THE FIFER Posted September 8, 2019 Report Posted September 8, 2019 The Joe Murphy Column Kevin decided to enter 9 of his youngsters that returned home on theirown initiative from his disastrous first race; into the Tow Law race held onthe 24th August with the Arbroath club. He managed to get 8 of themhome and has decided to call it a day as he has other projects to carry outwithin his home. We have both discussed the young bird losses and have decidedto dispose of some of the stock pigeons. We have studied the race results forthe past few years and any birds that have not any children in the race teamthen are discarded. However some additional might have to go as I was talkingto a good national fancier just recently and we discussed how pigeon racing haschanged over the years. I used to love the excitement of big national raceswhen you would get the news of the liberation on the wireless on Radio Scotlandat 12-45. This was as exciting as Christmas morning with the expectation ofwhat was to come. Then after teatime you would sit out until it was 11pm ordark and then get up at 4-30 the next morning and wait in anticipation for abird. Nowadays you require 500 mile SPRINTERS on the day pigeons which coverthe distance in 10 to 12 hours. The old distance pigeons I have kept over manyyears will have to go this will break my heart but I have to be realistic thatpigeon racing in today’s world has changed. I have studied the 6 old birdnationals flown this year and ALL winners were timed on the day of liberation.With the exception of the longest race from Reims when only one bird made ithome on the day into the south section, therefore the remainder of the birds hadto home the following day. The other 5 races were all won on the day and therace was over by nightfall in fact Kevin had the last day bird from the Royerace and the remaining positions were all won early the next morning. So we aregoing to have to look at our birds and plans for the future national races asthere are no good keeping pigeons for the occasional hard race as these are notthe norm nowadays. It is the same with my feature of Good SNFC Birds which havewon 4/5 or more times the majority of these birds have won their prizes on theday. RaceResults Angus Federation News from Kenny Droog whowrites ‘Angus federation were at Tow Law, the Forfar club dominated the resultagain but with 247 birds away that's expected, However birds were comingup from Dundee direction but also coming in from the East with the prevailingwind at the same time. There was very little to split last week’s winner DavieGlen but Gavin Ferguson of the Macaulay, Ferguson and Curren partnership justmanaged it with two birds to take 1st & 2nd fed. Thewinner is down through a son of Pat O`Sullivan champion ‘Saxavord’ cock whilethe dam is a full sister to Gavin’s Silver Award cock which won 10thopen SNFC Roye this season, Gavin bought six youngster from Derek Hay ofKirkintilloch another top national flyer and it was one of those six that won 2ndfed. The Macaulay, Ferguson and Curren winning 1st, 2nd,5th, 6th, 16th, and 17th fed. Davie Glen also had a great race winning 3rd,4th, 7th, 14th, 15th, 18th 19th & 20th fed. Not to be outdoneIan Scott who only had a small team away wins 10th 11th 12thand 13th. Meanwhile Eric Galloway also only sending a small team had2 together for 8th and 9th fed. Over in the East sectionLes McKay dominated the race winning 1st 2nd 3rd5th 7th and 8th with D & D Hay up at Gourdoncontinued his good form winning 4th 6th and 10thwith only a small team away and flying 19 miles further than the sectionwinner. Club winnersare as follows;Forfar 247 birds winner Macaulay, Ferguson and Curren; Gourdon 17 birds winner D& D Hay; Arbroath 77 birds winner Les McKay; Montrose 8 birds winner GCampbell. Arbroath RacingPigeon Club This week’s result from theTow Law race flown on 24th August had 7 members sending 77 birdsliberated at 08:00 hours into a light south west wind. Les McKay takes thefirst 6 places with Charlie & Glen Cameron in 7th place they arefollowed by Kevin J Murphy with R Nowosad in 9th spot followed byGraham McKenzie in 10th place followed by Chic and Ann Carrie in 11thspot. Almond Valleys Federation News from Lynne Stewart whowrites, ‘Hi Joe, Almond Valley Federation were at Otterburn on the 24thAugust with a convoy of 787 birds these were liberated at 09-45 