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. 


PosOpen Name Velocity AFT Distance Ring PrizeOpen PoolsOpen PoolMoneyOpen Total
1 Scammell&Peploe,.915.311 16:6:15 502,899 W14N03617 £100.00 ABCDE £101.25 £201.25
2 MMayo,. 829.821 17:44:44 502,31 W14B6645 £75.00     £75.00
3 MMayo,. 806.492 18:15:32 502,31 W13K00092 £50.00     £50.00
4 WilliamsBrosSon&Burgh,. 763.077 19:30:14 507,669 W12K01552 £30.00 ABC £26.25 £56.25
5 NicholsSon&G.son,. 656.979 22:28:21 503,557 GB13E35584 £20.00 AB £8.25 £28.25
6 MMayo,. 641.828 22:56:36 502,31 W13K00191 £20.00     £20.00
7 WilliamsBrosSon&Burgh,. 629.590 23:38:21 507,669 W13N09708 £10.00 ABCD £21.00 £31.00
8 Durham&george,. 617.716 23:53:47 503,391 W12N10467   ABCD    
9 MMayo,. 582.459 25:16:55 502,31 NW14B6631        
10 Frampton&Price,. 534.996 27:33:30 502,1105 GB14H43181        
11 DTippings,. 430.736 34:39:1 508,1428 GB12P19699        
12 Mr&MrsRussell,. 234.776 63:24:8 507,801 W08N10307

tom harris        

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