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Copied from Facebook Every pigeon fancier is always learning. Ayrshire Fed has a moot on Saturday 23th Nov at Hurlford Community Centre. Panel is Mark Gilbert, Dave Staddon, Mark Williamson. If you can't learn from these guys get some budgies. Once in a lifetime opportunity to listen to the very best Big thankyou to Johnny Mcwhirter for making this happen

The Solway Federation AGM and prize giving is tomorrow, 1pm Eastriggs Social Club. Here is the list of prize winners and a short article from our very own WP Wortley who, once again, we are thankful to. 1 / 2 The following are the Federation Trophy Winners for season 2024. Highest Prize Winner was Jackie Gilmour from Hoddom and penning this part of the report is poignant as Jackie regrettably passed away two weeks before the presentation. He was a super fancier with a lifetime of experience in our hobby and would have been ever so proud to have stepped forward to accept his trophies. More importantly he was one of nature’s gentlemen and will be sadly missed. Jackie won the Festival of Britain Challenge Trophy for Highest Overall from the O.B. Open Race, the Sir John W.Buchanan Jardine Trophy for Highest East Section from the O.B. Open Race and the W.J. Gass Challenge Cup for Best Average from the O.B. and Y.B. Open races. The plan was that the O.B. Open race would be flown from Guernsey, being convoyed by Lanarkshire Federation, but due to conditions at the race point the convoy was brought back to England and liberated at Cheltenham. Mervyn Halliday, who resides at Penpont in the extreme North West of the Federation area and is a member of the NIth Valley Club, was 1st West Section Federation 3rd Open with a strongly fancied 2 y.o. Blue Cock. which was a super pigeon on the day. Mervyn receives the Ryan Nith Challenge Trophy for Highest West Section from the O.B. Open Race. Ewan Hind from Lockerbie receives the Richard Rennison Trophy for 1st Yearling from the O.B. Open Race, which was 7th East Section 9th Open Federation. Johnny and Brenda Morgan from Lockerbie receive the Sir John W. Buchanan Jardine Trophy for Highest East Section from the Y.B. Open Race and the S. and T. Allen Gold Ring Challenge Shield. The partners were actually 1st and 2nd Open Fed. from the Open Race with a Blue and Blue W.F. Cocks. Stanley Boyd from Dumfries Flying Club receives the W. Kirk Challenge Cup for Highest West Section from the Y.B. Open Race and the Albert Hay Trophy for Best Average in the West Section from the O.B. and Y.B. Open Races. It should be noted that Stanley took the first five positions in the West Section of the Fed. from the Y.B. Open Race with these five pigeons being 9th, 12, 13th, 14th and 15th Open. It should be further noted that from the O.B. Open Race from Cheltenham he was 8th Section 19th Open with his first arrival. Dennis Anderson from Annan receives the George Grant Challenge Trophy for Highest Overall from the Longest Inland Race and the J. Wallace Rose Bowl for 1st Yearling from the Longest Inland Race. The longest race was flown from Maidstone with birds being duplicated out of the S.N.F.C. into the Federation. The winning pigeon is a home bred yearling Blue Chequer Cock that did not just win the Federation but was also 1st Open National. Having raced as a youngster, it was paired late February 2024 and having reared a pair of youngsters was then put on Widowhood. He was given one training toss at the gateway to the season and was then lifted into the third race in the Federation programme. Having been introduced to the basket he thereafter went through the programme and was 1st Club 4th Federation from Cheltenham the week previous to the National. The National winner has been named ‘El Sid’. Sean and Linda Trodden from Springfield receive the Percy Cameron Memorial Trophy as East Section Fancier(s) of the Year. Having formerly resided at Egremont in West Cumbria they now reside at Springfield, near to the Blacksmith’s Shop at Gretna Green and are members of Springfield 2 / 2 Club. The family of pigeons, which the partners primarily work with, is that of Theo and Raymond Rutten, who were five times Dutch National winners and Champions of their Club on more than forty occasions racing from 60 miles to 650 miles. From the outset when they first competed in Springfield in 2016, they made their presence felt, scoring consistently and at the close of the season received the trophy as East Section Fanciers of the Year. They won it again in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023 and here we are in 2024 and they are once again winners of the trophy. Karl Guenther and his grandson, Lewis, receive the Cochran Cup as West Section Fancier(s) of the Year. Karl previously competed in partnership with his good lady, Liz, and now competes in partnership with Lewis. They reside in Dumfries and are members of Brydekirk (West) Club. In 2004 the partners were presented with the trophy as Runners-up to the Solway Fed. Fancier of the Year and the following season they were presented with the trophy as Federation Fanciers of the Year. In 2011 they were awarded the trophy as Runners-up to the Federation Fancier of the Year and in 2012 were once again presented with the Trophy as Federation Fanciers of the Year. In former years an independent adjudicator was invited to view the weekly Federation results after which he selected the fancier of the year and runner-up to the fancier of the year. It was decided eight years ago, however, that fancier of the year trophies would be presented to the top fanciers in the East and West Sections of the Federation with the winners being decided on a points system. With the new format in 2013, the partners were awarded the Cochran Cup as West Section Fanciers of the Year; they won it again in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The loft title was subsequently changed to Karl Guenther and grandson with the new partnership winning the trophy in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and here we are one year down the road and they have won it again.

