Pompey Mick

I'm in the Sutcliffe hotel Albert Rd. Not too far to walk to the Show and crawl back.

If you have joined a RPRA affiliated club your RPRA membership will be done by the Club, when your club sends for your loft location & distances they will get a RPRA Code for you then. RPRA fees are to be paid by 1st March by the Club so your membership will be sorted by then.

I know that feral pigeons can give racing pigeons a bad name but it's good to know that some members of the public don't despise them. http://www.savethepigeons.org/index.html

I'm going to keep a picture diary Alf, and let you all see how I'm (not) getting on. Taking it down is the easier part, getting rid of the mountain of rubbish is the hard bit.

I've just received my 12 X 6 Stock loft 9with slight modification) from RV Woodcraft. I'm impressed by its sturdy construction, hopefully I will be even more impressed with it when I erect it over the Xmas holiday. I've just put a coat of stain to help protect it while I prepare the site. All I have to do is demolish my old YB loft (circa 1965), chop down the tree trunks behind the existing loft, repair the back wall, build a new fence at the bottom of the garden, and then build a timber platform to put the loft on. Job done! Hopefully this wind and rain will go away (sunny this morning though) to let me get on with it. Here's a picture of my building site,not a lot of room as you can see. Demolishing the old loft is under way, I'm really looking forward to the New Year when I hope to be finished.

I'd go for a T3, much bigger thimble drum and you can view all the times at any time. The STB has only a small window which shows the last time clocked. With the ETS systems becoming more popular by the day the price of T3s are falling. Wait until after Blackpool when there could be a spurt on ETS buying, which could see more secondhand clocks on the market.

We are classed as a 'physical recreational activity'by the Revenue as far as VAT is concerned so I expect it covers all forms of taxation. See 6.1 Sport and physical recreation” This covers sports and physical education listed at paragraph 3.2 and physical recreation activities such as greyhound/pigeon racing, clay pigeon shooting and darts. Activities that do not amount to sport or physical recreation, such as chess, card games, dominoes, and spot-the-ball and other newspaper competitions are excluded from the definition. Where animals are involved, it is important to distinguish between an animal show and activities which qualify as sport or physical recreation, such as a competition where the animals are assessed wholly or partially upon their sporting abilities such as jumping and racing. Here is the relevant website if you've got the time to spare. http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000115&propertyType=document

At least the door is opening, I can't see how DEFRA can continue with the ban in England & Wales now.

Here's the latest from Peter Bryant: Dear All Monday’s meeting with DEFRA was cancelled at the last minute, in the main because of the latest recorded outbreak of AI. A meeting was held at 2pm yesterday but I was out of the office. Nevertheless I pulled up into a lay-by to participate in the conference as I had specially asked 2 questions. The latest on the situation as at 2pm yesterday is that the second outbreak was not a surprise as it was in one of the ‘dangerous contact’ locations already identified. This is where there is a common denominator between 2 sites i.e. the same workers at both sites. The chairman seemed quite buoyant that the disease has been relatively contained and they are reviewing the nationwide ban on gatherings daily. Providing there are no more widespread outbreaks it is possible that we may hear something by the end of the week. I stress ‘possibly’. I have today had the first phone call from a member asking me to confirm that racing in 2008 has been cancelled. This of course is utter rubbish! Anyway the statement below is the latest I have sent to DEFRA for today’s meeting Further to yesterday’s meeting where Andrew Jones replied on 2 questions posed. During my long drive back to the office from the Midlands yesterday afternoon I pondered on the responses given to my questions. Cats - To just say that all mammals are at risk is rather an understatement. The point I was trying to make therefore was that there have been feline casualties of AI in Europe. There have been no deaths of racing pigeons. Cats are marauding animals, likely to eat infected birds, racing pigeons are at this time of year contained to their lofts thereby undergoing a self imposed quarantining. The point about shooting in the restricted and even SZ areas is also inconsistent. We were stopped from racing because of the threat of racing pigeons picking droppings up mechanically. How is this any different for the shooting fraternity particularly as you have still not announced the source of the outbreak? Given that we still have a national ban on bird gatherings I still fail to see the difference between allowing such activities to take place in the SZ/PZ and cancelling gatherings 200 miles away! I appreciate that you are reviewing the situation regarding gatherings nationally regularly but there do appear to be inconsistencies in the policy by DEFRA. Moreover, you will know that we have challenged DEFRA over the status of racing pigeons in the AI legislation yet it is now 3 months today (21 August) since our solicitor wrote to the S of S. I am not sure if his refusal to respond is contempt for my members or incompetence elsewhere. Are you able to advise when we may have the courtesy of a response. Regards Peter Bryant

DEFRA's only policy in these outbreaks is to retain Public confidence in the poultry industry. To do this they insist on calling these outbreaks 'Bird Flu' when it is primarily 'Poultry' Flu. They persist in trying to lay the blame on wild birds when in reality it is a poultry disease spread by the poultry industry. http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/news/BirdFluRep_030706.htm Unfortunately to the Public a bird is a bird and DEFRA's much trumpeted ban on bird 'gatherings' is just a pure Public Relations exercise because it has little or no effect on the real threat of poultry movements because they are usually moved a flock at a time to poultry processing plants or other holdings, and not classed as gatherings. The major effect is to the specialst bird showing enthusiast who has seen a seasons preparation thrown in the air for no good reason. To ban the cage bird show was a disgraceful action to take, how on earth can caged birds pose any risk in spreading Avian Flu? Likewise Racing Pigeons, what possible evidence has DEFRA got to show that having domestic racing pigeons seperately caged within a hall will pose a risk of spreading Avian influenza in this country. DEFRA refuse to acknowledge the latest scientific evidence which shows that the pigeon is highly resistant to this virus and does not pass it on even when artifically infected. How does mainland Europe react? are there bans on 'gatherings' over there, because a lot of Northern Europe is a lot closer to this outbreak than a lot of Britain, the Animal Health Ministries in mainland Europe seem to have a better understanding of this disease than our counterparts.

