NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

by Drew Callan, Press Officer

2014 Presentation

Trevor Hazell, Tarbes Blue Riband winner.

I start this article off the back of three nights of hard frost with the thermostat in my car showing minus 5 when I was leaving for work. The birds seem to relish these conditions and a drop in temperature tends to see them tighten up in feather and start shining in their new set of feathers.  It is that time of year again when I see the birds at either end of the day in the dark with a head torch and all the while that we have no snow and ice it’s not too much of a hardship but when I forget to take out the drinkers and I get caught out with a cold snap that freezes the drinkers morning become less fun. I know of some fanciers who will have paired up or will be doing so over the next few weeks. Good luck to them and I hope they have  a good lay out and hatch. I am not looking to pair up any time before early February and that’s one of the aspects of our sport, it’s very much a personal choice as you are the management committee and you make the decisions for your own loft.

Just a few bits of housekeeping whilst I remember. Firstly, with regards to the handbook, this time last year the committee was looking at the future of the handbook and specifically the content and access. We realised that  considerable savings could be made by moving away from the glossy, high quality product that we had been sending out to the membership, especially in the cost of postage. To achieve this we looked at promoting the handbook as an electronic document that could be downloaded from our website and quite a few members had taken advantage of this. At the October meeting it was apparent that a quite a few of the membership were concerned about the rapid transition we were planning and so we have listened to the members and for the 2015 season we will continue to send out a handbook to all members with all the information needed to allow them to race next season.

Secondly, the Blue Riband race from Tarbes has been moved from its traditional and long standing place in the race calendar. When it would have been pencilled in to be on the weekend nearest the longest day to allow the birds to make the most of the daylight as they travelled home, it is now moved to the last slot in the programme and has been swapped with Saintes. In the two years I have been Press Officer I have never witnessed a decision from the committee that has polarised fanciers so much. Of the many phone calls and conversations I have had over this the majority have been on the side of keeping the race where it has been. There is some confusion as to why the race was moved and some fanciers have pointed out that there is only 23 minutes difference in the available daylight so there shouldn’t really be too much of a difference in terms of giving further flying birds a real punt at doing something magical on the winning day. Some fanciers are concerned that we might not get to see repeats of the feats achieved by the likes of Chris Gordon, the Shackletons, the Winters, the Bush brothers , Alwyn Hill, and not forgetting the performance out of Tarbes this year by the Fussey loft  tucked away up in Bridlington. There was also concern about holding the condition of the birds for an additional 3 weeks and wrapped up in this was conversations with several dyed in the wool long distance lofts who revolve their lofts around the Tarbes race and who regularly fill the clock. This included talk of the rhythm of the loft amongst others, and an acceptance that it wasn’t just a case of pairing up a bit later to hold the wing. We will have to suck it and see with this one folks, I am sure the lofts looking at sending a team will already have started the planning, and I hope to see your names on the result.

Finally, we have a new trophy to fly for from this coming season onwards. Mark Gilbert has very kindly donated a top quality trophy to be presented to the bird with the highest winning velocity over the first 5 old bird races including Tarbes. To win it the bird needs to be on the result sheet in each of the 5 races, a mammoth task and not one for the fainthearted but what a trophy to have your name on. So from next year members will have something else to aim for and to try and win. Good luck, only the best will be left standing at the end of the programme to go forward for this trophy.

The last weekend in November saw the bold and the brave gather in God’s own country for the annual prize presentation evening. This year members descended on Harrogate and stayed in the comfort of The Majestic Hotel, perched high above the town overlooking the splendour and elegance of the Spa town. The weather was again kind to us and it stayed dry and mild over the weekend. I am not sure whether it was a case of God shining on the righteous or the devil looking after his own!! This year I opted to leave the kilt at home on the advice of our chairman as he felt that particular corner of Yorkshire wasn’t the safest for a man in a skirt, and also our president was worried that people might have mistaken me for Kelly Malone after they had had a drink or two. So in the end I bowed to their collective age and wisdom and to be honest I don’t think my enjoyment was hampered by it, although I can’t speak for others.

