Joe Murphy Article 22nd July 2023

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The Joe Murphy Column

I start this week’s column by highlighting another two fanciers who have won with Murphy pigeons; this
time it is the partnership of Colin Nicol and his brother John who live in Ayrshire. The brothers lost their
father John (senior) in February this year, who was 85 years old (see photo) and had pigeons from 1945
when his father returned for WW2, so the brothers are 3

rd generation fanciers. Thankfully they decided to
continue with the birds after their father’s passing. They purchased 4 birds at our son Kevin’s obituary
sale and 2 of these birds are responsible for breeding them a pair of mealy cocks, with one of these as
yearlings putting up outstanding results this year. The mealy cock was paired to a barren hen and was
driving her hard to the nest when sent to the Melton Mowbray race and he was the brothers 3
rd pigeon
home after being 10 1⁄2 hours on the wing. Colin told me; ‘Joe he was as ‘Fresh as Paint’ when he arrived
home. He was then given an open bowl, and was soon back on the drive; chasing the barren hen all over
the sky. He was then sent to the Federation Billericay open race a distance of 352 miles with a convoy of
120 birds (which was convoyed by Lanarkshire federation). He came up trumps and won 1
st club 1
st north

section 1
st
federation doing a velocity of 1253 ypm. He was once again given the open bowl and was soon
back in the drive with the barren hen. Colin revealed that his dad would have stopped the mealy cock, as
he had flown to the coast, as he liked to stopping yearlings then. However, the mealy cock’s brother had a
couple of broken flights so Colin decided to stop him for the year and he continued to keep an eye on the
Billericay winner to see if the race had taken anything out of him. As the ‘baren hen’ had been put in
beside the youngsters and the cock was given a few tosses from Ardrossan; he was then repaired to the
barren hen and slipped dummy eggs under them 10 days prior to going to the Guernsey Federation open
race. The mealy cock was given a training toss from Livingstone on the Wednesday prior to going to the
Guernsey open race which is a distance of 438 miles. The mealy cock was timed after being 9 hours 8
minutes on the wing and he won the federation by a clear 50 minutes from this Guernsey open race. So,
for this cock to top the federation from their 2 open races was truly fantastic and needless to say they are
over the moon with the mealy cocks’ achievements. As I have previously mentioned the partnership
purchased the parents at Kevin’s obituary sale. Sire of the mealy cock was also a mealy cock bred in my
stock loft from a Gareth Rankin cock; who was from the last son of Gareth’s No 1 sock cock, and the dam
was a double granddaughter of ‘22299’. The Rankin cock was mated to a hen bred down from Jock
King’s famous ‘Mary’ who won 10 times from National races and was a Gold Award winner.
The dam of the mealy cock was a stock hen; her sire was bred by my good friends Tom & Scott McEwen
of Elphinstone, being a direct son of their famous ‘TMAC’ a SNFC Silver Award winner his national
positions were as follows; 21st

region B 85th open Clermont 506 miles; 3
rd
region B 5

th open Alencon

Gold Cup 533 miles (Kevin won 4

th open SNFC in this race with My Little Rachel) 17
th
region B 82nd

open Clermont to win his Silver Award and he went on to win 13th

region B 47th open Alencon. You may
remember that I wrote about Karl Murphy from Ireland who won with these same lines in my article of
7
th
of July Joe M.
‘TMAC’ was paired to a Mark Gilbert hen who was bred down from a son of Euro Diamond when mated
to a daughter of ‘Minstral’ so you can see both parents have excellent breeding in their bloodlines.
Needless to say, both Tom; Marlene & Scott are happy for the success Colin and John have accomplished,
and I send my heartfelt congratulations on their excellent success and I’m happy to know that my
breeding programme continues to breed good winning pigeons, and I thank them and the other fanciers
who have notified me of their success with my bloodlines, and I wish Colin and John all the best for the
future. I have added a few photographs of the brothers with their winning mealy cock. Dad John and a
group one at the federation presentation with their dad’s brothers John & Barry (who races on his own) at
Irvine with Ian Cameron and his wife presenting the prizes. I thank Colin and John for sending me the
above information and the photographs to go with this report, and I wish them all the best in the future
with their team of pigeon’s.

