Scottish Joint Convoying

[alex wight]

I read this article today and fully agree with the situation we in Fife find ourselves.

 

I have approached our fed secretary to contact our president to hold a meeting within the next 2 weeks to discuss this matter and also see who is available to fill the soon to be vacant posts.

 

No reply has come from the president, but vice president John McCord is looking to start the ball rolling.

 

The reason i am so keen to get things going better is because i dont want to lose my hobby. As it stands just now i can see our fed hitting the wall within 5 years which frankly is frightening.

 

With the support of the forward thinking members within our fed we can start now to put things in place for the future.

 

here is the article.

 

Last weekend we had Angus & Dundee federations going together in the same transporter to their open races from Wakefield; on the Saturday they were liberated with another 2 federations heading to Scotland at 07.45. We had Central and North West federations liberating at 7.30am. The Fife federation and the Kingdom Federation, both at the same liberation point, liberated with 15 minutes between liberations, Fife going at 11.00. How on earth can these federations not agree to go down the road in the same transporter and agree a race programme on the same lines as the Up North Combine with all the birds going up together? The UNC have done this for years and progressed whereas we in Scotland are stuck in a time warp. I’m going to be brutally honest, if fanciers DO NOT see what they are doing to their sport then their will be NO pigeon racing in years to come. We need to get together and TALK for the welfare of the sport. We need to see if the North of Scotland and Aberdeen federations started a couple of weeks earlier they could then catch up and go with Dundee; Angus; Fife; Kingdom; Midlothian; Pentland Hills (Scottish Borders go with Pentland just now) Almond Valley; Central and North West federations. All these federations could be going down the road in 2 transporters and even down to 1 when it comes to the longer races whereas just now we have 11 organisations paying for a driver and wagon to go down the road. It could be done on the other side of the country with I bet Lanarkshire quite happy to take the whole of the west of Scotland down the road. What is going on just now is just crazy and we need to get someone with some go in them to fix this out. Charlie Graham did it many years ago with mid week racing and picked up pigeons from Fife etc and it worked a treat and we need to get something done now or the sport will die. When you also think of the heavy losses we have experienced this year it is a nightmare whereas going together like the Up North Combine will help the youngsters come up the road. Next week we go to the young bird national and they are liberated together so WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? Far too many people have their OWN AGENDA and don’t want to come out of their little bubble; these are the ones who shout the loudest at meetings and the majority go with what they say. They are not interested in their federation or the progress of the sport. NO, they want to win in their own little back yard. I have heard it for years that Dundee will not go with Angus yet this year due to losses they have had too; so please tell me why this cannot be done on a weekly basis. I’m lost for words other than it is the agenda of certain individuals (which it is and I could name them but save them the embarrassment). I put a proposal last year at Blackpool show to people that John McCord from Crief could leave Perthshire, go to Forfar collect Angus, North of Scotland and Aberdeen federation pigeons then head down to Dundee, collect them and then go to Fife and uplift the federation pigeons; now if we use our heads he could go to Newbridge at the Forth Bridge and collect Almond Valley, Central and North West and if there were too many birds Pentland Hills could start there picking up birds then collect Midlothian and then Scottish Borders and head to the race point. We could have 2 or 3 lorriestaking the whole east side of Scotland down the road; you could have a Combine and your own federation race programme every week and believe me you would have more birds left at the end of the season. I have spoken to fanciers and this will work and save members in each federation and more importantly keep our sport alive so will fanciers please see SENSE before it is too late. Now is the time to act for next year as this will work. It is up to you!!!!

 

regards alex wight.

 

oops i,ll get the title changed soonest to scottish, ta.

[Henrik]

Aye Mr Murphy has forgotten about the East of Scotland Federation who at present go with Pentland Hills and also Traprain club, does he also advocate forgetting about all the upheaval caused by the people who tried ever so hard to destroy the SHU a few years back and welcome them back with open arms.Well my Federation most certainly wont be welcoming these people back, they took everything we had and we had to start from scratch and they aint getting a chance to do it again.

[OLDYELLOW]

Corrected the title , a lot of sense in what he's saying all though would be a big combine feds would still exist otherwise would be too big so makes a lot of sense them all coming together however the race programme would be where a lot would fall out as most will have there own agendas , be a great boost to Scottish racing and even better to get combine results

[clockman]

Dundee and Angus have always went together when there is room on one transporter, The problem with going with other feds is that to many want there own way,ie racepoints, controlling, ect.

