The Joe Murphy Column
Received an email from my old friend Stewart Maskame of Peterhead who wrote; ‘Hi Joe, Hope this note finds you and Margaret well. As promised, I have forwarded a couple of photos of our ‘Alencon Doo’s. The doo inside the loft is the section winner who is now named ‘Ruth’s Reward’ his sire is a son of ‘Anders Boy’ our 1st section 27th open SNFC Yeovil winner who flew 444 miles; he himself is a grandson of our Silver award winner ‘Maverick’; ‘Poppy’ who won 1st open SNFC Ypres flying 498 miles. Red Grizzel winner of 2nd north section 43rd open SNFC Clermont flying 598 miles; and ‘Double Delight’ winner of 1st section 11th open SNFC Tours flying 708 miles. Alencon section winners dam; she is a daughter of Maverick when he was paired to a daughter of Davie & Calum McDougall’s 1st north section SNFC Burdinne winner. The doo in the aviary is the 2nd section winner he is bred from a son of ‘Maverick’ our SNFC Silver award winner when paired to ‘Poppy’ our winner of 1st open SNFC Ypres flying 498 miles. His dam is a granddaughter of Davie & Calum McDougall's ‘Nell’ winner of 1st north section 11th open SNFC Reims, a distance of 622 miles. Stewart also won 1st north section Fontenay section winner I'll send details this week but a quick look at his breeding and he is a great-grandson of Rocket. Stewart sent me some photos of his winning birds these are as follows the blue on floor is the winner of 1st section G 12th open SNFC Alencon flying 632 miles; the blue in aviary is the 2nd section G 18th open Alencon winner and the dark chequer is the winner of 1st section G 39th open Fontenay flying 643 miles; my thanks to Stewart for the above information and the photographs.
Results
The Central & East of Scotland Amalgamation had their third race of the season from Ramsgate on June 21st with the race control team released the 824 pigeons at 05:00 in a light south west wind to try and beat the heat of the day, for the 380 plus miles to the Lothians & Fife area and 460 to the lads in the North. The convoy consisted of Pentland, Fife, Kingdom, Bo’ness; Dundee & Angus Federations and The Elite North. The winner and £100 first prize & £30 section prize, belonged to the Pentland Federation loft of Freddie & Willie Robertson from Edinburgh, who timed a 4-year-old Hereman Ceuster hen, a previous winner of many prizes. Their stock obtained originally from Derek Nicholls at Premier Stud. Second Pentland was Ricky Simpson from Gorebridge in 21st open, closely followed by 3rd Pentland pigeons racing together in 25th Open S&S Tierney, 26th Keith Wright and 27th Andy Miller. Winning 1st & 2nd Fife, 2nd & 3rd Amal and another in 7th place is Ian Hynd from Cowdenbeath and also the £50 sponsored 1st Yearling prize. Other notable performances from Fife were the form loft of Brian Chalmers who won 4th,12th & 13th open and A Simpson with 5th & 11th open. The first Dundee pigeon was timed by Mark Young another form loft this season followed closely by John Wiseman. Davie Glen leads the way in Angus with his fancied widowhood cock and takes the lion share of the pools, with Charlie and Glen Cameron timing 3 quick ones for 16th; 17th & 20th open. First & second in the Kingdom Fed is Darren Stonehouse in 22nd & 31st open. John Boyd timed the first Bo’ness pigeon to win 29th open and Roddy Bain wins the Elite North and also 2nd position flying 457miles for 43rd & 44th open, So as you can see the prizes were well spread around the country, although not a coup in on this occasion, it turned out a tough but fair race in the heat of the day. Claims are now required by July 31st for the Edwin Newcombe Memorial Trophy for the Ace Pigeon best velocity over the 3 races. Well done to all competitors and massive thanks to all our Sponsors for 2025 & any repeat or new sponsors for next season will be gratefully received. It is also planned to have a small online sale of late Breds to raise funds for next seasons prize money too. Birds will be donated from some of the top performers over the seasons 3 race programme; regards Andy.
