A good turnout of members and friends attended the annual dinner and presentation for the 2024 season in the Royal British Legion in Ballymoney. After a great meal supplied by A Bite Above, Ballymoney it was time for the presentation. Top fancier Bobby Coyle of Coleraine Premier was asked to present the awards. The top prizewinner for the season and for the third time in the last three years was Harold Cubitt. Harold won - Nipa Skibbereen old bird inland National, Dale 1, Old bird of the year, James McFetridge Memorial Sprint cup, 1st Fermoy cup, 1st Roscrea young birds, 1st Fermoy Young Birds, Fermoy 5 bird young birds, and the Mamie Simpson Memorial Highest Prize winner. Runner up was Steele & McNeill winning - Fermoy 5 bird Cup old birds, Skibbereen NIPA Yearling National, Matt Barkley Memorial Old bird Inland Average, Old bird Knockout cup, Young bird of the year and Young Bird Knockout cup. Next to the table was Freddie Barkley winning 1st Kilbeggan young birds, Dunmanway young bird National NIPA. A C & T Tweed had a super season winning - Dale 2, Bude old birds, Penzance cup, Penzance Classic, Old bird channel National NIPA Plougastel, Old bird Channel Average, and a prestigious Gold medal with the NIPA for timing 4 times from France old bird National with his wee hen 'Tommy's Dream' a marvellous achievement. William McFetridge won 1st Cloughmartin cup young birds, Dale Young bird National NIPA and Best Average 2 Young birds NIPA Nationals. The club members would like to thank Freddie Barkley for presenting the club with 8 new cups / trophies for the future years, well done Freddie. Jackie Steele Rasharkin PO.
Old Birds winners 2024:
Kilbeggan - Harold Cubitt 4th Mid Antrim Combine & 10th Section 1794 birds
1st Roscrea - Steele & McNeill 7th MAC & 7th Section 2796 birds
2nd Roscrea - Harold Cubitt 10th MAC & 20th Section 2831 birds
1st Fermoy - Harold Cubitt 9th MAC & 33rd Section 3050 birds
2nd Fermoy - Steele & McNeill 11th MAC & 16th Section 3158 birds
Skibbereen OB Inland National - Harold Cubitt 5th MAC & 10th Section
Roscrea (3) - Harold Cubitt 2nd MAC & 4th Section 1352 birds
1st Dale - Harold Cubitt 20th MAC & 22nd Section 1363 birds
2nd Dale - A & C & T Tweed 21st MAC & 28th Section 927 birds
3rd Fermoy - Harold Cubitt 20th MAC & 37th Section 1071 birds
Fermoy 5 Bird - Steele & McNeill 13th Mid Antrim Combine
Bude - A & C & T Tweed 19th Combine & 34th Section
Skibbereen Yearling National - Steele & McNeill 5th MAC & 9th Section
Penzance - A & C & T Tweed Velo 1096
5th Fermoy - Steele & McNeill 13th MAC & 28th Section 693 birds
Plougastel OB French National - A & C & T Tweed 3rd MAC, 4th Section & 61st Open National plus Gold Medal
Anne, Chris & Tommy Tweed Win NIPA Gold Medal with 'Tommy's Dream'
Clocking early the next morning was the Tweed team of Rasharkin. Anne, Chris & Tommy timed their super 5yo chequer pied hen at 06.08am flying 470 miles to win the coveted Gold Medal for a bird place four times in the NIPA Old Bird National Open result. Dam is from Joe Murphy and contains top Scottish distance lines and the sire from Rudi Gage of Windsor Social contains Fred Simpson x Robin Duddy bloodlines.
Dark Pied Hen GB19R09182 - 'Tommy's Dream' Gold Medal Winner 2024
2021 St Malo - 2nd Mid Antrim Combine, 5th Section B & 43rd Open Nipa 1980 birds velo 578. 2022 St Malo - 4th Mid Antrim Combine, 7th Section B & 71st Open Nipa 1232 birds velo 280. 2023 St Malo - 2nd Mid Antrim Combine, 3rd Section B & 30th Open Nipa 1309 birds velo 625. 2024 Plougastel - 3rd Mid Antrim Combine, 4th Section B & 61st Open Nipa 1371 birds Velo 798.
A few words spoken by Tommy Tweed and penned by son Chris "What a way to complete 50 years clocking pigeons from France. I clocked my first French bird in 1974. She was later called “Meadow Queen” when she won 7th open Rennes Kings Cup 1976 winning us £784, exactly 1/3 of the price we had paid for, a brand new Opel Kadett Special which cost £2,250 at the time.
My Gold Medal winner may be the furthest flying winner in the NIPA, she was sent sitting 10 days, flew 3 races from Roscrea 150 miles. No more tosses, just flew each morning with 25 young birds, usually 1 hour +, fed on the best Van Tilburg Varimix, supplied by Henry McLaughlin. Also peanuts and sunflower hearts & iron tonic in the water. She has won us over £1,050 from her past four races from France. I’m now under pressure from Anne & Chris to not race her again, but we will just have to watch this space".
Young Birds 2024:
1st Kilbeggan - Freddie Barkley velo 1445
2nd Kilbeggan - Harold Cubitt 7th, 8th & 9th MAC & 8th, 9th & 10th Section 2398 birds
1st Roscrea - Harold Cubitt 30th Mid Antrim Combine 1047 birds
2nd Roscrea - Steele & McNeill 16th MAC & 21st Section 2527 birds
Cloughmartin - William McFetridge 6th MAC & 16th Section 2046 birds
Dale YB National - William McFetridge 8th MAC, 8th Section & 29th Open
Fermoy - Harold Cubitt 3rd MAC, 11th Section 1162 birds
Fermoy 5 Bird - Harold Cubitt 2nd MAC, 4th Section & 40th Open 885 birds
3rd Roscrea - Steele & McNeill 20th MAC & 29th Section 1030 birds
Dunmanway YB National - Freddie Barkley 15th MAC & 22nd Section B
Mervyn Eagleson Mid Antrim Combine PO.
Top prize-winner Harold Cubitt (r) collects awards from guest Bobby Coyle from Coleraine.