Watchfield 04.09.10

Watchfield In The Vale Flying Club with MB
*Remember there are No Secrets from a Bottle, just Hardwork, Dedication & Determination*

Well folks here we are again ready for the penultimate race of the 2010 programme (4th September) and we are back at Exeter with the Wiltshire federation (105 mile) to us.

Well this week saw me planning to step up the workload for the birds following last weeks dismal performance from Kingsdown, but this would only start from Tuesday and with an ultimate goal being the races on the final weekend 11th September but i do expect a serious improvement in the teams performance from this weeks race which should boad well for the final goal.

Well on the Sunday morning following the race from Kingsdown we were still 2 youngsters missing which funny enough both dropped together at approx 0800 Sunday morning, which was pleasing as one of these was the smokey hen 32 which was having her first race. We were out and about early with the birds fed for the day with a day of rest planned, as we were off to the Somerset oneloft race to watch their final race from Belgium, the day was forecast as a strong face wind for these birds and the ultimate test of birds so we knew they would be very few and far between, so we called off at our friends Rob Habgood and we all set off together.

We arrived at the oneloft around lunchtime and said our hello’s to all present, seeing Terry & Jane and then were immediately provided with a light lunch with was well received. We set our chairs and began the wait along with many other fanciers/families from all over the uk and abroad. The atmosphere was electric amongst the crowd and many guessimates of will they/wont they, i did bump into Stuart Knowles, Widnes who owns a fantastic stud loft in the North West, Stuart no longer races the birds after many seasons of success when racing as S&L Knowles. He does like to test some of his birds each year in different lofts and has bred over 20 x 1st combine winners in the North West/East with many of these being multi winners, after our conversation Stuart asked if he could send me some next season to test for him, these being his fantastic family of Linderlaufs which of course i said i would, so will be in contact in the new year Stu.

Well time was dragging on and arrivals were now overdue if they were to make it on the day, well i had to make a call of nature when i heard the shout up of “bird”, typical i nearly wet my leg rushing back to my seat....and there it was on the loft, and in. Everybody ran to the big screen, nothing.......panic over, it was a late returnee from an earlier hotspot race, typical it picks today to return. Well the time was now approaching 7.45pm and it was getting dark, there would be no returnees today. Well now it was decision time, what do we do. Do we go home and come back early doors, or do we stay over...

So after much deliberation we decided that the girls would stay for the 3 course dinner and entertainment provided by Terry & Jane, and me, Rob and the boys would make the treck back home to collect sleeping bags etc and Robs wife Dawn and treck back and sleepover in the cars to be up early in the morning, we must be mad......Clare and the girls said the meal prepared by Jane was out of this world and a real credit and the lady comedian was great, and all we got was a ham sandwich from the services on the A303, so yes we got the short straw and never again, next year we will be taking tents for sure. So we were up and about at 6am to find Terry running around as usual ensuring lofts were ready, kettle on and boiler warming up nicely. Well after some good early morning banter we got the chairs back out in anticipation of an early arrival.

There were many eyes scanning the horizon awaiting an arrival with many false alarms of woodies etc, well i spotted something coming out of the sunrise behind the lofts and shouted “heads up here’s one”, but of course it was behind the tree’s and out of sight at that split second when it came flashing over the tops to cheers as it dropped on the lofts and in, quick run to the big screen and it was there...............swap shop bird bred by Tony Haynes of Ponderosa and unfortunately unactivated. What a bird this is, a true warrior of the sky this one and congratulations to the breeder and Terry for conditioning. So after this scare, the realisation set in that the money was still up fo grabs.

So we were all back out scanning the skies, well breakfast was soon served and was greatly appreciated by all. It was a long wait for the next bird to arrive which dropped at 0945 for Brummels Hope, these lads were obviously local and were soon walking up the field to a massive round of applause from all in attendance, well i was over quick handshakes and congratulations all round.

Well we had to shoot off prior to lunch, to get back and sort the birds/dog out. We got home and i got the birds out for a fly round and start my improvement plan for this weekends race.

So here we are with plan in place, i was going to step things up with the birds this week, with the intention to get them fitter this week and look for an improved performance on Saturday with the target being the week after. So i was up early on Tuesday morning and had the birds out for a fly and added to this, i took them training in the afternoon to Tidworth a distance of approx 10mile, i let these go in two’s to give them something to think about. Wednesday morning and the birds were out for a fly for both morning and evening, Thursday morning and the birds were out for a fly and again i took them training in the afternoon out to Devises and again let them up in two’s. When i got home we were a couple missing, one turned up shortly after and the other dropped in as i was locking the lofts up with some tail flights missing, unbelievable still getting attacked by the damn hawks.