hours. Takingthe first 8 plus 10th & 13th places are FreddieJamieson & son of East Calder with the first 8 the only birds doing over1600 ypm in the federation. Dougie Bald of Balerno is 9th with Mr & Mrs Fleming of East Calder winning11th 12th 17th 26th 27th& 28th open Jimmy Young of East Calder is 14th 15th16th 18th to 21st and 23rd to 25thopen with Colin Bain & WillieFairley of Balerno winning 22nd 29th & 30thopen. Club Winners are as follows; Balerno 152 birds; D Bald 1599.885, C Bain& W Fairley 1575.383, 1555.042, 1544.737 Bonnybridge 229birds; J Leadbetter1519.987, V Couper 1518.710, J Leadbetter 1512.284, R Buchanan 1506.769 Carnwath 114 birds; Thomson Bros 1413; McArdle& Thomson 1368; Thomson Bros 1302 & 1294 East Calder 166birds; F Jamieson& Son 1611.003, 1611.003, 1610.647, 1610.291 West Calder 94 birds; J Bird 1498.903, 1488.197,1487.623, 1487.336 Lynne has put in a requestthat ALL trophies to be returned by the last young bird race. Central Federation News from Bernie Britton who writes ‘Hi Joe, Hope you are getting moremobile. Please find our result for the Ripon race flown on 24th August with 5 members’sending 156 birds liberated at 10-15 am into a south west wind. Gordon Mackenzietakes the first 4 places with his winner a Heremans Ceuster on the darknesssystem winning 2nd open. Gordon’s 2nd bird is again anotherHeremans Ceuster as is his 3rd bird is from the same bloodlines.Gordon is wins 4th 6th 7th open federationwith other club member’s wining Pat Rafferty & sons is 5th with John McNeillwinning 16th & 17th fed and Steven & Gullane are 18thfed. A big well done to Mr & Mrs Forrest of Ratho; who top the federation. East of Scotland Federation News from Tom McEwen who informs us that the federation were at Wetherbyon the 24th August with the convoy liberated at 08-30am into a lightsouth to south east wind. Topping the federation and also taking 5th& 6th places making it a fantastic race for Tam Hunnan of PortSeton. Then we have Rab Waddell of Prestonpans making it a great double in 2nd& 3rd open. Tom, Marlene & Scott McEwen of Elphinstone take4th open completing a nice treble for the same cock that has alreadywon 1st & 4th open in his previous races. Jim McNeilof Tranent again keeps his name in the frame finishing in 7th open.Then we have Keith Howie from Prestonpans keeping up the good work taking 8thopen. Graham Wardhaugh of Dirleton comes in with a nice one at 9thopen and then we have the ever present John Bird of Prestonpans completing thetop 10. Prestonpans HS Winning 1st club is Tam Hunnam with a chequer cock from his Braspenningbloodlines. 2nd & 3rd club is Rab Waddell with a darkchequer cock a pure Herman Ceuster bloodlines from Chris Vassey. Rab’s nextpigeon is a blue pied hen from Leon Boers bloodlines crossed Jan Aarden fromTony Young. Cheers Joe and thanks for all your help yours Tom’. Traprain HomingSociety News from John Baillie who writes ‘Hi Joe please find the result forTraprain race from Wetherby. Due to mist/fog at the race point, Tony couldn'tget the birds away as early as he was hoping. Therefore the convoy wereliberated at 08-30 with the birds were away into a light south east wind. Thebirdage was down to 419 for this week and taking the first 3 in the club arethe Newcombe & Black partnership. Ian’s 1st & 3rdbirds are brother and sister from his Herman Ceusters family from stock thepartnership bought direct from Eijkerkamp Stud. The youngster in 2nd spot isfrom their distance family. Returns were a bit mixed Joe with some fanciersreporting poor returns. That’s it for another week Joe many thanks foreverything yours John B’. Fife Federation News from Geordie Todd with the federation of homing pigeon societies sending 1006 birds to Catterick young bird race these were liberated at 07-45 with no wind at the race point. The federation top 10 is as follows; Brian Chalmers of Kennoway is 1st 3rd 7th & 9th federation with Brian Kinnear of Glenrothes & Leslie club in 2nd place. Sean Diamond of Kennoway is 4th with M Molloy of Methilhaven club winning 5th spot. Jim & Gary Peggie of the same club are 6th with Bert Cochrane of St Andrews in 9th place he is followed by his club mate D Baldie in 10th spot. East section birdage from the following clubs are Kennoway 179 birds; St Andrews 94 birds; Tayport 32 birds; Methilhaven 139 birds and Leven 21 birds. Brian Chalmers of