peter pandy

Tried the soft cheese like Brie but it turned messy and I prefer to eat he Brie on a sandwich "Home made Bread" with Ham or Garlic sausage and a glass or two of Red wine. My own brew of course. <_<

Beldings book came out in 1981 "First Edition" and in all probability thats where I got the cheese fad from as Eddie left in 1982 if memory serves me correctly.

CHEESE.. is what you are asked to do when having your photo taken however when saying cheese to pigeon fanciers it only conjures up another little tit bit for the birds. I used to have all my feeding from Eddie Newcombe and when he departed to the sunny climes of Malta the peanuts he supplied dried up. The excuse for a peanut you can buy from supermarkets or health food shops were nothing like Eddie supplied and I started looking for an alternative which happened to be cheese. After all its not only very high in Protein and Fats but also Vitamins and Minerals including Amino Acids etc. Cheddar was what I survived on slapped between two slices of bread and I could work all day on that. Its only the Health freaks that have decided its not good for you. Any way I digress, Take a lump of Cheddar into the loft and break a small piece off, rolling it into a ball the size of a Pea and flick them about the loft. Once they have the taste they will chase each other to get to the cheese first and you will have friends for life. There is another way to make sure all the birds especially the slow runners get their share, is, to get hold off the wife's food mixer and put in 1kg of whatever you feed them on and drop in a match box size of Cheddar and let it mix for half an hour. The feed will become coated with all the cheese and appear a lovely deep colour with a nice smell. Twice a week I do this and they will clean up the feed in half the normal time and peck your boots for more. Its also cleaning up the fridge of hard cheese so the Mrs thanks me. Oh Before I forget if your cheese has green mould on it ?. Just scrape it off.

Aye she was convinced you would lead me astray, :emoticon-0136-giggle:

I have a very good set of scales but depending on the density of the powder it may be different. 1/4 level teaspoon is 0.5 grams in 2 powders I have weighed if thats any help. Me I just give the water a vigorous stir after standing over night for the same result.

Off to the Jubilee to-day to enquire about remedial surgery as my knee replacement has not been as successful as I, and they, have expected. So the birds can have a day in. The wind is Baltic here in the Metropolis. Wish I had taken Tiger's offer up now..

One of the tricks I used to get up too was The Guinea Fowl One. I would set a 2 pair down so the eggs would be hatching on basketing day and when they were chipping I would visit this hatchery and get chipping Guinea Fowl eggs and substitute the hatching eggs with them. When they hatched the young G/F would start running about the nest box and the Hen which was locked in beside them would chase them to sit on them which they would not let her do. She would be left with them untill 2 hours prior to basketing then I would replace her own hatched chicks which had been with another pair back and she would sit that tight, you needed a crowbar to get her off them. Won quite a bit with that little trick and the dog had the Guinea fowl for her dinner.

Aye Del, Their were no regions in my day and I had to compete against the South East 60 miles away and had 15 miles overfly. You just had to get on with it, There were even more memorable birds I just got fed up writing about them all especially the ones that wintered out after losing them as youngsters who went on and done the business. Perhaps will give them a mention at another time..

277 miles to me Martin.

Best birds, Super birds, Never had any. What I did have were memorable birds and TEAM performances down through the years. The earliest memorable bird was a Mealy hen and funnily enough I was talking about her to-day, She won in the show pen and quite a lot of pools in the club with her best performance beng 3rd Bournmouth winning Nom and Accumulator in 1963. The big Blue Pied Cock is another bird who scored in every race he went to which was every week competing against 300-500 birds and his most memorable performance was out of the Usher Vaux Beauvais with the Up North Combine when I clocked him to be First in the Combine beating Jock Turner of Bonnybridge 2 miles West of me by just over 2 Hours and he was 1st West Section. I suppose in this day and age he would have been classed as a Super Pigeon. Another was the Blue Pied hen which as a yearling won 2nd Fed Cheltenham 300 miles and went on to win 2nd Fed 5th SCC Yearling Derby Cheltenham and a pile of cash. My Blue Cock which had previously won in the Fed as a yearling was 1st Fed 15th East Sec 25th Open Avranches (1) SNFC was the best bird in the race according to Eddie Newcombe and he won the race 5000+ Birds. Chequer hen scored twice in the Fed and won 14th Open Nantes SNFC. Dark Cheq hen was 34th Open Nantes SNFC. Red Cock 4th and 6th Fed Open Stafford 230 miles 196th Open Rennes SNFC 43rd Open Nantes SNFC. Now he was pretty exceptional as he only raced to a 14 day youngster. Team Performance 1980 When I was crowned Federation Champion All Races and I could have gladly gave the birds up as that was my ambition and my enthusiasm therafter took a back seat.