North of Scotland Federation
News from George Duthie with the North of Scotland federation result from Brechin flown on 21st July with 24 members sending 419 birds, these were liberated with no wind at the race point. The East section had 11 members sending 219 birds with Peterhead & District Neil Holt taking the first 2 places in the section and open doing a velocity of 1574/3. A Woodhouse of the same club wins 4th 6th & 7th places with Maskame & Cordiner winning 5th place. The West Section had 13 members sending 200 birds with A Milne of Devern Valley club taking the first 2 section places plus 10th and also winning 16th 17th & 35th open. N Raymond of the same club wins 3rd section 23rd open with A Hay wins 5th 6th & 7th section 27th 28th & 29th open with Duncan & Thomson of Keith club winning 8th & 9th section 33rd & 34th open. Club first bird N Hold wins Peterhead & District with A W Buchan winning Fraserburgh & District. From the
Brechin 2 race 45 members send 1379 birds these where liberated into a light west to south west wind. The East section had 20 members sending 663 birds and Neil Holt from Peterhead & District club winning 1st 5th & 6th section and open. Colin McRae of Fraserburgh & District takes 2nd 3rd & 4th section & open with A Woodhouse of Peterhead & District club taking 7th section and open. S Glue of the same Peterhead club takes 8th 9th & 10th open positions. The West section had 25 members sending 716 birds with A Hay of Devern Valley club winning the section and 36th open with N Raymond winning 2nd section 37th open. G Wilson wins 4th section and 39th open and A Milne wins 4th 5th & 6th section 39th 40th & 41st open with A Wilson winning 7th section 42nd open and J Abel wins 8th 9th & 10th section 43rd 44th & 45th open. Peterhead Club winner was N Holt with a velocity of 1541; and C McRae wins Fraserburgh & district velocity 1528. From the Brechin 2 race the east section had 12 members sending 137 birds; with Inverurie S Witherspoon taking 1st section 1st open with another 2 birds winning 5th & 8th section 6th & 11th open. Robbie Higgins for Fraserburgh West End club wins 2nd & 7th section 2nd & 10th open; with Colin McRae of Fraserburgh & District winning 3rd 4th 9th & 10th section 3rd 4th 12th & 14th open. A Higgins of Fraserburgh West End club won 7th open 6th section. The West section had 20 members sending 104 birds; A MacGillivary of Elgin & District club wins 1st & 4th section 4th & 13th open with Mick Binnie of Devern Valley club winning 2nd & 9th section 8th & 31st open. A Milne of the same club is 3rd section 9th open; with Duncan & Thomson of Keith club winning 5th section 16th open their club mates A J Reid is 6th section 20th open and R Wilson of the same club wins 7th section 23rd open. A Hay of Devern Valley wins 8th & 10th section 28th & 32nd open.
Clubs First Bird;
S Witherspoon wins Inverurie on 1189.216; R Higgins wins Fraserburgh West End velocity 1129.638; Colin McRae wins Fraserburgh & District velocity 1123.880; A MacGillivray wins Elgin & District velocity 1051.637; Mick Binnie wins Devern Valley velocity 1010.379; Duncan & Thomson wins Keith with a velocity of 886.283; Gordon Willox wins Peterhead & District velocity 854.483; B Duncan wins Inverness & District velocity 587.456. Well Done to S Witherspoon on topping the federation and also well done to A MacGillivary on winning the West Section.
Pentlandhills Federation
For the first young bird race of the season for the above federation this was from Otterburn and flown on 26th of July; a flying distance of 56-68 miles for the members. Winning 1st Pentland Hills Fed from an entry of 1500 birds liberated was Freddie & Willie Robertson from Danderhall club who timed their darkness mealy cock on a velocity of 1275. The sire is a Double G/Son of ‘Sagan X’ a double granddaughter of ‘Foxy Lady’ and the dam is ‘Van Bell’ the lofts young bird National winner. Returns were virtually a 100% across the board, ideal for the first race. For the second young bird race of the season again from Otterburn on August
2nd with 52 lofts sending 1823 birds. Winning 1st federation is S McVey (aka Big Bod) & loft laddie ‘Archie’ from Danderhall club (the club took the first 12 open positions. They timed their darkness cock on a velocity doing 1427. The pigeon was bred by Bod’s good friend and top fancier Micky Betts from Doncaster. 2nd & 4th places go to K Wright winning £60.80. A W Robertson won 3rd 5th & 6th place with K Farwell in 7th place followed by Black & Coutts; the returns were virtually a 100% again this week Joe; we are at Otterburn again next week; kindest regards Andy.
Fife Federation
From the Billericay (2-day race) 152 birds were liberated at 12:30 into a west to south west wind; taking the first 2 place in the east section and open is B Chalmers of Kennoway; he had a great race winning 4th 7th 8th & 15th open. Dunfermline’s Eddie McWilliams wins 1st & 3rd west section 3rd & 11th open. Jim Doig of Lochgelly wins 2nd west section 5th open. Dave Armour of Methilhaven club wins 4th & 10th east section 6th & 10th open and John Harcus of St Andrews in 9th & 12th east section and open. Andy Ritchie of Dunfermline wins 4th west section 13th open and Ronnie Stevenson of Methilhaven club wins 14th east section and open.
