The West Cumbria Amalgamation raced from Salisbury on Saturday and topping the sheet again was David Harrison of Egremont.
David doesn’t keep count but believes this to be his eighth or ninth Amalgamation win since his first in 2015.
He says: “I honestly have no idea how many West Cumberland Federation races I have won but I can remember the first was in 1985 when living and racing at Beckermet.
“I won from Sartilly with a Scotty stray that had come in during the 1983 season when it still had yellow down on its head. It turned out to be probably the best pigeon I’ve ever had and was a Jeff Horn Busscheart.
“He won one inland and four from over the channel and bred winners with loads of different mates. The bloodlines were only lost from my loft a few years ago.
“My first Amalgamation win in 2015 was with a mealy hen which was a new bloodline Malcolm Scott and i tried and was the start of a new family of crosses that have served me very well up to now.
“These originated at Bob Gray’s (Gateshead) loft but were bought from a friend of Bob’s called Mark Bainbridge who was packing in because of work commitments. These were Hereman Ceusters bloodlines of which many fanciers are today winning well with.”
The birds were liberated from Salisbury at 9.15am in a light north east wind and David had the first two on the sheet within a second of each other at 2.55pm. They had covered the 245 miles at just over 43mph.
The winner by that one second was a 2023 late bred blue hen bred in the stock loft who was third club from Marlborough in its previous race, just flying to the perch.
Her sire is a gift bird from good friend Tommy Carr and his race partner John Wolfenden from Stockport, being a Ceuster of Taylor brothers origin. The dam is a seven time club winner for David who also won the Amal from Marlborough in 2016.
She also bred 4th Combine from Holmsley in 2022 and plenty more club winners for the loft, as well as other friends around the country.
The two-year-old chequer hen that was second has been beaten by loft mates on three occasions now but has managed a 7th, 16th and 23rd Amal in her short career and flew the Yeovil disaster in just under seven hours so was fancied for Salisbury race given the conditions.
She is full sister to three Amal winners while her son was 2nd Amal last year as a youngster and won Cannock 2 and Stratford this season but unfortunately was lost at Marlborough.
Her sire was bred by a long standing friend Tommy Lawrenson (South Shields) and the dam was from Kevin Johnson, late of Gateshead..
The in-form loft of Rodgers and Benn were first and second in Cleator Moor Central (4th and 5th West Cumberland Fed).
The winner is a yearling blue cock which is out of one of the loft’s top stock cocks Oliver which has already bred an Amal topper amongst other winners.
The dam was a Stefaan Lambrecht hen who has previously bred an Amal winner which was second in the Cumbria Combine.
Only a second behind was a yearling chequer hen, a Lambrecht/Steve Chambers cross who has already had a 2nd club, 89th Fed Stratford two weeks ago. This hen wins the BNFL Two Bird club.
In the Copeland North West club Graham Best of Workington won with a blue white flight Geerinckx cock that was third earlier in the season when his brother won the race. Parents were from Premier Stud.
The McLuckie brothers won the Derwent Valley Federation, and both the Workington clubs but West Cumberland Federation fanciers took the first seven positions on the Amalgamation sheet.
The brothers’ winner is a yearling blue hen off pigeons they bought from Ken Wilson of Harrogate, which were bred from three hens (known as the three sisters) and a cock Demolition Man who had performed well for the famous Scottish flyers GW and P McAloney.
She had minor tickets as a young bird but has come to the fore as a yearling, winning two Cumberland Social Circle races and scoring 5th at Stratford, 5th at Cannock and 2nd at Appleton, beaten by a loft-mate.
“We did some homework and found out that the McAloney’s had sourced these pigeons from Ken so we went down and bought some off that family.
“He’s a really nice chap and we have become good friends,” said Morris.
Winning in Harrington Central were Neil Wordsworth and dad Geoff with a yearling chequer hen out of their Kevin Hibbert of Rotherham stock.
She’s been coming consistently and has had two tickets in Harrington Central this season before her win on Saturday.
Her nestmate is a cock who was never raced as a young bird but who has had a first and second in the club this year.
Jimmy Nelson and Fleck Crellin were back on top of the sheet at Flimby with a yearling chequer hen, which like many of their good birds is from their Karel Boeckx bloodlines.