Newcastleton part 2 The partnership of Harkness & Ferguson comprised Dickie Harkness and George Ferguson. George Ferguson George had kept pigeons since 1929 and he and Dickie entered partnership in 1946 when Dickie was demobbed from the Forces. The partners won from the outset and as the years rolled by, made a considerable impression in the Solway Federation. With friendship abounding in the village, the pigeons that they gifted to the new partnership were bred from the best in the loft and the Chequer hen, which was incidentally rung ‘6500’, immediately showed character to identify her as ‘something different’. In those days Jack Wylie worked on the railway and was a member of the Railway Fur and Feather Club, which enabled him to work the birds regularly from Shap or Appleby on the railway. Willie John Little, to whom I previously referred, attended at the loft to watch the birds home and was so impressed with the hen as he observed her return that he confidently predicted she would score prominently with the National. In 1964 she had four club races from Leyland, Newton le Willows, Cannock and Cheltenham before being entered from the channel. The partners decided to send her to the S.N.F.C. Blue Riband event, which was flown from Rennes with a convoy of 5,537 birds being liberated at 5.35am into a N.E. wind, with the hen being timed at 7.24pm to win the National. She recorded a velocity of 1,044ypm and was a clear winner of the race, in actual fact several North of England organisations competed from Rennes the same day and she was the only pigeon competing from the race point that day that recorded a velocity in excess of 1,000ypm. The National winner was named ‘Blue Blitz’. On the day following the race Jack Wylie had a visit from Jim Halliday from Brydekirk who congratulated him on his achievement, being the probable winner of the race. More importantly Jim expressed concern that reports suggested that the clock had not arrived at the National clock station for checking. The clock had been sent to Glasgow by rail and Jack went to the local Station Master, who phoned Waverly Station Edinburgh to confirm that the clock had been received and had been re-routed to Glasgow. The Station Master then checked with Glasgow, the clock was located and passed to the S.N.F.C. Officials for checking. When Jim Halliday told me the story of his visit that day he said he was allowed to handle ‘Blue Blitz’, she was a lovely pigeon with a serrated eye and considering her performance only hours before, was in superb condition. Importantly he also viewed the team of Harkness & Ferguson during the same visit and was greatly impressed indeed he said that the Sire of ‘Blue Blitz’ was the best pigeon he had ever seen. In 1965 ‘Blue Blitz’ had three inland races and scored twice in the Fed. She then competed again from Rennes with the convoy on this occasion being liberated at 6.15am and she was timed at 7.14pm. In a close knit community there was much excitement in the village with a number of neighbours standing in the street to see her come. This super pigeon came so very, very close to winning the event for a second time but after some deliberation was placed 2nd Open. ‘Blue Blitz’ recorded velocity of 1073.94ypm and was beaten by ‘Sky Queen’ owned, by Billy Gardiner from Lockerbie, by 0.12 of a yard. Following the 1965 National this marvellous pigeon was recognised as one of the all-time great pigeons and Mrs.Shillinglaw and Jack Wylie received several offers to sell her. At the Solway Federation Show in 1965, Jack was approached by a representative of Louis Massarella, who offered the partners a ‘blank cheque’ to part with her. They were not tempted, however and said that the pigeon would remain at Newcastleton for the rest of her life. There is no doubting the wisdom of their decision because ‘Blue Blitz’ proved to be a truly magical stock pigeon and left countless winners. Consider, for example, ‘Blue Booster’ that scored several times from the channel including being 1st Section, 1st Open Solway Federation and 1st South of Scotland Channel Club Avranches, 1972. This cock was sired by a cock direct from ‘Blue Blitz’ and looked the part. Dickie Graham was an acknowledged Eye Sign expert and said it had the best eye he had ever seen. The success went on year after year with a procession of good performances from the line into the original loft. In 1978 the partners recorded their second National win when they were 1st Open S.N.F.C. Falaise with Blue Chequer cock ‘Blue Boy’ that was bred by Joe Bainbridge from Carlisle. Regrettably, however, Mrs. Shillinglaw died in 1979, which caused jack Wylie to move the loft into a fenced paddock immediately next to the loft of Harkness & Ferguson. In 1982, Jack made history by becoming the first loft to win the Rennes National twice. A convoy of 5,983 pigeons were liberated at 5.45am following a two day holdover. The wind was light S.W., which grew stronger as the day progressed. Jack Wylie timed at 5.06pm but was once more involved in a very close result as a pigeon had been timed into Selkirk that was calculated to be on the same yard as the Newcastleton pigeon and it was decided that the two lofts would be re-measured before a result was published. It was eventually announced that Jack Wylie had won the National on 1269.38ypm beating a Mealy hen timed by R. Pringle, which recorded a velocity of 1269.35ypm. Jack Wylie’s 1982 winner was 1980 Red Pied Cock ‘Liddle Supreme’. ‘Liddle Supreme’ Whilst the Sire was introduced from T.Blackburn and J.Thomas from Dearham, near Maryport, the Dam was from the loft’s established family and was an outstanding competitor. She was a Blue Chequer hen that was 10th South of Scotland Channel Club Lymington, 22nd Section 129th Open Rennes, 3rd Section 12th Open Rennes and 1st Section 8th Open Rennes. The Chequer hen was sired by a direct son of ‘Blue Blitz’ with the consequence that the 1982 winner was indeed a great grandson of the 1964 winner. On build up to the race the Red Pied cock was the fifth bird to the loft from Bamber Bridge, first pigeon to the loft from Appleton, second pigeon to the loft from Stafford and first pigeon to the loft from Cheltenham gaining 1st Club 1st Federation. His eggs hatched on the day of basketing for the Classic and he went to the race with his second flight fully grown. There is a further story to tell because on the day of the race Jack sat with George Ferguson awaiting arrivals and around 5pm he and George decided to go for a walk down to the river. As they walked George enquired if Jack had the Red cock away as he had just seen a Red pigeon drop at the loft. Jack hurried back to the paddock and timed the pigeon and the rest is history. At the ensuing Prize Presentation he was presented with the famous trophies associated with the race including the Gold Cup and King George V Cup. In former years the Constitution of the S.N.F.C. was so worded that any fancier winning the Gold Cup twice would be allowed to keep it. At that time, several fanciers had come ever so close to winning the Cup twice including Shllinglaw and Wylie who were 1st and 2nd Open, beaten on the second occasion by a decimal point. The Constitution was subsequently modified, however, whereby the Cup would become a perpetual trophy and would for all time remain the property of the Club. When Jack Wylie won the Rennes Classic for second time, the S.N.F.C. Committee agreed that Jack should receive a special prize in recognition of his achievement and further agreed that he would be consulted to establish what prize he preferred. On April 24th 1983, a Young Bird Sale was held in Brydekirk Village Hall to raise money for the S.N.F.C. Medical Research Fund with the objective of purchasing a Morgan Data Tec Computer. S.N.F.C. President, Percy Cameron, auctioned the pigeons following which he called Jack Wylie forward and presented to him an inscribed Gold Wrist Watch in recognition of him being the first fancier to win the S.N.F.C. Gold Cup race twice. Jack Wylie (left) and Keith Mott Some weeks after ‘Liddle Supreme’ won the National I took a phone call from a fancier in England enquiring if I would ask Jack Wylie’s if he would sell him a pair of youngsters. I said that I’d pass the message on but cautioned the fancier that Jack didn’t sell pigeons. Nonetheless I spoke to Jack and some weeks later he called me to say that the fancier from South of the Border had visited his home that day. Jack said that he’d taken the pair of youngsters from below the National winner and handed them to the visitor. The man responded “wait a minute, how much are you wanting for them”. Jack replied, “I’m gifting them to you, I’ve never sold a pigeon in my life and I’ve no intention of starting now, take them and I hope they do you some good”. I never reported the story at the time because if I had, he would have been the softest touch in the country but to those who knew him, it was typical of him, as he was a real gentleman. Over the ensuing years the success story continued unabated … consider 1982 Blue Cock ‘4320’ that was 5th Section 35th Open Rennes 1985, 5th Section 6th Open Nantes 1986, 12th Section 23rd Open Nantes 1987 and 5th Section 12th Open Nantes 1988. He was again entered from Rennes in 1989 but arrived home very badly injured having been hit by a hawk and was thereafter retired to stock. The Sire of ‘4320’ was a g.g.s. on ‘Blue Booster’, whilst the Dam was a grand-daughter of the good Chequer hen the Dam of the 1982 Rennes winner. Another example was a 2 y.o. Blue Chequer hen that was 2nd Open Sartilly National 1990, she was bred from another Chequer hen that was 4th Section 13th Open Sartilly, the Sire of which was a grandson of ‘Blue Booster’ and a grandson also of the good Chequer hen, that bred ‘Liddle Supreme’ the 1982 Rennes winner. The Sire of the 2nd Open Sartilly was in turn sired by 1982 Blue cock ‘4320’, to which I referred. Photos George Ferguson Jack Wylie and Keith Mott Shillinglaw and Wylie BlueBlitz and Jack Wylies Red Pied Liddle Supreme-Sounds Moffat

