Jump to content

The Joe Murphy Column 12/7/19


THE FIFER
 Share

Recommended Posts

The Joe Murphy Column

 

The ‘biggest’ and ‘greatest’ race into Scotland is the SNFC Gold Cup race

which every member of the club wants to win. This year the race was from

Burdinne in Belgium (which is near Liege) with the convoy of 1251 birds sent

by 358 members liberated at 05-30 hours into a light east to south east wind

with the convoy leaving the site in one batch in a north west direction. Once

again this turned out to be a ‘fantastic’ race with the winner timed into the

Edinburgh area under the 10 hour mark for the 505 miles recording a velocity

of 1525 and the last open position of 126 th open pigeon was doing a velocity of

1253. So the race was all over in the space of under 300 yards velocity. The

furthest flying pigeon in the result was to John Thompson of Spey Bay flying a

distance of 590 miles and was timed at 08-45 the next morning. So

congratulations to the race control team and to the conveyers on a wonderful

race. There are some obvious facts we need to look into; for example the race

was flown on one of the hottest days of the year, the national officials took this

into consideration and put 18 birds into each basket (which I have advocated

for years) so this helped. Then we have to look at the where the race point was

i.e. Belgium were we also race from Ypres. The latter has always been a good

race and it looks like the birds cross over the English Channel and head up

the east coastline for home. You will see from my article that we had a better

race than the NFC did from Tarbes as their birds would have to fly through

the whole of France in 40+ degrees. So do we the Scottish national continue

with these Belgium race points as we are experiencing better races and good

returns? Kevin has 6 out of 6 with his last bird being picked up in the Blyth

area and my thanks to David Power and Mick Brennan for getting the bird up

to me. The race was a bit too quick for Kevin’s birds but we had 3 back on the

day with our yearling Maidstone winner homing at 21-50 hours, so he will be

put by till next year. However 6 out of 6 are good returns from a 500 mile

race. One of the items that stuck me while studding the Burdinne open

national result was the distances fanciers birds are credited with flying to

their loft from this race point. For example our near neighbours Charlie &

Glen Cameron of Arbroath were flying 519 miles to win 3 rd section C 22 nd open

while the distance from Crossgates in Fife (not far over the Forth Road

Bridge) is 516 miles a distance of 3 miles overfly (it’s crazy as it is about 20

miles or more to the Tay Road Bridge never mind the 15 miles to Arbroath

from Dundee) Then you look at the D Young of Falkirk is flying the same 519

mile distance as Arbroath. It would take up to an hour to fly from Falkirk to

Arbroath. It is the same with the 2 nd open pigeon that was flying 466 miles into

Ecclefechan and yet looking at the result the 10 th open pigeon flying into Ayton

has only a 4 miles overfly. Believe me it is a lot longer distance wise from the

Solway area to Ayton on the east coast. A Nelson of Hamilton is flying 521

 

2

 

miles while G Briggs of Dundee is flying 526 miles. I don’t honestly think this

is a fair race point in the DISTACE respect but this is only my observations

after looking at the result and I would like to hear other fancier’s feedback on

this race point and from racing from Belgium? Don’t get me wrong it was a

great race on the day and well done to all the fanciers who made the national

result. The outright winner of the race is the Pentlandhill federation and New

Lothian press officer who forward me his weekly results for YEARS. None

other than Andy Miller of Sighthill won the Gold Cup with a 3 year old blue

hen who recorded a velocity of 1525 ypm for the 505 miles home, she has had

an exceptional season as she previously won 137 th open from the inland

national from Buckingham; 2 weeks later she then won 18 th open from

Maidstone flying a distance of 363 miles recording a velocity of 1681 and now

wins 1 st section B 1 st east section 1 st open Burdinne flown on Friday 28 th June.

Last year she won 130 th open Maidstone Andy has kindly attached a

photograph of the Gold Cup winner to me. His 2 nd section B 2 nd east region 3 rd

open winner doing a velocity of 1506 velocity is an Irish rung blue hen who

won 323 rd open from the Buckingham race prior to this Gold Cup race.

