expat1

Just for information only One of the mainstays of France is there Chicken Farms. Did you know that the French send all there poultry to Belgium to be culled and prepared for the Table and then returned to France. It is still going on but the pigeons cannot race out of France. Plus the fact that the Belgian Minestry has not stopped the pigeon racing in France the French themselves have But the Twist is this a Flu Outbreak in France and the French stop Pigeons racing out of France and into another country which has no problems, had it been the other way around i could see the logic of it Now The French still export the wild Song Birds from France into other countries including England, Sorry i mean Britain, Plus the fact that the French were still sending there pigeons into Belgium up to a week last Saturday for liberations Steve, expat1

Tammy & Sammy The phase a true Englishman when i went to school meant in the true spirit of the thing it was intended for, Because you and Sammy do not know that is not my fault i probably went to school many years before you did I am not going to keep repeating myself to you or anyone else , to me enough is enough I have done no Scotsman any wrong, No Scotsman or race was mentioned just an old english phase i was taught when i was young but you two fellows think i have insulted you, and you will not believe otherwise I Have never used abusive language on any forum, Now i am going to say this, if you feel you must take it further then pay me a vist, look up my address on my website or the BHW stud book If not then let it die away peacefully and we can all get back to the orginal post not much else i can say Steve expat1

Vic Your right there are a lot over the border, I expect they will invade My part of Belgiuim after my blood ;D, But the Lads know full well i was not meaning them or anyone else any discourtesy, Many of them are my friends, as is the Welsh Lads, But in Sammys case i have nothing to appogise for, the letter was aimed at yourself but you took it the right way, But to get back to the Fighting Fund, In the end you never know how far it will go to There may be good Publicity for it if the media gets hold of it then you may well get some well off people who love birds and animals offer there support, Let me say this, if there is a war, its better to go with a small army, than none at all, The point is Fight for what you believe to be right, never admit defeat until it happens, and even then not admit it to yourself Steve

Sammy, Me Racist, You certainly are Joking, i have probably more Scottish pigeon fancier friends than you do, and with your attitude i do not need to wonder why, And You do not need to use my writing as an excuse not to donate to the cause, And as for my private life thats nothing to do with you or anyone else to comment on so keep your opinions to yourself and Grow up Steve- expat

Sammy I was refering to Vic as an englishman, i was not thinking of any other single person when i wrote that letter, But if you think it offends you as a Scot then so be it, let it offend you, If i have something to say to you or any one else then i will say to you direct and not meaning another person Incidently, I think of the Scots, Welsh and English as one, as far as i am concerened they all live on the same iland, surrounded by water, so to me they are all one, but thats my way of thinking Steve, expat1

Johno It would be up to the people who started this to pick out whom they want to do the joband it will be negotiated between those people and the person they pick as to what any fees will be. My friend the little thing called 'Trust ' is all that is needed in this case the people involved are of the utmost integrity, let them decide which is best, all they need is part of your money and of others to get it operationable Steve, xpat1

Vic Your attitude is disappointing to say the least, You would do better to try and encourage those who are giving it a go, and more so put your hand in your pocket like a gentleman and show your support, Its now started, who knows how well or not the fund will go, But the most important thing is it will show the powers to be that the English Fanciers are putting up a fight, and without showing that little bit of fire then everyone might as well give the sport up and roll over, But that is not the way of a true Englishman Steve - expat

It never pays to knock ideas when it comes to something to do with the pull of the earths magntic force or regards the moon phases, I for one will not train young birds when i see the Sun and the Moon out during the day together, Been caught a couple of times and i give it due respect now, I also know of some bad races when this strange thing Happens, Bilco will never put anything into print just for the sake of saying it, He is the same now with his writings as he was back 30 years ago when i first knew him I remember once when i was race controller for the Hereford and South Shropshire Fed we were at Sartilly, about 20 organisations liberated that morning, My fellow there said it was a beautiful day and everyone was letting go, I said it was nice here but i wanted him to hold the birds until tomorrow He went Light saying he was letting them go, i replied then be it on your own head i will inform the Sec what you are going to do, He changed his mind and held them over, but was swearing and cursing me like a good un. Next day i asked him regards the weather there he said the same as yesterday i told him to let them go. Bloody idiot he said We had a race of 1400 yds per minute and near 100% returns all the ones liberating the day before had a tip up and a lot of pigeons out Convoyers phoned me during the next week to ask me why i held over and i told them this The Sun and Moon were out that morning, and the weather was hot but it had a feel about it. On phoning my friend on Guernsey i asked him what the channel was like It is like a MILL POND he said no waves as such, and the Sun is refecting off the water and the sea looked like a sheet of Glass. Thanks a lot i said i have made my mind up, that was why i held over, and all this was due to a freak or quirk of nature, So never pays to knock things we know little about

