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Morning folks

Millom social flying clubs first show of the year was held today. Heres the winner of the kids class where a total of 14 kids showed there favourite bird. Big well done to all the kids that showed brilliant turn out. 1st Riley 2nd savannah 3rd Mason 4th ivy With a big thanks to the Judge richard martindale Future is looking bright up in Cumbria 👏

“Willie’s Legacy” — A Story of Dedication, Bloodlines & Real Channel Grit 🕊️🇮🇪🇫🇷 I recently came across a brilliant piece in Squills 2024 that captures the incredible journey of Darren Hamilton, his late father Willie, and their outstanding Channel racing pigeons. The article really shows the decades of learning, the hard graft, and the passion behind their success — so here’s a detailed rewrite for anyone who enjoys a good Channel racing story. ❤️🕊️ ⸻ 🔥 The Thrill of the Channel Darren has always said Channel racing is what makes his pulse race. It was something he shared deeply with his late father Willie. Over the years, the pair built unforgettable memories sending birds across France — but 2023 gave them something truly special. Within just 13 days, Darren clocked his blue bar cock “Willie’s Legacy” twice from St Malo, achieving remarkable results against big competition. A once-in-a-lifetime fortnight! 💥🕊️ ⸻ 🏆 Willie’s Legacy – A Bird That Earned His Name From St Malo (504 miles): • 2nd Section H • 83rd Open NIPA from 1,309 birds And again in the INFC St Malo Friendship National: • 3rd South Section • 23rd Open from 993 birds A pigeon flying 504 miles twice in less than two weeks… absolutely incredible. Darren said he was “over the moon”, and who could blame him? This is the kind of performance fanciers dream about. 💫🐦 ⸻ ❤️ A Lifetime Apprenticeship The article highlights that this success didn’t appear overnight — it represents 30 years of learning. Darren was introduced to pigeons as a child by his father, whose first love was Channel racing. That apprenticeship gave him the foundations he still relies on today. Being raised around old-school Channel men built his understanding that true Channel-quality pigeons are rare and must be tested hard. When you find them, you breed around them and keep only the ones that prove themselves. No shortcuts. No sentiment. Real fanciers know. 💪🐦 ⸻ 🇮🇪 Ireland’s Channel Greatness The article reflects on how, years ago, Ireland produced some of the toughest Channel birds in the world — legends like Iron Man, Black Magic, and pigeons from the Smyths, Kirkpatrick, Harper, Hunter and many more. These families were forged through the hardest races from France to Ireland, often through brutal headwinds and long hours on the wing. Darren notes that many modern lofts don’t race past 150 miles anymore — and as a result, some of that special grit has been lost. The Hamilton birds were built to keep that tradition alive. 🌬️🌊🕊️ ⸻ 🌬️ The Challenge of the Derry Route Racing into Derry is no small feat. Birds face: • The Sperrin mountains • Harsh crosswinds • Heavy bird-of-prey pressure • And the Irish Sea Many top English birds fall short at these obstacles — too soft, too continental, not suited to the extreme testing of the northwest corner of Ireland. Only the strongest survive, and the Hamilton loft sought out exactly those types over decades of careful selection. 🏔️🐦 ⸻ 🧬 Willie’s Pride – Another Jewel Another top performer from the loft, “Willie’s Pride”, proved the strength of their bloodline with results like: • 1st City of Derry Fed • 1st Foyle Valley Combine • 1st Section H • 16th Open NIPA (1,980 birds) And strong results from Talbenny and Roscrea. Two pigeons — Legacy & Pride — representing the years of work father and son poured into their Channel line. 🏆 ⸻ 🔍 Building the Family – The Hard Way The Hamilton loft didn’t just buy birds for names. They tested everything hard — only the tough ones survived. Over the years they brought in pigeons from: • Denis Dall • John Traill • Dale Newcombe • Arthur Rigby • George Taylor And more. Many birds faltered. Only a handful proved worthy. Those became the backbone of the Hamilton Channel family — a family created by selection, not luck. 🧬🔥 ⸻ 🕯️ A Tribute to Willie – The Master One of the most emotional parts is Darren talking about losing his father Willie earlier this year. Willie wasn’t just a parent — he was his best friend and mentor. Every day around the birds keeps Darren connected to him. Willie believed in calm loft management: “Walk slowly, don’t bang about, let them love where they live… poke about for good pigeons, they’re out there.” Simple, old-school wisdom that still works today. ❤️ ⸻ 🏁 The Legacy Continues Darren now hopes to breed more birds like Willie’s Legacy and Willie’s Pride, carrying on the bloodline his father spent a lifetime shaping. The foundation has been laid — and Darren intends to build on it. In his words, pigeons are a year-round commitment. Watch them. Learn them. They will tell you when they’re ready. And if a bird comes home tired but determined from the Channel, you never forget it. This is real Channel racing — heart, heritage, hardship and pride. 🕊️🔥

