With the NRCC Dunbar and Arbroath races now behind us, the Harkers NRCC Fraserburgh race was the next race in our 2026 race programme – a race point known as ‘The Graveyard’ to some – but a race point that certainly has tested both bird and flyer in previous years.
Fraserburgh, known locally as the Broch, sits at the northeastern tip of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where the Moray Firth meets the North Sea. It lies about 120 miles northeast of Dunbar, our first race point, and is approximately 40 miles north of Aberdeen.
Fraserburgh is a vibrant fishing port, celebrated for its fresh shellfish and is in fact the biggest shellfish port in Scotland. Fraserburgh Bay boasts miles of pristine golden sands and is a premier destination for surfing and water sports.
Back to the race…online entry was again very popular, with nearly 70% of members entering this way compared with 30% by post/cheque. If you would like to enter online but are unsure how, please give me a call and I will be happy to help set you up and guide you through the process.
Thursday 11th June came and marking took place at the 5 Marking Stations, Ipswich, Norwich, Wyberton (near Boston), Takeley (near Bishops Stortford) and Calverton (near Nottingham) with 173 members sending 1592 birds to Fraserburgh.
For some, the sun held out during marking; for others, heavy rain showers arrived. Even so, the main topic of conversation was not marking day’s weather, but what conditions would be like on race day, how strong would that west wind be and would we get a liberation on the day.
By Friday, the weather forecasts were changing almost hourly, and members continued to debate whether liberation would be possible on Saturday—and how few would envy the race controller’s job!
While members continued their debates, NRCC Convoyer David Pettitt and driver Chris Johnson, travelled with the 1592 birds to Fraserburgh, stopping overnight on Thursday at Ecclefechan, where the pigeons were fed and watered at around 19:30. The next morning, they continued north, arriving on site at 11:45. The birds were fed and watered again that afternoon, with fresh water topped up throughout the day.
David Pettit and NRCC Weather Advisor Ray Luffman discussed the prospect of a Saturday liberation. Early Saturday morning, they reviewed conditions at the liberation point and along the line of flight before agreeing to liberate at 07:30.
The birds were liberated at 07:30 into a west wind, which shifted to west-north-west along the route home…the race was underway!
1st Open, 1st Section F – 1st Open,1st Section F was Mr & Mrs D Quantrill from Lowestoft flying 389 miles,1605 yards, with a velocity of 1591.7994
When I phoned Sheila later on Saturday to tell her that she and her husband David were provisionally 1st Open, they could hardly believe it! When Chris and I visited the following day to verify the pigeon, they were still in shock—Sheila kept thinking something must be wrong…but nothing was wrong, and the celebrations continued!
David and Sheila entered four birds from their team of ten and had all four home on the day. Their first bird arrived and Sheila verified it shortly afterwards, though neither realised at the time that it would be the Open winner. David said three of their Fraserburgh entries, including the winner, came from Graham Cook, and they could not wait to tell him they had won with one of his birds.
Because David can no longer drive, the birds have not been trained regularly. Their good friends and clubmates, Mel and Sue Dyer, do take the birds training for David and Sheila when they are going, but usually David simply flies the birds around the house and says once they have been “up the road” they don’t need a lot of training.
When I asked David what he feeds, he and Sheila looked at each other and laughed. David said he keeps it simple, feeding the birds just beans and barley, although he recently ran out of barley and had to mix depurative in with the beans instead.
David and Sheila began racing North in 1973, they then turned South and enjoyed considerable success, including a Le Mans BICC Open win (with a bird they bought at a breeder buyer for £14 from Andrew Daniels) and also Bergerac, getting their bird on the day, among their many achievements.
They continued to fly South until their Federation, the Norfolk and Suffolk Championship Club turned North about 4 years ago and they then joined the NRCC a year later.
David and Sheila fly with Ness Point Flying Club in Lowestoft, which proudly boasts 15 members. The club is based on local allotments purchased by the members, who also fundraised for the site and a portacabin—Sheila said getting it into place was quite an adventure! The club is now thriving, with David proudly noting that he is both its longest-serving and oldest member.
A short while ago, David, now nearly 89, was told he could no longer drive for health reasons. One of the first things he said to Sheila was, “How are we going to get the birds to the club on a Friday night?”
After thinking it over in the garden, David returned with a solution: he had made a trolley from an old shopper trolley and a piece of worktop. The two baskets are placed on it, they are tied securely in place with some rope and then David and Sheila walk them round to the clubhouse on the allotments, about a ten-minute walk away.
