A possible solution to my racing

Sun Oct 30, 2022 9:24 pm

I have been talking with Mick Johnson, (Pompey Mick on pigeon chat). He is from the Milton HS near Portsmouth. You may remember them from our years flying in the Portsmouth NR Fed with Worthing Trev. He has said that the Salisbury NRC have been sending trainers with the SDNRF (Southampton & Dist North Road Fed). He has suggested that they would probably allow me to send with them also as trainers. Mick is going to get hold of who I need to speak to. If I only had to go to Salisbury this isn’t much further than Frome is now and nearer than any other clubs that I could send with and also racing with them would be the sort of line that the CSCFC birds would take when racing. I would be well over to the West but would be great experience for them. Salisbury is 26 miles from me in a straight line.

Sun Oct 30, 2022 9:58 pm

That would be a big help Andy

George and Morgan · Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:17 pm

if it's club flying i always said it's what you need

Murray · Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:26 pm

That might be a very good option, Andy. Get some miles into them and some experience.

It's obviously difficult where you are so it might be just the trick.

Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:41 pm

Murray wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:26 pm That might be a very good option, Andy. Get some miles into them and some experience.

It's obviously difficult where you are so it might be just the trick.

It is very difficult here Murray. I am rather out on my own now. When I moved to Wincanton there were 3 other fanciers here, now just me. The nearest ones are a few miles away. Speaking to Mick he says there are 20 flying members around him with the nearest just 10 doors away, the club is in the local pub just 5 minutes up the road. Phil at Frome has several options as there are a lot of clubs up and around Bristol and Bath. But all in the opposite direction from me and Frome is 40 minutes away. Who ever I fly with my birds would have to fly a few miles on their own. As I said if I can go with Salisbury I would be 26 miles West of Salisbury so the birds would still have to fly the last 25+ miles on their own. Good training though for the distance.

killer · Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:21 pm

Great news , early education is the way to go ,

Trev · Tue Nov 01, 2022 6:30 pm

Andy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:41 pm
Murray wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:26 pm That might be a very good option, Andy. Get some miles into them and some experience.

It's obviously difficult where you are so it might be just the trick.
It is very difficult here Murray. I am rather out on my own now. When I moved to Wincanton there were 3 other fanciers here, now just me. The nearest ones are a few miles away. Speaking to Mick he says there are 20 flying members around him with the nearest just 10 doors away, the club is in the local pub just 5 minutes up the road. Phil at Frome has several options as there are a lot of clubs up and around Bristol and Bath. But all in the opposite direction from me and Frome is 40 minutes away. Who ever I fly with my birds would have to fly a few miles on their own. As I said if I can go with Salisbury I would be 26 miles West of Salisbury so the birds would still have to fly the last 25+ miles on their own. Good training though for the distance.

I do remember the name Andy, there are some top fliers in the Milton club.
Sounds like a good option Andy, it will give you more races and the birds more experience. Why do the Salisbury NRC only send trainers with Southampton then and what other racing do their members have ??
I also have a predicament now and could soon be looking for another club !! We have our first club meeting next week and there is already a proposal in for the club to turn back South for the 2023 season and listening to the jungle drums it sounds like it could get passed

this will be a real blow for the section of the club who flew North with our youngsters as it was far more enjoyable racing, fairer results and much fewer losses. Now the problem with us going back South is that we will be back to corridor racing with our longest race is probably only being around the 150mile mark as any further would mean a Thrusday basketing which isn't financially viable, this means that same handful of sprint fliers will wipe the board with the rest week after week. I spoke to one of our members last night who has said he will resign and go to anothe club, at least one more member has said he will pack up completely, I too will probably resign and change clubs. The real sad and in my opinion selfish things is that the members who are likely to push this through already belong to other clubs within the same fed so can send to these races anyway, again it's about money and advertising as the more firsts on the CV the greater price they can ask for their birds

all they are doing is pushing the back garden fancier out of the sport.
As I think most of you know I have registered with defra and got CPH number and am due for the vets visit in January but as things stand I am seriously considering pulling out of it as I really can't see myself going across the channel, I wanted it as an alternative option but with the marking stations as they and the BICC only going just over 300miles for me with their longest national race I'm just not sure it's worth the hassle so am considering resigning from both the BICC and BBC for next season. I will make my decision next week after our meeting, sadly our sport is getting too money orientated and these big organisations are becoming too elite for my liking, I know a big part of this has been forced by Brexit but if these organisations really cared about the small team fliers then they'd have gone North or at least half and half.
Rant over, sorry it was long winded.

Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:57 pm

Unfortunately the sport here is more and more being driven by the money/professional men. They don’t care about the general fancier and just want things their way. This is becoming even more apparent with the South North divide. The big fanciers have influenced the nationals to go over the channel regardless of the cost making these races expensive for the average fancier. I feel they are also putting pressure on other fanciers to go along with what they want.
I wouldn’t blame you for resigning from the BICC & BBC, I will probably be doing the same. Their AGMs aren’t unti February so plenty of time to decide. Having said that I will probably do so in the next couple of weeks.
I hope you get sorted one way or another with your club racing Trev.
From what I understand the Salisbury club was wanting to join the Southampton Fed but hadn’t done so yet. Salisbury would be in the Wiltshire Fed who fly West to East.

Murray · Wed Nov 02, 2022 7:28 am

It's the same everywhere, Andy.

Despite the oft repeated story that 'pigeon racing is dying', there are thousands of people racing pigeons in Sydney and Melbourne.

The thing is, it is a big money, expensive sport, driven by the blokes with the big lofts and the big wallets. Blokes like me with a dozen pigeons in a little shed would not last 5 minutes in the cities.

It's like horse racing and dog racing and everything. These days the mega businesses dominate the racing. We back yard fanciers just have to do it for the love of it.

I do