[lightning fast]

I have been saying this for years , the Scottish central combine should be flying each week with 4 fed together , but as usual too many folk disagree with each other Scotlands history repeteing it's self

[Walter swanston]

Yes we need to talk, federation to federation and all that entails but it is off to a very poor start if before any talking is done we are informed about people having their own agenda and living in a bubble.What kind of insulting nonsense is that for anyone who has the future of pigeon racing at heart

[DJWa]

Dundee and Angus have always went together when there is room on one transporter, The problem with going with other feds is that to many want there own way,ie racepoints, controlling, ect.

 

is this for y/bs or old birds or both

from the 1st race or further down the road

 

i dont think it would work with y/bs as they would be dragged all over the place and losses would be very high

 

the only way that y/bs could work is if you doubled up with a fed next to you not one 100/150 miles away

 

y/bs need to be educated/brainwashed into flying into a home area with birds going to the same area this also builds confidance

if were at 200 miles fife are at 120 east lothian at 80 north fed 250

as i said it would only work if with a neighbouring fed

 

this might work with old birds when further down the road at about rotherham distance

when the transporters are carrying less birds

 

but this i feel doesnt adress the main problem (the bermuda triangle)

south of the forth down to the borders

i feel if possable we should miss out that area completely

that would maen jumping birds but i think they would take this ok

 

dave

[Delboy]

I agree with getting feds going together and forming combines/amalgamations, especially for races over 250 miles.The Strathclyde amal was very successful but im afraid a certain fed secretary tried to dictate things and it fell on its face. I hope for the sake of pigeon racing in Scotland they can come back. Maybe these events would take over from SNFC inland races.

[Roland]

Ego's and greed... mainly by them that are more affluent in both Money and Position. They won't allow any drag that might give the slightest help in a better playing field.

Like Portland. We keep pressing for a different lib site as it is litually team with Percys awaiting liberations... But those that have an advantage on the East side won't hear of it... AND WHAT! give away any advantage we have! Not on your nelly. So costs then also become irrelevant.

Wil / would take an concerted effort from the floor and a 'Special Meeting' called. But the 'Followers won't... can't upset them that flourish at their expence every season now can one! JMO

[tyson]

If you try to put constructive ideas forword you get classed as being a trouble maker as you mussent upset the apple cart especially if it means loseing there advantage with overfly jmo

[Delboy]

I agree with getting feds going together and forming combines/amalgamations, especially for races over 250 miles.The Strathclyde amal was very successful but im afraid a certain fed secretary tried to dictate things and it fell on its face. I hope for the sake of pigeon racing in Scotland they can come back. Maybe these events would take over from SNFC inland races.

 

 

The problems we have with an amalgamation in the west are - the RPRA feds (Glasgow & South Lanarkshire ) will not be measured by the SHU, therefore would not qualify to compete in the races, also the Midland fed flies down the west route.

[knoxjn]

i agree with bobby you had to be there and see what went on traprain was formed by members of the old east of scotland fed who over the years were sickened by the way things were going and formed what was to become a very good club but were attacked at every turn by people who you looked on as friends luckily we had a great president in the late great dale newcombe and treasurer g whitson who just wanted to race pigeons and drove the club forward i agree whole heartedly with the post but some of the people in power will never give it up

[dal2]

Who would transport the solway? Which combine would we be racin in? Great idea?

[alex wight]

Just been trolling through the replies and opinions. Not surprised by them, however on a positive note i see some light in the tunnel. If all feds were contacted to arrange a meeting, the feds interested would show their support and the feds not interested would stay away. We could then work on the interested parties, to thrash out a working plan for the future. It would have to be representatives from each fed ie 4 each, that would be responsible for relaying the information to their respective federations.

 

I feel we need to act now, and not wait till its too late.

 

When i joined pigeons my Fife federation split in two, and also the SNFC split in two. I,ve heard all the stories as to why this happened, and to be quite frank, this is what has caused most of the problem we have at the moment.

 

Quite rightly so, people dont want to rejoin with the people that caused the animosity, but we really need to look at all avenues, to see what is the best way forward for the majority and more importantly for the sport OUR SPORT.

 

This is of course my opinion.

 

Regards alex

[frank-123]

The problems we have with an amalgamation in the west are - the RPRA feds (Glasgow & South Lanarkshire ) will not be measured by the SHU, therefore would not qualify to compete in the races, also the Midland fed flies down the west route.

 

They don't need to race with each other they can just get on the same trailer have one liberation but each fed keeps it's race separate

As for Lanarkshire fed there is a mood for change hopefully we can be more friendly in the future

[knoxjn]

you are right alex and am with you all the way the sport is visibly dying in front of our eyes put a post up earlier in the ybd seson with a suggestion to join together in small groups to get at least the ybds trough to ensure full transporters the next season waste of time no takers whatsoever

[JADE]

Dundee and Angus have always went together when there is room on one transporter, The problem with going with other feds is that to many want there own way,ie racepoints, controlling, ect.