Back in January, David considered giving up pigeon racing, but Sheila and their son persuaded him to continue because he enjoys the birds so much. The birds are a real tonic for a lot of us really.
On marking day, Mel and Sue Dyer took David and Sheila’s four Fraserburgh birds, along with clubmate Mollie Chamberlain’s three, on the 80-mile round trip to Norwich for marking. Although Mel and Sue had not entered birds themselves, gestures like this show what a close-knit club Ness Point is.
David and Sheila wanted to thank Mel and Sue for all their help and to everyone for all the lovely phone calls and messages they had received.
2nd Open, 2nd Section F – 2nd Open and 2nd Section F went to David and Sheila’s friend and clubmate, Mollie Chamberlain, flying as Mr & Mrs Chamberlain. David and Sheila were as delighted by Mollie’s second place as they were by their own win—and hers is another story worth telling.
Mollie only lives about 5 minutes away from David and Sheila and flies 389 miles, 736 yards. When Mollie’s husband Brian sadly died several years ago, Mollie took over the pigeons, even though she wasn’t really involved with them previously and started to fly them herself.
Mollie will be 89 in August and still cares for and races her birds herself. She also helps Sheila and Sue with club marking, as well as raffles and buffets at Norfolk and Suffolk Championship Club functions.
Mollie told me she only had four birds capable of flying Fraserburgh, but unfortunately her next-door neighbour’s cat got one of them, leaving her with just three to send. Mollie had two home on the day and was thrilled, and I hope her third bird has since returned.
It was a pleasure to meet David, Sheila and Mollie.
3rd Open, 1st C Section – 3rd Open and 1st Section C was Martin Sharpe, from Mumby near Alford, flying 320 miles, 748 yards.
Martin’s winning pigeon didn’t start life as his pigeon, it was a youngster that had come in with his. It turned out to be from Micky Broome and so Martin’s good friend Shane Hannah took it back to Micky for Martin. Micky let the birds out again and this particular youngster arrived back at Martin’s loft! At that point, Micky then transferred the pigeon over to Martin.
This yearling, a Leo Van Ryan, was also Martin’s first bird home from Arbroath and is now proving its worth. Martin trains his birds twice a week, feeding Versele-Laga Gerry Plus early in the week before switching to Versele-Laga Champion for the final few days. He also believes in apple cider vinegar, adding it to the birds’ water two or three times a week.
4th Open, 3rd F Section- 4th Open, 3rd F Section was Steve Surrey from Wisbech, flying 357 miles, 1643 yards.
Steve’s first pigeon was a two-year-old hen which, this season alone, has been 11th Open Dunbar and 59th Open Arbroath. Her sire is a grandson of Dino, a de Klak pigeon who is himself a grandson of Village Lad, winner of two 1st UNC positions. Her dam is from Hoyles & Pratt and is a half-sister to their MNFC winner. Steve thanks Gary and Paul, as well as Paul Jowett and Peter Cook, for supplying the parents of this hen. He also congratulates the Fraserburgh winners and thanks the NRCC Convoyer and Race Controller for an excellent race. Steve would also like to thank Janine Newland for taking his pigeons to be marked on Thursday, noting that without this kind of help, many fanciers would be unable to send. Steve is pictured outside his lofts with his two grandsons, Alfie and Arthur.
Section A – 1st Section A was Darren Oakley flying 318 miles, 694 yards; 2nd Section A was Ian Haslam, flying 324 miles, 611 yards; and 3rd Section A was Glyn Tryner, flying 319 miles, 398 yards. Their velocities were incredibly close: Darren on 1471.5704, Ian on 1470.6564, and Glyn on 1468.9950 remarkable after more than 300 miles of racing!
Darren, from South Normanton in Derbyshire, could hardly believe he had topped the Section in such a strong west-north-west wind. Though no stranger to Section success, this was his fourth Section win in three years with the NRCC. He admitted he had expected the wind to make the race difficult, but the pigeons proved otherwise, and he gave full credit to the Race Controller and Convoyer for making the right decision on the day. Darren’s winning hen was also 2nd Open Dunbar 2025 and is turning out to be a class act. She is flown on widowhood with extra motivation by Darren as she follows him everywhere, sitting on his shoulder pairing up to him and taking the odd peanut! Darren feeds Beyers corn and uses Rohnfried, Gold Bird and Tollison products. Darren would like to congratulate the winners and wish everyone continued success.