According to Facebook The Sales list won't be ready until Thursday

Copied from Facebook From Ecclefechan we head east to Newcastleton on another fact laden tour with WP John Wortley Newcastleton is picturesque village set amongst the Border Hills. At one time there were as many as twenty pigeon lofts in the village and whilst a pigeon club existed in the community, it was not a member club of an organised Federation. In those days the Edinburgh Waverley Rail link wound its way down through the Borders to Longtown and onward to Carlisle. The line actually passed through Newcastleton and the fanciers who resided in the village used the facility to convoy their entry to the various races. As we reflect on the past, our readers should understand that there was only one clock in the village and a point of further interest is that a certain white pigeon that belonged to the local Postmaster, won the Warrington race on no fewer than five occasions. The full title of our local Federation is the Solway Federation of Racing Pigeon Societies of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. With this knowledge it should be noted that in 1950, the members of Langholm H.S. made application at the Federation A.G.M. that they be granted permission to accept members from Newcastleton. Langholm Secretary, David Latimer, explained that Newcastleton is located in Roxburghshire and he appealed for the approval of the Meeting. The Federation Secretary explained that he had written to the East of Scotland Federation, within whose captive area the Club was located and they had no objection. It was agreed, therefore, that Langholm H.C. accept Newcastleton fanciers as members. From amongst their midst emerged several very talented fanciers who won out of turn in the Federation and the National. One such fancier was Willie John Little with the Star Performer in the loft being Chequer W.F. cock ‘Border Hero’. This fine pigeon was bred in 1951 and in 1953 raced from S.N.F.C. Rennes for the first time and was 7th Section 15th Open. Back to Rennes in 1954 when he was 1st Section 2nd Open from an entry of 5,070 birds. He went back to his favourite race point in 1955, ’56 and ’57 and was 2nd Section 14th Open, 23rd Section 222nd Open and 23rd Section 122nd Open over successive seasons. Not only was ‘Border Hero’ a fine racer but was also a superb breeder and fanciers such as John Robertson from Jedburgh and Tommy Woodhouse from Annan successfully raced the bloodlines. ‘Border Hero 📷 Willie John Little was obviously an accomplished fancier, as also were T. Robson and Harkness & Ferguson, who each competed in the village. During the 1950’s and early 1960’s Mrs. Jean Shillinglaw used to visit the loft of T.Robson to view the pigeons and watch them return on a Saturday from the races and at the same time Jack Wylie used to visit the loft of Harkness & Ferguson for the same purpose. Mr. Shillinglaw, incidentally, had been a noted breeder of Border terrier dogs, of National repute. In 1962, her husband approached Jack Wylie to enquire if he was interested in forming a loft of pigeons and going into partnership with his good lady. They were actually near neighbours in the village and as explained above resided in North Liddle Street that takes its name from the River Liddle, which runs close-by. It should be noted that there were only ten houses in the street with the residents being neighbours and close friends. Jack Wylie agreed to enter partnership with his neighbour and as he only had a small garden at the rear of his home, the loft was erected at Mrs.Shillinglaw’s address. The new partners were gifted six pigeon from fanciers in the village to start them away. They received two from Harkness & Ferguson, one being a Blue Chequer hen and the other a Red Chequer cock; they received three from T. Robson and one from J. Wallace. They also purchased several Logan’s at a Sale at Balerno in the Lothian’s. Whilst Jack was the dominant member of the partnership it should be understood that Jean Shillinglaw was a natural stockwoman through her many years-experience, breeding Border Terriers and was not a partner in name only. As the story unfolds, it should be understood that of the original six pigeons gifted by fanciers in Newcastleton, five of them went on to score from the channel. Let us concentrate, however, on the Blue Chequer hen that was received from Harkness & Ferguson.