Once again, the array of silverware on display was breathtaking and had been beautifully prepared and laid out by Jolliffes, who do a magnificent job each year.  The main guests of honour were Mr and Mrs Farrow who are in charge of The Royal Lofts and Mr Chris Sutton, who had a rightful place at the top table as recognition of the sterling job he does photographing the various national winners throughout the year. They were joined on the top table by a variety of committee members and post holders and their wives. Before the presentation got underway there were several speeches and during these there was a real spark in the air and no one was left in any doubt of the passion felt for the sport and what it meant to be a competitor in The National Flying Club.  The last time I saw grown men this close to tears was on my wedding night, but that’s a story for another time, perhaps next year at the presentation in Telford.

Right folks, that is all from me for now. I would just like to thank the people on my table for their company on the night. They were all a pleasure to be with and made for a very enjoyable few hours. I have lined up a few loft visits over the winter so I will report back on those.

As always, or 01926 817796

Drew Callan

NFC PO

The illustrious Andy Parsons winner of the coveted Oliver Dix and Langstone Gold Cup.

O’Hare and Woodward collecting the coveted Lancashire Rose Trophy - a fine swansong.

Gerry Clements collecting Section L Bird of The Year Trophy. My dad taught him all he knows!

Max Hawthorn, Section I, who had a phenomenal race from Tarbes.

John and Dave Staddon who collected another fine haul of trophies.

Dave Fussey, who recorded the furthest flying Tarbes bird in race time - 751 miles 1693 yards.

Mr and Mrs Waterhouse, winners of the Saintes National.

Mike Whitcombe, Young Bird national winner.

The highly successful Ron and Nigel Dennett, winners of a very fast Carentan National.

 

G and S Treharne, flying the Welsh flag with top section J positions.

Rob Rome collecting The T Clarke Memorial Averages Trophy

Eddie Froggett still completing at the top after 60 years

Fagg and Nicholas

Cosmin Talas, a rapidly rising star in the NFC.

The Chambers family a well kept Midlands distance secret

3 section winners in the Old Bird National - Paul Naum, Geoff Kirkland and Driver, Dawson and Dawson.

Andy smith, a top national performer and Tarbes Section winner in Section H.

Mark Gilbert reaping the rewards of his hard work

Mr and Mrs Titcombe, Cholet National winners.

Andy Mabin

The man who brought it all together NFC Secretary Mr Sid Barkel

The brains behind the brawn, the wives of the Committee members.

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NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

by Drew Callan

Press Officer

Hassall and Williams a well kept secret.

Last year Mark Gilbert presented a new trophy to the committee of The National Flying Club that was to be presented to the bird with the best combined average velocity across all the old bird races in the national race programme. This trophy was to be called The Mark Gilbert International Trophy and one thing was for sure, any member who got their name on the trophy would be rightly proud as this would be no mean feat as it required a bird to ‘compete’ in all the national races and not just home. Bear in mind it was for the highest combined velocity of a single bird and not the loft, and for this the bird had to at the top of their game across a whole season and also had to avoid the pitfalls that a bird faces racing home from any distance. Speculation was rife about where it would be won, and as was to be expected a few well know household names were having their names thrown in to the hat and there was even a few rumblings of whether it would be won and if so would it be with a respectable velocity. Well, as it turns out the trophy was won in its inaugural year, proof that it can be done - but there were only 4 birds left standing when the dust of the 2015 season settled and each of these 4 birds deserves a medal. The bird that came top of the heap and who will give their owners the pleasure of being the first names on The Mark Gilbert International Trophy belongs to the Section J lofts of Jean Williams and Bill Hassall. The partnership has been in the pigeon game an awful long time, starting up 25 + years ago after they got together as a couple. As often happens in situations like this, the result in question comes off the back of a high level of consistency at a chosen level of competition - be that at federation or national level. This is the case with Jean and Bill, they have been competing at the top end of the table at federation level right along the line for all of the time they have been racing together and have dipped their toes in to national competition occasionally along the way with affair level of success. The latest bird to bring success to the loft and lift the new trophy is a tidy, cobby little 2 year old blue cock now named ‘James the First’, after Bills grandson James. This is a fitting title as James lives down near Bristol and in the run up to Tarbes when James and his mum were visiting he was given the blue cock to single up at a Services near to where he lives and it seems to have worked. To underline the efforts that ‘James The First’ put in to win the trophy lets first point out that the winning velocity was 1105 ypm, with this being achieved over a 5 race programme where the shortest race was Fougeres which is. 288 miles to the Quarry Bank loft and the furthest being Tarbes which is all of 646 miles. Along the way he had the following positions:

Fougeres 288 miles, 64th Section, 469th Open

Messac -     321 miles, 139th Section, 910th Open

Ancenis  -    355 miles   40th Section, 439th open

Tarbes   -      646 miles, 1st Section 55th Open

Saintes -       469 miles, 27th Section, 344TH Open.