Andy’s 3 rd pigeon winning 4 th section B 12 th open is a 2 year old chequer white

flight hen doing a 1432 velocity and his 4 th pigeon winning 14 th section B 32 nd

open is a 2 year old blue chequer hen doing 1374 velocity. Andy has also given

me a photograph of his blue pied hen who won 12 th open from Maidstone this

year she is his main candidate for the Ypres national and is now sitting eggs, but

she has been on widowhood for the early part of the season and went to Maidstone

in this condition. Once again I send my congratulations to Andy Miller on his

‘Dream come true’ and for the help and assistance he has given me over the

years keeping my column going and lastly for the pigeons of his winning Gold

Cup team. Believe me it could not have gone to a harder working deserving

fancier. The first yearling timed in the race with a velocity of 1447 winning 3 rd

section B 10 th open is to the loft of Billy Bilsland of Ayton who needs no

introduction to the pigeon fancy. 1 st section A 1 st south region 2 nd open doing a

velocity of 1515 is J Gilmour of Ecclefechan who won the Gold Cup from

Alencon in 2017 so near to pulling off the double congratulations on a

fantastic achievement. 1 st & 2 nd section C 9 th & 13 th east region 14 th & 18 th open

is Jocky Scott of Kennoway who timed in a chequer cock and chequer hen.

The section winner won 3 rd section C 97 th open from Buckingham in 2018 while

the chequer hen won 14 th section C 24 th open Ypres last year. 1 st section E 1 st

west region 4 th open is W Smart of Allanton with his blue bar cock doing a

velocity of 1484 ypm this cock won 81 st section E from Buckingham in 2017

and again from the same race point in 2018 won 70 th section E also proving to

be an excellent pigeon so well done to Mr Smart. 1 st section D 3 rd east region 5 th

open on a velocity of 1464 is David Jamieson of East Calder with a blue bar

cock who has now on 4 times in the SNFC he previously won 176 th open Ypres

in 2017 and last year he won 7 th section D 152 nd open from Buckingham before

winning 1 st section D 11 th open from Liege proving once again what a good

 

Graham Rann with his 2nd open NFC Tarbes winner

 

Graham Rann with his 2nd open NFC Tarbes winner.jpg

 

 

Jock Scott of Kennoway 1st & 2nd section C see text

 

Jock Scott of Kennoway 1st & 2nd section C see text.jpg

 

 

Andy Milelr 3rd open Gold Cup

 

Andy Milelr 3rd open Gold Cup.jpg

 

 

Joe Murphy and Andy Miller

 

Joe Murphy  and Andy Miller.jpg

 

 

SNFC Gold Cup winner 2019

 

SNFC Gold Cup winner 2019 (1).jpg

 

12th open Maidstone for Andy Miller.

 

12th open Maidstone for Andy Miller.jpg

 

 

3

 

quality pigeon he is. 1 st section F 52 nd open on a velocity of 1335 ypm is T

Smith of West Kilbride with his blue chequer hen who won 3 rd section F from

Maidstone last year. 1 st section G 1 st north section 115 th open with the only

north section bird on the open result are Dave & Callum McDougal of

Peterhead with their chequer hen flying 555 miles and recording a velocity of

1260. Once again congratulations to the above winners and to everyone who

made the national result.

 

Guy Reed Update

 

Received an email from my dear friend Guy who wrote ‘Hi Joe, thanks for your

recent call checking up on my health again this week, and I have to say this recent

heart attack has slowed me down considerably, but I’m relatively sure that it will

all repair in due course. I would like to express my gratitude to all the well-wishers

who know me and have contact me, I’m overwhelmed and humbled by all the love

and kindness shown to me. My thanks and love goes out to you all. I had a good

chat with our friend Bernard DeWeerdt this week, and he informed me that the

season so far out there, has been experiencing difficult racing similar to our own.

With the ongoing changing weather conditions and of course the ongoing predation

which he felt was on the increase! On the bright side the birds were responding

well now and his returns from the Pau International were good, getting 11 out of

13 sent, Filip once again getting the 1st arrival and scoring 17 th national Pau. As

you know there are many fanciers that do not put their arrivals on PIPA, but you

can go on to https://www.kbdb-online.be this link is in Dutch but from the front

page you can see the word archief (archive) which will send you to the results

available. Guy continues ‘What a Joy it is to be able to write about a friend and

fellow competitor, who has had a great track record in distance racing. This

dedicated Isle of Wight fancier, has this year 2019 in the Tarbes Grand National,

achieved an all-time personal best, and done it with classic style. Graham Rann &

Daughters timed 3 of their 8 entries on the winning day. Grahams old school

approach to the distance has paid off, when he looked up to discover his 1 st arrival

had landed, after 15 hours 21 minutes 14 seconds of flying time to take

(provisionally) 1 st section B 2 nd Open NFC. This dark hen had been lightly raced

north as a young bird, and again as a yearling. As a 2 year old she was tried at

Sigogne a distance of 342 miles with the NFC. Finally in 2019 to prepare for

Tarbes, she had Carentan with the Solent federation, Fougeres and Cholet with the

NFC. Her sire is a stock bird from Brockamp ‘George’ x Daughter of ‘Armstrong’.

