West Cumbrian birds were back at Marlborough on Saturday for a second time and it was a testing race in a west north west wind.
Topping the Amalgamation sheet was the long-established Cleator Moor loft of Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon.
After the noon liberation they clocked a yearling blue hen at 5.28pm after the 227-miles fly, which was at a speed of over 41mph.
Flying on the roundabout system she’s a Ceuster x Van den Bulkke from birds off Keith Rafferty and has been very consistent to the loft this season.
Although only third in the club, because of the broken leg measurement, she won the West Cumberland Federation as well as the Amalgamation, and has had a number of Fed positions.
She was 30th Appleton, 7th Cannock, 14th Stratford, 5th Marlborough 1 and 3rd Salisbury, when she was also 3rd Amalgamation and 3rd Cumbria Combine.
Included in the partnership with Michael Nolan are Brian Hetherington, and his granddaughter Danielle Easdon. Brian used to fly pigeons on the Moor years ago and that’s how Danielle’s mother got involved, then her dad and finally Danielle herself.
Beating them in the Cleator Moor club were Rodgers and Benn, who also took fifth and sixth as well.
Their winner is a chequer hen, a pure Stefaan Lambrecht from a son of Vooruitvlieger/Stefanie when paired to a daughter of Linbro/Dream Hen.
This pair bred the Fed winner for the loft from Cannock young birds last season.
Egremont Rangers was won by David Harrison and son with the same Blue hen that won from Marlborough a fortnight ago. She was a gift bird from Easington fancier John Todd whom David has known for a very long time and have swapped birds frequently over the years.
She was bred out of the bloodlines of Lucky Luke who was a top racer and breeder.
The Derwent Valley Federation was won by Richard Martindale and George ‘Pal’ Lawman, and like the West Cumberland Federation winners, they didn’t win their club either.
But they are making a habit of winning Federations and in nine years as racing partners they have clocked up a remarkable 35 Fed toppers.
Latest winner is from a cock they call Danny Boy who came to them last year and this was the only young one they had off him.
Danny Boy was bred by Adrian Leach and gifted to Jepson and Bennett from Bolsover. He won on to win eight first prizes with no duplications among them.
The dam of the winner is Ella, also bred through the best of Adrian’s birds and was the loft’s first Cumbria Combine winner in 2019.
She is also the dam of one of the partnership’s A ring race winners.
Kevin Evans had the first three in Victoria but had to settle for second, third and fourth Fed.
His winner is a yearling blue hen on roundabout, a Stefaan Lambrecht through pigeons Kevin obtained from Steve Foster and which have served him well.
She’s a super consistent pigeon, the daughter of Kevin’s RPRA award winner and has now been on the Fed sheet five times this season.
Williams and Hadfield won in Workington Social Limit with a three-year-old chequer white flight hen which had minor tickets until excelling on Saturday.
She’s off Wright brothers stock and her best performance before earning 8th Fed this time, had previously been 17th Fed.
In Harrington Central John Devlin was back on top of the sheet with another yearling blue cock.
He’s a Leo Heremans off stock bought from Alan Devlin and had been sixth club a couple of weeks ago from Stratford-upon-Avon.
One of the newest starters in the sport, Liam Norris, who did particularly well last season in Dearham won the club with a yearling blue hen.
She was just flying to the perch, too, as Liam lost her cock at Garstang.
She was bred by Liam’s good friends in Aspatria, Andrew Berwick and Kenneth Watson.
Her sire is the Mystery Cock that Jenneth bought in a sale while the dam is through Ian Stafford lines who has flow the Channel for Andrew and Kenneth.
Liam has two good helpers in daughters Freya and Clemmie and he says: “They let the birds out for me when I’m at work and I get them in when I get home. All my birds are exercised together, old and young.”
Berwick and Watson were also successful on Saturday winning in the Flimby club with a yearling blue hen on roundabout who scored three times as a youngster.
She’s bred off a chequer cock from the loft’s old lines which had won at Fougeres when paired to a direct Les Green hen which is off Contadore and Blue Alexis.
The sister of this latest winner has also won a couple of races.
