Kyleakin Lofts

Well done Andy. Well done Alf.

Well done.

Well done David and Robert on a super result into the west of Scotland and into a west wind.

2nd toss today. 20 / 20 + 12 / 12 for the racers.

Good o lads sorted and returned via basics. Just what it is all about.

I libbed at Barrhead, only 6 miles, but hopefully puts them up the correct valley. Once I think they have it they go straight out to 20 miles. They don't range where I live. I am so high up, I can see for about 50 miles south and north, so who knows what they see. They do disappear, but never for long.

First toss for me yesterday as well. 1 / 5 batch 1, 4 / 4 batch 2 and 3. 3 arrived later on, so batch 1 was 1 down last night. It was here this morning with 2 others which eventually cleared. I thought they had mixed with another batch of trainers, but perhaps that as well as BOP.

Valley North Social Circle Secretary: MICK HILLAND Lerwick Open on 26/06/2013 at 06:30 hrs North West wind 13 Members sent 33 Birds 1 Eadie & Kelly 317m l205y 826.191 2 J Brown 348m l253y 484.647 3 Eadie & Kelly 317ml205y 405.408 4 W Johnstone 348m l481y 348.459 WELL DONE EADIE & KELLY ON A GREAT PERFORMANCE. FIRST PRIZE OF £100 POUNDS AND £30 POOLS TO ANDY EADIE SECOND PRIZE OF £60 POUNDS AND £15 POOLS TO JACKIE BROWN THIRD PRIZE OF £30 POUNDS AND £5 POOLS TO ANDY EADIE FOURTH PRIZE OF £10 TO WULLIE JOHNSTONE 4 GALLANT BIRDS JIM MCKELVIE TIMED 2 BIRDS ON THE THIRD DAY

Valley North Secretary: MICK HILLAND Ellon on 29/06/2013 at 08:30 hrs 6 Members sent 100 Club Birds 1 W McCann & A Brown 154m 842y 1192.029 2 J L Dumigan 152m 812y 1171.500 3 J L Dumigan 1165.816 4 J L Dumigan 1163.541 5 J L Dumigan 1159.352 6 J L Dumigan 1154.364 7 J L Dumigan 1153.620 8 W McCann & A Brown 1121.780 9 W McCann & A Brown 1096.446 10 Ritchie Thornhill 154m l221y 1091.372 11 M J McCann 152m l654y 1066.120 12 W McCann & A Brown 1047.177 13 Ritchie Thornhill 1011.496 14 M J McCann 1010.614 15 M J McCann 979.834 16 J & J & C Nicol 160m l60y 971.698 17 R Taylor 151m l686y 969.886 18 Ritchie Thornhill 965.522 19 R Taylor 959.677

Ayrshire North Road fed is the only Fed in Scotland currently racing north. Obviously it is sprint / middle distance racing, but returns are usually good and on time. It can be hard racing just like some of the south races and whilst there are BOP strikes, we don't usually suffer as badly and don't have the same bother with clashing.

The racing has been difficult with cancellations, so that race is off. We will be at Fraserburgh this weekend, then Thurso for the final OB race the following weekend.

Best of luck to them. I know some use it for training for their south road birds. Takes a thinking bird to race north and south and they have to think in the Nationals.

Well done.

Well done boys, a good one into the west.

Best of luck to around 500 pigeons on their way home.

Takes agreat doo for that Andy.

Get well soon Walter.

You gave me the choice and I went for the Stoddarts. This is her easy year, next year she will be expected to do the lot, but consideration will be given, the following year, too far ahead.

She's racing steady. Missed the first race, Perth 60 miles, 4th loft 730ypm; missed the 3rd race, Montrose 104 miles 565ypm, 7th loft; Portlethen 129 miles, 7th loft 1000ypm. Some hard racing going by velocities, but she is inexperienced and is probably not breaking.

Well done lads. Best of luck Charlie at the new address. I still have your wee hen. She only has Fraserburgh 6th July and Thurso 13th July to go this year.

I stand corrected on my incorrect recollection of North Road racing into Ayrshire. I race north. I want to race north. I may decide to race south in the future. At this moment in time I am attempting to improve the north racing in Scotland. My vision of this is to reach as far north as we are able to achieve the greatest distance. Lerwick is that race-point. Lerwick is a tremendous challenge. It may only be a middle distance race of 300+ miles, but 140 of them are across water, I know the birds don't swim. I don't particularly want sprint racing, so this is my alternative. The fanciers in Valley North club have agreed to create a Social Circle to promote our Open races so we are able to achieve these aims. that is what we are attempting to do. How does it harm pigeon racing? Andy Eadie used the Lerwick Open race to prep his bird for Tours where he is hoping it will win its Gold Award. I wish him luck and hope he is successful. I also hope Valley North Social Circle is successful, increases the number of middle distance Open races and achieves their aim of a Lerwick Open race with a liberation separate from the NRCC liberation.

Very poor. I know next to nothing regarding Ayrshire pigeon history. North road was formed as a club in Mauchline and was part of Ayrshire Fed around 1999, 2000, I understand. Mauchline, I assume, would be part of Kyle Fed, so the move to Ayrshire very well could have been "political". Ambition, desire and lowering of standards are all relative and as you correctly state, I am unable to comment. The comment that I did make was one told to me by someone who was at the start of the North Road and may have been his reasons only albeit that is not the way I picked it up. I would say the greatest factor in the weakening of organisations is the peregrine falcon and the fanciers within the organisations. Whether fanciers decide to race north or not is completely irrelevant. If fanciers decide to race north their pigeons may very well be lost to the organisations racing south, but that is their prerogative, for whatever the reasons may be. The remaining fanciers should only be concerned with their pigeons. I was told to bother about the pigeons that are in my loft and to forget about the ones that are lost because I am unable to do anything about them. Organisations are similar. They should bother about the pigeons they have and forget those they do not have. Are the pigeons they have good enough to complete the task? In Ayrshire, there are very few that are good enough to complete the task, if the task is to complete the full programme, as it used to be. Now I am a beginner and I lay the blame firmly at my door, but the fanciers in Ayrshire bleat on about the north road, clashing, BOP, etc etc. They should be looking at their problems and attempting to solve them, not for personal gain (political reasons, like coast lofts, etc). If the BOP is the problem, it is a widespread problem, they are everywhere now. I accept the Cumbria Region is the worst in Europe probably and Ayrshire / South Lanarkshire won't be far behind. Given this, go west and at least avoid the cross federation clashing. Give it a minimum of 5 years like Solway. Accept the heavy losses there will be at the start, what's different, but hope for improvements down the line. I have heard it mooted so often that the pigeon game only has 5 years left, well if this is correct, go out in a blaze of glory. There seems to be a lot of birds being bred from that have done nothing and their progeny also does nothing. This is the fancier's fault. The fancier is either not good enough, be it training or breeding, or he needs new birds. Proof; McKinlay, Smith, Reid, Young, Cowan, etc, they are all doing it.

NRCC limits 15 birds to a basket for Lerwick and Thurso.

50 birds entered into section F Alencon. Our 33 Lerwick birds become quite respectful. Pity the rest of our convoy were not racing into the same general area, like the National birds. To a certain extent our race is more like an International, given the small entry and the effect of the drag.

Happy birthday. Is that why the flags are out in Barrhead just now?