Anyone who has studied the results of the long-distance races of the Welsh South Road NFC, CSCFC, BBC, BICC or NFC over the past 25 years will have noticed the name of Padfield of Cwmtillery featuring with monotonous regularity. These successes include at least 5 x 1st WSRNFC Pau/Tarbes at 600 miles. Until 2005 the partnership consisted of father Albert, aided by his two sons Vince & Dave. Unfortunately, Albert passed away in August 2005 and Vince & Dave continued the family tradition of winning long-distance races in his honour. Unfortunately Dave passed away in the autumn of 2017 after bravely battling a serious illness.
However, Dave’s passing was not before he and Vince achieved their greatest ambition, to win 1st Open BICC in the Barcelona International race of 2017, having come so close at 2nd Open on two previous occasions. As most will now know, Vince decided to sever his connection with the sport in February 2018 due to continued bouts of ill health and no doubt because he had achieved his life’s ambition. The whole loft of birds were therefore offered to Dave & Vince’s long-time friends, Steve & Lesley Wright of the House of Aarden, with the hope that they would carry on the development of this truly great family of long-distance pathfinders. To give some idea of how great a family of pigeons, this is, I highlight, the fact that Padfield pigeons have appeared 15 times in the first 10 of the Open in BICC International races since 2009, including 2 x 1st Open, 3 x 2nd Open, plus a number of 3rds, 4ths etc. and this racing to one of the most westerly locations within this great club’s boundaries and against the prevailing westerly winds. What should also be considered, is the fact that in many of the International races, the British pigeons enter the UK in or around the Kent area and so the Padfield pigeons have had to ‘dog leg’ across country, flying many unattributed excess miles to get to their home loft in the Welsh valleys. If there is a better loft of home grown long and extreme distance pigeons in the British Isles, then I’m sure many would like to know of them. In many people’s eyes they are ‘simply the best’!