Friday morning and we had the youngsters out for exercise only, then fed in preparation for tomorrows race, at 3.30pm i went upto the lofts and fed them all a little extra seed as i don’t want any mistakes this week as i want a good return in preparation for next weeks channel races. I basketed the yb selected for the race at 4.30 as we wanted to get to the club early tonight to get things set, picked out 2 old hens as well and basketed leaving by the loft ready for loading into the car and set off at 5pm. Well just before 5pm i went to get the basket and OMG the birds were out and flying round the loft, i knew one of the hens was keen to get out of the basket and must have knocked open the lid and all escaped, ARGH!!!!!!!! Well that was it, the dummy was out now and i wasn’t amused.

So decided to take Clare, Mia & Ben to the club, get everything set up then come back and hopefully get them all back in. Well i got back from the club at 6pm and luckily they were all either in the loft or walking around the garden so with a little persuasion they were all in and re-basketed and upto the club again. At the club marking was well under way and everyone was on high spirits, i did put Ken Thorpes birds through and they were immaculate and Ken said they were flying the skies out, i replied that with the condition these birds were in he should be seriously looking at entering the NFC race next week and the Wessex combine as they were in excellent order.

Saturday morning opened up very foggy but signs were good that it would soon burn off, into a beautiful day but with the Easterly winds as forecast would not favour us today. Well the fog at the racepoint was not burning off so the committee decided to make a move back to Honiton and arrived back at site at 1340hrs and liberated at 1400hrs, bit to soon if you ask me but hey thats life. ETA was worked out as i expected the early birds to be making the high 1300’s today so we had better be ready by 1545hrs for this 82mile trip.

So the loft was cleaned and made ready and the eta soon came and went, the longer it went i knew deep down this was going to be a tricky race, well after what seemed a lifetime we got our first arrival from the North East direction meaning that he had come up and through the Swindon side then broke and headed the miles over here. He was timed at 16.09am with another arrival from the same line at 1614hrs. These 2 cocks both looked well but then that was it for over half an hour we had nothing else arrive then got 2 in five minutes.

Upon leaving for the club we still only had 7 from 11 returnees so was a little disappointed with that, at the club there was some almost horror stories with some lofts only having 1 by 6pm, another had 5 out of 24 by 6pm and then the team started to work in between 6 and 7pm, so whatever they hit stopped them for hours.

At the club that night it was a fantastic result for J&V Draper who have been knocking on the door all young bird season, and finally justified the efforts this week with a great 1, 2. John timed a cheq hen for a superb velocity of 1204.9 for 1st club, followed by a cheq cock on 1139.9 for 2nd club, taking 3rd club was George Seagroatt with a blue wf hen on 1134.8, 4th was M/M Roy & Shiela Titcombe timing a black hen ib 1131.1, we ended up 7th club on 1118 so was quite pleased with that considering the line the winning birds obviously took.

Wiltshire Federation, Honion 21.08.10
Taking 1st, 2nd & 4th was Smith & Baker, Gorse Hill with a grizzle cock on 1654.7, a cheq hen on 1654.0 and a cheq hen on 1648.6, taking 3rd was I Turner, Gorse Hill with a grizzle hen on 1652.9, taking 5th was R Beaconsfield, Ram Alley with a blue cock on 1647.5, taking 6th was C Croacher, Gorse Hill with blue hen on 1633.8, taking 7th fed with the longest flyer on the results was R Parker, Oxford Central with a blue hen on 1622.2, 8th was KS Hambidge & Son, Ferndale with a cheq hen on 1607.3, 9th was K Thorpe, Watchfield with a blue cock on 1588.2 and 10th was S Hughes, Fendale with a blue cock on 1585.4

Well that’s it for this week, try hard, work harder, be happy and good returns.

Great Read Mark, bet you had a good catch-up with Stuart (OMG, no wonder our ear's were burning) Lol ,
nice to hear you had a smashing time ...
Well Done to all ...

ma & pa ...
(smilinassassin & vader)

think i;ll read it when ive got a spare afternoon , only kidding good read great write up

thanks for the write up mark, very interesting as usual............looks like you enjoyed the oneloft adventure

thanks for the write up mark very good read mate