Watchfield Writings 14.02.11

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

Well folks here we are again and its now the 13th February and i bet most fanciers have got their youngsters appearing now and the early breeders are now looking at their 2nd round of eggs as are we, its all fast and furious at this time of year and before you know it you will have 20/50 or even 100 youngsters depending on what you want. Each one with a lot of hope and dreams on its shoulders, do you have a certain pair that when they breed a certain colour your eyes light up with dreams of past birds of this colour, did you spend many many hours during the winter months planning this pair and that pair, or are you into “love” pairings and let them choose for themselves, as they say “many roads lead to rome” and what some fanciers swear by, others would laugh at.

Just a couple of changes to report with the Wiltshire fed race programme for 2011, you will have to bear with me with these as i’m only finding these out third hand, but for whatever reasons the Carentan 1 race will now be pushed back, as the first 4 races will be Seaton, Seaton, Exeter, Exeter then maybe the Carentan 1, will let you know as soon as i know. This does effect my own race plans as i was wanting this Carentan initially planned for the 30th April but looks like i will have to send my team elsewere now that weekend, perhaps i will join the BBC as they are at Carentan this same weekend.

We attended the presentation evening of Ferndale HS last night, who held it jointly in conjunction with the Gorse Hill HS. This was a fantastic evening with a good turnout of both sets of members & friends with lots of enjoyments and laughter from all tables. Members would like to say a massive thanks to Shirley Lea who makes this event possible, with all her fund raising during the season which enables the cost of tickets to be kept to a minimum, also she puts sandwiches on every Saturday during racing season. Shirley is a truly kind and wonderful lady very much the heart of the club!! The food was a hot & cold buffet with a fantastic array of sandwiches, pastries and savouries to choose from on one side and soups on the other with free wine for the ladies . The food was fantastic and all members were well and truly contented, the evening contained a great raffle with lots of prizes (our Mia won a tin of Cadburys biscuits and Ben won a tin of Roses, so that was 2 very happy children and a Dad of course, lol). There was also a good quiz chaired by Steve (Smooth Operator) Hughes which got the atmosphere roaring, our table finished joint last but hey we enjoyed it.

The Presentation of prizes/trophies to celebrate the 2010 winners starting with:-

Ferndale HS
Top prizewinner for the 2010 season was Steve Hughes with 7 x 1st, 6 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd & 7 x 4th. Runner-Up was R&P Habgood, Rob winning 7 x 1st, 5 x 2nd, 7 x 3rd & 4 x 4th, next was Keith Hambidge & Son with 3 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 5 x 3rd & 1 x 4th, next was Mr & Mrs Stan Webb with 2 x 1st, 6 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, Next was Mr & Mrs L Howard with 2 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd & 4 x 4th, next was Derek Vardy with 2 x 1st, 1 x 3rd & 1 x 4th, next Mr & Mrs R & V Pizzey with 2 x 2nd & 1 x 3rd, next was Keith Palmer with 2 x 4th, Mr & Mrs Pete Goldfinch with 2 x 4th, Keith Lenderyou with 1 x 3rd, Mick Stevens with 1 x 4th.

OB Inland average winner Steve Hughes, OB Channel average winner Mr & Mrs Stan Webb, YB inland & Channel average winner R & P Habgood, champion old bird Mr & Mrs Stan Webb, Champion young bird winner Steve Hughes.

Within the Ferndale club, they have a 3bird nomination club, top winner for 2010 was Steve Hughes with 4 x 1st & 2 x 3rd, next was Keith Hambidge & Son with 2 x 1st & 2 x 4th, next was R&P Habgood with 1 x 1st, 3 x 2nd & 1 x 3rd, next was Mr & Mrs L Howard with 1 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd & 2 x 4th, next was Mr & Mrs R&V Pizzey with 1 x 2nd & 1 x 3rd, Keith Lenderyou with 1 x 2nd & 1 x 3rd, next was Derek Vardy with 2 x 4th.