Marvellous Achievement

I’m also looking forward with interest to read about the fantastic pigeon that was timed at 21-51-27 on the
day from a 06-00 liberation being the ONLY BIRD ON THE DAY INTO THE UK from the Barcelona
International race this past weekend. What an achievement this is and I send my congratulations to Mark,
Nigel and Troy; The Gilbert Team. What a pigeon!!!!! You have to take your hat off to this wonderful
fancier when you see that he won 1

st open BICC & 6

th open International Pau from an entry of 12631

birds, truly outstanding; A GREAT FANCIER, and I’m pleased to remember that I took our late son
Kevin down to meet him and the Crammond & Langstaff partnership. He was over the moon to meet
them and spoke about it to everyone he met, Great Memories!!!
Stray

On Sunday the 9

th of July as we drove into our driveway, I noticed a blue bar racing pigeon walking about
our neighbours across the road from our house. The bird was looking for something to drink and as I
approached it; it was not frightened and my neighbour Christine came out, she thought it was one of my
own birds. I explained it was a race bird and asked if she or her husband would open their garage door
and I would walk the bird into the garage which was quite dark. The did son and I managed to get the bird
into the garage and closed the door, then I went round the back and went into the garage there. I picked
the bird up and its number was NEHU2019TN 5341. I reported it to the NEHU and the bird belonged to
Derick Porter who contacted me and I have managed to get the pigeon taken down to Gretna and Mick
Brennan will collect it and take it down to where Derick lives and release it, it should make it home from
there,

Many Thanks

Received an email from Christopher Tweed of Ireland who wrote; ‘Hi Joe, I trust you are well. Just had a
read at your column in the BHW, and we would like to thank you so much for your kind words. It was
wonderful to find out about the coincidence with my dad's Rangers shirt & Jock Strang! Dad has said to
pass on the following, “Thank you very much for your hard work and kind words Joe. ‘Tommy’s Dream’
will now be kept in the loft until March time next year; just to protect her from any danger. Then we will
‘God Willing’, have her back racing next year and build her up for St Malo race hopefully going ‘GOLD’.
You Joe; will be the FIRST to know if we get the Gold! Please keep in touch Joe, and we wish you the
best health and strength for many years to come. Best wishes, Chris’. I also received a phone call from my
dear friend Jock Strang who was over the moon that the Tweed Family had done so well with pigeons
down from his stock. We also had a good laugh about Tommy in his Rangers top. Unfortunately, Jock’s
wife Betty is not very well and I know that everyone will wish her all the best. Jock also told me to keep
up the articles as he looks forward to my column on a weekly basis. Cheers mate.

SNFC Alencon

The convoy of 801 birds entered by 177 members was liberated at 06-30 hours into a very light south
west wind, with the convoy clearing the site immediately in a north west direction. Dennis Anderson of
Annan sent me an email which was as follows; ‘Dear Joe, please see details of mine and junior’s timers
from Alencon. My good chequer cock wins 3
rd
section A 9

th open this year. He was sent to SNFC Upper
Heyford on Widowerhood and was 144th open he was then sent to SNFC Brighton and won 19th
section A
49th open. He was then repaired and sent to Alencon sitting 11 days on eggs at basketing, with his 2
nd
flight had burst well through and I’ve sent you a photo of his wing. He was never trained after Brighton
and was out for exercise morning and night and all the cocks were allowed to do what they wanted around
the lofts with no pressure. Me and Jnr enjoyed sitting watching them for hours cracking around the lofts,
on handling my 2 entries for Alencon we both agreed the chequer cock ‘Bonnyrigg Lion Heart’ just edged
the condition. Of the 9 SNFC races competing he has 8 wining positions including 1
st
, 3
rd
, 5
th
, 7
th
, 12
th &

19th
section A and he now should win his SNFC Silver Award this year for winning his 3

rd channel prize.

These are as follows; 1
st
section A 21st open Reims 2020; 12
th
section A 17th open Guernsey 2021 and now

3
rd
section A 9

th open Alencon 2023. ‘Bonnyrigg Lion Heart’ has also won the following positions; 37th

sect 239th open SNFC Huntington 2021; 7th sect 147th open SNFC Maidstone 2021; 5
th
sect 34th open
SNFC Brighton 2022. Dennis Anderson Snr of Annan bred ‘Super Ally’ blue cock who is raced by Dennis
Junior and he has won the following positions; 27th

sect 44th open SNFC Alencon 2022 and now wins 6
th
section A 36th probable open Alencon 2023. Please find photos of Junior holding ‘Bonnyrigg Lion Heart’
just after we timed him on Sunday night and also a photograph of Juniors blue cock ‘Super Ally’ just after
he timed him on Monday morning. My thanks to Dennis for the above information and I anticipate both
birds going to the last SNFC from Falaise this week. I have spoken to Willie McCormack who won the
Alencon race and he is going to get his son to forward me some photographs which I will add to next

week’s article as Willie has also supplied me with information on the SNFC Gold Cup winner. Something
to look forward too!!!!