Good luck. Keep us posted

I always used Marine Ply. The thicker the better.

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After a couple of seasons getting a race team up together it was lovely to pick up the trophies won in the Central Southern Classic, most were won by Farm Norman who won 1st in the Blue Riband Pau race.

Massive thanks and congratulations to President Robert Cairns and Secretary Gary Gilfillan for organising and delivering a fantastic evening for The Lanarkshire Social Circle 2024 Presentation. Brilliant hospitalities and food provided by Cambusnethan Social Club followed with an enjoyable and informative quiz from two legends of the sport.. John Bosworth and Andy Eadie. Huge well done to all the winners and to everyone attending to make such a special evening. The LSC has a long and magical history in the sport.. and I for one, hope it continues for many, many years. Good Luck to all members in 2025 👍🏻

Copied from Facebook Just to let everyone know that Annan Homing Club Fundraising sale for the new Benzing m3 systems will go live on Monday 20th January at 7pm & will end on Monday 3rd February at 7pm. We have 61 fantastic lots to auction off and would like to thank everyone on behalf of all Annan Homing Club for their donations 🙌 Donations: Dennis Anderson x2 S Jones & Son x2 Dennis Anderson Jnr x2 Andrew Suckle x2 M & J Currie x2 Maskame & Cordiner x2 D Muir & Daughter x2 G Dalgleish & Son Black & Robertson Mark Gilbert x2 Mr & Mrs Les Mitchell x2 Willie Borthwick x2 Mr & Mrs Girdwood Mr & Mrs Nigel Shaw Walter Glendinning Alasdair Maclean x2 Alfie Hawthorn Jim Muir Nigel Laycock McArdle & Thomson x2 RJ Rome Martyn Brown x2 Ramage & Jamieson x2 WF Van Nuil Danny Henderson John Leggate Peter Keogh J & G Peggie A W Robertson W Kinnear & Son May Pigeons Breeding Centre Gordon Grant x2 Andrew McKenna x2 John Quinn x2 James Metcalfe x2 A Nicholson GM Preece & Son HBW Lofts Lewis McCalley John Wheatcroft J Green & Son Tommy Gilbertson Craig Halbert E Hodgson & Sons The House of Aarden S & S Tierney Stephen Bell Johnny Mcwhirter x2 Shaun Saunders x2 W Massey & Son Stevie Farragher Sayers bros & Son Mr & Mrs Andy Gregson Ryan Hay & Family D Mathieson & Son Cowan & Findlay Jocky Scott W McCormack & Son Andy Miller Eadie & Kelly J Lawrie & Son 🙌🙌 Also big thanks to the people who have made cash donations 🙌 Craig Anderson Thomas Lothian Davie McDermid

Absolute topper of a hen and was our fancied pooler for the race 💷👍 Bred by Paul Newbold of PJ Lofts and think he said it was out of his Jellema Doos ? Definitely be one of our target Doos for the longer distance SNFC race in 2025 but I always say that it’s an achievement to get them to these race with all obstacles and issues to deal with first but if we get her there then don’t be surprised to see her back up with the leaders 🤞👍

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I have been extremely privileged in my time of racing pigeons, whether that's scribing or being friends with certain fanciers who had champion pigeons. However I think this old boy although no longer filling tops the lot for myself as my all time favourite, he is of course Champion Tubby. Certificate of Merit Award winner, 2nd Sec E, 3rd Open BICC, 667th International Marseille 11244 birds 637 miles, 2nd Sec E, 9th Open BICC, 110th International Pau 8576 birds 575 miles on the day, 7th Sec E, 7th Open BICC Pau on the day, 8th Sec E, 8th Open BICC Marseille, Sire of 2nd Marseille, 3rd Perpignan, 7th Perpignan, 8th Pau, 13th Perpignan etc GSire of 4th Perpignan, 4th Agen, 6th Agen, 8th Narbonne etc Sire and G. Sire of Meritorious award winners Mark the date 28th November