To further emphasis the quality of the performance consider that he was 60 ypm clear of the next bird that was flying to a loft in Section E, some way short of the loft that James had to race home to.

Bill and Jean holding ‘James the First’ and ‘Mrs Jean’

This racing machine comes from a long line of performance birds that have been handled with care and precision over many years be two very talented fanciers. They have let the basket set the benchmark and along the way have not been afraid to bring in something special other lofts to shake things up a bit. James himself is the result of this, being the result of a cross from close friend and top fancier Andy Trumpeter that the partnership have put in to their family. He was not chosen specifically to compete for the trophy and in line with the lofts philosopy was being prepared for Tarbes, it was just incidental that he was the most consistently quick bird over all NFC races in 2015.

So, to go back to the start. When Jean and Bill started up as a pigeon partnership there was the joint decision that they would do things right from the off. With this in mind they did their homework and had a look around at what was winning where and decided upon the Busschaerts as the birds they wanted. A few were sourced from various places and put through their paces and quite soon a couple of handy birds started to emerge that would form the nucleus of the family that would still be a force 25 years later. Bill noted that the birds which were standing up to the test had a common pigeon in their pedigrees and so they sought out pigeons that were closely related to that bird, and when any Busschaerts were coming up for sale Jean and Bill would dig around to see if there was something worth buying that would compliment their existing birds. This approach served then well as they continued to produce a string of birds that kept them at the top in local club and Federation racing. Alongside this approach, the partnership was also introduced to Mr Andrew Hall who competed in Anfield Plain up in the North East of England and who flew very god family of Busschaerts. Bill has a sister who lived in that part of the world and so anytime Bill was in the area visiting his sister he would call in on Mr Hall, as it turns out Bills sister never did figure out why his visits to see her became increasingly frequent!! From Andrew the partnership initially introduced 6 young birds to race, and 4 of them won as young birds and continued to do so. He also gifted the partnership an unrung bird that went on to leave its mark along with its loft mates. These additions were rich in the blood of The Newton Pair and knitted in fantastically with the existing Busschaerts and through time the two strands became one team. The unrung Hall bird was to give the partnership a taste of success at national level when it bred a hen that came from NFC Nantes and landed on the roof of some neighbouring flats and wasted quite a bit of time before she came down and was duly clocked. She finished up being 4th Open and could have easily topped the national on that day.

What underpins the partnerships approach and continuing success is their breeding method. They will find a good working bird and carefully and meticulously pull its bloodlines back in through the family. This approach has ensured that they don’t lose the working lines and concentrate the more successful winning lines. ‘James the First’ will now have his chance to add a layer to the family line, as will ‘Mrs Jean’ who topped the section last year in a difficult young bird national from Falaise. These latest two performance birds will follow on from other illustrious forbearers such as ‘The Bordeaux’ Hen and ‘123’, who was a top Saintes racer for the partnership and then went on to leave their indelible mark on the family of birds housed at Quarry Bank.

The scaled down racing loft.

Until recently the partnership had a strong race team that had a depth of ability and performance to it, but as Bill told me time is now catching up with them and they are realistic about where their interests now lie. Personal health problems experienced by both Jean and Bill in recent years has also driven the changes, but they and the birds have risen to the challenge and the partnership are having the most fun they have had in years. In the past 5/6 years they have cut back considerably on the size of the team, but their drive and zeal is undiminished and instead they are focusing their energies on racing a smaller team, but at a higher level choosing to compete with The National Flying Club with a much more focussed approach. But old habits die hard, and as such the partnership still compete with The Victoria HS and Lye and District 2 Bird Continental Club as they relish the challenge of Specialist channel racing as they feel it separates the men from the boys.