SNFC Huntingdon

There was a delay in the official SNFC result coming out as there are 2 liberations sites at Huntington
with some fanciers having different measurements, so the Secretary Donna Thomson had to have these
checked out and make sure that everyone was flying the correct distances. Hence the reason the result was
not out until Monday after she had checked with the SHU offices. Once again, she has done a wonderful
job and the open result was out be teatime. There was an entry of 1679 birds sent by 256 members to the
race; these were broken down into the following sections; Section A had 255 birds, Section B 355 birds;
Section C 436 birds; Section D 230 birds, Section E 205 birds, Section F 75 birds and Section G 123
birds. The birds were liberated at 08-30 am into a very light south west wind and the convoy cleared the
site heading directly north. Winner of 1
st & 4
th
region B probable 1
st & 4
th open is Gordon Turnbull of
Duns flying a distance of 253 miles and his winner recording a velocity of 1680.9 and his 2
nd pigeon

doing 1659 timed 3 1⁄2 minutes later. Michael Robert Gilles of the same Duns is 2
nd
region and open with

Robert Walker of Eyemouth winning 3
rd
region B and open. 1
st
region C 5

th open is Ian Scott of Forfar

who was flying 317 miles and recorded a velocity of 1653, his club mate David Liddle wins 2
nd
region D

and 7
th open with another Angus federation loft to the fore in my good friends Charlie & Glen Cameron of
Arbroath who had a fantastic race winning 8
th 9
th 10th 11
th 15th 16th 17th 18th 20th 33rd 34th open plus more
birds on the open result. Great flying lads and well done, I will be looking out for your name in this
week’s race from Falaise. David J Armour of Leven in Fife has the first bird winning 13th open he is also
19th open. J Pedder of Aberdeen wins 1
st
region G 25th open flying 343 miles, with N Holt of Peterhead

club winning 2
nd
region G 26th open flying 359 miles; John Hodgson of Annan flying 221 miles wins 1
st

region A 31st open. With my old pal Jock Strang of California winning 1
st
region D 96th open flying 294

miles. J Wilkinson of Glen Mavis wins 1
st & 2
nd
region E and wins 161st & 164th open flying 289 miles.

The winner of 1
st
region F but no open position is J Shepherd of Beith in Ayrshire who was flying 296
miles. All the open positions were won by 1⁄4 past 2 in the afternoon, so a great race and a pity about the
problem with the measurements and ALL the fanciers having to be remeasured. Which obviously was
quite time consuming, and yet the result was still out on the day after this problem was solved, well done
to Donna and everyone else who helped out with this problem. You will see from the results below that
the Fife Federation winner was doing a faster velocity but I’m led to believe the fancier is not in the
national. As I write this column the birds will be race marked tomorrow for the last SNFC old bird race
from Falaise, and the 2023 old bird season will be all over; by the time this article comes out, however I
wish everyone all the best. The feedback I have received this year from fanciers I have spoken too is that
the ‘Buzz’ is now back into the SNFC so let us hope this continues. As I also notice more and more
fanciers who broke away and joined the SNRPC are now racing in the SNFC for channel racing. I
suppose with having 2 nationals fanciers now have more chances to compete in the inland events hence
the upsurge in birdage for these races. Let’s hope this continues as it is good for our sport of pigeon racing
up here in Scotland.

Results

Arbroath Racing Pigeon Club
News from Charlie Cameron with the Huntington race flown on Friday 7
th
July in conjunction with the
SNFC race with 3 members sending 46 birds, these were liberated at 08-30 am into a south west wind.
Charlie & son Cameron took the first 2 places with the pigeons split by decimals, Les McKay is 3
rd & 4
th

with A & A Shepherd in 5th
place.
Kingdom Racing Pigeon Association
Were also at the Huntingdon race with 8 members sending 60 birds, liberated at 08-30 am into a south
west wind. Rosyth’s Lou Mitchell takes the first 3 places, plus 9

th 10th & 11

th with E & E Young of

Leuchars club winning 4th

open, with Chic Dinsdale in 5th

sport and Gary Hall in 6th
spot.

North of Scotland Federation

News from George Duthie with the result of the Maidstone race, with 38 members sending 241 birds
these were liberated into a light south east wind. Fraserburgh & District’s Colin McRae tops the
federation and east section (21 members sending 153 birds) on 1833 velocity; he is also 6
th & 9
th
section

and open. J S Robertson of Inverurie club is 2

nd east section and open with Peterhead’s G Findlay winning

3
rd
section and open position. A Higgins of Fraserburgh West End club wins 4
th
section and open with

club mate Robbie Higgins next in 5

th place. R Barclay of the same West End club is 7

th with A W Buchan

of Fraserburgh West End club winning 8
th
spot and R Bain of Fraserburgh & District winning 10th place.
The West Section of the federation had 17 members sending 88 birds; P Thomson of Elgin & District
wins 1
st & 2
nd west section 11

th & 12th open. A Wilson of Devern Valley club wins 3
rd 4
th & 6
th west

section 16th 17

th & 20th open. A Hay from Devern Valley club wins 5
th 7
th & 10th
section 18th 21
st & 35th