Here's DEFRA's stance on auctions: "Avian influenza (bird flu): Biosecurity guidance for single flock events A single flock event is when the birds are from one source and are being presented for either sale or show. These must be birds that are kept together on a single premises. During the event they must be the only flock on the premises or it will become a gathering. The premises will include the palce where the birds (this includes the venue car park). There are common practices that should be followed by organisers of single flock events, especially when using premises at which other single flock events or gatherings occur. You should ensure that: All litter and manure within the cages, crates or baskets is contained until disposal. Any spillages outside the cage to be cleansed and disinfected immediately. All litter and manure is disposed of in a manner which does not present a risk of spread of the disease, e.g. in sealed bags for normal refuse collection, so that other birds do not have direct access to it. All show cages, crates or baskets are cleansed and disinfected before the event and the show cages, crates or baskets should be cleansed and disinfected on return to the home premises and before they are used to hold any other bird. If you attend a single flock event and purchase a bird(s), you should isolate it from your other birds to allow you to monitor for disease. Don’t be responsible for disease spread!" Why don't they allow shows with 7day Isolation , surely this should control the perceived threat of disease spread that DEFRA is concerned about.

Bruno, what argument are DEFRA using to stop Pigeon Shows miles away from restricted areas and at a time when no racing is taking place, how do shows promote the spread of this disease?

Typical of DEFRA, clout the minority interests with no good reason. To ban Pigeon shows is an unnecessary knee-jerk reaction when all recent scientific evidence points to the fact that pigeons are extremely resistant to this disease and are classified as a 'No Transmission' species by the EU in recent vaccination trials. To be put in the 'especially high risk' category by Hilary Benn (Quote: In addition, the national general licences permitting bird gatherings in England, Scotland and Wales have been revoked, and no bird shows and pigeon racing will be permitted for the time being. We have taken this measure nationwide as bird gatherings pose an especially high risk of onward spread of disease.) is just not scientifically justified, it is in fact a blatant lie, all known evidence says otherwise. Representation must be made to DEFRA to explain why Pigeons have been summararily categorised in this fashion.

I have a ultrasonic cat deterent fitted facing the loft. It,s not 100% but I didn't realise just how good it was until I disconnected the power two weeks ago to start work on my new loft. Since then every time I had my birds out local cats were on the loft watching them in the garden, luckily they were just inquisitive but you cant trust them. At the time I couldn't understand why this sudden influx of cats, then yesterday it dawned on me that the cat deterrent which had been fixed to the loft all year was now disconnected and useless. I temporarily fixed up a new power supply, result birds out today and no cats to be seen. So now I'm a great fan of them and would recommend them for anybody to try.

I get my annual Club & Fed fees paid, but we have a race secretary who collects birdage and posts the Fed result after I've calculated it on the computer. Next season sees the advent of ETS in my Club with 25 members on it, so I looking at about a 1000 OBs to be registered during the winter months, with the YBs to come. Cant grumble because I advocated it and got the grant.

01329 664436 or 07709913131

We've just got our Unikon system for the Club members thanks to the Lottery fund, but personally I don't think I would buy it, but then I said that about the T3's when they first came out. Too dear I said, now I've got two. I think once the furore about the extra seconds being gained on trapping, or rather, less time being lost, fanciers will begin to realise the other benefits that ETS brings to the Sport. Whether we like it or not, modern day living crams more into people's schedules than they can sometimes handle, and ETS gives the sport of Pigeon Racing the flexibility that manual clocking cannot . No longer is the fancier tied to the loft, promised days out will no longer have to be cancelled due to the dreaded holdover or late lib. Weddings can be attended, no need to call in sick or miss a days pay when they're heldover till the Monday. We all want to be there for the birds but at least ETS is there for you should emergencies occur, your own Silent Partner. As a working fancier who takes the birds to work for training purposes it will be very nice to be able to see exactly how they come, I also belong to a Mid-week Club which brings its own problems, but ETS will be there should the birds have to be liberated early. Just like the T3s when they first came out ETS will be considered a 'luxury item', but give it 10yrs

When's the CD being released Chickadee, straight to No 1 at Xmas methinks.

Has anyone used the personalized E-Zmarker sticky labels for ETS rings, saves using an identity ring. http://www.smisdomplastics.be/ezmarkers.htm#ezmarker

What's the problem, John?

The only problem with doing that as a back up, would mean you would need a manual clock set as a precaution every race.

HAS ANYONE USED A 12V SOLAR PANEL FOR ETS POWER, EITHER DIRECT, OR FOR KEEPING A BATTERY CHARGED. http://www.selectsolar.co.uk/pics/icpmotorhomekit.php

We had pink in 05

I have just ordered 25 Unikon systems for my Club and would like to know how clubs in Scotland who have had grants to purchase ETS deal with insurance. We currently have NFU insurance for our clocks because they are kept in the Clubhouse between races, apart from the Club equipment the ETS systems will be permanently in the hands of the members at their home address, so I would think that they will have to accept responsibility for its safe keeping. Also. if any Club could give me a copy of any agreement signed by the member in receipt of the ETS system he is loaning,it would be appreciated.

Perhaps they are considering North Road comebacks to facillitate a possible switch North should the dreaded Avian Flu scuttle Channel racing, a move I would like to see my Fed make. I've no fear of switching birds N-S and vice versa. It could be a sensible precautionn to make.