With the downscaled approach the partnership have a significantly smaller team to manage, but the methodology remains the same. The birds are well schooled as young birds and yearlings, but this is done with care and no risks are taken as these birds are wanted for a job later.  At two years old a small team is aimed at Tarbes, and by small I mean 2 or 3 birds although their average send to any national race is 4 birds. The two year old birds in the team will have had little asked of them but will have been put across the channel to show them what it looks like. Now its time for them ’to take their coats off’ as Bill put it referring to them being expected to increase their efforts as this is what they are bred for and the partnership expects them to step up and be counted. With regards to the system used, Bill believes you need to get the fitness right and after that the system is immaterial. The partnership have tried all systems and were firm advocates of the roundabout system to give the hens a good workout, and looking at what hens have done for the loft its little wonder they like to race the little ladies. In recent years they have tended to lean towards preparing the Tarbes birds on natural, but they both remain flexible and will not baulk at swapping systems if they feel it will advantage certain birds. Let’s not forget that Bill was an accomplished fancier in his own right when he still lived and competed in West Bromwich before moving to Quarry Bank. At that time he flew a cracking team of widowhood cocks that were based on the old Fabry birds, and these birds enabled Bill to take on and Beat Breakaway when he was at his prime. The involvement with the Fabry birds led to Bill getting invited to the Royal Lofts after a conversation with The Queens Loft Manager at the time, but Bill never got round to taking him up on his offer.

It was clear from talking to Jean and Bill and looking at their wall of fame that they are a very well kept secret. They have consistently been churning out top results at all levels, including winning their section 4 times with The National Flying Club from Nantes, St Nazaire, Falaise and Tarbes. In fact Bill still has the blazer that he was awarded for winning the section on one occasion and this still gets worn with pride. This partnership is not finished yet; they possess a strong winning family that is providing success for many others as well, including top national performances in to Scotland and also on the Island of Malta. This last one something that is close to both their hearts, began when they met some Maltese fanciers at the Blackpool show a good few years ago and birds were gifted to them. Over the years there have been regular visits to Malta on an almost yearly basis but after racing has finished of course. The bloodlines that were feverishly sought over 25 years ago are still doing the business and they are still finding those good working birds that Bill cherishes so much that will continue to move the family forward. Here is to many more section wins - take a bow Jean and Bill the inaugural winners of The Mark Gilbert International Trophy. The secret is out of the bag now.

 

 

National Flying Club

 

The NFC committee are now thin king of the future and with the departure from the pigeon scene of Catteralls transport who have supported the National for so many years, the National must move on. With this in mind they have taken the step of looking to the future with a transport company who like the NFC are prepared to commit to a super transporter that will have all the technology to make it the best on the road. The work that has gone into the design of this transporter is unparallel in the UK. Building has now started with the internal superstructure being assembled on the factory floor with the first trailer due to arrive in early December. Everything is going according to plan and to time schedule. With these transporters being prototype they are subject to new design and engineering skills being brought together like never before in the pigeon world. This work is from various sources that all have the same element of enthusiasm and excitement between those who are involved in developing these innovative transporters. Brian Stansfield was telling me that he is sure that they will encounter some “teething problems” in such a venture but with the building experience behind this venture these experienced people will soon get to grips with anything that crops up. Then by the time the serious building is under way everything is resolved. Of the various priorities with the new transporters the main one is the air quality control and with the information available that looks like being the best that is available, a benefit for the pigeons with time in the baskets. What you must also remember is that with this air system it is all changed every 20 seconds, so there is no chance of stale air in these new transporters. Also humidity levels will be under control and air will be moved through the vehicle in a gentle and even flow. Pigeons produce 5 watts of heat per bird, which is what the ventilation system is based on. The predicted ventilation race is compared with the new EC regulations (EC Regulation No.1. 2005) although this does not directly apply to racing pigeons. However it would be beneficial to demonstrate that the proposed system meets or exceeds this requirement. The regulation requires that the ventilation system, must be capable of ensuring even distribution throughout with a minimum airflow of nominal capacity of 60M3/h/kN of payload. It must be capable of operating for at least 4hrs independently of the vehicle engine. The proposed ventilation system gives a nominal capacity of 400M3/h/kN with all the fans running, this is the minimum requirement is for 2 fans to be running at all times. Sufficient battery power for all 10 fans is required for at least 4hrs. So you will see from the above that the NFC will have over 6 times more capacity than the required minimum.  No pannier floor dressing will be used and birds droppings will fall into a collecting tray beneath where they stand, this will greatly alleviate dust contaminating the sir. The pannier design takes freely into consideration the com fort and hygiene of the birds at all times. Water availability will be along three sides of the pannier (the word crate doesn’t come into this new design) and therefore there will be no excuse for a bird not drinking. A prototype pannier will be on view at the NFC committee meeting to be held on the 10th December. More detail will be disclosed as and when it becomes available. In the meantime should anyone have any queries regarding the new facilities that are coming the way of the NFC then please call Brian on 01829 770306.