 

Exactly. Why did the TWO Fife feds not liberate with Dundee/Angus at Wakefield. Another problem with so many feds is the area to cover. The UNC covers a fairly small area in comparison to the East side of Scotland. Another problem is at the early races most feds fill their transporters so they need them anyway and you will find most members prefer to be in control of their own destiny as much as possible. Fife needs to get shot of that massive transporter and bang some heads together but I know it wont happen for a few years yet

[tyson]

midlothian downsized 3yr ago costs then for pulling our big transporter was around 13000 a year got a new transporter built 7.5t can hold nearly 3000 birds and now only costs around 5/6000 to take birds down road

[alex wight]

Exactly. Why did the TWO Fife feds not liberate with Dundee/Angus at Wakefield. Another problem with so many feds is the area to cover. The UNC covers a fairly small area in comparison to the East side of Scotland. Another problem is at the early races most feds fill their transporters so they need them anyway and you will find most members prefer to be in control of their own destiny as much as possible. Fife needs to get shot of that massive transporter and bang some heads together but I know it wont happen for a few years yet

 

 

It beggars belief why we didnt liberate at the same time, however some of the rumours i hear is that some people werent happy, as they feel the DRAG would be heading to the far east of fife??? Our transporter holds in the region of 3600 approx, and we barely made 2000 at our highest birdage. I feel we in Fife may, just may be looking at changing the transport for next year however we need to approach other like minded feds to see what the best option is. It may be feasible to keep it, as long as it can be filled on a regular basis. I really hope it doesnt take a few years as we cant wait that long. again only my opinion.

[Guest stevie-b]

i for 1 would love to see the central and east of scotland amal refomed this was tried and tested and always good races but federations pulled out not because of bad racing but because there best fanciers were not winning the amal. there was no thought about the benefits for fanciers and more importantly the pigeons and for this reason i know it will never happen again. as for the fife officals i resresented the dundee fed at a meeting to try to get it up and running your officals were only interested in financial gain and if your transporter was not used they would not be interested. they were asked to submit figures i.e birdage that was 2006 no heard from them again. it makes financial sense but individuals dont see this.

[alex wight]

midlothian downsized 3yr ago costs then for pulling our big transporter was around 13000 a year got a new transporter built 7.5t can hold nearly 3000 birds and now only costs around 5/6000 to take birds down road

 

 

Thats about the figures we have just now. we only use our transporter for 11, yes 11 races, the others are on the back of the snfc. I,ve done a lot of comparisons with the North of Scotland fed, and we are the same size ie 136 members approx, but they have 20 independent races along with their snfc races. They use a 7.5 tonne lorry, the big difference is the birdage. ours is low, and as we rely on birdage to pay our way the sums dont add up??

[alex wight]

i for 1 would love to see the central and east of scotland amal refomed this was tried and tested and always good races but federations pulled out not because of bad racing but because there best fanciers were not winning the amal. there was no thought about the benefits for fanciers and more importantly the pigeons and for this reason i know it will never happen again. as for the fife officals i resresented the dundee fed at a meeting to try to get it up and running your officals were only interested in financial gain and if your transporter was not used they would not be interested. they were asked to submit figures i.e birdage that was 2006 no heard from them again. it makes financial sense but individuals dont see this.

 

 

I heard that as well stevie, i approached our president about that, and his response was that no-one has contacted us at fife???? after myself and brian chalmers said that some feds were willing to do something his answer again was, we will wait and see??? bloomin frustrating but i think we may start putting the word out to get the ball rolling and see where it takes us. John McCord is looking at leading this for us.

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

Who would transport the solway? Which combine would we be racin in? Great idea?

 

Is there a way yous could get in with a Cumbrian or North of England organisation like the boys on the East of the Scottish Borders do??

[clockman]

It beggars belief why we didnt liberate at the same time, however some of the rumours i hear is that some people werent happy, as they feel the DRAG would be heading to the far east of fife??? Our transporter holds in the region of 3600 approx, and we barely made 2000 at our highest birdage. I feel we in Fife may, just may be looking at changing the transport for next year however we need to approach other like minded feds to see what the best option is. It may be feasible to keep it, as long as it can be filled on a regular basis. I really hope it doesnt take a few years as we cant wait that long. again only my opinion.

your pm box is full fan mail

[VMS]

I for one would love to see the any union rule being adopted by the SNFC then there would probably only be one National club in Scotland.Having two clubs does not help anyone time to look to the future for the benefit of the sport.Remember a lot of fanciers fly in both so what difference would it really make. :emoticon-0138-thinking: