The West Cumbria Amalgamation went with the forecast and decided not to race on Saturday, but delayed 24 hours until Sunday.
The birds were liberated at 12.10pm and had the trickiest of the four races so far with mixed returns for local fanciers.
Some had them all back while others had a few empty perches on Sunday night.
They were liberated at Cannock into a light west north west wind which turned south west in north Lancashire.
The successful Workington Victoria loft of Richard Martindale and George Lawman were first and second in the Amalgamation and Derwent Valley Federation.
Their winner was clocked just after 3.01pm following the 148 miles fly and covered the distance at 52mph.
This was the loft’s 27th Federation win and their 22nd Amalgamation topper.
The first two home are paired together and both are from the stock loft.
The winner is a yearling chequer white flight cock off an Adrian Leach cock who has bred Fed winners before he came to the Martindale/Lawman loft.
He’s from Crixus x daughter of Nathalie, a line that has bred the loft quite a few Amalgamation winners already.
The dam to the latest winner is also the mother of some of their Fed winners and is from Premier Stud and a daughter of Goldrush, a Heremans Cuester.
The second bird, beaten over the pad by three seconds, is a chequer hen from a cock of Justin Rogers (Bosliven Lofts) who is an inbred grandson of Rossi (Heremans Cuester) and a half brother to the super cock of GWP Macaloney’s Top Gun Kittel.
Her dam is another bred at Adrian Leach’s from the super breeder Wonder Red (Van Den Bulck) and Lady Lecter, a daughter of Hannibal from Syndicate Lofts, also lines that have produced Amal winners.
Phil Taylor won the West Cumberland Federation with the Lowca HS fancier clocking just before 2.56pm.
Phil is flying on his own for the first time this season after his former race partner Bill Waddington had to finish through ill health.
His first Fed winner racing on his own is a yearling blue white flight hen which was bred by Brian Clennan of Whitby.
She was a consistent pigeon as a young bird and that has now paid dividends.
Winning the Cleator Moor club was Martin Mingins with a blue pied hen which was gifted to him by the Dobson partnership who fly next to him on the same allotments.
She was bred out of two birds the Dobsons acquired from Keith Rafferty (Maryport) and she has flown really well for him.
Egremont was won by John Wilson and Neil Buchanan with a yearling chequer cock which was bred by a good friend Ronnie Evans of Sunderland out of his own very successful family of birds.
Workington Social Limit was won by Williams and Hadfield with a lovely looking red yearling cock, half Lambrecht from Steve Foster bloodlines and off a Van Den Bulck cock that Steve gifted the loft direct from his Micky Collins birds.
This red cock had previously been third club from Garstang and has been one of the leading birds back to the loft each week.
The winner in Harrington Central was Neil Semple with a yearling blue cock whose sire is through Nelson and Crellin’s Karel Boeckx and Keith Rafferty’s Van Den Bulcks.
The dam is also Karel Boeckx crossed with Neil Wordsworth’s double Combine hen.
Andrew Berwick and Kenneth Watson were the winners in Flimby HS and for good measure took the first three tickets.
The winner is a two-year-old blue widowhood cock who has been a regular scorer inland. He’s a grandson of the loft’s Young Kenny who won five races for the partnership and is bred through their old lines. He will be targeted for a Guernsey race.
What is it about Dearham this season, a club providing the best stories from the local pigeon scene.
Last week we had one of the club stalwarts David Manchester winning for the first time in a long time, and that’s now been followed by Liam Norris winning his first ever race.
Liam, 30, lives and races from a back garden loft in Aspatria and has only been a club member for two years.
Last year he earned his first tickets – five old birds and four young birds – and has now broken his novice status with the winner from Cannock.
But although he’s new to racing on his own, Liam comes from good pigeon stock! His grandfather Brian Reeves flew in Silloth for years before the club folded and had success in the Derwent Valley Federation.
Even before that his great grandfather was Humphrey Berwick, who flew in the village of Harriston with his brother (Andrew Berwick’s dad) in the 1930’s.
I’m told that small pit village just outside Aspatria then had 18 members and was a really competitive club.
Well Liam started helping Brian around the loft and completed his “apprenticeship” ready to compete himself.
He races to a 16ft loft in the back garden with his birds on the natural system.
Brian still retains his birds but is unable to race them so breeds them for Liam and the Cannock winner is a blue yearling Vandenabeele cock from the Reeves loft. He was sent sitting 10 days on eggs.
For good measure he also picked up fifth ticket in the club with another Vandenabeele which had been third club last year from Holmsley and was sent on five-day eggs.