General information supplied by Brian Stansfield to www.elimarpigeons.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

by Drew Callan, Press Officer

The Rome Pedigree Engineered to succeed

In a few short years Rob Rome in his home near Cheltenham has established a loft of birds that have succeeded at the top levels of Club, Fed and National competition right through to 600 plus miles. In the 3 years that I have been reporting on the NFC races Rob has been a constant figure at the top end of Section I.  Since he first dipped his toes into National racing in 2012 the Rome loft has laid claim to 3 x 1st, 6 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, 4 x 5th and 3 x 6th National Section prizes, plus a host of other diplomas for being in the top 10 and top 20. Alongside this Rob has also tested his birds at International level with the BICC and from the difficult NFC Tarbes in 2015 from 606 miles Rob secured 1st, 11th, 17th, 21st, 23rd National Section and the Car sponsored by Mark Gilbert and Eamon Kelly.  To demonstrate the depth of consistency the loft is achieving at National level, in 2014 Rob stepped up at the NFC presentation to collect the Trophy for Best 2B average in Gloucestershire from Tarbes. It should be remembered that 2014 was regarded as the hardest Tarbes Blue Riband race in the past 10 years, and readers should note that Rob only sent 2 birds to win the 2B average. In 2015, the team has been at the top again from the word go and as a result Rob will be stepping up to pick up the 2 Bird Tarbes average trophy again and 4 additional trophies all won at National level this year.  He is also the 3rd placed loft in The F.G Wilson Challenge Trophy for the best average from Ancenis and Tarbes and also claimed 10th Best Average in all NFC Old Bird races.

To try and gauge how consistently good these birds are it would help to consider that in 4 years of competing at with the National Flying Club the lowest section position achieved by the team with the first pigeon has been 8th Section - and this is from distances ranging from 181 miles up to 606 miles. Over the same period of time Rob has managed to get 72 birds in the top 10% of the result in all national races now that is consistency with a capital C.

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Rob Rome with the Scottish Master, his father, RSR Rome

Now, let’s go back a bit. None of these results have come about by accident, but is the result of a meticulous approach undertaken by Rob, with the ground work being put in 8 years previously. Rob is an engineer by discipline and works for an international Energy company.  His job involves complex analysis and planning and this set of skills has been used to great effect to help create this family of birds. Rob’s career has seen him being located in a number of areas of England, but it wasn’t until he was settled in to his current home in 2010 that he was in a position to have birds again. It must be remembered that in the preceding years he was still actively involved and in partnership with his father, Robert SR Rome, in Annan, South West Scotland.  So he had the nucleus of top Scottish National performance birds to draw on when he was in a position that allowed him to. The engineer in Rob started to formulate a long term plan that saw him use the existing SNFC winning family whilst improving it with painstakingly selected birds that represented the best that the continent had to offer. Rob didn’t want corridor pigeons; he wanted a family of birds that won races at all distances and in all winds, but especially head winds. He was looking for birds that would break from the pack, get to the front and stay there especially when the races were won on ‘working velocities’ around the 1000 ypm mark. Now this was a tall order, and seemed even more implausible when you consider that these birds would be expected to be competing with the best at NFC level. The initial starting point was to pick the brains of his long time friend and mentor Silvere Toye. After a series of conversations with Silvere, Rob had a short list of fanciers that it was suggested he consider.  We all know that pigeons which can win from the first race to the last race in any types of weather and wind conditions are few and far between, but Rob has searched for this type of pigeon for many years and with the help of his close friend, Silvere Toye, has been able to gain access to top Belgian lofts every year. However, this was not going to guarantee success but would help him to narrow his search.