open. Keith’s A J Reid wins 8

th west section 30th open with A Milne of Devern Valley club wins 9
th west

section 34th
open.
Clubs First Bird
Fraserburgh & District winner is Colin McRae with a velocity of 1833. J S Robertson of Inverurie club
wins with a velocity of 1831.807. Peterhead & District’s G Findlay wins with a velocity of 1831.554. A
Higgins wins Fraserburgh West End with a velocity of 1816. P Thomson wins Elgin & District with a
velocity of 1747. A Wilson wins Devern Valley on 1624, and A J Reid of Keith club wins with a velocity
of 1545. Well Done to Colin McRae on Topping the Federation and also well done to P Thomson on
winning the West Section.
Kingdom Racing Pigeon Association
News from Pete Penman who writes; ‘Hi Joe, the KRPA held our latest race in conjunction with the
SNFC from Huntingdon. The original race was to be from Brighton, but with the adverse weather forecast
for the weekend the officials decided to go to Huntingdon for a Friday race. The convoy was liberated at
8-30 am in a light south west wind, with the leaders again making light work of the 280-300 miles.
Rosyth's Lou Mitchell had a field day taking the first 3 places, with two birds drop together. First in the
clock was a 3-year-old red Jan Teeling hen on roundabout. The dam being a Frank Tasker bred by Dyke
Armour of Levin. She was jumped straight into Kettering for her first race of the season. Next was a 2-
year-old grizzle bred by club mate Alan Dow from his Welsh grizzle family. In third place was a yearling
chequer cock whose sire is a DeWeerdt bred by John Skelton and the dam was another Frank Tasker, also
bred by Dyke Armour which has notched up 4 x first prizes in the club. Lou was also 9
th
,10th
,11
th & 14th
which was tremendous flying. Fourth place went to Eric & Liz Young of Leuchars with a 3-year-old hen
bought from Bob Colvin of the North East of England. She lost her mate earlier in the season and was
flying spare, but took up with a cock last weekend. So, to avoid her from becoming eggy Eric put her in
beside the youngsters before putting her back with the cock the night before basketing and she came up
trumps. Next, we saw Coaltown's Chic Dinsdale with a 3-year-old chequer hen sitting 16-day eggs. Her
sire is the Coaltown club legend ‘Black Bob’ who won from 50 miles to 600 miles. Gary Hall took 6
th
place with a yearling Vandenabeele chequer cock sitting 8-day eggs. Dave Whyte took the red card at St.
Serfs; whilst at Coaltown club saw Pete Penman take 3

rd place with the same red hen that was also

3
rd club from Ramsgate. Once again thank you Joe, for including us in your weekly column yours Pete.’
Fife Federation of Homing Pigeon Societies;
News from Geordie Todd with the result of the Huntingdon race flown in conjunction with the SNFC; we
had an entry of 227 birds and these were liberated at 08-30am into a light south west wind. Topping the
federation is John Harcus of St Andrews with a pigeon doing 1701 ypm; John is also 5
th & 6
th open. J D

Armour of Methilhaven club had a good race winning 2
nd 3
rd 8
th 9
th & 10th open; with Kennoway B

Chalmers winning 4
th & 7
th positions. The east section had John Harcus winning 1
st 4
th & 5
th places with

J D Armour of Methilhaven winning 2
nd 3
rd & 6
th places. Centre Section winner is B Chalmers who also

wins 2
nd 3
rd 5
th & 6
th places. The West Section was won by Crossgates R Cook who also won 3
rd place. J

Beveridge of Lochgelly club wins 2
nd
spot with Eddie McWilliams of Dunfermline club winning 4
th

position.
Space Weather
The 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table Issued 10 July 2023
UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest

Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index
2023 Jul 10 175 8 3
2023 Jul 11 175 8 3
2023 Jul 12 170 5 2
2023 Jul 13 165 15 4
2023 Jul 14 165 10 3
2023 Jul 15 165 5 2
2023 Jul 16 170 5 2
2023 Jul 17 175 5 2
2023 Jul 18 175 5 2
2023 Jul 19 170 5 2
2023 Jul 20 170 5 2
2023 Jul 21 170 5 2
2023 Jul 22 160 5 2
2023 Jul 23 160 5 2
2023 Jul 24 155 5 2
2023 Jul 25 155 5 2
2023 Jul 26 160 5 2
2023 Jul 27 160 5 2
2023 Jul 28 165 5 2
2023 Jul 29 165 5 2
2023 Jul 30 170 5 2
2023 Jul 31 170 5 2
2023 Aug 01 165 5 2
2023 Aug 02 165 5 2
2023 Aug 03 165 10 3
2023 Aug 04 165 8 3
2023 Aug 05 170 5 2
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