Pigeons will not be clocked quicker by ETS if they do not walk over the Antenna , no more will they be clockedi f they miss the open door etc Meaning that you have to get the pigeon in the correct place on the loft or in the loft to clock Life is nor Fair, but Life is what you make it Take my next door Neighbours The Husband has a New BMW coupe The Wife a NEW 4+4, every week they get a fellow come to the house to Valet the Cars They have Three Kids and they Have four Holidays abroad a year, My Brother and myself Never have a hoiiday away, Not for 20 years. We clean the car if needed The difference in the style of living of two Families 50 m apart, and this is a general thing in life, None of it matters well not to us, If we want something we put a little by when we can and when we can pay for it we buy it. But we are as Happy as those people up the road who are well off and we do not envy them at all My guess is most Fanciers who cannot afford to buy an ETS has a few Drinks at the Club and possibly more other nights Well there is the ETS cxclock waiting for them in a bout one year or less they can buy one, Race mark your birds have one drink , go home and put the rest you would have downed your throat into a jar But how many have the willpower to do this, very few can disapline themselves to do such a thing, SO' what do they do Carry on drinking with there mates and moan I cannot afford to buy an ETS system

Rose and Co It seems the rest of the International Races are as Follows Marseille is now IRUN Narbonne is now IRUN Perpignan is now SAN SEBASTIAN Steve

You join the sport and take your chances when i was young we moved our pigeons in the same town 8 times on other peoples properties just to be able to keep pigeons, as soon as we got settled and the birds started to win a prize or two we had to find somewhere else, but it was the love of pigeons which kept us looking for a place to put a loft, In the end an old fancier took pity on us and we became settled for a few years until he died, then we had to get the birds out in a week, So Frank Hall in London sold them for us we took them to him and he looked after them until the sale. Philip lived inone room i lived at home so the house run down as it was I said we must buy it but with what So i sold my van Hocked my Medals won in Karate competitions to the Pawn broker sold the pigeons and everything else i could get a pound for . We had 5 weeks to get a morgage and a deposit of 2.500 pounds this is 1977, We did it and i was in hospital at the time the solicitor came in and said the house was ours, I had injured myself in a lesson but there was no pain when i heard that news, We dug out the ground round the house by hand with two shovels and filled up two big lorries of muck to drop the ground level before putting in a damp course, The interest Rate was 12.4% rising later to 15.4 % but we got by. all because of Pigeons, what is this letter about. it is a about deterimation and will power, without those two things none of us can survive, All these new things like ETS is a little perk but none of these things matter or counts for anything really nothing cannot be better than the feeling of euporia you get when a pigeon drops in after flying all day in a long race and you here the ding of the ETS or click of the T3 as you time it in, that is how it felt when he came from the Barcelona International Steve

Belgium and the International has already raced from Irun as you know What i can make of all this is PORT-BOU is part of the Palamos area and it seems they will not allow liberations there, Irun is in the West Side of Spain very near the Border of France, as they have already allowed a lib it seems they will again It is possible that the rest of the International Programe may go there if that is now the only place in Spain that will have us I personally wish we could get away from France racing. The Transporters and hundreds of thousand pigeons which race from there Think of the Transporters which go there all paying a fee to the french for the privalage mounts up to a huge amount of money a year, all for letting our pigeons go Belgium has some buildings in parts of France which is the property of the Belgian union so they would lose out if we did not race France Steve Rose, you say it is confusing, It sure is every day is different race site, One day Spain then Germany and back to Spain Plus the Basket days keep changing

I have had a reply from Peter Bryant, He agrees with me regarding the BICC does not require any permits etc to fly International Races from Spain He has a meeting with Defra tomorrow, lets hope the outcome is good, then all being well you fanciers in the BICC will be able to get in Narbonne,and St Vincent Yearlings both a week next Saturday for the Libs Friday for the Yearlings or it should be ,Things can change then of course Perpignan, Fingers X Steve

Hi Just heard seen this on the Television, MARSEILLE INTERNATIONAL is not now PORT-BOU but they now go to IRUN near San Sebastian Basket on Wednesday. A little hope among the Gloom again for the rest of the International Races Steve

The only thing that i can say about the ETS system we have is That it has never let us down, It has helped me a lot once you start getting older you are not so fast at catching a pigeon anyway and there must be some Oldsters besides me posting on this forum they would know, My brother has had Metal Plates in his Right leg from the Hip to the knee now for 17 years, they can never be taken out, the leg from the knee to the foot he has no feeling or very little so he is slowed down. I have a nerve problem in my right wrist, and i can be carrying a bucket of pigeon corn and the next second it is on the ground it just drops of of the hand, Same with pigeons i have held a pigeon in the right hand, the next second it it gone No warning it just happens, so i for one am glad of the ETS, i find it more relaxing for both the pigeon and us, But everyone to there own choice Steve