Champion Reimus 1st Open SNFC Reims the starting point

He did his research meticulously and this very short list was reduced further when Rob applied the criterion that the loft had to have top distance performing birds that were placed in championships amongst the best. The performing birds had to have a number of equally good brothers and sisters and all of them in turn had to be producing their like with a high strike rate?not much to ask really. As it turned out the top lofts that Rob had in his sights are not interested in marketing or selling their pigeons and are therefore very much “under the radar” outside of Belgium.  The lofts which Rob has made introductions from are the very same lofts that most of today’s household names in Belgium have used to devastating effect.

His starting point was the existing line of Champion Reimus, the Rome partnership’s Blue Riband Scottish National winner who was proving to be a prolific breeder. Reimus is 50% Hofkens , half of which came from the loft of Andre Roodhooft and on Andre’s advice Rob purchased more from the his Hofkens line.  Andre Roodhooft is now recognized as probably the finest middle distance racer in Belgium.  In 2014 Andre won 2 x 1st and 2nd National.

Rob getting guidance from Silvere Toye

The next port of call was to Silvere Toye himself, and at the time Silvere had a fantastic loft of George Carteus pigeons and these were making their mark at the long distance races for Silvere and many other lofts up to 1st International level. From Silvere, Rob bought wisely and was guided by the master himself, and as a result children of all the top breeder/racers were introduced including direct and brothers/sisters of Zatopek and Misty. Rob also availed himself of the cream of the Gaby Vandenabeele birds that Silvere possessed including from the Bourges National winner ‘Libelle’ when she was paired back to ‘Majoor’ her father. This blood is directly responsible for ‘Faraday’ a top racing cock for the home loft in Scotland, 3 x 1st, 3x2nd, 2x3rd plus 4th, 6th, 26th National from 76 to 474 miles and “Faradew”, winner of the Best OB of all Scotland in 2014 (Dewar Trophy) and herself winner of 2 x 1st, 4 x 2nd plus 6th and 22nd National from 76 to 474 miles.

http://www.racingpigeons-toye.com/images/2006/KWEEKKOPPELi.jpg

The Ace Breeding Pair of Silvere one foundation block for Rob

The next port of call in the quest to engineer the perfect pigeon was to one of Belgiums best kept secrets namely the father and son partnership of Patrick and Dimitri Houfflyn. This loft is based on the old Willequet family of birds that the partnership had relentlessly tested via the basket over many years with top results. They took the calculated risk of introducing top lines from Gaby Vandenabeele in the 1990’s and this resulted in a new wave of top distance birds such as ‘Geronimo’ who won 10  prizes in the top 100 in Belgian national and international racing from distances from 267 miles through to 534 miles. More importantly ‘Geronimo’ was starting to get a reputation for breeding the goods as well, so as he ticked all the boxes for Rob children were purchased alongside birds from other key performers in the Houfflijn loft. Once again it would appear that the research and planning had paid off as the Houfflijn blood can be found in many top Belgian lofts today and their birds have bred 3x1st Nationals in other Belgian lofts in the past 3 years. Back in Cheltenham these birds are quickly becoming the backbone of the Rome loft and Rob sees them as central in developing the Rome family of birds.

Rob and Patrick Houfflijn

Further additions were added from both Ignace Pollet and Roger Mylle, and as with the Houfflijn partnership there were relatively unknown lofts that had an enviable record at the distance. Birds from both these lofts made their way back to England with Rob and are being incorporated in to the present day team with already fantastic results.

