Scammell & Peploe Staf Van Reet and this pair has now bred six 1st Fed winners plus a Saintes National winner plus the partners’ 2011 Lillers young bird National winner.
Next race up was the Bergerac National and at 500 miles a good test for both pigeon and fancier. The winner proved to be the outstanding blue pied hen raced by the Crumlin partnership of Lovell Brothers.
The Bergerac National winner is a four year old blue pied hen which finished at 4th Open National in the equally hard 2014 Bergerac race. She has at least TEN National positions to her credit, plus seven first prizes at club level. Raced as a pure widowhood hen she homes to her mate after every race. Her sire is a Lefebre Dhaenen containing Mel Mayo’s Bonn National winner bloodlines. Her dam is a Carrera from birds obtained from Graham and Martin Clayton. She in turn has won 1st National Folkestone and has already bred pigeons to win 1st and 2nd National - a truly outstanding racing pigeon.
The final race of the old bird season took place from Tarbes a distance of more than 600 miles to the south Wales valleys. The winner of this difficult race proved to be yet another outstanding pigeon racing to the Abertillery loft of Mark Sparey.
Mark clocked a four year old widower on 954 ypm which is bred down from birds obtained from Mark Gilbert, containing the bloodlines of the Gilbert Dax International winner, “Southfield Supreme”. This one was well fancied and pooled right through the card to pick up more than £350 for the Sparey war chest.
Mark clocked another of his star performers, a half brother to the Tarbes winner from the same sire, the great Rhiw Park Tomos at 20.38 pm to record 777 ypm and this great racer takes 4th Open into the bargain.
We then moved on to the one race in the young bird programme from Carentan. Here we saw the Llanhilleth partnership of Steve and Michelle Roach come out on top in their first ever attempt at National racing. In fact the partners enjoyed a super race here also taking 3rd & 4th Open into the bargain. The National winner is a Red Pied Hen or Princess Ruby as she is now known is a Jan Theelen x Busschaert. The Sire is Jan Theelen that came from David and Roy Douglas.
The Dam is a Busschaert that was very kindly given to Steve and Michelle by Martin and Graham Clayton.
One last note and an important one. During the evening I spoke to Steve Evans who told me about a charity event he was helping to organise. This is a sale of pigeons from some of the top fanciers in Wales to aid a young lady from the village who is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. The sale will be held in the Trevethin Sports Club in Pontypool on December 5th. Viewing 3pm – 4pm. Sale starts at 4pm
There will be a singer afterwards and a buffet will be provided by landlord Mike and Nicky. Everyone is welcome More than 60 birds will be on offer from fanciers throughout the UK including top winning lofts e.g. Scammell and Peploe, Mr and Mrs Bromley, Mark Sparey, Andrew Mc Fenton, Brett Jones, Morris and Pugh, Strickland & Grandson, John Smale, Derek Flowers, Adrian leach to name just a few.
That’s it for 2015. Good luck to all for 2016.
Gareth Watkins