Her dam is from Grahams ‘Faithful’ a dark Shuman x DeWeerdt cock who scored

7 th International Agen when paired to T J Hazel's ‘Jackie’s Pride’ winner of 6 th

open NFC Tarbes and a daughter of TJ Hazel's ‘Olivia Rose’ winner of 1 st open

NFC Tarbes. ‘Faithful’ and the 2 TJ Hazel hens feature in all three of

Grahams arrivals from this Tarbes race. Graham’s 2 nd arrival taking 4 th section B

32 nd open is a dark white flight hen, her sire is a son of ‘Faithful’ when paired to

‘Jackie's Pride’ winner of 6 th NFC Tarbes, and the dam is an Andy Gregson bred

DeWeerdt. The 3 rd arrival is a dark cock who achieved 7 th section B 43 rd open: his

 

4

 

sire is Graham’s multiple prize winners and good breeder, ‘Faithful’ who was 7 th

International Agen when paired to ‘Olivia Rose’ 1 st National Tarbes. These 2 nd &

3 rd arrivals also had only been raced north as young birds and as yearlings. This

year Graham gave them their first races across the channel, each were sent to

Carentan, Fougeres and Cholet.

Only having my loft a few hundred yards from Graham, I excitedly went over to

congratulate Graham, and look at the arrivals. They were in superb condition, and

typical of the type that Graham has bred to achieve this much deserved and

creditable performance. Graham’s achievements should be uplifting to any

distance enthusiasts, who aspire to achieve results from over 500 miles, as he only

has a small loft set up, with no fancy methods, just very good birds that are of a

medium to small size and mostly dark chequers. The birds are fed 3 well known

Versele Laga mixes blended together, without adding fats mixes. Joe it would

please me no end to attempt a more in depth article on Graham Rann for you as he

has had many good positions from National, Classic and International events. (No

problem Guy just send it up when you have time JM) Guy continues ‘Once

again this race has been fraught with difficult weather conditions, and with a

holdover, the race was inevitably going to be very tough indeed’. (Yet on looking

at the result Guy some people have had good races and just like up here it is the

same old name that appear year after year, good pigeons and good fanciers Joe

Murphy)

 

Thank You

 

Received another email from Pat O’Sullivan whom I highlighted in my report on

the Macaulay Ferguson & Curran partnership who won 2 nd open SNFC Maidstone

Pat wrote ‘Hi Joe, I hope this email finds you and Margaret in good health. I’ve

just received my BHW and saw your article. The lads did really well to win 2 nd

open and after being unwell recently it gave me a tonic to read that my birds are

doing well with other fanciers. The photo in the article (taken in Blackpool) is also

in my scrapbook! Keep up the good work Joe kindest regards Pat O’Sullivan. I also

passed on Pat’s good wishes to Gavin Ferguson who could not thank me enough

and Jimmy Curran had spoken to Pat. Gavin also thanked me for the write up

on his 2 nd open SNFC Maidstone winner.

Bereavement Sale

 

A reminder that all the birds of the late Joe Hunt of Dundee will go under the

hammer this Sunday 14 th July with all the proceeds going to his widow and

family.

 

Race Results

 

Almond Valleys Federation

 

5

 

News from Lynne Stewart who wrote ‘Hi Joe from our race from Billericay on 22 nd

of June the convoy of 188 birds were liberated at 06-15 hrs 1 st 8 th 9 th 14 th & 19 th is

Colin Ross of Balerno with J Fairley of the same club in 2 nd place with another club

member Dougie Bald in 3 rd 13 th & 16 th open. Jimmy McGinty of West Calder is 4 th

open with Freddie Jamieson & son of East Calder in 5 th 11 th & 17 th open. Brother

John Jamieson is 6 th & 20 th with John Bird of West Calder in 7 th open. Mr & Mrs

Fleming of East Calder are 10 th & 12 th with G Young of West Calder club in 15 th

open and Robert Anderson of East Calder makes up the top 20 by winning 18 th

open. Summary list of money winners; John Bird of West Calder wins £68.80.