Daves Diva Who is probably one of the most under-rated hens racing into the UK on the international distance scene, especially since she has only ever been entered and flown in 4 international races. However in these 4 races, she has an impressive record of; 4th Open, 1st Section Agen BICC, 245th International hens 4563 birds, 534 miles 4th Open, 4th Section Perpignan BICC, 499th International Hens 3289 Birds, 631 miles 6th Open, 4th Section Agen BICC, 147th International Hens 4666 birds, 731st international 12,099 birds, 534 miles 8th Open, 5th Section Narbonne BICC, 595 miles A terrific record at international racing with the BICC, interesting to add Daves Diva has been the best bird in the UK over 2 years from Agen in 2018-2019, when both races were extremely tough due to the extreme heat that France was having on both years. Her results from the BICC have awarded her a Certificate of Merit Award in recognition of this heart of a lion bird. To add to her achievements she also had a 21st Open from Bordeaux with the BBC 467 miles Her Bloodline? Well it's no shock as class breeds class! She is a direct daughter of Comfort Zone, 1st Open Marseille BICC in 2015, and she is also a granddaughter of the Immortal Tubby (Certificate of Merit Award winner, 2nd Sec E, 3rd Open BICC, 667th International Marseille 11244 birds 637 miles, 2nd Sec E, 9th Open BICC, 110th International Pau 8576 birds 575 miles on the day, 7th Sec E, 7th Open BICC Pau on the day, 8th Sec E, 8th Open BICC Marseille, and a breeder of a dynasty of top distance pigeons) We’ve already heard alot about this great hen and her descendents in Duncan’s and other peoples lofts already, sadly Duncan Goodchild is calling it a day, and everything will be for sale. An opportunity for all to invest wisely in their long distance future, remember the date 28th November.