Effectively, what Rob had set out to do was to produce a team of fast long distance birds that can break, get to the front and have the endurance and speed to stay there. He wanted birds that could be relied upon regardless of the wind direction or distance. The Rome family of birds that Rob possesses now is the distilled essence of the best that each loft visited had to offer. The single selection process used has been results and as can be seen from the results achieved that introduced this article Rob is quite some way down the road in terms of having the perfect, all terrain distance bird thanks to the input of Mr Basket and his own innate ability to put the right birds together. So, what does a pigeon that has been engineered to succeed look like then? Well in the hand the cocks and hens are beautifully solid, balanced and medium sized. They are short set and close to the ground, and give the impression that it would take some effort to push them over! Across the back they are broad and solid and from knuckle to knuckle they are the length of your finger tip to the crook of your thumb, and you could comfortably throw a saddle on the backs of some of the cocks?especially those with a heavy Houfflijn influence. They are built to get their heads down and stick at it, and this is helped by silky feathering that wouldn’t be out of place on a Teal. When you handle and look at these birds you are struck by how consistently they conform to a type, supple, narrow wings and a constant intelligent alertness. They are undoubtedly a family and their appeal is only added to by their performances at the very top. It is perhaps pertinent at this point to mention that the loft is probably the most westerly in Section I of the NFC and sits in the very bottom South West corner of the section. This is not where you want to be racing a programme where all race points are east of you and the prevailing wind is south westerly.  Consider this when you re-read the results achieved over the past 4 years.

Rob being presented with the 2015 NFC Tarbes car by Eamon Kelly.

Now, if you are still wondering whether these birds are all that then consider what they are doing in other lofts. The Fishlock brothers in South Wales have invested in a few of the Rome pigeons and these have quickly established themselves in the partners inland and channel team and have stood up against the brother’s well established Channel King family. The Rome birds have produced 2 National winners for the brothers.  A particular nest pair ‘Rome 830’ and ‘Rome 831’ have been leaving their mark. Rome 831 is the sire of Bernie, 5 x 1st plus 1st National Hythe 180 miles and fastest of all 5,000 birds liberated. Rome 831 is the grandmother of 1st National Rosemount 2015 354 miles for another partnership in Wales. These two are bred to be brilliant as they are bred from a son of Houfflijn’s ‘Geronimo’ when he was paired to the mother of their 1st National Cahors 480 miles.

The multi-national winning loft of Mel & Sue King is another loft that has introduced the Rome birds and 2014 was their first year racing youngsters bred from Robs Houfflijn and Zatopek Carteus lines.  One special pair bred 4 young birds last year, 1 was lost from the loft but the other 3 won 1st prizes as young birds.  One of these in turn bred 1st Section NFC Guernsey 2015. So once again the Rome birds have stood shoulder to shoulder with the best of an established national winning family and have not let themselves down.

N & D Wordsworth from Workington in Cumbria have had the Rome birds since the late 1990’s and has had much success up to 1st Combine level.  Neil introduced a son of “Champion Reimus” in 2009 plus other birds from the Houfflijn and Champion Dagger lines.  Since 2012 these have been responsible for multiple 1st Fed, 2 x 1st and 2nd Combine, 1st Amal and 1st RPRA award etc.

Continuing at National level, A&S Butler from Essington have introduced have had success at Club, Fed and National Section with the MNFC including 1st Section (2,200 birds) MNFC Carentan 220 miles.

Finally, in the 2015 season a new starter called Tommy Jackson from Ledbury had a team of 30 young birds bred from Rob’s race team and flying these in sprint races between 50 and 140 miles he has won: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th plus 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Fed and in his first National race won 8th Section 50th Open NFC Guernsey.

These birds are also starting to make their mark in Ireland, a number of lofts have had the foresight to get the Rome birds in and in only a couple of seasons breeding they are starting to excel.

Fabia, perfectly engineered to succeed.

So, in conclusion, Rob had clearly set himself a near impossible task in creating a family of super fast long distance birds. He bought wisely that is for sure and had the guiding hand of his father, the Scottish Master, and Silvere Toye the Belgian Master himself. However, it was no mean task to pull all these threads together and engineer a family of birds with a template for type and tenacity, and Rob will be the first to admit that some of the originals did not make the grade. The basket is what has ultimately produced the final product and the Rome strain is now up and running with quite some success. Final proof of this came in 2015 when his beautiful blue hen ‘Fabia’ dropped in from the NFC Blue Riband race from Tarbes to secure 1st section and 15th open and winning the car nomination. This was her third trip in a row to Tarbes having previously been 5th and 4th Section, and just outside the top 100 on both occasions. I have no doubt that this hen is what Rob had in mind when he set out on this project and having seen the birds first hand it is clear that the Rome birds have indeed been engineered to succeed.

 

 

  A fantastic night in celebrating the prize winners: -  

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