Freddie Jamieson & Son of East Calder wins £58.00: Jimmy McGinty of West

Calder wins £27.70; Colin Ross of Balerno wins £25.00; J Fairley of Balerno wins

£15.00; Douglas Bald of Balerno wins £10.00; G Young of West Calder wins

£10.00 Mr & Mrs Fleming of East Calder wins £7.60; A Robb of West Calder wins

£3.90 and John Jamieson of East Calder wins £1.50.

Bo’ness RPC

News from Bernie Britton who writes ‘Hi Joe, hope your all well in Bonny Fife;

Can I give you the 3 bird club result for our club member’s from the Billericay

race flown on 22 nd June. 1 st club 1 st open is John McNeill with a mealy cock flying

roundabout he is a Lambert. His sire was bred by John’s good mate Terry Rigney.

The dam was bred by his good mate Gary Gibson from Northern Ireland this bird

has previously won,1 st club 19 th federation Leicester; 11 th section 18 th open SCC

yearling derby. 1 st club 6 th federation Ripon then 8 th federation open Maidstone

SNFC winning 8 th section D 43 rd open; Other member’s on the national result are as

follows; Pat Rafferty & sons 8 th ; J Ferguson 6 th 11 th & 20th. John McNeill was also

12 th , 13th as you can see Joe not a bad pigeon. Thanks once again Joe for all your

help. The club members are grateful for your help and the publicity they receive in

the pigeon press. PS can you also say well done to Andy & Liz Miller on a great

performance from the Gold Cup race yours Bernie’.

Traprain

The members keep on marching on with some fantastic results in the national races

this season. The week after the Scottish National Flying Club Maidstone race,

some members sent their birds with the SNRPC to Billericay. Sinclair Thomson &

Son ended up winning 4 th open with their good cock who had previously won

SNFC Maidstone 2018. Sinclair was also 9 th open with Newcombe & Black

winning 7 th open. The club had another 23 positions in the top 10% of the result.

Next we had Newcombe & Black sending 1 bird to finish 3 rd open from Reims

Gold Medal Race with the SNRPC. Now onto the Gold Cup race with the SNFC

from Burdinne in Belgium. The best position in the club was for John Bosworth,

who was 15th Open, followed by Willie McCormack and Son in 16 th open, with

John B again in 17th open position. The club had 19 open positions from the

available 126 open positions for the whole of Scotland. Winning 21 st section B and

 

6

 

51 st open is that great pigeon of the Sinclair's, ‘Mr Consistent’ he will now win his

Gold Award, to go along with his Silver and Bronze Awards. Another bird worth a

mention is Jimmy Marks hen called ‘Princess Cara’, who now wins her silver

award she is a winner of 8 th section B 19 th open Burdinne, 4 th section 16 th open

Liege 2018 and she won 8 th section B 14 th open Ypres in 2017. I must congratulate

big Freddie Robertson with his 1 st open Billericay with the SNRPC and Andy

Miller with his fantastic performances from Burdinne. All these fantastic

performances have all come from the majority of national races using the wicker

baskets with plenty of shavings to let the birds relax. I have to say Joe the birds

that arrived home from Burdinne race were in great condition. (There was only 18

birds in a basket makes a lot of difference Joe M).

North of Scotland Federation

News from George Duthie who writes ‘Hi Joe we were at Sedgefield 2 old birds on

the 29 th June with 56 members sending convoy of 497 birds these were liberated

into a light east wind. With the east section having 30 members sending 214 birds

and the West section had 26 members sending 283 birds. Topping the federation

and west section is Keith member R Wilson with a yearling doing a velocity of

1434. J S Robertson of Inverurie wins 1 st 7 th & 8 th east section 2 nd 14 th & 16 th open

His club mates Eric & Nicky Yule are 2 nd east section 3 rd open. Colin McRae of

Fraserburgh & District is 3 rd & 4 th east section 4 th & 10 th open. A Mair (John) of

Devern Valley is 2 nd west section 5 th open, G R Duncan of Keith club is 3 rd west

section 6 th open with J Thomson of Elgin & District winning 4 th 5 th & 7 th west

section 7 th 8 th & 13 th open. A J Reid of Keith club is 6 th 8 th & 9 th west section 9 th 15 th

& 30 th open. S Glew of Peterhead & District club is 5 th & 12 th east section 11 th &

20 th open club mates Jim & Ann Donaldson are 6 th east section 12 th open with

another Peterhead partnership in 9 th east section 17 th open Walter Masson of

Fraserburgh & District is 10 th east section 18 th open with A Foster of Inverurie

winning 11 th east section 19 th open A Milne of Devern Valley is 10 th west section

34 th open.

