West Cumbrian fanciers flew their final old bird inland race from Marlborough on Sunday after a 24-hour holdover in the Wiltshire town.
The Derwent Valley Federation mustered 145 from 18 lofts but once again only the Cleator Moor loft of Graham and co sent birds in the West Cumberland Federation.
But the weekend race was overshadowed by news of a case of avian flu which had been confirmed in the Bootle area and will affect fanciers training young birds.
Training from there will now be affected by the restrictions put on the affected area with a restriction zone now in place which stretches from Ravenglass to parts of Millom.
Training can only be from Holmrook before the birds will have to be taken round the Comb and released from Foxfield or Grizebeck. Fanciers in the restriction zone (and this will affect parts of Millom) will not be allowed to race their birds.
Meanwhile the young bird programme in the Derwent Valley Federation has been put back a week.
There had been mixed feelings about the need for a vote on that decision as some fanciers felt that the Fed should have stuck to the original first race date, while others felt that birds needed extra training.
Clubs were invited to vote on the date for the start of young bird racing and as a result the programme will now start on Saturday, July 15.
Meanwhile some Derwent Valley Federation members will be sending to Guernsey this week for a race on Friday when they will be liberated with the Lanarkshire Federation from Scotland.
The West Cumberland Federation will not be racing from Guernsey but weather permitting will start on Saturday with their young bird programme, the first race being from Flookburgh.
Topping the West Cumbria Amalgamation and the Derwent Valley Federation were the successful Flimby partners Jimmy Nelson and Fleck Crellin.
They have had a splendid 2023 old bird season and topped the sheets with a yearling blue hen.
She is another in their loft which did not race as a young bird last year because of sickness.
The winner is an exchange youngster from the Cumberland Social Circle and was bred by Richard Martindale and George Lawman.
She had been on the roundabout system but was paired for this race and was sent sitting 10 days on eggs. She was third bird back to the loft (23rd Fed) from the bad Yeovil race.
Their winner was clocked at 1.16pm following the 8am liberation and a fly of 237 miles. Graham and co were in at 1.03pm after flying 226 miles to take second Amal.
Graham and co will not be sending to Guernsey but instead will be concentrating on the National Flying Club race from Sigonge in south west France where they will have seven birds entered.
Although they only sent three to Marlborough they did take second in the West Cumbria Amalgamation for the second week in a row.
The three-year-old chequer hen has been a very steady racer for the loft and has now been on six Amal sheets. She’s been second club twice, only beaten by loft-mates.
This season she has been 4th Fed Garstang, 4th Fed, 5th Amal, 11th Combine from the bad Yeovil race and now 2nd Amal Marlborough.
She was bred by R. G. Jones and Batt and was bought by the Cleator Moor partnership at the local A ring auction.
One of the partners Paul Byers said: “We would just like to congratulate Jimmy Nelson and Fleck Crellin on topping the Amalgamation.”
Winning Harrington Central to finish third in the Amalgamation were Ian and Denise Wood, who are finishing the old bird programme with a flourish.
Their latest winner is a yearling blue hen, of the loft’s well established Paul Fisher breeding, who was third club, 44th Combine from the bad Yeovil race.
Her sire is a blue cock that won the Fed from Guernsey 2 last week while her dam was sixth club from Yeovil. In 2021 the dam was third in the A ring race from Weymouth winning £1,100.
Claiming a Workington double, by winning both Victoria and Social Limit, were Williams and Hadfield.
Their two-year-old blue hen is out of a blue Lambrecht cock that won five races for the partnership. He was off the good grizzle pair they got from Steve Foster and after being picked-up flown-out in south Wales he was retired to the stock loft.
The dam is from a dark white flight cock, a brother to the loft’s star Liam cock which bred 13 first prize winners, and was paired to a good blue hen from Alan Devlin.
WEST CUMBRIA AMALGAMATION (148 birds): 1, Nelson and Crellin (Flimby HS) 1320; 2, Graham and co (Cleator Moor) 1314; 3, I. and D. Wood (Harrington Central) 1307; 4, M. Walker (Harrington Central) 1290.7; 5, Williams and Hadfield (Workington Social) 1290; 6, McLuckie bros (Workington Victoria) 1286.
WEST CUMBERLAND
FEDERATION (3 birds): 1, 2, Graham and co (Cleator Moor) 1314, 1116.
DERWENT VALLEY
FEDERATION (145 birds): 1, Nelson and Crellin (Flimby HS) 1320; 2, I. and D. Wood (Harrington Central) 1307; 3, M. Walker (Harrington Central) 1290.7; 4, Williams and Hadfield (Workington Social) 1290; 5, 6, McLuckie bros (Workington Victoria) 1286, 1281.
HARRINGTON CENTRAL (4 sent 18): 1, I. and D. Wood 1307; 2, 3, M. Walker 1290, 1235; 4, 5, 6, J. Devlin 1231, 1229, 1191. Guernsey 2 (3 sent 5): 1, 2, 3, I. and D. Wood 1318, 1275, 747; 4, M. Walker 739.
WORKINGTON VICTORIA (5 sent 31): 1, 5, Williams and Hadfield 1294, 1184; 2, 3, 6, McLuckie bros 1290, 1285, 1131; 4, Varty, son and grandson 1187.
FLIMBY HS (8 sent 91): 1, 4, Nelson and Crellin 1328, 1261; 2, 5, Berwick, Watson and co 1275, 1258; 3, 6, Rushforth and Hunter 1263, 1250.
