Guest Hjaltland Posted June 14, 2008 Report Posted June 14, 2008 NRCC Lerwick is only two weeks away - 28th June - I hope this cold weather takes a turn for the better before then. Here in the Shetland islands we are experiencing a prolonged spell of very cold weather at the moment with overnight temperatures of 8C and daytime 10C with a fresh northerly wind - not the best for racing pigeons. I hope it warms up soon - midsummer is almost here. I was wondering how you guys racing North Road are getting on with preparation for Lerwick, how many birds do you normally prepare and send, how long have you been racing north road, what are the basis of your families? I hope I get a chance to get to the lib. its always an amazing sight, the culmination of years of breeeding, training and planning.
Carl Upsall Posted June 15, 2008 Report Posted June 15, 2008 Good Morning Hjaltland Our birds destined for Lerwick this year had their last race before the trip yesterday. It was a blow home and all were home in 17 minutes from first to last. We did not send all, just a few. The team of 6 will be chosen in the next few days from 12 earmarked at the start of the season. All have flown Perth and Fraserburgh this season and will hopefully give a good account from the classic . The birds are Soontjen, Thas and Van Reet, we have been flying North Road since 1978, with some success over the years. Hoping the weather warms up Regards Carl
Guest Hjaltland Posted June 15, 2008 Report Posted June 15, 2008 Great to hear from you Carl.. you've been flying Shetland for so long!! I always associated Van Reets with shorter races, how do they do in comparison with the Soontjens? The weather here this weekend has been awful.. no racing for us. Here's hoping it improves and you have a good one. All the best. Kenny
Carl Upsall Posted June 19, 2008 Report Posted June 19, 2008 Hi Kenny The Soontjens are nowreplacing the Van Reets and have worked crossed though. Kevin Lawson raced them so well on the North that we had to try them along side the Thas birds. We have found the (Thas)Engels lines have done very well out of Scotland for ourselves and the Soontjens give us another string to the bow. I feel there is Pigeon Racing to Thurso and then Lerwick is a different project. Bids that dont sprint have done wel for us on this trip, however I am still learning to condition cocks( WH )from Lerwick oly been trying 17 years had som great races but lost some bloody good birds in the process. Now using the Shuttleworth system will never send winners on the land to Lerwick again. The birds that fly forever will be the team, this year 7, all have scored good prizes but not won firsts. Van Reets won through to Thurso for us, Soontjens too, Thas have scored to Lerwick also Hope the weather improves as the race is now very near Regards Carl ( Upsall & Frost)
Carl Upsall Posted June 19, 2008 Report Posted June 19, 2008 Joe Shuttleworth from Yorkshire won the Queens Cup from Lerwick, several times, sending the birds that failed on the sprints, he found these had the aptitude for the Lerwick race. Well bred birds that would not conform to his sprint system. That is my interpretation, I used to send my best , and got sick of losing them , if the race was unpredictable which is more often than not. Even blow homes from Lerwick can be difficult. We do have 30 years of taking part in this race to fall back on, however performances show that it is not always the best land racer that excels from the island(for us that is) Hence the Shuttleworth system is what is used. Good birds, but not the winners, from land races Carl
Mr Yorkie Posted June 19, 2008 Report Posted June 19, 2008 Joe's a good friend of ours and I wondered if you were referring to him! Sadly we don't have any for the Lerwick race this year having suffered losses from Thurso and Fraserburgh. Good luck to you, hope Joe's system works!
Guest Hjaltland Posted June 19, 2008 Report Posted June 19, 2008 'lost some bloody good birds in the process' That's Lerwick for you! I've watched many libs at Lerwick and with good libs most instances see the main body of birds rise and set off out over the sea at a considerable altitude so you wonder where it does go wrong, sure there are the odd small batches which break off for some unknown reason and appear confused, some eventually clearing and following on. Do they stick to the land as far as possible or do they take a more direct line over the sea? We enjoyed a beautiful evening Wednesday, so I've attached a pic to show you which my son took of my stock birds being released from the south end of the island on a 25 mile toss. Click on pic for larger image.
