THE WELSH NATIONAL FLYING CLUB VERSELE LAGA BERGERAC NATIONAL
1ST SCAMMELL AND PEPLOE V 915.311 2ND M MAYO V 829.816 3RD M MAYO V 806.487 4TH WILLIAMS BROS,son & BURGHAMV 763.077 5TH NICHOLS SON & G SON V656.979 6TH M MAYO 641.823 7TH WILLIAMS BROS,son & BURGHAM V629.590 8TH DURHAM & GEORGE V 617.716 9TH M MAYO V 582.453 10TH FRAMPTON & PRICE V 534.996 11TH D TIPPINGS V 430 .736 12TH MR MRS RUSSELL V 234.776
welsh national f.c versele laga sponsored bergerac national
1st open scammel and peploe
monday 13th july and the welsh national flying club were basketing for the final old bird race of 2015 from bergerac an approx distance of 500 miles to most welsh lofts ,with a combined liberation of roughly 1,750 pigeons from six organisations loaded and transported by the centrel southern classic , the convoy arrived on site at 10.45 on thursday morning prior to the planned friday morning liberation
friday morning in bergerac is reported by the team to have opened up with full cloud cover on site however further north the skies had apparently cleared and it was reported to have a clearer line of flight towards the uk ,following a final check on the weather and close consultation with the agent on site and race advisors here in the uk the strings were cut at 06,30 ,
as the day went on back here on the welsh side of the river severn the wait began as fanciers were anticipating that pigeons were likely to make land on or around the fourteen hour mark ,and with a watchfull eye on arrivals on the south coast on various websites it soon became clear that an arrival on the day of liberation on welsh soil , was highly unlikely going on what was recorded on the south coast during the evening ,so at the close of race on day one unfortunatley there was nothing to report and the wait went on with and early rise the following morning for our members with the race re-opening followiing the hours of darkness at 05.07
the first pigeon to be recorded early on day two with the honour of 1st open welsh national flying club versele laga sponsored bergerac national are the pontypool multi national winning duo of ronnie scammle and paul peploe partnership timing in a yearling cheq hen on the second day at 05.58 with a vel of 916 flying 502 miles the winning pigeon was sent to this race repaired and sitting on 10 day old eggs having been raced roundabout throughout the year ,she has numberous performances prior to this result including 1st federation as a young bird along with a few good performances in 2015 including 1st club 1st fed lyndhurst and 2nd saints 13th national ,she is bred through the highly profiled and sort after lines of the partnerships "nearly cock which won 3x2nd national and has snce gone on to sire and g.sire more than 50 plus 1st prizewinners on the sires side when paired to a father and daughter mating. The father being a Jan Aarden x Herman x Edwards Brothers’ pigeon and the dam being Derek Flowers’ double National winner from Bonn and Saverne.
for 2nd and 3rd open we head across to the bargoed loft of mel mayo with the first of his two arrivals at 07.36 on a vel of 829.81 the first is a a yearling cheq cock bred down through the lefrebre dheaneans from good friend bobby lee and a g.son of mel`s 2005 bonn combine winner bobbys boy which also claims the versele laga best opposite sex to the winning pigeon trophy mels second arrival a another bred through the same lines as the previous arrival this time a g.daughter of bobbys boy timing in at 08.07 vel 806 this time a 2 year old cheq hen that goes onto also claim the versele laga two bird average trophy for the loft of mel mayo, for mel himself , he informs me that sadly this will be his last year racing and will sadly hang up his scrapper at the end of the year , but if your going to bow out there`s no better way to go than at the top of your game .... to round off the top four we head to one of our furthest fanciers at the tredegar lofts of williams brothers son and burgham who timed in a 3yr old blue pied cock.at 09.22.14 with a vel of 763.07 , which has been flown on widowhood all year and was sent to saintes 2 weeks previous to bergerac having had his hen the night before where he was 64th open wsrnfc. On return he was left with his hen he was repaired and sent to bergerac sitting 4days on eggs. This cock has had numerous past winning performances for the partnership at all levels including 19th open wsrnfc saintes 2014., 87th open bicc alencon 2014. His sire grandson of burgham bros champion national man cock.when paired to boscheind flyers dikkie x de general lines.and is the same way bred as 1st wnrf open 2nd wnrf open plus lots more club and federation winning performances
so thats it the curtain has come down on yet another old bird programme when the velocity went to 220 yards per min and at that time just fourteen brave entries had covered the distance, and with that we congratulate the lofts that recorded arrivals , its pleasing to report that over the past five races our members have enjoyed some excellent racing ,yes its been hard on times ,but rewarding for our winners to be able to compete alongside our english counterparts along the way for which we pass on our thanks to the convoyers, committee and race controllers of the west of england combine and the central southern classic for giving our pigeons the care and attention whilst under there control whilst over the channel .
we know move onto our three young bird races in the weeks to come when we head towards the east coast for races from maidstone ,battle and ramsgate ,when we are hopeful that this good fortune continues ,
Convoyer’s Report Wednesday 15th July The birds were watered on the docks for an hour before we set of for Bergerac leaving at 7:00 am, we arrived Bain de Brittaine near Messac for our first stop en-route for two hours, the skies were clear and the temperature was climbing into the high twenties with a westerly wind blowing though the mesh curtains on the lorry making it a nice environment for myself and the birds whilst I was watering. We arrived at the Saintes lib site at four o'clock in the afternoon where the birds were fed and watered for the night. Thursday 16th July With the water off and breakfast over we were on the road by 7 am, with only another 130 miles to Bergerac we should have arrived by 09:30 but with a bad accident on the outskirts of the town it was 10:45 before we were on site which I would add is still the same site as always despite the new distances from the Reddings. By midday the temperature was 41.2 and the water in the tanks was beginning to get warm so I emptied the tanks and filled them with fresh water. With a large stadium at the end of the site I decided to put the lorry under cover and in the shade. The birds were fed and re watered by 4.00 o'clock when the sky began to darken and by 5 pm we had torrential rain, lightening & thunder lasting all Thursday evening and through the night. Friday 17th July I got up at 04:30 am to switch on the lights and top up the water and by dawn there was full cloud cover and with the Agent telling me that the forecast was even worse weather for Saturday & Sunday with Monday being the next possible lib day. He also said that thirty miles above Bergerac the skies were clear and the forecast was good all the way through France. After a call to our weather advisor telling me that it was good all the way to the UK, I made the decision to lib at 06:30 into no wind on site and 100% cloud cover and as expected they circled and climbed high into the sky looking for the sun as they always do under these circumstances. The main batch cleared after a couple of minutes but 30% of the convoy were still circling some fifteen minutes later, as predicted the weather cleared at Riberac and by Angouleme some fifty miles north of Bergerac it was clear blue skies and thirty degrees with a southerly wind but when we got to Alencon the skies became very dark and at Falaise the rain was torrential and the visibility was about 500 yds and that lasted all the way to Caen were it stopped, this was not forecast on any weather site French or English. having now seen the early times and having spoken to Tony Cotterell telling me that his bird arrived with a very pink wattle confirming that the birds had hit the bad weather in northern France.
