Trevor Topping and his son Robert racing as R Topping & Son were second highest prize winners with 9 wins,and like Gary all but one of the wins came from Inland race points, the Channel win coming from our new Welsh location Dale in the NIPA YB National. Robert was telling me the Loft racing name R Topping & Son has been in existance since his Great Grandfather Robert first joined the Lisburn Club in 1923, and has been kept going to the present day via Trevor's Father also called Robert. That's 100 years of theTopping family racing in the Lisburn Club and still going strong, very strong as results have shown in recent years. In it's day the Lisburn club, which was founded in 1903, had as many as 120 members competing, which would have been around 1960 to 1970, with my home town club Ballyclare & District having 80 or so members in those days. Marking nights back then were a hive of activity with long lines of hampers stretching back a fair bit from the ringers, how times have changed at club level.
Samuel Briggs was third highest prize winner, also finishing runner up in both Cross Channel and Combined OB Averages. Some of his best races were 1st & 2nd Talbenny (2), 1st,2nd & 3rd Skibbereen Nipa OB Nat, 1st & 2nd Infc Skibbereen Nat, 1st Penzance Yearling Nat.and 1st Penzance Classic.
Sam & Willie English really came to the fore when we got to the French Nationals being 1st in the Lisburn Club in all three. The Nipa St Malo National was a very difficult race with only 85 of 1309 entries making home in racetime. Section D had only 5 birds home with 4 of these being in the Lisburn club all timed on the afternoon of the second day, S&W English 12.51pm..M Mairs 1.15pm..M O'Reilly 3.28pm and J Waring & Son 5.27pm. The S&W English yearling Cheq.Cock being 1st Section D 43rd Open.
The Kings Cup from St Allouestre was also a hard one that saw just 100 Infc pigeons home in 3 days from a convoy of over 1900 birds, and again best in the Lisburn club were the English brothers timing a four year old Bl.Cheq. Cock the second day to be 41st Open. A smashing pigeon this having been 25th Open in the same race in 2021, and missing the 2022 Kings Cup due to injury. He has also won 201st Open Nipa St Malo as a yearling and my well be going for the loft's second a Hall of Fame in 2024. Ian Donaghy clocked the only other Lisburn pigeon on the third day to be 87th Open.
Infc Friendship National St Malo turned out a fairly fast race with Sam & Willie getting three birds on the day the first two of these being best in Lisburn and take 93rd Open from 1058 birds. Jackie Waring was the only other club member to clock on the day being 3rd.
Adie Hughes & Sons won a steady Bude race with Davy Ferguson taking the red card from .Penzance
Other winners during the season were, H Mackin & Son 1st Pilmore, A & T & J Houston 1st Kilbeggan and 1st Infc YB Nat. Penzance.
Sadly the Lisburn club lost one of it's top flyers in early December with the death of Brian Spence. Racing in partnership with his son Roy as Spence Bros in both Lisburn & District and Lagan Valley clubs Brian will go down as one of the great pigeon fanciers in Nipa and Ulster Fed.circles. To Roy and the family Lisburn club members extend their sympathy. Milne Mairs.
Top prize winner Gary Smyth holding Blue Pied Cock 1st Tullamore.
Robert Topping holding Blue Cock winner of 2 x1sts.
Cheq Cock 1st Section D St Malo for S&W English.
The late Brian Spence.
Willie English holding Cheq Cock 1st Section D St Malo.