Clubs First Bird

Keith winner R Wilson; Inverurie J S Robertson; Fraserburgh & District C McRae

Devern Valley A Mair (John); Elgin & District winner J Thomson; Peterhead &

District S Glew; Fraserburgh West End won by R Higgins; Buckie & District

winner R Bain. Well done to R Wilson on topping the fed also well-done to J

Robertson on winning the east section, cheers Joe yours George Duthie.

Northern Classic

Allan Curran the secretary of the above classic forwarded me news of their Poitiers

race from France flown on the 29 th June with 35 members sending 231 pigeons;

these were liberated at 06-00 into a light east wind. We had phenomenal flying by

our member Steve Allen from Ashfield in Derbyshire. His 1 st open winner a

widowhood hen was bred from a Jeff Kirkland crossed Geoff and Catherin Cooper

 

7

 

birds. This pigeon has won 10 prizes from over the water and was flying 469 miles.

Steve’s 2 nd bird is bred from the same people mentioned above and is a cock flown

on widowhood once again he has had several positions from over water. Steve won

£816-20p in prize and pool money. 3rd position is S Gill from Castleford West

Yorkshire; this pigeon is bred off birds from Tom Gilbertson from Cumbria and

was flown on the roundabout. This pigeon has scored a few times over 500 miles

and from Poitiers he was flying 510 miles to his loft picking up prize money and

pool of £201-20 pence. 4 th place went to T Dale of Castleford and his pigeon is

bred from Mike Parkin from Goole and was flown on the roundabout system, his

nest mate from the same race last year won 2 nd federation and picked up a prize of

£80. In 5th place is S Allen his bird is bred from Geoff and Cath Coopers and is a

widowhood cock, another bird which has excelled a number of times from over the

English Channel. The 6 th place is won by H Jackson of Selby, who flies on the

natural system and has had much success flying this system. We paid out £100 in

prize money with the total pay-out with pool money was £1696.12p. The

conditions that these pigeons had to fly in extreme temperatures and an easterly

wind, made for a trying race, so well done to all the brave birds who did well,

Thanks once again for adding us into your column Joe yours sincerely Allan.’ For

Scottish fanciers reading the above result it is interesting to note that the Northern

Classic, 8 eight clocking stations, They are as follows, Kinsley, then Goldthorpe,

Leeds ,Selby, Snaith, Worksop in Nottinghamshire and Paisley in Derbyshire. The

south boundary goes from Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield, Chesterfield, and

Worksop and onto Sutton in Ashfield in Derbyshire. The North boundary runs

from, south Kirkby, Pontefract, Wakefield, Leeds, Selby, Goole, Snaith, York and

Ripon. My thanks to Allan and Diane for the news and good luck to all the

members of the Classic:

 

 

Joe’s Joke

 

In the morning Tom calls to his boss: - Good morning, boss, unfortunately I'm not

coming to work today. I'm really sick. I got a headache, stomach ache, and my both

hands and legs hurt, so I'm not coming into work."

The boss replies: - You know Tom, I really need you today. When I feel like this I

go to my wife, and tell her to give me sex. That makes me feel better, and I can go

to work. You should try that.

2 hours later Bob calls: - Boss, I followed your advice, and I feel great! I'll be at

work soon. By the way, you’ve got a nice house’.

 

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

 

8

 

Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.com

www.internationalracingpigeon.com or

https://sites.google...alracingpigeon/

Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland

© Compiled by Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

  • Advert: Morray Firth One Loft Classic
  • Advert: M.A.C. Lofts Pigeon Products
  • Advert: RV Woodcraft
  • Advert: B.Leefe & Sons
  • Advert: Apex Garden Buildings
  • Advert: Racing Pigeon Supplies
  • Advert: Solway Feeders


×
×
  • Create New...