‘A few things worth thinking about’ by Major Neilson Hutton; Firstly, I must apologies for not keeping this story going on a weekly basis, but with our daughter taken into St John’s hospital for a major operation. I have not had a spare moment to sit down and continue with the story; I hope fanciers will understand. Some are convinced that part of the trouble is the clashing of convoys homing to widely different destinations. The number of pigeons racing every week has increased and it is only when the races reach around the 200-mile mark that the travelling pigeons are broken up into small batches to negotiate the bottlenecks created by the hills of Cumberland, Westmorland and those within Scotland itself. The federations at their AGM’s settle by popular vote their programme of races and dates with little regard to what others are doing. Surely some liaison between neighbouring feds, would prove helpful. The formation of a loose combine for the early races with separate liberations would be worth trying, while from the financial angle a tight combine could take over later on. Now that Road Transport has taken over there seems little point of transporters making a long journey half-full. One would think that the success which had attended the old established Scottish Central Combine would encourage other federation groups to get together. Years ago, the old quarrels and rivalries kept some federations at loggerheads with each other, but surely the younger fanciers are still being influences by these. It is quite possible that some federation officials are reluctant to surrender some of their power and influence to other preferring to be big fish in a small pond. The racing pigeon unions of most countries where pigeon racing is carried on are members of the International Federation. This International organisation had carried out a number of surveys and experiments in connection with the sport and have issued their reports. The space at my disposal will only allow me to make a few observations on their findings which I hope will be interesting and informative to the reader. While to most fanciers the fact that pigeons can be trained to fly at night is not new; one or two conclusions reached from the Federations experiments are very significant. The conclusions reached were that pigeon do not guide themselves by the East, nor by the Sun or for that matter from visual memory as propounded by some theories. This nocturnal orientation which permits pigeons to blindly direct themselves toward the area of their lofts is in complete accord with the hypotheses that they are guided by waves set up by the district (zone) in which the pigeons concerned have their habitat. My experience has been both in normal civilian racing and in the variety of conditions met with in the Army, I believe that the further pigeons are away from their lofts, the less time do they take to clear off in the right direction for home. Yet when liberated close to their loft they will clear off and then come back again perhaps several times before disappearing for good. This pattern of behaviour is in keeping with the idea that pigeons become attuned to whatever it is being given off from the zone where picking up the signals from this zone and flying towards it. A long distance away these signals and the zone and flying towards it. A long distance away these signals and the zone and flying towards it, a long distance away these signals decrease the zone increases in size until the voyaging pigeon is completely surrounded by the signals thus being deprived of this means of orientation and from then on has to depend on visual memory. This means of course that pigeons liberated close to their lofts have to depend on their visual memory built up from past experience in training and racing. I have worked on this idea for a long number of years now but do not think that we have the complete picture as yet. It is encouraging to me to know that the international experimenters from two different experiments carried out by different people have provided confirmation of my own conclusion regarding the probable means by which pigeons navigate themselves to their home zone. Whatever it is that creates and attraction I have the notion that its strength varies from time to time and day to day. Have you ever noticed in our Scottish National raced that one-year fanciers in one district de exceedingly well yet at another time not one of them are in the hunt or at lease well up. We know that certain weather conditions may and certainly do favour one section at the expense of another, but this phenomenon of which I write operates irrespective of which section has the advantage or disadvantage on any particular day. Furthermore, if you care to study SNFC race results over several years you will observe it not unusual to find birds belonging to an area or club being timed very close to one another, while a club or area close at hand draws a blank. An example of this I could not help noticing the success of the members of the Coalburn Club in the SNFC race from Rennes 1967. There are no less than 10 birds timed between 4-07 and 4-37pm this being exactly half an hour, and they had 14 birds all told in the money. The positions taken by these first ten birds were as follows; 4th section 22nd open; 7th section 27th open; 10th section 31st open; 24th section 59th open; 26th section 63rd open; 29th section 67th open; 30th section 68th open; 35th section 79th open 38th section 84th open and 41st section 87th open. During these vital 30 minutes the neighbouring clubs Douglas Water and Lesmahagow who usually do very well; had one bird each; the Lesmahagow bird winning 9th section 30thopen and the Douglas Water bird winning 23rd section 58th open. Another feature of the Coalburn club members success was the age of their winning pigeons. There were 4 x 2-year-olds; 3 x 3-year-olds; 2 x 4-year-olds and one 5-year-old. One of the experiments was to follow a convoy of racers from a plane trying to keep them in sight from start to finish. Here I was rather disappointed that the distance flown were not given. They found that pigeons did not fly as many migrant birds do, some in an inverted V formation with an obvious leader or in a line one behind the other. Pigeons on liberation rise and circle as they gather into a complete group. There being no leader, they all seem to want to be ahead of each other forming a large front in a crescent moon formation. The observers have never seen a single pigeon forge ahead of the other members of its group and go off on its own, but have found birds breaking away from the extremities of the crescent and others loitering behind apparently unable to keep up with the others. They found that pigeons under normal conditions fly at between 100 and 150 feet and will not rise to fly over an obstacle if they can fly round it. I can vouch for the fact that they do not like flying high, having liberated scores of pigeons from many different types of planes and using several different methods to get them clear of the plane. Once clear of the slipstream and into what we might term undisturbed air they drop rapidly to house or tree top level. As a race progresses the original