It’s been a below average young bird season for top Workington fanciers Richard Martindale and George Lawman – until Saturday.
The partners came up trumps in the West Cumbria Amalgamation from the second Appleton race.
They took the first three positions to end one of the longest barren spells the loft has experienced.
The three trapped together really well and were all bred in the stock loft. They are brothers and sisters of of previous Fed/Amal winners.
They are all through Leach brothers stock, which has served the loft well over the years, crossed to other lines including Best Kittel of Dehon/Demonseau; Gold Dust of Marcel Sanger’s and Ross of Leo Heremans.
The birds had been liberated at 9.10am in a west-south-west wind and the winner was clocked at just before 11.07am after the near 98-mile fly. It had been doing just over 50mph.
In the neighbouring Workington Social Limit club the McLuckie brothers, Morris and Wayne, had the first 10 on the sheet and 17 of the first 20.
The brothers won with a chequer hen whose dam is a direct daughter of a Eudy Van Reet pigeon Rambo which was paired with a son off Richardo x daughter UK Kittel.
Peter Dobie and Ralph Palmer won in Seaton RBL with the same blue cock – an A ring – which won the previous week.
Neil and dad Geoff Wordsworth have won every young bird race in Harrington Central and twice took all six tickets.
At the weekend they bagged the first four tickets with the winner, a blue wight flight hen which was picking up a second ticket for the season so far. Her nest brother won the first race and they were gifted to the loft by Steve Forster of Carlisle out of his white Geerinx hen.
Alan Bromley headed the result sheet in Flimby with a chequer hen which had been second club from Charnock Richard, beaten by a loft-mate. She was bought at the A ring sale and was bred by Mike McGrady of the Sandwith club.
David Todhunter and Mark Grisedale won again in Dearham, this time with a blue hen a Franz Zwol who has the same grandparents that bred the cock that was second last week.
They also had second club, a blue hen which was bred from a Van den Bulke off the McLuckie brothers crossed with a Lambrecht.
There was a change at the top of the West Cumberland Federation sheet this week.
After three successive Fed toppers Lowca’s David Lofthouse was down the sheet in 27th as Cleator Moor fanciers dominated the second Appleton race.
Joe Tomlinson and Brian Banks led the way with first and third, as 26 of the first 30 on the result sheet were birds into Cleator Moor.
It was clocked at 10.59am after a 90-mile fly to the Tomlinson and Banks loft and was flying at just under 50mph.
The blue cock has a class pedigree with his sire Best Boy Kittle a proven breeder of winners in England and Northern Ireland, who is a grandson of Kittle and Best Kittle, sire and grandsire of Fed winners.
The dam is through a daughter of Roper Kim, a proven breeder of winners across England and Northern Ireland. A son of this pair was 2nd Open NIPA this season.
Such are the intricacies of velocities and measurements, through great circle or breaking-up point, Joe and Brian don’t win the Cleator Moor club though.
Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon were fourth and fifth and the Fed winners had to settle for sixth spot.
The Dobsons won with a blue hen who had scored the previous week. Her sire is a a Leo Hermans from Michael Collins and her dam id asa Van den Bulkke from Richard Gooder.
There was a popular winner in Egremont where Marr, Scott and Lofthouse partnership topped the sheet. Mark Lofthouse puts a lot of hard work into the loft and everyone was pleased to see him come out on top..
The winner is a chequer hen who was bred off birds the loft obtained from top racer Ian Stafford.
Mark said: “Alan Marr is big friends with Ian and that’s how we got the mother and father of the winner. They are Gaston van de Wouwers and are grandchildren of Kasboa the best bird Gaston had.”
The Copeland North West club only sent eight birds with the Red Rose Fed and just three were back in race time from Worcester.
Returns were patchy across the Fed with birds from Liverpool reported in Barrow and Millom.
Club chairman Graham Best of Workington won with a blue cock that was bred by leading Askam fancier Brian Lloyd.
WEST CUMBRIA AMALGAMATION (1604 birds): 1, 2, 3, Martindale and Lawman (Workington Victoria) 1475, 1474.9, 1474.1; 4, 5, N. and G. Wordsworth (Harrington Central) 1472.3, 1472.1; 6, Evans and Abraham (Workington Victoria) 1471.
HARRINGTON CENTRAL (5 sent 142): 1, 2, 3, 4, N. and G. Wordsworth 1472.3, 1472.1, 1469, 1464; 5, 6, Mr and Mrs D. Wood 1458.6, 1458.2.
WORKINGTON SOCIAL LIMIT (5 sent 209): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, McLuckie bros 1468.4, 1468.2, 1468.002, 1468.002, 1461, 1460.
WORKINGTON VICTORIA (9 sent 375): 1, 2, Martindale and Lawman 1488.6, 1488.44; 3, 4, 5, 6, Evans and Abraham 1488.41, 1488.19, 1488.19, 1487.
SEATON RBL (15 birds): 1, 2, 3, 4, Dobie and Palmer 1480, 1429.7, 1429.7, 1418.
FLIMBY HS (7 sent 236): 1, 3, 4, A. Bromley and co 1461, 1421.5, 1421.3; 2, 6, Nelson and Crellin 1425, 1415; 5, R. Hodgson 1421.06.
DEARHAM (2 sent 63): 1, 2, 5, 6, Todhunter and Grisedale 1458, 1450, 1435.3, 1435.1; 3, 4, Dempsey, son and Reay 1440, 1436.
WEST CUMBERLAND
FEDERATION (710 birds): 1, 3, Tomlinson and Banks (Cleator Moor) 1463, 1462.2; 2, 4, 5, 6, Nolan, Netherington, Coultas and Easdon (Cleator Moor) 1462.3, 1462.09, 1461.8, 1461.8.
CLEATOR MOOR CENTRAL (8 sent 324): 1, 2, 3, Dobson, sons, grandson and Lyle 1467, 1466.8, 1466.4; 4, 5, Nolan, Hetherington, Coultas and Easdon 1466.1, 1465.913; 6, Tomlinson and Banks 1465.911.
EGREMONT RANGERS (154 birds): 1, Marr, Scott and Lofthouse 1456; 2, 3, 6, D. Harrison and son 1438, 1433.9, 1427; 4, 5, Wilson and Buchanan 1433.7, 1428.
LOWCA HS (4 sent 139): 1, 2, 4, Tomlinson and Banks 1463, 1462, 1447; 3, D. Lofthouse 1450.
SANDWITH (5 sent 136): 1, 2, 3, 6, B. Irving 1459, 1443.8, 1443.4, 1432; 4, 5, McGrady and son 1443.3, 1443.3.
COPELAND NORTH WEST (Worcester, 3 sent 8): 1, 3, G. Best 1269, 867; 2, J. Dixon and M. Cockbain 1142.