No unfortunately it was'nt hearsay as I was in Boxmoor club and the members hosed the transporter down. The convoyers even used the clubhouse for its amenities.

Thanks John, and unfortunately it wont be this year that my new team will be setting the heather on fire and I can only attempt to get the best out of the couple that have taken me to where I am just now. Systems and good birds or vice versa !. I believe you cannot have one without the other dont you agree.

Wee Dennis Dall was a very good friend and was an excellent exponent of long distance racing and had a pot of beans in the nest box at ALL times.

In 2010 the nat was at Bovingdon with over 5,000 birds and arrived there on the Friday morning. The mid-day temp was in the 30s C and godness knows what it was like inside but I was told locals put water hoses on the transporter in an attempt to cool it down. heat can kill quicker than we imagine and I do believe their was disastrous returns.

Have been through my list of abreviations Steve and cannot find "Nwe" ? can you enlighten us please.

Ye furgoat the TLC..

Midland' Are aw patched up and are guid enough fur the Nationals ! Blinkin Rubbish, and as dark as the black hole of Calcutta inside with another basket on top. Just surprised their aint any mushrooms inside when we get them back. Maybe the convoyer picked them aw fur breakfast.

Great nick with the dark crown Del. Looks like her nest condition..

In reply to posts 90,91,92,and 93. I only competed in two old bird races last year on roundabout as I was occupied in other matters. The first was Ripon 159 miles and was 4th,7th, and 18th Federation. The following week my birds went to Wakefield 190 miles and were 8th,15th,17th,and 19th Federation. I do not like racing roundabout as it is too easy for someone as good as I and prefer Natural as it gives me more satisfaction when attempting to ascertain what makes that individual bird respond to my ministrations. Regarding 500-600 mile on roundabout well instead of sending a mob you have to pick out what you think will do the business but having flown roundabout you have no idea what it will respond too and this is why the losses become unacceptable. No doubt I will shoot myself in the foot occasionally BUT its MY FOOT.

Oh Dear, I cannot count now, so let me see where I went wrong !. According to what National information I have and at this time is all I can go on.. Buckingham 4th June, Ancenis race marking the same day as the Gold Cup 21st June = if no holdover 16 days. If you are saying Acenis is 2nd July then you are privy to more information than I. I have just been on the Midland National Web site and you are correct. Ancenis is on July 2nd so I will have an extra 7 days which is all to the good as I have spent most of to-day with calculator and pen working out all possible scenarios for my birds.

No I never went to Malta as the Mrs refused to go and the last time I saw Eddie was at the last "Scotlands Own" with Jim Renwick and I could not get away for Dales funeral.

The National race from Buckingham 300 miles should be a must if going to Ancensis but is leaving only 16 days for preparation instead of 23 but this is the way the National is heading and could not care less about the distance men. How we are going to get miles on the wing and build them up to a nest condition of 6 day youngster is taxing there are no alternatives unless private training comes into play. My yearling and 2 year olds will be getting extra attention this year as it looks like I will have to find those who are keenest on early eggs perhaps up to sitting 14 days for 2017 distance Nationals with the 2 year olds the most important with them being the 2017 team however this is what makes a real pigeon fancier as anybody can win on roundabout after all you just have to send them. Now please forgive me if I am repeating myself but I am looking to one year ahead not one week.

David Jamieson you have a cheek LOL, asking me what I am going to do to get my birds to beat yours out of the longest race when you are the distance champion and the one who we all wish to emulate who are distance minded. It would have been kinder to all if you had perhaps hinted that you would be doing this and that and would I be doing the same. Much water will flow under the bridge before I can make any decision regarding my three hopefulls and feed will depend on many attributes in the coming months. Eddie Newcombe was a great believer in giving the birds 1000 miles and 30% Fats prior to any National he was sending to and I have tended to go along those lines myself. That is about all I can commit myself to at this moment in time David as you know the old saying regarding "The best laid schemes oh mice and men gang aft agley".

So we are going to fall out on an "e" and twa "u" spelling mistake the wife made, However we were simultaneously thinking obout who was making the ice cream and what flavour at the time of the nefarious misinterppretation.

Cocks went out at 0900 this morning and on and off they flew for 4 hours as I sat and timed them while I read the papers and done the crosswords. I have often wondered why they can all bang off simultaniosly for no reason !. Answer's Please if you think you know.