Kennoway is 1st 2nd 5th 7th& 9th federation with M Molloy of Methilhaven club winning 3rd spot. Jim & Gary Peggie of the same club are 4th with Bert Cochrane of St Andrews in 6th place his club mate D Baldie is in 8th spot with Mook Honeyman making up the top 10. Centre Section is made up of Glenrothes & Leslie club sent 76 birds with Novar sending 47 birds; Brian Kinnear of Glenrothes and Leslie is 1st 4th & 5th with Sean Diamond of Kennoway in 2nd 3rd 6th 7th 9th & 10th with Turpie & McCord taking the 8th position. West section has Lochgelly 86 birds; Crossgates 213 birds and Dunfermline 129 birds. Topping this section is Frank Mitchell of Dunfermline with Jim Doig of Lochgelly club in 2nd place. Crossgates J Hynd & son are 3rd 4th 6th & 7th with Alistair McCudden of Crossgates club in 5th spot. J Watson of Lochgelly club is 8th with his club mate Davie Hunter winning 9th & 10th Pentland Hills Federation News from Andy Miller whowrites ‘Hi Joe, from the 4th young bird race of the season flownfrom Wetherby on Saturday 24th August this being a distance of 150to 165 miles to the members. Race controller Tony Young liberated at 08:30 intoa south to south east wind. This race turned out a bit of a disaster with atleast a third of the convoy missing, in what seemed perfect weather, althoughquite hot temperatures. Birds are being reported from different areas from allover the UK. Winning both organisations is Danderhall member & inform loftof Ant Walker of Danderhall club, as this is the third time in 4 races he haswon the federation. His winner is a hen of Wildermeersch origin. Sire is a sonof ‘Big Slim’ a prolific winner in the Pentland federation for the late Jake& Tam Young when paired to a Lambrecht hen. Jimmy Moyes from Woodburn wonthe Breeder/Buyer, bred by himself and purchased back from stock obtained fromAndy Miller of Edinburgh. First place goes to Ant Walkerof Danderhall with a velocity of 1536. 2nd & 5th is FRobertson of Danderhall with Woodburn Brown & Black in 3rd &4th places. A Lawson of Arniston is 6th with Helen Aitken& Sons of Danderhall in 7th 8th & 10thpositions. A Young of Danderhall is 9th open. Club Winners Danderhall 877 birds; Walker 1536 F. Robertson 1530F. Robertson 1526 Woodburn 136 birds; Brown & Black 1528 1527 1505 Arniston 407 birds; Lawson 1523 Lothian 1487 Lothian1486 Castlebrae 125 birds; Willis 1506 L. Mitchell 1498A. Mitchell 1484 Edinburgh Premier 186 birds; Dick 1501 Affleck 1498Hutton 1490 Sighthill 227 birds; Bremner 1489 Bremner 1461Girdwood 1455 Easthouses 114 birds; G. Thomas 1478 G. Thomas 1384 Bonnyrigg 126 birds; Massey 1431 Johnston 1424 Stark& Benson 1408 Edinburgh West 53 birds; Lamb 1407 1331 1306 Loanhead 36 birds; Rosewell 44 birds; New Lothian 44 birds; Peebles – Traprain 419 birds; Newcombe & Black 1566 15651555 Others 77 birds; New Lothian RPC Andy writes ‘The NewLothian RPC with the Pentland Hills Federation had their fourth race of the2019 season from Wetherby, a distance of 138-150 miles for the members. Racecontroller Tony Young gave the go ahead to liberate with no wind at theliberation point. Winning 1st New Lothian and federation is theconsistently in-form loft of Willie Pryde & Son John, a.k.a. Bubba! Theirtimer a yearling cock was a batch of 14 which were given to John from hiscousin Alan Power, who finished with the pigeons at the end of last season.John subsequently broke these birds to his loft during the winter months and isflying them all on a celibate system. Breeding of their winner is a Koopman.The following week the New Lothian RPC along with the Pentland Hills Federationhad their race from Wetherby flown on Saturday 24th August liberated08-30 into a light south to south east wind with 54 lofts sending 1681 birds?Topping the New Lothian is A Walker of Danderhall club winning £122. FRobertson of the same club is 2nd 5th & 12thwith Brown & Black of Woodburn club in 3rd & 4thplaces. A Lawson of Arniston is 6th with Helen Aitken & sons ofDanderhall club 7th 8th & 10th with AYoung of the same club winning 9th position. The federationbreeder/buyer was won by J Lamb (breeder) and D Fish (racer) and each will receivethe sum of £110.00. Federation breeder/buyer: Wetherbybreeder/buyer was J Moyes who will receive the sum of £220.00. North of Scotland Federation News from George Duthiewho informs us North of Scotland Federation had 57 members sending 