Kyleakin Lofts

Well done all.

Well done all.

Well done all.

Well done all.

Well done all.

Well done all.

Well done all.

Good morning all.

Happy birthday.

When Spirituality is Lost by John Clements About once a month I drive between Buxton in the High Peak of Derbyshire and Stockport my home. There are two choices of route. One is via a relatively newly constructed four lane bypass and the other is by a scenic route over 'Long Hill' to Whalley Bridge. The bypass route is probably quicker but the 'Long Hill' route with it's ups and down - views over the hills and twisty bends is more pleasant. You could say if you think about such things, one route feeds the soul or inner self while the other satisfies our materialistic need for speed. In modern pigeon racing, especially in the UK, something similar is happening. Long races tend to feed the inner self while sprint or short races satisfy our materialistic needs. At the moment short or sprint races seem to have captured the will of the modern sport. This can be seen at club level where the need for speed in short races also tends to split clubs into smaller and ever smaller units. This is simply because position is so important in short races. The result of this lack of a spiritual base is pigeon racing is gradually destroying the sport. By simply increasing speed but denying the need for guts. This trend is not without its consequence. If we fail to feed the inner self and for commercial reasons continually breed pigeons lacking guts, the spirit suffers. This choice might not seem important to those who are running things. . Nevertheless ‘speed thinking’ that destroys the ‘spiritual’ is not good. Homing at its heart carries a mystery. The greater the distance the deeper the mystery thus the loss of the sports spiritual side is bound to have a long term ugly effect and in the end be hugely costly. Ask any psychiatrist about the need for spiritual health. Usually we think of it in terms of morale in an army but low morale can also show itself in wider contexts like a whole nation or an entire sport. Today the morale of our own little pastime is as low as it has ever been. Somehow the sport has to learn to take the longer scenic route — avoid the quick bypass - be a bit slower, but preserve our spirit. We should do this for the simple reason it is a healthy thing to do.

Well done all.

Race Marking delayed 24 hours. Best of luck to all.

Happy birthday.

Good afternoon all.

Well done all.

Provisional Fed topper, well done Wullie.

Good morning all.

Yearling Nationals in the UK by John Clements Looking at the BICC Poitiers race I see that there were a few yearlings timed in what most would consider a hard race. There was some outstanding performances (going on the early times) by fanciers flying long distances. Booth and Roper of Tewksbury deserve a mention as does Crehan and O'Conner flying 500 miles and John Rumney flying 589 miles. All these are outstanding performances. I have what I consider to be a good habit of noting ring numbers of winning pigeins and those that do well so that I can follow their progress in future races and in future years, that way I can find what most overlook - the real champions undiscovered in our midst. Just looking at a result, noting the fancier but now noting the individual pigeon. This is of enormous use if you want a wider picture of any particular race and the chance of finding real champions. This brings me back to yearlings and a yearling results in UK National and Classic races. As most peiople know the Belgian and Dutch systems regularly splits yearlings from the main race and give them a result on their own. This splitting yearlings into a competition on their own also affords separate yearling pools to be and makes National Channel racing fairer and likely as a result to atttract more entries and as a side issue earn more money for the club. In my example at least Brooks Bros will now justly claim to have won a National which must be good for them. With all this in mind I have tinkered with the BICC Poitiers result to show the yearlings as they would appear in a separate race. I hope that with an example of how it would work fanciers might see the value of such a move and how it would boost the finances of the club and for the fancier and additional status. Everybody wins including Len Swallow of Diss and B Williams of Paulsgrove who now wins first sections in a National. Sect Name Town Ring No Dist Vel 1. WS1 Brooks Bros and Wilson Bristol GB17L42106 361.1485 896.54 2. WS2 D & J Staddon Shepton Mallet GB17N28220 349. 581 884.34 3. WS3 M.M Mc Clements Ivybridge GB17N77642 336.178 880.85 4. CS1 B Williams and sons Paulsgrove GB17P13493 313.679 799.36 5.CS2 M/M Cross Purbrook GB17N24120 313.1373 794.28 6.WS4 P Boden Frome NWHU17D3259 352.1679 781.66 7.CS3 L M Dyer Nettlestone NWHU17R5814 303.1063 755.82 8.ES1 Tom Williams Orpington GB17F30765 343.362 717.16 9.CS4 M Shepherd Lancing GB 17N16089 306.827 641.11 10.ES2 B & F Gasson Chatham GB 17N 040629 343.454 590.34 11.NE1 Len Swallow Diss GB17D01588 414.1318 580.17 12.ES3 Nicolac Bogden Bishop Stortford GB17N047521 377.867 563.37 13.WS5 D & F Barresi Bath GB17C36223 359.1758 539.33 14.WS6 S Dickenson & Phil Locking GB17N04353 368.1044 539.10 15.WS7 Luscombe and W Plymouth GB17N52251 339.236 439.24 16.CS5 Gaiter Tilchurst GB17N043281 353.567 414.09 17.NE2 M/M Stowger Leiston GB17N01236 405.580 402.53 It can be seen in this example there were no yearlings clocked in the NW Section but by giving yearlings a result on their own their value is no longer submerged within an overall result. The effect of this is to encourage more yearlings to be sent - a greater spread of prizes and overall greater interest in the club. From this the club is bound to benefit financially from a greater overall send. Why clubs who are closely connected to the continent have not realised the benefits of such a move can only be explained by our island attitude of wanting to be isolated lest we lose our identity.

Good morning all.

Happy birthday.

Well done all.