She flew the programme as a young bird but was spare at the start of the season and then, because of losses got on with a spare cock, took to he box and after being second bird back from Marlborough, went one better from Salisbury.
In Dearham Andrew Berwick and Kenneth Watson won again with a late bred chequer cock who was only trained last year and then put on widowhood to fly this season.
He’s a half brother to their Cumbria Combine winner from Guernsey, who also has had 3rd, 7th and 10th Combine from the island.
WEST CUMBRIA AMALGAMATION (602 birds): 1, 2, D. Harrison (Egremont) 1271.3, 1271.2; 3, 6, Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon (Cleator Moor) 1270.3, 1266; 4, 5, Rodgers and Benn (Cleator Moor) 1270.01, 1269.
WEST CUMBERLAND FEDERATION (210 birds): 1, 2, D. Harrison (Egremont) 1271.3, 1271.2; 3, 6, Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon (Cleator Moor) 1270.3, 1266; 4, 5, Rodgers and Benn (Cleator Moor) 1270.01, 1269.
CLEATOR MOOR CENTRAL (7 sent 112): 1, 2, Rodgers and Benn 1271.3, 1271.2; 3, 5, Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon 1270, 1266; 4, 6, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle 1267, 1253.
LOWCA (2 sent 25): 1, Holliday and Dixon 1183; 2, 3, 4, D. Lofthouse 1180, 1172, 1156.
EGREMONT (35 birds): 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, D. Harrison and son 1271.2, 1271.1, 1231, 1214, 1181; 4, Wilson and Buchanan 1219.
SANDWITH (4 sent 36): 1, 2, 5, W. McGrady and son 1251, 1198, 1150; 3, Cottier and Patrickson 1173; 4, Blaney bros 1151; 6, J. Davidson 1135.
COPELAND NW (Blandford, 4 set 56): 1, 5, G. Best 1158, 1101; 2, 4, Cottier and Patrickson 1135, 1122; 3, 6, I. McGarr 1130, 1092.
WEST SECTION RED ROSE FEDERATION (19 sent 223): 1, G. Bradley (Millom) 1171; 2, G. Best (Copeland) 1158; 3, 6, A. Grieve (Millom) 1152, 1148; 4, Fullard, Murning and Coward (Millom) 1151; 4, D. L. T. Fallows (Millom) 1150.
DERWENT VALLEY FEDERATION (392 birds): 1, 3, McLuckie bros (Workington Social) 1264.3, 1263; 2, 4, Martindale and Lawman (Workington Victoria) 1264.06, 1258’ 5, 6, Evans and Abraham (Workington Victoria) 1251,1250.
HARRINGTON CENTRAL (8 sent 84): 1, 3, 6, N. and G. Wordsworth 1241, 1229, 1196; 2, 4, Mr and Mrs D. Wood and son 1230, 1215; 5, J. Devlin 1197.
DEARHAM (5 sent 83): 1, 2, Berwick, Watson, Harker and Thompson 1243, 1209; 3, 6, Varty, son and grandson 1201, 1188; 4, 5, L. Norris 1194.6, 1194.5.
FLIMBY HS (7 sent 134): 1, Nelson and Crellin 1228; 2, Rushforth and Hunter 1227.8; 3, 6, A. Bromley and co 1227.3, 1190; 4, Berwick and co 1212; 5, J. Varty, son and grandson 1200.
WORKINGTON SOCIAL LIMIT (4 sent 49): 1, 2, 3, 4, McLuckie bros 1264, 1263, 1241, 1228; 5, 6, Mr and Mrs Walters 1212, 1205.
WORKINGTON VICTORIA (8 sent 136): 1, 2, McLuckie bros 1267, 1266.9; 3, 4, Martindale and Lawman 1266.3, 1260; 5, 6, Evans and Abraham 1254, 1253,
CUMBERLAND SOCIAL CIRCLE (19 sent 38): 1, 2, McLuckie bros 1264, 1241; 3, Nelson and Crellin 1228; 4, Martindale and Lawman 1225; 5, Mr and Mrs D. Wood and son 1215; 6, Rushforth and Hunter 1167.