1486 birdsto Dunfermline this was made up with the East Section having 28 members send734 birds and the West Section 29 members sending 752 birds these wereliberated into a light south wind. Topping the federation and east section isColin McRae of Fraserburgh & District with a velocity of 1369 Colin is also7th & 9th east section 8th & 12thopen. His club mate J (Ian) Gibb is 2nd 8th & 10theast section 2nd 9th & 13th open. HMcAllister of Peterhead & District is 3rd 17th &18th east section 3rd 21st & 22ndopen. A W Buchan of Fraserburgh & District is 4th 5th6th east section and the same positions won in the open. J Abel ofDevern Valley club is 1st & 2nd west section 7th& 10th open his club mate A Wilson is 3rd westsection 11th open with Jim & Ann Donaldson of Peterhead &District winning 11th east section 14th open their clubmates C & M Williams are 12th east section 15th open.A (John) Mair of Devern Valley club is 4th west section 16thopen we are then back to the Peterhead & District club to G Findlay whowins 13th 14th & 15th east section 17th18th & 19th open. His club mate R H Whyte wins 16th22nd & 23rd east section 20th 29th& 30th open. John Thomson of Elgin & District club is 5th6th & 7th west section 23rd 24th& 28th open with Robbie Higgins from Fraserburgh West End clubwinning the following positions 19th 20th & 21steast section 25th 26th & 27th open. East section top 10 arementioned above the remaining West section prizes are won by G R Duncan ofKeith club who wins 8th 9th & 10th westsection 31st 32nd & 33rd open. Clubs FirstBird Colin McRae wins Fraserburgh& District: H McAllister wins Peterhead & District J Abel wins DevernValley: John Thomson wins Elgin & District: Robbie Higgins wins FraserburghWest End: G R Duncan wins Keith: G Russell wins Buckie & District; R McKenziewins Inverurie. Well done to C McRae won topping the federation and also welldone to J Abel on winning the west section. George Duthie. This week’s Photo Derek Hay see text Angus Fed. Jim Curran & Gavin Ferguson winners of Angus Federation Lasswade Lass Jim Hannah has forwardedme a picture of ‘Lasswade Lass’ winner of 1st section B 2ndopen SNFC Ypres 2019. She was bred by S Morrison & son and raced by J SSmith of Lasswade. Joe’s Joke A father passing by his son's bedroom; wasastonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up. Then,he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed,"Dad." With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and readthe letter, with trembling hands... "Dear,Dad. It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elopewith my new girlfriend, because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mum andyou. I've beenfinding real passion with Stacy, and she is so nice, but I knew you would notapprove of her because of her piercings, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes, andbecause she is so much older than I am. But it's not only the passion,Dad. She's pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailerin the woods, and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share adream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the factthat marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves,and trading it with the other people in the commune, for all the cocaine andecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure forAIDS, so Stacy can get better. She sure deserves it! Don't worry, Dad. I'm15, and I know how to take care of myself. Someday, I'm sure we'll be back tovisit, so you can get to know your many grandchildren. Love your son, Joshua. P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Jason'shouse. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than theschool report that's on the kitchen table. Call when it is safe for me to comehome! Pleasecontinue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email tojoejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view onlineeditions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.ukwww.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com - Pigeon Racing theBasics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.comwww.internationalracingpigeon.com or https://sites.google...alracingpigeon/ Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeontopics from Scotland ©Compiled by Joe Murphy
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