Gorse Hill HS
Top prizewinner for the 2010 season was Smith & Baker (Loft 2) with 9 x 1st, 9 x 2nd, 10 x 3rd & 4 x 4th, 3 x 5th & 3 x 6th, Runner-Up was Colin Croucher with 4 x 1st, 5 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 4 x 4th, 6 x 5th & 2 x 6th, next was Mr & Mrs Jack Baden with 3 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 4 x 4th, 5 x 5th & 3 x 6th, next was Mr D Morris with 2 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd, 2 x 4th, 2 x 5th & 3 x 6th, next was Mr Ivan Turner with 2 x 1st, 2 x 3rd, 2 x 4th, 1 x 5th & 1 x 6th, next was Mr J May with 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, 2 x 4th, 1 x 5th & 1 x 6th, next was Mr G Brown with 1 x 2nd, 1 x 4th, 2 x 5th & 3 x 6th, next was J&C Smith & Best with 1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd & 2 x 6th, next was Mr & Mrs R Lea with 2 x 4th, 1 x 5th & 2 x 6th.

Wiltshire Federation Prize Winners 2010From the 12 x clubs within the federation, 9 of the clubs had members with prizes in the top four federation positions and the top three highest prizewinners were from three different clubs, 8 x Salisbury, 4 Watchfield, 4 Gorse Hill, 4 Ferndale 3 Grateley, 3 Holbury, 2 Test Valley, 2 Ram Alley, 1 Carterton

I have said previously that due to the size of the Wiltshire Federation and geographical locations of its member clubs to get a bird on the result sheet is testament to the quality of its flyers, as there are weekends when due to the wind it is impossible for some clubs to get within 200yards of the winning birds and thats a fact, it doesn’t highlight the great performance of a fancier or bird/s who maybe 200yards behind the federation winner but wins his club. Some people may look at this at a poor performance but it is far from it.

I know that the above is true as from coming from the North West and being part of a large and very competitive federation with some of the best flyers in the area and racing from the south, the federation may have been 20 miles North to South but only maybe 5 miles East to West and on many occasions the result was determined by the wind factor and could be highlighted by the result showing the Eastern members first and then drifting across to the Western flyers. With the Wiltshire federation being approximately 60miles East to West and 80 miles North to South the federation result is determined every week by the wind and that’s a fact.

Wiltshire Federation Prizewinners within the first four federation positions 2010 were:-
Top prizewinner was M/M M&C Brown, Watchfield with 5 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, next Smith & Baker (Loft 2), Gorse Hill with 2 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd, 3 x 4th, next D Day, Salisbury/Grateley with 2 x 1st, 4 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, next was M/M M Gower, Salisbury with 1 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, next was P Waters, Salisbury with 2 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, next was S Bunn, Ram Alley with 1 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 1x 4th, next was S Hughes, Ferndale with 2 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, next was A Jones, Test Valley with 2 x 1st, 2 x 4th, next was Newman & Sevier, Salisbury with 1 x 1st, 2 x 3rd, next was D Morris, Gorse Hill with 1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, next was M/M S Webb, Ferndale with 1 x 1st, 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, next C Croucher, Gorse Hill with 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd, next was R Beaconsfield, Ram Alley with 1 x 2nd, 2 x 4th, next was M/M N Smith, Salisbury with 1 x 3rd, 2 x 4th, next was Holmes & Sealey, Carterton with 1 x 1st, next was M/M D Stickland, Test Valley with 1 x 1st, next was R Pegler & Son, Salisbury with 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, next M/M G Emm, Salisbury 1 x 3rd, 1 x 4th, K Davison, Holbury 1 x 2nd, K Thorpe, Watchfield 1 x 3rd, L Staddon & Family, Holbury 1 x 3rd, next G Cooper, Grateley 1 x 3rd, R & P Habgood, Ferndale 1 x 3rd, I Turner, Gorse Hill 1 x 3rd, R L Foster, Grateley 1 x 3rd, next J Fulford, Grateley with 1 x 4th, K Hambidge & Son, Ferndale 1 x 4th, L Hamlin, Watchfield 1 x 4th, J & V Draper, Watchfield 1 x 4th, next J R Attrill, Salisbury with 1 x 4th and finally Ronalds & Son, Holbury with 1 x 4th

Also as testament to the strength of the Wiltshire federation, it holds within its ranks members who are winners of 2 x 1st, 1 x 2nd Open National Flying Club, 2 x 1st Wessex Combine and 1 x 1st Central Southern Classic FC in 2010 alone, so this is the quality of opposition your flying against most weeks.

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

Any news/views to Mark Brown
Email - mb1973@hotmail.co.uk
Tel - 07593 279 375

Excellent write up Mark, always like reading it

thanks mark, interesting reading as usual........noticed you topped the fed 5 times eh...... well done, good flying.

Quality as always

good write up mark and well done on the results