it wasnt denvale dougie myreside i think

Nice birds

Bird flu control zones have been brought in around Lanark after a severe outbreak at a farm. On Friday, the chief veterinary officer for Scotland concluded that the highly pathogenic avian influenza had been confirmed at Whitelees Poultry Farm in Cleghorn. Disease control zones around the infected site, along with a wider surveillance zone. These areas are shown on an official map and carry specific legal restrictions, which remain in place until they are amended or withdrawn by a further declaration. Bird keepers are being urged to check whether they are inside one of these zones using the official online map. Anyone keeping poultry, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese, or captive birds like pigeons or birds of prey within the control zones has been told they must register or update their details on the Scottish Kept Bird Register.

Was that not the year he timed a good pigeon from SNFC Nantes ?

Big Dan, great picture of him, out side his lofts in Denvale Gardens Kennoway. Wonder what trophys they are Brian.

Copied from Facebook 14th November 2025

The late Jack and John Newell of Feltham. I was very sad to hear of the passing of Jackie Newell in March 2020, just a few weeks short of his 98 birthday. He was a true gentleman and a legend of pigeon racing in the Middlesex area for over 70 years. Jack was simply the best! The Newell’s are a pigeon racing family through and through and have won it all in Federation, Combine and National events over many years. Jackie raced very successfully in partnership with his late son, John, for many years. The 1991 National Flying Club Pau Grand National was the highlight of Feltham’s, Jack and John Newell’s successful 70 year racing pigeon career. They won the greatest prize in British pigeon racing, with nearly 5,000 birds taking part, recording 1st, 4th and 36th open. A fantastic performance! Their Pau National winner was their Marriott dark chequer hen, Champion ‘Betty’s Choice’, so named because Jack’s wife, Betty, picked her out for the National. This hen was on her second time at Pau and was sent to win, feeding an eight day old youngster. Jack and John’s second bird was clocked over one hour later to record 4th open and was a Marriott blue chequer hen called, ‘Carrie Ann’. This was this hen’s sixth time at the Pau National, sent sitting 14 day old eggs and had previously won 1st club Nantes. In recent seasons the Newell loft had recorded many positions from the NFC Pau Grand National race including: 112th, 148th, 160th, 180th and 199th open. The Newell’s race natural and widowhood, with the main ‘H’ shaped racing loft housing stock birds, young birds and the natural racers. This loft had a slate pitched roof and open door trapping. Their widowhood loft was built on top of the garage and this loft housed eighteen cocks, with most of these being Janssen based, and fly the card through to Bergerac (450 miles). They were fed a standard widowhood mixture and were broken down. The cocks reared two babies each, being paired up at the end of January, and flew out one hour morning and evening. The loft had won its best positions from the Pau National with natural hens, sent sitting about ten day old eggs and small youngsters. In its long and highly successful racing career the Newell loft had won 1st Federation countless times and 1st open Combine from France several times. One of the all-time great lofts! Ron & Jim Newell of Feltham. Ron and Jim Newell are sons of the Feltham ‘ace’ fancier, Jack Newell and started their pigeon partnership in 1976 with late breds from their father and some stock from Jack Jackson of Southall. The brothers were novices until young bird racing in 1978 when they had four races in the Ashford SRFC and recorded: 1st club, 1st Three Borders Federation (1,456 birds) Weymouth, 1st club, 1st Three Borders Federation (1,091 birds) Exeter, 1st club, 1st Three Borders Federation, 1st open BTB Combine (2,656 birds) Plymouth and 6th club Weymouth. Brilliant young bird racing! The first two Federation winners off the Newell and Jackson bloodlines, and the BTB Combine winner, ‘Johnny’, was bred from two gift birds from their friend, John Lister of Feltham. After three races, Ron and Jim, stopped the main team with 1979 racing in mind and the 6th club was chalked up when sending a team of late breds flying their first race. The brother’s three section loft was 24ft long, with a low trapping system, and the 20 pairs of racers were raced on the natural system. All the old birds were paired up the second week in February and about 40 young birds were bred each year. Ron and Jim fed the birds on a good sound mixture and they were trained twice a week. Ron told me his most thrilling experience in pigeons was in 1970, when his dad left him to clock his Pau National single entry, a pied cock, and recorded it at 20.05hrs on the day, to be the second of only three birds clocked on the day in the London Metropolitan area. Jack was at the local club marking the birds for a Federation race and Ron said it was a great feeling when he went to the club and told his dad he had clocked the pied cock, as no birds were expected home on the day. Brilliant pigeon racing by the Newell family! Text & Photos by Keith Mott (November 2025)

Copied from Facebook 13th November 2025

One of the legends of the sport, mr. Dirk Van den Bulck, together with his son.

Copied from Facebook 12th November 2025

Congratulations all

Well done everyone