Trevor and Robert Topping had a great 2024 season winning 11 races in the very competitive Lisburn & District NIPA Section D club, where 18 members made it to the prize winners table.
Added to their 11 first prizes were 15 second and 12 third prizes, with many more positions in the Top 10 with the birdage up to 500 pigeons.
Nine of the 1st positions were won from inland race points, with the other two being from the INFC Penzance Yearling National and the NIPA Dale Young Bird National
The Club published 33 race results during the season with R Topping & Son outside the top 10 in only 3 of them, great racing in a club with 20 members, with the loft taking Inland Old Bird Average, Young Bird Average and Combined Old & Young Bird Average.
Spence Bros were 2nd highest prize winners winning 4 Old Bird races. On 27th May they won both Skibbereen and comeback race Roscrea, actually being 1st,2nd and 3rd in both Races. Two weeks later from Fermoy seeing 505 pigeons away and the Spence loft took the red card on 1597 ypm. Their 4th and best win of the season came in the extremely hard Bude race when they clocked a Blue WF Hen doing 1033 ypm to win the club by an hour. This Hen topped Section D that day being the only Section win achieved by a Lisburn member in the 2024 season. Another noteable race for the Spence loft was from Dale taking 2nd,3rd,4th,5th,6th and 7th with velocities 1126-1111 ypm, this from an entry of 194 pigeons , possibly one of the best the club has seen in a cross channel race. Winner that day was club Treasurer Adie Hughes & Sons doing 1137 ypm with a yearling Hen. Sadly 2024 brought to an end Spence Bros participation in the club following the loss of the senior partner Brian, at whose house the loft was situated, this left son Brian unable to continue with the pigeons after the Old Bird races. The loft won the Cross Channel Average and Combined Old Bird Average . Throughout the years Spence Bros was a name very well known both in NIPA and ULSTR FED circles as top pigeon men winning races at all distances right through to France. Who knows maybe Brian will get back into the pigeons in the future.
Alan Houston and Sammy Briggs finished equal 3rd highest prize winners, with Alan winning Fermoy OB ( where he was also 2nd with 518 birds away ) and Kilbeggan YB, and Sammy Kilbeggan OB, Dale OB and the Penznce Classic. Billy Joss won from Fermoy in both Old Bird and Young Bird races, being 1st in the Fermoy 5 Bird YB as well, with the loft also winning from Roscrea YB. Davy Ferguson also won from Roscrea in the Young Birds. Hugh Dalzell won Cloughmartin YB and was also best in the club from the INFC Skibbereen YB National.
Ian Donaghy took 1st and 2nd from Penzance in a stiff race winning velocity 1104 ypm, and was also best in the club from the INFC Penzance Friendship National. In a very testing King's Cup race from St Allouestre ( 480 miles ) Ian finished 1st,2nd and 3rd in the club with Michael O’Reilly timing the only other club pigeon home in race time. The Donaghy loft was also best in the club from the INFC Penzance YB National.
Only two lisburn pigeons made it home from the hard NIPA French National Plougastel the first of these being a 2 year old Blue WF Hen timed at 7.26pm by Jackie Waring, the bird being well over 12 hours on the wing for it.s 432 mile journey. Ian Donaghy timed a 5 yearold Blue Cock just under an hour later for 2nd position.
The club held a series of shows in November with their annual Christmas Show in December. Winners in November were R Topping & Son, A Hughes & Son, S & W English, A Houston, with L Magee & Sons having a great day at the Christmas Show taking the Red Card in Through the Wires, Handled and Eyesign and also Best in Show. Many thanks to the Judges who travelled up from Dromore, namely Jeff Greenaway, Joe Kelly and Eamon Lennon. June and Robert Kirkwood from our local corn store, sponsored the Christmas Show which was very much appreciated by all members. Milne Mairs PO.
Photos from top - Ian & Pauline Donaghy Jacky Waring (older man) Robert Topping ( wearing jack jones top) the two pigeons are winning Topping pigeons.