This turned out to be another very hard race, with only 56 birds timed. Well done to ALL the birds and fanciers who managed to make the result. A special thank you to Alan Keanie who sponsored (£150 each to the 1st 10 birds) which was won by the first 10 birds in the Fife Federation. Who would like to say a special ‘THANK YOU’ to Alan for his sponsorship
The federation had 924 birds at their Berwick race with the convoy liberated at 09:00 into a light south west wind. Winning the west section and topping the federation is Dave Russell of the Dunfermline club who also wins 2nd open. (Dunfermline club sent 193 birds and Lochgelly club sending 148 birds) C Buchanan of the same club wins 3rd section and open with Ricky Pearse also from Dunfermline club takes the next 6 places and Lochgelly club’s J Hynd & Son wins 10th section and open. The east section had Methilhill club sending 187 birds; Kennoway 185 birds; Novar & Leslie 26 birds and St Andrews 185 birds. Kennoway’s Sean Diamond takes the top spot with club mates Tam Laing winning 2nd 3rd & 10th places; with Brian Kinnear winning 4th 5th & 7th positions. Jim & Gary Peggie of Methilhaven club are 6th with B Chalmers of Kennoway in 8th place followed by Turpie & McCord in 9th spot; Dave Jack wins St Andrews club.
Kingdom Racing Pigeon Association news from Pete Penman who informs us the federation were also at Berwick with their young bird with the convoy liberated at 9.00am; Gary Hall of Coaltown of Balgonie wins 1st & 8th place with a Herman Cusiter x DeWeerdt red cock bred from Andy Gregson stock. With Alan Proctor of St Serf’s club winning 2nd 3rd & 4th closely followed by brother John who took 5th spot. Chic Dinsdale of Coaltown club was 6th with his brother winning 5th 7th & 9th and St Serfs Alex Brunton wins 10th place, at Rosyth club Hugh Gormley leads the way. From Alnwick Gary Hall took the first two positions closely followed by John Proctor who took the next four places. Alan Keanie took the red card at Leuchars club with Darren Stonehouse leading the way at Rosyth. Sorry, there's not much details this week Joe.
Almond Valley Federation
News from secretary Lynn Stewart of the federation Wooler race; with the convoy of 745 birds liberated at 08:30 hours. Fauldhouse club dominated the race with S Redmond winning 1st & 2nd positions. Armadale’s J A Beaton wins 3rd 4th & 5th places; T Gavin of Fauldhouse club takes the remaining positions from 6th to 13th places.
Armadale 104 birds; J A Beaton 1131.812, 1130.716, 1129.077, W Redmond 1117.365
Bonnybridge 160 birds; I McLelland 973.606, G Harris 966.206, Henderson & Connolly 956.440, 955.490
East Calder 75 birds; F Jamieson & Son 1094.599, Mr Mrs Fleming 934.143, 933.573, 929.321
Fauldhouse 226 birds; S Redmond 1136.720, 1136.354, T Gavin 1123.314, 1122.954
West Calder 180 birds; J Bird 1105.208, 1101.929, S Robb 1088.577, 1087.892
Carnwath No Entries;
From the Wooler race flown on the 2nd August the convoy of 1017 birds were liberated at 09:15 hours; topping the federation is Vic Couper of Bonnybridge club with his young blue hen doing a velocity of 1343. S Redmond of Fauldhouse club wins 2nd to 7th with J A Beaton of Armadale club wins 8th & 9th with John Hadfield of the same club in 10th & 11th positions.
Club Results;
Armadale 228 birds; J A Beaton 1321.113, 1320.371, J Hadfield 1317.725, 1315.140
Bonnybridge 282 birds; V Couper 1343.876, G Harris 1289.285, 1288.678, Henderson & Connolly 1281.199
Carnwath 30 birds; Dr J Salmond 1178.117, 1109.523, 1030.874, R Robertson 630.605
East Calder 45 birds; F Jamieson & Son 1313.709, 1273.431, Mr Mrs Fleming 1165.322, F Jamieson & Son 1153.086
Fauldhouse 258 birds; S Redmond 1323.932, 1323.435, 1323.435, 1322.194
West Calder 174 birds; S Robb 1296.333, 1293.907, J Bird 1293.402, 1286.432
Angus Federation
Arbroath Racing Pigeon Club
From the Auchendinny race 3 members sent 39 birds; liberated at 9am into a light south west wind. Paul Cameron took the first 4 places with Graham McKenzie winning 5th & 6th.
Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or log onto www.elimarpigeons.com - cogeco.ca -forum@pigeonbasics.com
who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland
© Compiled by Joe Murphy
On 17/8/25, 2 members sent 105 birds to Wooler 2 1 D&D Hay 1096.13 2 D&D Hay 1034.47 3 D&D Hay 1034.27 4 W Dorward 1033.54 5 W Dorward 1031.21 6 W Dorward 1031.21 7 W Dorward 1030.40 8 W Dorward 1029.70 9 W Dorward 1022.57 10 W Dorward 1022.46 11 W Dorward 1021.31 12 D&D Hay 1019.31 13 D&D Hay 1019.31 14 D&D Hay 1019.20.