Section B – 1st and 3rd Section B was Matt Mason, flying 326 miles, 1434 yards; 2nd Section B was Hubert Walker, flying 324 miles, 6 yards.
Matt, from Hawthorn Hill in Lincolnshire would like to congratulate the Open winners and all the Section winners. Matt’s section winner is a yearling cock who wasn’t destined for the race as Matt placed it in the basket by mistake, but it certainly came up trumps, flying a velocity of 1474.737! The pigeon is bred off Matt’s Woodruffs family, which Matt believes will leave their mark once bedded in, as they are very versatile pigeons and are starting to show their worth. The cock is flown naturally, as all Matt’s pigeons are at his loft.
Matt knew the birds would be in for a demanding race with the strong west winds and with him flying into the west, he knew the birds would have to put a shift in.
Matt was at a family wedding in Yorkshire on the Saturday, so wasn’t at the loft to see the winning bird drop in but would like to thank Terry and Colin Welby and his father in law, Bob Hill for doing the honours at the loft and a big thank you goes to Carl Upsall for verifying the pigeon.
Section C – 1st Section C was Martin Sharpe, flying 320 miles 748 yards; 2nd Section C was Upsall & Grandson, flying 335 miles, 736 yards; and 3rd Section C was G Hoyles and & P Pratt, flying 336 miles, 717 yards. Congratulations to all 3 lofts, we have read about Martin’s winning bird earlier.
Section E – 1st Section E was J & T Gateley, flying 364 miles, 1447 yards; 2nd Section E was R Waller, flying 359 miles, 1144 yards; and 3rd Section E was A & O Clarke flying 368 miles, 1649 yards.
Tom Gateley tells me the winning bird is a home bred cock, which is raced on the widowhood system. This cock is something special, he won as a young bird, then went on to win further Club and Fed races and last year he won 1st Section E Fraserburgh…that is quite a feat!
Section H – 1st Section and 3rd Section H was Marius Bulla, flying 423 miles, 1752 yards; 2nd Section H was Terry Haley flying 419 miles, 444 yards.
Marius, from Rickmansworth, made the Fraserburgh race look like a sprint race, clocking 25 pigeons in just over 40 minutes and even having six arrive together…from 423 miles, superb! This was Marius’ third Section win from the three races this year. A special mention also goes to Terry Haley too, 2nd Section with a velocity of 1363.9241 – well done to you both.
Section i – 1st Section I was AP Neal flying 418 miles, 1566 yards, 2nd Section was Sophie Reason and 3rd Section was dad, Ronald Reason, both flying 415 miles, 1589 yards.
Tony Neal, flying as AP Neal from Dovercourt in Essex, could hardly believe he had won the section after initially feeling apprehensive about sending birds as far as Fraserburgh. His doubts soon turned to joy when his winning two-year-old cock dropped in. Even five days later, Tony still found the win hard to believe. The cock had also been his first bird home from Dunbar, where he was 2nd Section, and from Arbroath, leaving Tony in no doubt that he has earned his perch for the winter.
2nd Section was Sophie Reason. Sophie first started off by helping her dad, Ronald, in the loft with feeding and cleaning, and then later on began choosing pigeons to buy at sales they attended together. Last year, Sophie started racing in her own name and selected the youngsters she wanted from the nest, which were then rung with S rings. One of these pigeons was her first bird home from Fraserburgh, and she was thrilled when it dropped, easily recognised by one of her blue markers; Ronald’s birds carry red markers. Ronald’s 2nd Section Arbroath, his 3rd Section Fraserburgh, and Sophie’s 2nd Section Fraserburgh were all yearlings from the same breeding pair, carrying Macaloney bloodlines. They are now preparing a few birds for Lerwick, inspired by last year’s Day of Champions Show at Spalding, where Sophie told Ronald, “Daddy, I want to win that big trophy!” Good for you, Sophie, I shall be following your progress and hopefully I will meet you at this year’s Day of Champions! Ronald and Sophie are pictured holding their Fraserburgh birds.
The NRCC would like to thank the race sponsor Harkers. A long standing supporter of the sport, Harkers has spent over six decades building it’s reputation as a leading name in pigeon health, helping fanciers achieve the very best from their racing teams.
Having just finished this report, I’m considering a future article called “Faces behind the Races,” highlighting the many people involved in producing each race and its results…keep your eyes peeled!
You may view the Fraserburgh result here
Dilys King
