The Joe Murphy Column Received an email from John Baillie of Tranent the press officer for the East of Scotland federation who informs us that the 2016 old bird open trophy winners are as follows: Tam Waddell of Prestonpans winning the Leicester race and the Littlehampton race is won by Jim McNeil of Gladsmuir. John Bird of Prestonpans wins the young bird open from Newark with the Old Bird Average won by Jim McNeil and the runners -up are Tom & Scott McEwen of Elphinstone. The young bird average was won by John Bird and the runner up was T Hunnam of Port Seton. The Combined average was won by John Bird and the runners up are Tom & Scott McEwen. The Federation put on a mini-bus to go through to the SHU show in Lanark and a good time had by all!! (couple of photos attached) The federation lost our premises during the season 2015 and we were using a village hall for our race basketting in 2016. We must now thank Castlepark Bowling Club in Prestonpans for giving us the space to place a container in their car park. Tom McEwen has given me a list of all the donors of birds for our special sale to be held during the break at our quiz on the 12th February 2017 with a very big Thank You to ALL these donors. The sale of the birds at the quiz will give the federation a great start in the purchasing off the container. Now for the list of the top class fanciers who have donated fantastic birds. 1) Robert Reid of Beith; 4 times Ayrshire Federation Champion, section winners and top positions with SNFC in section F. 2) Jim Wilkinson of Glenmavis; Top Lanarkshire flier and winning section E 4 times with SNFC. 3) Paul Stobbs of Consett; Top loft in the North East of England with numerous Combine wins winning Queens Cup on many occasions, A Real Legend. 4) Jim (Van) Hannah of Blantyre; Top National winning loft winning section and region on many occasions and in 2016 winning the coveted Gold Award with the SNFC. This will be a 2016 bred late-bred. 5) Billy Bilsland of Ayton: Since moving to Ayton has now won 8 Nationals between the SNFC and SNRPC. Consistently winning on a regular basis has been 1st & 2nd open National 5 times. Has 3 times won 1st 2nd 3rd 4th & 5th open National and twice won 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th & 6th open) Won 2 x 1st open Young Bird Nationals in 2016 fantastic results. 6) Jocky Scott of Kennoway; Another fantastic season with the SNFC winning 1st section C 5th open from Ypres and then 2 weeks later wins 1st open Roye. 7) Mark Gilbert of Windsor. Unsure what to say about this loft; must be one of the best in Europe. Mark has won multi Nationals with the various English Classic Clubs and the National Flying Club, also winning International races against the best in Europe. This bird will also be in the pen a2016 bred bird ready for pairing. 8) George & Brian Hunter of Dunfermline. Another top SNFC winning loft; this young bird will be direct from Kingdom Spirit a Double Gold Award Winner with the SNFC. 9) Norman Renton of Foulden; Another multi -national winning loft with the SNFC and the SNRPC wins from national and all distances from the Young Bird National out to Tours at just under 600 miles. 10) David Jamieson of East Calder; One of the top SNFC winning lofts won SNFC channel averages in 2016. Has been 9 times in top 12 open positions in the SNFC, winning 1st, 2nd & 3rd section D twice in 4 years with SNFC he has also won Section D in SNFC 7 times. 11) Paul Stobbs of Consett- A young bird direct from the stock loft from this top winning fancier. 12) Craig Halbert of Eastriggs; Outstanding results with the SNFC winner of 2 x 1st open from the longest SNFC race Ancenis with other prominent positions won. 13) Sinclair Thomson & Son of Port Seton; another fantastic loft, wins from the first race with Traprain and all the way to the channel and across with the SNFC. Winner of two 1st Opens with the SNFC and 2nd Open Roye 2016. 