Guest Hjaltland Posted June 19, 2008 Report Posted June 19, 2008 Cheers Tony, I'll pass your comment on to my son .. it might persuade him to get up early and get some pics of the NRCC lib again
Carl Upsall Posted June 19, 2008 Report Posted June 19, 2008 Thats the day I am looking for, can we book it now for next Saturday please Carl
Carl Upsall Posted June 19, 2008 Report Posted June 19, 2008 Mr Yorkie I am not knocking Joe Shuttleworth, but agreeing with him 100%. No disrespect meant at all. In my opinion he had it sussed completely Regards Carl
Mr Yorkie Posted June 20, 2008 Report Posted June 20, 2008 Carl, I know you're not knocking Joe; I think he flies a fantastic pigeon and is one of the nicest fanciers I know. Which club do you fly in and how many miles is Lerwick to you? Love the picture of the stock birds being released. The Shetland Islands are somewhere I would so very much like to go and visit to see the wildlife and the beauty of the island.
Carl Upsall Posted June 20, 2008 Report Posted June 20, 2008 We fly with the Boston Central RPC in the Peterborough & District Fed flying 499 miles. Have won the last 2 races so hope form has arrived and we have picked the right pigeons for the challenge ahead. Regards Carl
Carl Upsall Posted June 20, 2008 Report Posted June 20, 2008 Hjaltland Are you Kenny Gifford wh filmed the 2006 liberation? I never tire of rerunning that lib, cracking lib on a cracking morning Carl
JAS Posted June 20, 2008 Report Posted June 20, 2008 Carl you will be hoping for a blow home as you do well when the winds on their tales. (Big Brian said) lol.
Guest Hjaltland Posted June 20, 2008 Report Posted June 20, 2008 Hjaltland Are you Kenny Gifford wh filmed the 2006 liberation? I never tire of rerunning that lib, cracking lib on a cracking morning Carl Yes that's me Carl. I missed the lib last year but I'm determined to get there this year. The racing up here is so frustrating what with bad weather and desperately low numbers in the club. Returns from across the water can be mixed so hopefully we are building up our own families bred off returns. Reasonable forecast this Saturday so I think we'll get a short race in. Cheers Kenny
Carl Upsall Posted June 20, 2008 Report Posted June 20, 2008 ;) ;)Too bloody right Mr Stewart, I will be looking for a fast one, why wait for hours, when it can be done in 7 hours, and you still win the Kings Cup (get real john) Carl
Guest Hjaltland Posted June 21, 2008 Report Posted June 21, 2008 27th June 1898... 3:30 am. 30 racing pigeons are liberated in the very first Lerwick pigeon race. Later that day 592 miles away a Mr P Clutterbuck from Stanmore near London clocked his good hen to win the very first Lerwick race and the Grand National of pigeon races was born. Mr Clutterbuck's pigeon recorded a velocity of 1098 ypm for the 592 mile journey. This was a very creditable oerformance given the hard conditions transporting pigeons all the way to Lerwick in the late nineteenth century. This first race was organised by the London North Road Fed and was a great success. The Lerwick race again made history the following year as it was the Prince of Wales who won the race flying to Sandringham, he later became KIng George V. The Prince's pigeon, a two YO cock beat 131 other competitors and recorded a velocity of 1307 ypm for the journry home. These early races gripped the imagination of the pigeon fancy and the Lerwick Race became the ultimate challenge for pigeon and fancier on the North route or Road as most fanciers called it.
Guest Hjaltland Posted June 22, 2008 Report Posted June 22, 2008 Late 1900 saw the NRCC born and the first NRCC Lerwick race took place in 1901 with 171 pigeons. The first winner was a Mr J T Hinks from Leicester. 1902 was a fast race with the winner flying over 600 miles. Mr George Pulley won from London recording a veloc ity of 1459 ypm for the 603 mile journey. 1904 saw Mr Clutterbuck winning his second Lerwick. 1910. This race was held up due to bad weather over the country , eventually the liberation took place at noon on the fourth day. All communication was by telegram in those days. The race was won by a pigeon called ‘Reliable’ clocked at 7 am the next morning in Nottingham. The real excitement this year was the fact that a pigeon was timed in Devon the following day at 6:57am flying 660 miles on the north road. This performance enhanced Lerwick as the ultimate challenge at that time.
steve. Posted June 27, 2008 Report Posted June 27, 2008 can any 1 tell me weather it looks good up there by the grave yard of champions !!!! ????? whats the weather like ??
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