Mark Doran of the Egremont Rangers club was able to celebrate his birthday with a win in the West Cumberland Federation.
The loft took the honours from the third race of the season on Saturday from Appleton with a blue cock who is not quite as old as his ring might suggest.
As a squeaker in the nest he slipped his ring and with no more available Mark quickly put on an old one he had found inn the cabin from 2008!
Now a 15-year-old winning a sprint from Appleton would have really made headlines around the pigeon world but in fact he is a two-year-old.
He comes out of Mark Shepherd’s gift birds which were Gaby Vandenabeele and he was just sent as a trainer in young bird season, always back in the first ten.
Mark thought a lot about him but he didn’t really show much as a yearling in 2022 but then thi season he was 3rd club, 18th Fed from Charnock Richard and has now won club and Fed from Appleton.
“It was nice to win the Fed on my birthday and although I got 16 out of 16 the downside was that two came home with hawk injuries,” says Mark.
Winning Cleator Moor was the Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle partnership with a Leo Hermans hen out of kit of six that the loft acquired from the Massarella Stud. Four of them have raced really well for them.
Joe Tomlinson and Brian Banks continued their fine run of form in the Lowca club taking first, second, third and fifth while Mike McGrady had a similar return in Sandwith of first, second, fourth and fifth. Hias winner was bred by David Calvin from Northern Ireland.
The Derwent Valley are still just flying club races and there isn’t a loft doing as well as that of Jimmy Nelson and Fletcher Crellin in the competitive Flimby Homing Society.
They have won all three races, last week took all six spots and followed up on Saturday with five tickets – only missing out on fourth.
Naturally the partners are delighted with how their birds are coming, especially the yearlings as they had only light training last year.
Their latest winner is a yearling chequer pied hen on roundabout from Bussey and Chappell of the Browney club in Durham.
There was a double success for Morris and Wayne McLuckie in Workington as they won both the Social Limit and Victoria clubs with a three-year-old pied hen.
She has come to win before but been pipped by loft mates, so has had a few tickets but led up well on Saturday. She’s Janssen x Van Bulkke through Barry Irving and Les Green.
We hear of the local lofts who are frequently in the winner’s enclosure, so one of the most heartening results of the weekend was in the Dearham club where David Manchester took the honours.
David has been flying for around 50 years and has had his successes in the past, but it’s been some time since he’s been in the winner’s enclosure.
But he managed it from Appleton with a two-year-old blue hen who has been in his first three birds home in each race so far. She’s a Vandenabeele that goes back to N and D Evans bloodlines.
David is one of those fanciers who only keeps a small team – he had 22 back out of 22 – and his enjoyment is just being among the birds, so a win is a bonus.
John Devlin had won the first two races in Harrington Central but he had to settle for third this week as the Carter family took the first two tickets.
The West Cumbria Amalgamation birds were liberated at 11.10am and the West Cumberland Federation winner was clock at just after 12.43pm following an 88-mile fly to the Egremont loft of Mark Doran. The winning bird was doing over 56mph.
WEST CUMBERLAND FEDERATION (757 birds): 1, J. M. Doran and son (Egremont Rangers) 1663; 2, Wilson and Buchanan (Egremont Rangers) 1660; 3, 4, Tomlinson and Banks (Cleator Moor) 1656, 1655.6; 5, Graham and co (Cleator Moor) 1655.4; 6, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle (Cleator Moor) 1654.
EGREMONT HS (112 birds): 1, J. and M. Doran and son 1663, 1606; 2, 5, Wilson and Buchanan 1660, 1608; 3, 4, D. Harrison and son 1634, 1618.
CLEATOR MOOR (378 birds): 1, 5, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle 1661, 1658.3; 2, Graham and co 1660; 3, 4, Tomlinson and Banks 1659, 1658.5; 6, Rodgers and Benn 1658.02.
LOWCA (5 sent 164): 1, 2, 3, 5, Tomlinson and Banks 1656, 1655, 1653, 1619; 4, Holliday and Dixon 1627; 6, D. Lofthouse 1617.
SANDWITH (5 sent 146): 1, 2, 4, 5, W. McGrady and son 1643.7, 1643.4, 1619, 1613; 3, Blaney bros 1629; 6, B. Irving 1609.
DERWENT VALLEY
WORKINGTON VICTORIA (11 sent 419): 1, McLuckie bros 1657; 2, Williams and Hadfield 1655; 3, 6, Mr and Mrs Walters and son 1654, 1647; 4, Evans and Abraham 1653; 5, Martindale and Lawman 1649.
WORKINGTON SOCIAL LIMIT (8 sent 306): 1, McLuckie bros 1638; 2, 5, Mr and Mrs Walters and son 1636.3, 1629; 3, 6, Williams and Hadfield 1636.2, 1625; 4, G. Best 1632.
HARRINGTON CENTRAL (9 sent 312): 1, 2, Mr and Mrs Carter and sons 1644, 1643; 3, J. Devlin 1642; 4, N. Semple 1637; 5, R. McAvoy and son 1627; 6, Mr and Mrs D. Wood and son 1623.
SEATON RBL (4 sent 77): 1, 2, Dobie and Palmer 1636, 1569; 3, 4, J. Gale 1556, 1554; 5, Mr and Mrs Dustin 1550; 6, A. Parker and son 1529.
FLIMBY HS (11 sent 404): 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, Nelson and Crellin 1631, 1625, 1624, 1609, 1608; 4, M. Ward and son 1620.
DEARHAM (7 sent 240): 1, D. Manchester 1576; 2, 3, 4, 5, Dempsey, son and Reay 1548, 1547, 1545, 1543.7; 6, L. Pearson 1543.