14) Andrew Lees of Eyemouth - multi- national winning loft with the SNFC and SNRPC with a total of 5 National wins to his name. 15) Jocky Scott of Kennoway; Another youngster from the select stock loft of Jocky - A great flyer in all completions. There are only a few tickets left for this night so don’t miss out contact John on the following number 07970502858 My thanks to John for the above information and I hope the sale goes well. New Spring Fayre The above new Fayre will be held at Doncaster Racecourse on Saturday 25th February 2017. After a huge success at the November show this annual Spring Show will be an ideal time to stock up your requirements for the racing season. Plus there is also a chance to pick up some new stock youngsters and try them out for racing this year. An opportunity not to be missed I have something on that weekend so will miss this but it sounds like a good weekend. Good SNFC Birds Another 3 exceptional birds featured this week starting with John Robertson of Edinburgh whom I wrote about a few weeks ago with his blue cock SU13P 7757 John also has a chequer cock SU14P 3889 a 3 times section and open winner. The chequer cock won his first diploma from the Portsmouth race in 2015 flying a distance of 364 miles he won 122nd section B 206th open from a convoy of 4767 birds. Then in 2016 he won 55th section B 119th open from Littlehampton a distance of 372 miles he was then set up for the last old bird national from Roye and was right up with the winners to gain 3rd section B 4th open flying 497 miles. We now move a little westward to the town of Broxburn in West Lothian to the loft of Peter Keogh with blue bar cock SU14CA 1077. This cock won 52nd section D 415th open from Portsmouth in 2015 flying 367 miles; he then went to the Eastbourne race a distance of 391 miles and won 3rd section D 94th open. Then in 2016 he won 28th section D from the Buckingham race point (no open position won) a distance of 291 miles. Peter also has a mealy cock SU14CA 1086 who has also gained 3 section diplomas in the space of 2 years. He was just ahead of the above chequer cock from Eastbourne in 2015 were he won 2nd section D 90th open from an entry of 2494 birds. In 2016 he was entered into the Buckingham national race and won 40th section D (no open position) he then competed from the Littlehampton race a distance of 376 miles and won 34th section D 291st open. Our congratulations to Peter and John Robertson on the above success with their pigeons and I hope to see their ring numbers on this year’s national results. However it would be good if FANCIERS that I have covered in this feature could inform me about their winning pigeons. They know if their bird is in for an award or won 3 or 4 times, while I have to study the Scottish national results to see if any bird highlighted has won again. I don’t mind giving these pigeons the praise and publicity they deserve all I ask is a little assistance from the fanciers to make my life a little easier. This week’s Photographs Firstly I must thank Jim Hannah of Blantyre who has forwarded photographs of pigeons he has taken at the various shows he has attended. This week I start with 2 pigeons bred and raced by Dave & Calum McDougal of Peterhead. The grizzle hen ‘Nell’ SU13NE 7014 is their winner of 1st section G 1st north region 11th open from an entry of 1323 birds at the SNFC Gold Cup race from Reims she was flying a distance of 622 miles to her loft to win the section. The second pigeon is a chequer cock ‘Cecil’ bred in 2012 his number is NE 931. In 2015 he won 6th section G 6th north region SNFC Billericay a distance of 419 miles competing against 3395 birds. He was then sent to the SNFC Gold Cup race from Alencon a distance of 663 miles and he won 6th section G 6th north region 123rd open against a convoy of 1416 birds. As you will see 2 quality pigeons and our congratulations go to Dave & Calum and may we wish them more success during the 2017 season. Nell Cecil Joe’s Joke Next time you use a pair of latex gloves (or go to the dentist) when you're painting or crafting, you're going to smile when you think of this: A dentist noticed that his next patient, a little old lady, was nervous, so he decided to tell her a little joke as he put on his gloves. 'Do you know how they make these gloves?' he asked. 'No, I don't,' she replied. 'Well,' he spoofed, 'there's a building in Canada with a big tank of latex, and workers of all hand sizes walk up to the tank, dip in their hands, let them dry, then peel off the gloves and throw them into boxes of the right size.' She didn't crack a smile. But five minutes later, during a delicate portion of the procedure, she burst out laughing. 'What's so funny?' he asked. 'I was just envisioning how condoms are made!' Be afraid of old ladies! Be very afraid! They have been there and done everything! 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 log onto www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk and www.pigeon-chat.co.uk also www.pigeonbasics.com who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland. © Compiled by Joe Murphy
