Cumbrian pigeon fanciers will be turning the clock back next week when they stage the final old bird race of the season from Guernsey.
Immediately after the Second World War Two no racing was possible from France so Guernsey was used as -the furthest race point by North West fanciers.
Cumbria Region secretary Les Blacklock said: “My dad was racing then he said they were always tough races from Guernsey but we won’t have raced from there since the1960s.”
The birds will be marked on Wednesday and then transported for a liberation on Guernsey on Friday for the flight home of up to 360 miles into Cumbria.
It’s a rare free weekend for local fanciers but the last inland race for West Cumbrians was from Marlborough and the Friday liberation produced an excellent race.
Topping the West Cumbria Amalgamation was the Workington Victoria loft of Richard Martindale and George Lawman, a win that clinched the inland averages in the Derwent Valley Federation.
The winning pigeon was a yearling chequer cock (pictured) whose sire is a cock called Trojan Warrior who is responsible for breeding a double Amalgamation winner and the Cumbria Combine winner from Tewkesbury young bird race in 2019.
The dam is called Miss Lector and she is now the mother of four Amalgamation winners.
Both parents were bred by Leach brothers of Hebdon Bridge from their top stock pairs.