large crescent shaped flock start to break up into smaller groups. This process is helped by the division created during the negotiation of obstacles met on route. In tail wind pigeons fly much higher than usual, so they do not meet so many obstacles to divide them. In consequence they tend to remain in much larger flocks and reach their home zone in large numbers, whereas in a head wind they fly close to the ground making use of all the shelter they can from the wind and if their journey is a long one, every obstacle they meet with tends to divide them and single birds become isolated with the result they arrive home one by one. Cross winds have much the same effect and in addition they tend to drift the pigeons off their true course. On such day’s pigeons arrived from the direction into which they have been pushed by the wind. Regarding the effects of Radar, Radio, and large centres producing electrical power, no evidence was observed of any hesitation or deviation from their course by the travelling pigeons which passing over or near such centres. Disasters are usually the result of human error plus the unforeseeable deterioration of the atmospheric conditions en route. Meteorology is making steady progress and may very soon be able to warn of disasters. There is another type of disaster; what it is and what brings it about is a mystery. Experienced convoyer’s and controllers will all have had some experience of this mysterious phenomenon. The sky is clear and visibility good with a favourable forecast-the race controllers and convoyer’s have no hesitation in deciding to liberate their charges. The pigeons clear alright and in fact the next convoy for release has already taken to the air when the first birds liberated came back and circle round while the second lot appear to cleared, but soon over the race point are a host of pigeons flying to and fro in all directions. Gradually their numbers decrease as small batches are seen clearing in all directions. I believe that in one of the early young bird races this season the birds were coming back after appearing to have cleared. A friend of mine during the war was stationed at one of the popular race points in the Midlands and one morning witnessed the liberation of several Scottish federation birds. The birds cleared normally but over an hour later they came back and kept circling the race point. By this time the convoyer’s concerned were on the train on their way home totally unaware of what had happened. In fact, there were birds still flying about around as darkness fell. The reason which so upsets the pigeons’ normal powers of orientation with such disastrous effect is a mystery. The report’s conclusions are that trial liberations should be made before a general release of the race birds is decided and if these control releases are unsatisfactory, then some method of warning other convoys in the vicinity should be made. Personally, I feel that when a disaster happens the details should be sent to the Met Office immediately. Data collected from these reports may prove useful in determining the reason for these disasters and of finding means to avoid them in the future, not to mention increasing our knowledge of another angle to this ever-fascinating sport. See photograph of Major Hutton to go with this report which was first published in 1968. Pentland Hills Federation Before I highlight the news from Barry Kinnear and Andy Miller with the Trophy Winners from the federation for the 2024 season; I have to apologies for the lateness of these appearing. I have not had a lot of spare time lately; due to traveling to visit our daughter and spending most of the day keeping her company. As she has been on crutches and therefore required help with some chores etc. which Margaret had carried out for her. Plus, we also took a couple of days away to Arbroath to see our grandchildren and also to try and relax. So, to the above 2 fanciers Andy & Barry my apologies for the lateness in publicising your result. The Backpath Lofts Old Bird Average was won by K Wright of Danderhall velocity 1324.09. The Marshall Winter Memorial Trophy for Young Bird Average was won by A Baillie Danderhall velocity 1298.89. The Bobby Graham Memorial Trophy for the Combine Average won by Black & Robertson of Danderhall velocity 1299.62. The Maidstone Old Bird Federation Open trophy to K Wright of Danderhall 1st Open. He also won the 4 Longest Old Bird Races Average with a velocity of 1310.46 The Old Bird Points trophy was on by F & W Robertson of Danderhall with 28 points. Newark - (relocated to Bubwith) young bird federation Open; the birds were returned home to the marking stations due to inclement weather. The 1st Federation – SNFC Gold Cup winners were W Kinnear & Son of Danderhall who won 8th section 46th open. The A.M. Pringle Memorial Trophy for the Best Average Federation Maidstone & SNFC Gold Cup won by W Kinnear & Son of Danderhall velocity 893.42. The 3 Longest Young Bird Races Average won by A Baillie of Danderhall velocity 1297.68 News of the Kettering race flown on 13th September with 25 lofts sending 216 birds. Taking the first 3 places plus 7th are Helen Aitken & Sons of Woodburn club. A Walker of Danderhall is 4th with A Baillie winning 5th & 9th places. Black & Robertson are 6th & 10th with G Cameron of Easthouses winning 8th place. The federation wish sincere thanks to Freddie Robertson for providing the federation with the use of his transporter free of charge on 31st August and the 7th September says secretary Helen. Danderhall Racing Pigeon Club; held their Kettering Open young bird race with 28 members prepaying 141 birds; the actual entry was 18 members sending 108 birds. These were liberated on Friday 13th September (SNFC) with a 9-00am into a light south west wind. Taking top spot was Newcombe & Black of Traprain club winning £350.00; A Walker of Danderhall is 2nd winning £752.50; J McNeil of Traprain wins 3rd 12th & 13th places winning £227-50p; Black & Roberton of Danderhall are 4th winning £1021-50p; A Baillie of the same club wins 5th lifting £262-50p; A Walker from the same club wins 6th plus £145-30p; The Winter Family also from Danderhall club win 7th & 8th positions plus £154-90p. W Kinnear & son wins 9th & 14th open winning £75; Sinclair Thomson & son of Traprain club are 10th winning £45; S & S Tierney of Danderhall are 11th winning £40; with Jim McNeil of Traprain club winning 12th & 13th places plus £65; 15th position is won by F & W Roberson who won £20. The Annual Jocky Brown Memorial Trophy (yearlings) was won by A S Thomson & Son. The Annual Sporting Challenge Trophy (Young Birds) won by Newcombe & Black; The Joe Murphy Trophy for the best average from the 2 races won by the Winter Family. My thanks to Andy Miller who has supplied me with the Federations results on a weekly basis, cheers mate. Please continue to keep the news flowing; to 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 you can also view online editions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com - Pigeon Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.com www.internationalracingpigeon.com Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland? © Compiled by Joe Murphy