Although Martindale and Lawman won the Fed and Amal they didn’t win in Workington Victoria through the breaking-up point/great circle differential.
That honour went to Jimmy Varty, son James and grandson Matthew of Flimby.
Their winner is a two-year-old chequer hen which was among six they bought from Ian Stafford and has proved an excellent purchase.
She won Cannock as a yearling last season and should have had a third win to her name but had to be caught in the loft and put over the pad after getting in through a door, losing time.
The Vartys fly the natural system and she was sent to Cannock sitting on eggs ready to chip.
WEST CUMBRIA AMALGAMATIOIN (2,356 birds): 1, 2, Martindale and Lawman (Workington Victoria) 1524, 1523; 3, Williams and Hadfield (Workington Social) 1520.5; 4, Mr and Mrs Walters and son (Workington Victoria) 1520.2; 5, N. Semple (Harrington Central) 1520.08; 6, McLuckie bros (Workington Victoria) 1519.
WEST CUMBERLAND
FEDERATION (747 birds): 1, P. Taylor (Lowca) 1505.9; 2, Holliday and Dixon (Lowca) 1505.07; 3, M. Mingins (Cleator Moor) 1501; 4, Tomlinson and Banks (Cleator Moor) 1500; 5, Rodgers and Benn (Cleator Moor) 1498; 6, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle (Cleator Moor) 1497.
CLEATOR MOOR (11 sent 380): 1, M. Mingins 1505; 2, 3, Rodgers and Benn 1502.22, 1502.20; 4, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle 1501.69; 5,Tomlinson and Banks 1501.66; 6, J. Fitzsimmons and son 1496.
LOWCA HS (5 sent 138): 1, P. Taylor 1505.9; 2, 4, 5, Holliday and Dixon 1505.07, 1466, 1465; 3, Tomlinson and Banks 1500; 6, D. Lofthouse 1461.
EGREMONT HS (105 birds): 1, 5, Wilson and Buchanan 1496.95, 1493; 2, 3, 4, 6, D. Harrison and son1496.92, 1496.92, 1494, 1487.
SANDWITH (6 sent 169): 1, Cottier and Patrickson 1496; 2, 3, B. Irving 1461.9, 1461.8; 4, 5, 6, W. McGrady and son 1461.5, 1461.5, 1461.4.
DERWENT VALLEY
FEDERATION (1609 birds): 1, 2, Martindale and Lawman (Workington Victoria) 1524, 1523; 3, Williams and Hadfield (Workington Social) 1520.5; 4, Mr and Mrs Walters and son (Workington Victoria) 1520.2; 5, N. Semple (Harrington Central) 1520.08; 6, McLuckie bros (Workington Victoria) 1519.
HARRINGTON CENTRAL (9 sent 305): 1, N. Semple 1520; 2, 5, N. and G. Wordsworth 1517.7, 1508; 3, I. and D. Wood 1517.6; 4, Mr and Mrs D. Wood and son 1512; 6, R. McAvoy and son 1506.
WORKINGTON SOCIAL (8 sent 278): 1, 4, 5, Williams and Hadfield 1520.5, 1519.3, 1517.4; 2, Mr and Mrs Walters and son 1520.2; 3, 6, McLuckie bros 1519.6, 1517.2.
WORKINGTON VICTORIA (11 sent 429): 1, Varty, son and grandson 1535; 2, 3, Martindale and Lawman 1532.4, 1532.05; 4, Williams and Hadfield 1531; 5, Mr and Mrs Walters and son 1530.5; 6, McLuckie bros 1530.4.
DEARHAM HS (8 sent 240): 1, 5, L. Norris 1533, 1517; 2, Todhunter and Grisedale 1526; 3, 6, T. L. Charters 1519, 1505; 4, Dempsey, son and Reay 1518.
SEATON RBL (5 sent 99): 1, 4, J. Gale 1527, 1475; 2, 3, 6, A. Parker and son 1491, 1484, 1457; 5, F. Scott.
FLIMBY HS (11 sent 441): 1, 2, 3, Berwick, Watson, Harker and Thompson 1550, 1549, 1539.7; 4, 5, Rushforth and Hunter 1539.5, 1538.7; 6, R. Hodgson 1538.5.
CUMBERLAND SOCIAL CIRCLE (23 sent 46): 1, Williams and Hadfield 1520; 2, J. Devlin 1483; 3, Martindale and Lawman 1480; 4, Todhunter and Grisedale 1471; 5, Rushforth and Hunter 1467; 6, A. Kenmare and son 1461.