The Copeland North West club raced from Cheltenham for a come-back race and leading them home was club chairman Graham Best of Workington with a very good two-year-old chequer white flight cock.
He won and scored as a yearling but has been ultra consistent this season with 2nd Bath, 5th Cheltenham 1, 3rd Cheltenham 2, 1st Blandford and now 1st Cheltenham 3.
He will be going to the North West Grand National on Friday when they race from Stoneycross and that will be it for the season.
He’s a Geerinckx cock and when he was third from the second Cheltenham race, his brother won it.
In the West section of the Red Rose Fed he was third behind two Barrow birds, who were flying 38 miles shorter.
WEST CUMBRIA AMALGAMATION (412 birds): 1, Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon (Cleator Moor) 1218; 2, Graham and co (Cleator Moor) 1217.9; 3, Rodgers and Benn (Cleator Moor) 1217.5; 4, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle (Cleator Moor) 1217.2; 5, Martindale and Lawman (Workington Victoria) 1216.6; 6, Evans and Abraham 1216.5.
WEST CUMBERLAND FEDERATION (130 birds): 1, Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon (Cleator Moor) 1218; 2, Graham and co (Cleator Moor) 1217.9; 3, 5, Rodgers and Benn (Cleator Moor) 1217.5, 1214; 4, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle (Cleator Moor) 1217.2; 6, D. Harrison and son (Egremont) 1187.
CLEATOR MOOR CENTRAL (7 sent 88): 1, 5, 6, Rodgers and Benn 1219.1, 1216, 1187; 2, Graham and co 1219.05; 3, Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon 1218.9; 4, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle 1218.6.
EGREMONT (22 birds): 1, 3, D. Harrison and son 1187.2, 1150; 2, 4, 5, 6, Wilson and Buchanan 1187.09, 1148, 1131.2, 1131.1.
COPELAND NW (Cheltenham, 6 sent 62): 1, G. Best 1151; 2, 5, I. McGarr 1148, 1108; 3, 6, Cottier and Patrickson 1146, 1079; 4, J. Dempsey, son and Reay 1136,
RED ROSE FED WEST SECTION: (15 sent 194): 1, 2, D. and W. Butterworth (Barrow RBL) 1154, 1153; 3, G. Best (Copeland) 1151; 4, I. McGarr (Copeland) 1148; 5, Cottier and Patrickson 1146; 6, M. McAlinden 1145.
DERWENT VALLEY FEDERATION (282 birds): 1, 5, 6, Martindale and Lawman 1216.6, 1191.26, 1191.21; 2, 3, 4, Evans and Abraham 1216.5, 1216.47, 1216.41.
DEARHAM (4 sent 77): 1, L. Norris 1190; 2, 4, 5, Berwick, Watson, Harker and Thompson 1184, 1169, 1162; 3, 6, Todhunter and Grisedale 1172, 1158.
HARRINGTON CENTRAL (8 sent 68): 1, 6, J. Devlin 1161, 1135; 2, 3, N. and G. Wordsworth 1157, 1153; 4, Mr and Mrs Carter and sons 1138; 5, R. McAvoy and son 1135
WORKINGTON SOCIAL LIMIT (3 sent 25): 1, Williams and Hadfield 1189; 2, 4, 5, Mr and Mrs Walters 1182, 1154, 1135.8; 3, 6, McLuckie bros 1158, 1135.6.
WORKINGTON VICTORIA (7 sent 81): 1, 2, 3, 5, Evans and Abraham 1220,3, 1220.2, 1220.1, 1194.8; 4, 6, Martindale and Lawman 1219, 1194.2.
CUMBERLAND SOCIAL CIRCLE (20 sent 40): 1, A. Graham and co 1217; 2, Martindale and Lawman 1181; 3, J. Devlin 1161; 4, McLuckie bros 1158; 5, Nelson and Crellin 1143; 6, Berwick, Watson, Harker and Thompson 1136.
FLIMBY HS (7 sent 83): 1, 3, 4, 6, Berwick, Watson, Harker and Thompson 1150, 1135, 1128, 1108; 2, Nelson and Crellin 1143; 5, A. Bromley and co 1109.