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Here's the story of John Gilmours Gold Cup winner, No.3 for the 'Fechan'.(WP Wortley). In 2017 the S.N.F.C. Blue Riband event was flown from Alencon, with the convoy being released at 5.45am on Monday 3rd July, following a three day hold-over. John Gilmour from Ecclefechan timed at 7.10pm to win the National with a velocity of 1049ypm, 39ypm ahead of the second pigeon in the result. John is a member of a very successful pigeon family, with his father, Jackie, being a very good fancier. Jackie and his brother Eddie, who flew under the loft title Gilmour Brothers and Martindale, won the Vaux Usher Y.B. National in 1963 with a Red cock that was bred by Hughie Falconer from Mid Calder. In the 1960’s and early 1970’s, Jackie and Eddie housed one of the best teams of pigeons in the Solway area. In 1967, for example, they gained the first three positions in the Section from S.N.F.C. Avranches and in 1974 they were 3rd Open S.N.F.C. Avranches. In time the brothers formed their own separate lofts and as the years have passed they achieved individual successes. In 2005, Jackie was 6th Section 29th Open Tours and in 2006 this same pigeon was 3rd Section 3rd Open from the equivalent race. John Gilmour has had an interest in our hobby since he was a boy. Our older readers will recollect the successful partnership of S. & J. Gilmour that raced 6 / 10 into Ecclefechan. This partnership actually comprised schoolboy cousins; Stewart and John guided and assisted by Eddie, who formerly competed under the loft title Gilmour Brothers and Martindale. When John married he set up home in community of Waterbeck and joined Hoddom Club. He and his wife subsequently built a beautiful bungalow at Ecclefechan, which has a large garden that contains an impressive pigeon loft. The loft is 6’ wide and is ‘L’ shaped, containing an 8’ compartment for widowhood cocks, a 4’ compartment for Young Birds and 4’ store on the front elevation and a compartment for widowhood hens and another compartment for stock birds on the side elevation. As the years have passed, he has timed several good birds from the Classics, consider, for example that in 2010 he was 3rd Section from the Inland National from Bovingdon, was 5th Section 56th Open from the S.N.F.C. Blue Riband event from Alencon in 2013 and in 2015 was 3rd Section 196th Open Eastbourne. In time he worked the team on a widowhood method from the earlier races and re-paired them for the channel. In 2017, however, he decided to continue racing cocks and hens on widowhood, right out to the channel. This obviously paid dividends as he featured in the prize list in the very competitive Hoddom Club throughout the season and then came out and won Scottish Blue Riband event from Alencon, securing the famous Gold Cup and the King George V Cup. The National winner is a Dark Chequer cock named ‘Gilly’, which was 2 y.o. when he won the Classic; it had five races as a youngster, raced from Lymm, Wollaston and Cheltenham as a yearling and in 2017 went to Charnock Richard (1), Charnock Richard (2), Stafford, Wollaston, Cheltenham and Marlborough, which was flown on the same day as the Inland National from Buckingham. He reared two youngsters at the gateway to the season and was thereafter worked true widowhood. He went to the race with his first flight ¾ grown. Dam is a Theo Rutten, which was obtained from friends Shaun and Linda Trodden whilst the Sire is a Red Cock that was bred by Martin Adair from Flimby in West Cumbria. Sean and Linda first purchased examples of the Rutten family some twenty years ago, direct from the breeders and through ongoing introductions have formed a superb team of Rutten pigeons. Theo and Raymond Rutten reside at Groesbeek, Netherlands and are the owners of a superb family of pigeons based on the bloodlines of Janssen Brothers of Arendonk. They first visited the Brothers at Arendonk in 1958 and continued to visit them on a regular basis, obtaining stock on an annual basis. They also acquired pigeons from Jules Wouters of Keerbergen, who purchased the very best of Janssen bloodlines. Theo and Raymond Rutten supplemented the Janssen line by purchasing stock from Gebr. Janssen, concentrating on the line of the ‘Chantilly’ and ‘Winterjongen and from Henri van Venrooij of Deurne, who obtained his original stock direct from Janssen Brothers. National wins achieved by Theo and Raymond Rutten include 1st National Orleans competing against 17,211 pigeons. 1st National Montlucon competing against 7,000 + pigeons, 1st National St Quentin competing against 6,611 pigeons, 1st National St Vincent competing against 2,424 pigeons and 1st National Chantilly competing against 23,193 pigeons. In 2016 Sean and Linda Trodden set the Solway Federation alight with this family, gaining a succession of sparkling results and at the end of the season were presented with the trophy as Solway Federation Fancier(s) of the Year. In 2018 they were 2nd Open S.N.F.C. Maidstone and were once more presented with the Federation Fancier of the Year Trophy. Move forward to 2019 and once again they were awarded the Percy Cameron Memorial Trophy as East Section Fancier(s) of the Year. During the current season they were 1st Section 2nd Open S.N.F.C. Upper Heyford with a super Blue cock that was 1st Federation from Lymm (1), 1st Federation Cheltenham, 1st Federation again from Lymm (2) and with pigeons being duplicated out of the Upper Heyford National into the Federation was once more 1st Federation. Following the Upper Heyford National, Sean and Linda were 1st Section 1st Open S.N.F.C. Yeovil. Martin Adair is the son of the late Bobby Adair, who was 7 / 10 unquestionably one of the very best fanciers in the North of England and Southern Scotland. Racing a modest team of pigeons on the natural system, he and Martin won the noted Big Cup in the Derwent Valley Federation on ten occasions for the best average from all races through to the longest channel race. The Sire of the Red Cock, which John Gilmour obtained from Martin, was 8th Fed Nantes. He was bred direct from Bobby and Martin Adair’s noted Red Hen, which was the first Gold Award winner in Cumbria. The Sire of the Red Cock that John Gilmour obtained from Martin was also the Sire of the Red Cock that Jimmy Dalgliesh from Ecclefechan obtained from Flimby, which bred the noted ‘Hoddom Dynamo’. In 2019 the Scottish National Blue Riband event was flown from Burdinne, Belgium with the convoy being released at 5.30 am and John Gilmour featured at the front of the result again timing at 2.31pm to be 1st South Section 2nd Open National. The winning pigeon was 3 y.o. Dark Chequer hen ‘Gilly’s Lass’, which deserves special mention. It went to Charnock Richard as a youngster. In 2017 as a yearling it was paired during the first week in January and reared two youngsters. It was then put on Roundabout and went through the programme to the Inland National from Bedhampton and was 44th Section 223rd Open. It then began toying on with another hen, identically bred. John chose to leave them together; the Dark hen laid and went to Falaise covering twelve day eggs. Pigeons were liberated at 6.15am into a light S.W. wind and the hen was timed with the leaders at 2.47pm to be 5th Section 6th Open National. In 2018 the hen was once more paired in January, went to nest and was thereafter put on Roundabout. It then went through the programme to the Inland National from Buckingham and was thereafter re-paired and went to the S.N.F.C. Blue Riband event from Liege sitting deep on eggs with the eggs hatching the day after the race. Pigeons were liberated at 5.15am into a N.E. win and John timed the hen at 5.22pm to be 3rd Section 3rd Open National. In 2019 it was paired in January and hatched a pair of youngsters, being split from its mate when feeding the youngsters with the cock finishing the youngsters off. It was then put on Roundabout and went through the programme to the Inland National from Buckingham. It was then re-paired with the intention of getting it on a wee youngster at basketing for the Gold Cup race from Burdinne. It was a wee bit slow at laying, however and was actually sitting deep due to hatch. John slipped her a chipping egg before despatch, however, to give her an edge and she duly responded gaining 1st Section 2nd Open National. Sire is a Deweerdt from Andy Gregson whilst the Dam is a Grizzle Koopman from Ernie Goodyear with both parents being purchased at Blackpool Show. She is obviously a truly exceptional pigeon to have gained a 2nd, 3rd and 6th Open National, with two of the performances being from Scotland’s Premier Race!

Copied from Facebook Was sad to hear the recent passing of Solway Fancier Jack Gilmour.. Jack won the Inaugural ‘Graham Hughes Memorial’ Trophy which the SDDC ran this year, and will continue to run. A trophy close to my heart in honour of one of my best friends late father. We spent a lovely morning presenting Jack with his trophy and winnings.. a look round the loft and blether of days gone past. The family said that day meant that much to him that they put the photo of us together in the order of service. Getting even a bit emotional writing this, but that’s what doo racing is all about, the friendship it can bring, with moments and memories to cherish forever. Certainly reaffirmed a real desire in The SDDC lads that we can be a positive force in the Sport. From Mick, Dennis Snr, Dennis Jnr, Andrew and myself….. Fly high and enjoy the big dookit in the sky Jack, you have earned it and I’ll think of you often with a smile. X

R.I.P. Edie our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time

Great offer

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