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A very singular bird.
Every year the Greater Distance Single Bird N.F.C. nominates a race through the NFC's longest race. This year it was from Tarbes in the South of France. 30 members entered in 2007 each with a single entry to represent them. They of course enter their best and most reliable pigeon for this most difficult of tasks, this is not the kind of event where you can take a chance with a 'flyer' expecting a bit of lady luck to be on your side, this event is designed with reliability in mind.
The winner in 2007 was the F. Hincliffe and sons partnership from Glossop in Derbyshire. Their pigeon was the longest flying pigeon to make it to the final result of the original thirty that were entered.
Every year the Greater Distance Single Bird N.F.C. nominates a race through the NFC's longest race. This year it was from Tarbes in the South of France. 30 members entered in 2007 each with a single entry to represent them. They of course enter their best and most reliable pigeon for this most difficult of tasks, this is not the kind of event where you can take a chance with a 'flyer' expecting a bit of lady luck to be on your side, this event is designed with reliability in mind.
The winner in 2007 was the F. Hincliffe and sons partnership from Glossop in Derbyshire. Their pigeon was the longest flying pigeon to make it to the final result of the original thirty that were entered.
The pigeon was a Red Hen, GB04E66528, flying over 711 miles from the race point back to Glossop in the Derbyshire hills. She was 102nd Open and 15th section 'K' in the full race against 3477 pigeons. She was timed at 12.30 on the second day. She had previously been to NFC events five times and scored on four occasions. In 2006 she was 9th section 'K' from the shorter distance of St Nazaire and previously at Bordeaux.
Her breeding is interesting for she is bred down from a long line of 700-mile pigeons of the Eric Fox family of Bakewell and when crossed with the original Vanhee blood that Jed and his brother Frank originally purchased at the Hen and Chicken when they started out on the long distance path. Both families have bred 700-mile pigeons. On the Van Hee side there is the "10" Cock of the 'Jempy' line. The "10" Cock was 77th open Pau NFC and 5th section 'K' in the difficult 1993 race where the pigeons came in from the East as though they had crossed the North Sea while on the Fox side there is their famous Silk Marathon Girl 5th section and 24th open Bergerac after flying Pau three weeks before. Bergerac was with the MNFC. Both are foundation pigeons for 'Silk Street' lofts.
If we look down the list of the fanciers who have won the Single Bird trophy great names appear constantly. This competition is certainly no mean feat. Paul Stone, Mick Spencer, Crowley and Green and A and T Deacon are all on the list of famous names that have previously won this award but this year the order was F Hinchliffe and son - The Padfield family and Tony Cowan - all household Long Distance names in pigeon racing. The type of fanciers who get their names on this kind of Trophy are not mere passing comets who light up the sky once or twice in a lifetime but the kind of fancier who is there for the long haul ready to pounce whenever a reasonable opportunity presents itself. Fanciers of this kind gather good pigeons as part of their make up. They know nothing else.
John Clements
John Clements