The final channel race of the season for West Cumbrian fanciers proved a huge disappointment.
It rounded off a series of poor returns from France for the distance enthusiasts in the local pigeon racing fraternity.
A total of 57 birds from the Cumbria Combine went with 2,000 contesting the Midlands National FC’s race from Vire.
But because of weather conditions the liberation was moved to Falaise some 420 miles from West Cumbria, so the 11am liberation on Friday wasn’t conducive to day returns for the county.
In fact the Combine was won at 6.54am on Saturday by veteran Carlisle fancier Jimmy Easterbrook of the South End club.
It was Jimmy’s sixth Combine win in his long and successful career and his distance family is clearly still very capable.
The winner is a two-year old blue hen, sent sitting 12-day eggs and being tested over the water for the first time.
But she’s bred for the job off a 16-year-old chequer hen who is still breeding and is currently bringing up a youngster,
She in turn is off a mealy hen who won the East Cumberland Federation three times and was second on another occasion when clocked after 10pm.
Jimmy also got a second pigeon on Saturday but a third one on Monday was outside race time.
Second Cumbria Combine was a remarkable pigeon, winner of the Derwent Valley Federation and West Cumbria Amalgamation for John McNichol, who still races as Ostle and McNichol in memory of former race partner and ex-secretary of the Derwent Valley Federation, the late Cyril Ostle.
This four year-old chequer cock was second in the Combine and that was the third time he has been over the channel this year, taking second in the Combine on each occasion.
Before this season he had previously been third Fed, fifth Amal, 22nd Combine from Guernsey.
John didn’t race the inland programme but trained his birds especially for the channel races and is a great believer in winning the pigeons trust and making the loft environment as calm, relaxed and as near to nature as possible.
This pigeon was bred from a pair he got from Ray Crawford of Kendal.
“I do things back to front in many ways. I just leave them to get on with it at an open loft and spending time with them I try to get them as tame as possible.
“The loft is no great construction but it is home to them and they seem to enjoy it.
“This particular cock is paired to a barren hen so I have dummied him down before on eggs.
“But for this last race I gave him a chick beforehand and he took to it. When I went to put him in the basket there was a yearling hen in his nest box showing to him, so there might have been something going on there that I hadn’t noticed.”
John, of course, is well known for his work over the years as convoyer and he takes his wagon to train for other fanciers throughout the season.
He had started with pigeons when he was 12 years old and when he was living in Cockermouth a few years later he actually won the Federation’s Big Cup.
John certainly does things differently in housing and preparing his birds as naturally as possible, and he has been well rewarded this season even if he didn’t fly the inland programme.
He also clocked a second pigeon on Monday morning to take third Amalgamation.
Keith and Adam Young, a father and son team in Millom, clocked the only two back in the Furness Federation and both are yearlings.
The first home, a blue cock was bred by Michael Ward off his Foxy Lady bloodlines. He had been 48th Combine at Stratford and had been sent sitting seven day eggs.
A chequer cock was their second pigeon and is off their own family crossed with a Mark Bulled hen. He has flown well all year but his best performance was when he won the Combine from Stratford-upon-Avon.
Also clocking in the Flimby club, splitting the two McNichol pigeons were Andrew Berwick and Kenneth Watson of Aspatria.
Coming for them was a yearling chequer hen, a niece to their Combine winner from Messac through the loft’s red white flight cock lines which are proving effective from France.
She had flown the full programme as a young bird and had every inland race this year. The further she went the nearer she was.
“We would like to congratulate John McNichol on his success and particularly for the awesome performances by his chequer cock.”