Rose ,That is not correct regarding the the Race rubbers in Belgium You only have to time in One Rubber within 5 minutes of clocking with the ETS If you use an Conventional Clock you time in Both Rubbers but for what reason they are Duplicates, We take the second Rubber to the Club house and give it to the Clock Person, When we verify a pigeon and international means every bird, we give the wing mark, Rubber Number, or Gummi, as it is known over here and the time of Clocking In Holland for there National Races in conjuntion with the International Races, they have to clock in Both Race Rubbers, that is why He was 2nd Dutch National Pau and 1st International Pau The International Rules the Man was correct he did everything right for the International Win Steve

I know the pitfalls of doing such a thing, Take my post on the middle distance Belgian Fanciers who raced this weekend from Berlin in Germany, a race of 320 miles about, around half the distance ours will be going the winning Vel 980mpm. 25th over 100 mpm less, Lib 6.30 Saturday morning, the race closed 4.30 today Those pigeons last raced from about Montlucon in France, then a compete Switch round without any training at all But that is what the french burocracts have us do Right or wrong i have my own thoughts on the subject and to me the french are what i call Faceless People, they do not have much about them, regards Courage, they take the easy option on most things in life they did it in the 40's and there still doing it now

Hi You may fly the East Route, But did you race your Pigeons South across France to Pau 580 miles plus one year and then two and a half to three weeks later the same year change to another Country completly and Race Due East on a Six Hundred Miles Plus Race with the same pigeons without any prior training or racing of that route, because that is what we are going to expect our pigeons to do, Its not for the faint hearted, Something i would rather not put them through so late in the year, but there is no other races for them

I think the Welsh Lads flew a race Huy' only about 18 mile from where i live and they have flown from Liege last year i think, only 30mile from me If we go to a long race in Germany it will mean a complete different route to what the pigeons have been to. The race points are East and we race South A switch to 600 miles without one prior fly, We shall have to see Steve

Just been talking to a local distance flyer, He told me that they may race from GORLITZ in place of Marseille international, I am not sure but i think its Germany So if this is the case what point sending to there, The Germans will have a few hundred kms to race. Plus the Belgians raced from Berlin this weekend about 340 miles, for the Middle distance flyers The winner yeasterday was doing only 980 mpm, and the race was still open today Not a good second Choice but what more can be done I will train them only to 120 kms and wait to see if we get back into Spain, If you do not work them and you can go over then you would kick yourself, Put them in a couple of 100 milers to keep em right You have nothing to lose Steve

Hi BlackJack Do not stop the Pigeons working, and give up, I am not, in fact i put the whole lot last night into a 120 km race to loosen them up I will continue to do so until it ends for the year, No reason was given by the Spanish for stopping it, the only thing i can think of is that France might have had a word or two to them Roland Sorry' that was a bit near the bone, We are all in the game together and no one would wish ill of another i am sure, i was right out of order saying your name Steve

Hi This statement will make some of you happy including Roland Spain has stopped the Race Liberation From PORTBOU which was to take place next weekend, which was the Sub Race for the Marseille International. So it looks like the Racing from France and Spain is finished for this year Steve

You know i do not think i have come across such an 'words are hard to describe him Meaning Roland, WE' know defra has to give the go ahead, I have said it so many times now, but you cannot take it in I wonder if you are sober ONCE, it is PASSED, the BICC can race the International Program, WITHOUT getting Permits from SPAIN they have been apllied for and given to the govening body of that race, keep reading it Roland it may sink in sometime

Roland I wish you would read the posts correctly, I said if Defra Pass it that pigeons can continue to race over in france, Then the BICC does not require any permits fron Spain to race in the International Races, and this is correct, unless you know something about the organisations over here that i do not ALL permits and Licences are to be got by the organisation who runs the race and that applies to England, and in this case the Race is run and Sponsered by the CFW, 'Club de Fond Wallonie' they obtain all permits and papers for ALL countires entering International Races in this particular Race Defra can stop the English Fanciers Going abroad, They are in no way aurtorised to dictate the actual race programe If they say the English cannot race out of the country then that is so, BUT the BICC do not require any Paperwork from Spain to compete in the International Races and that is FACT, So sprout your rubbish to yourself because i think that is all you are capable of, a lot of Hot air not a straight foreward dissussion, anyone would think you would not like the BICC to have a chance of a race or two the way you carry on

Roland I have already said many times Peter Has done a good Job, But there is things he probably does not know or in other words think of it at the time, Owing to the fact he has plenty on his mind with all these problems and others But the English or rather the BICC does not need any licences or permits from Spain to compete in the International Races, the only one body to stop them is Defra, not allowing the pigeons out of the country, Hopefully they will change there mind in the near future