Scotlands First Direct Busschaerts?

[1967]

This is a short profile of George Wilson of Edinburgh the man wno i believe brought if not the first direct Busschaerts to Scotland,he certainly brought the best.The story begins 13 years ago,1975 in the then Edina R.P.C. This club was a very competitive one indeed possessing a lot of very fine fanciers to name a few Harry Campbell,Doug Stuart(Juniper green),George Wilson,Syd Bangham efc.It was to the last mentioned fancier,the late Syd Bangham we can thank for George Wilson introducing the Busschaerts,for Syd,with the very able help of his loftman Bill Andrews,certainly dominated old bird racing for more than half the programme winning five firsts on the trot with his team of predominately Delbar pigeons.

George had started off the 1975 old bird season rather well indeed won the first two races.It was then that Syd ,an Englishman from Shropshire,a fine person and fancier took over and won the next five races,some of those in a convincing manner George, to say the least ,was unhappy about this state of affairs and asked the writer if he knew of any strain of pigeons which would prevent Syd Bangham ever doing the same again.i suggested he obtain some Busschaerts for,as well as being able to fly long distances they seemed to excell at short to middle distance.The next question George asked was,where should he go to obtain these Busschaerts?i told him if it were me who was going to buy them i would get in touch with Ron Hallam.Readers may remember in the early to mid seventies Ron Halam put up some tremendous performances with the Busschaerts.The most notable i think was in 1973 when he was 1st 2nd and 3rd Open London South Coast Combine Bergerac,when there was only four birds on the day from an entry of 3,988 birds at a distance of 458 miles.

George duly got in touch with Ron Hallam,and asked about purchasing youngsters of that year,1975,and asked if it would be possible to get them direct of George Busschaert.Ron said he would arrange for this for him and would be in touch in due course.A short time after this George received a telephone call from Mrs Hallam saying the birds had been despatched and were on their way to Scotland as Roy Hallam had chosen a pair for him.George said that the Hallams were the only people who had ever sent pigeons to him without receiving money first,and said they were a pleasure to deal with.These two youngsters arrived the next day,and that was Georges first piece of good fortune as they both turned out to be cocks.The first youngster out of the box was a lovely Blue Cheq Belg 75-3207057 later to be known as 'Puskas'The second youngster Blue Bar white flight Belg 75-3207087 in later life known as' Bamstick.

'With the first two youngsters known to be cocks George once again got in contact with Roy Hallam and asked if he could get two direct hens for him.When the next draft of young birds came over from George Busschaerts,Roy Hallam selected two young hens and sent them up to Scotland for George.The two young hens ring numbers were Belg 75-3207242 a Dark Cheq and Belg 75-3207284 and by coincidence a full sister to Belg 75-3207057'Puskas'although not known at that time.The breeding of the four youngsters was as follows 3207057 and 3207284 were grand-children of the 'Klaren'and Cheq White flight'Sooten'on one side,and'Crayonne'and'Sylvie'on the other.3207087 was a son of'DE-Sloore'and 3207242 was a grand-daughter of 'De622'and 'Nica Nora'.In 1976 the two pairs were put together and no matter which way they paired they bred 1st prize winners every year, Club firsts too numerouse to mention,but during the course of this article i will mention some of their performances at 500 miles pure and crossed.

1977 was a memorable year for George Wilson,one most fanciers dream about.In this year with his magnificent blue bar cock 'Burnside King'SU74SN7713 he won 16th Open SNFC Rennes 7,200 birds competing and 16th SNFC Averanches winning the 'Dewar trophy'for the best performance put up that year by one bird.Burnside King was bred by the late Sandy Hogg of Edinburgh and selected by George as a young bird from Sandys loft.This cock also won five 1st prizes in club .In the same year,1977,George Mealy cock 'Burnside Lad'was 12th Open SNFC Nantes 606 miles,thus 'Burnside King'and 'Burnside Lad' won for him the Dr.William Anderson Memorial Trophy for the best average Rennes 544miles, Nantes 606 miles and Averanches 505 miles in the SNFC races.

In 1979 with having established a team of Busschaerts George decided to try a couple at Averanches 505 miles.He decided to send a nest pair of hens 1959 and 1960 both 1st prize winners in club at 260 miles.In their first race at 500 miles they were timed within a minute of each other,1960 being timed at 8,35 p.m. to be 188th Open and 1959 to take 191st Open.

[Delboy]

good read m8.

[andy Burgess]

another good read

[maverick]

Flew against george at this time and he had a team of pigeons second to none

 

The year you are talking about with syd bangham he was winning with spare hens another great team o birds

this was when the Edina was one of the strongest clubs in the fed and racing each week for around £250 a week in pool money some money for a club

[Guest king billy 1]

Flew against george at this time and he had a team of pigeons second to none

 

The year you are talking about with syd bangham he was winning with spare hens another great team o birds

this was when the Edina was one of the strongest clubs in the fed and racing each week for around £250 a week in pool money some money for a club

the birdeg in edinbru was not ever that big j mclan flow 12 widowood cocks all bushurds and won the lanarkshire fed averges about the same time happy days lol

[andy]

Flew against george at this time and he had a team of pigeons second to none

 

The year you are talking about with syd bangham he was winning with spare hens another great team o birds

this was when the Edina was one of the strongest clubs in the fed and racing each week for around £250 a week in pool money some money for a club

I remember that John, he just threw an old cock in on a Friday and the six spare hens raced to it.

 

This is a short profile of George Wilson of Edinburgh the man wno i believe brought if not the first direct Busschaerts to Scotland,he certainly brought the best.The story begins 13 years ago,1975 in the then Edina R.P.C. This club was a very competitive one indeed possessing a lot of very fine fanciers to name a few Harry Campbell,Doug Stuart(Juniper green),George Wilson,Syd Bangham efc.It was to the last mentioned fancier,the late Syd Bangham we can thank for George Wilson introducing the Busschaerts,for Syd,with the very able help of his loftman Bill Andrews,certainly dominated old bird racing for more than half the programme winning five firsts on the trot with his team of predominately Delbar pigeons.

George had started off the 1975 old bird season rather well indeed won the first two races.It was then that Syd ,an Englishman from Shropshire,a fine person and fancier took over and won the next five races,some of those in a convincing manner George, to say the least ,was unhappy about this state of affairs and asked the writer if he knew of any strain of pigeons which would prevent Syd Bangham ever doing the same again.i suggested he obtain some Busschaerts for,as well as being able to fly long distances they seemed to excell at short to middle distance.The next question George asked was,where should he go to obtain these Busschaerts?i told him if it were me who was going to buy them i would get in touch with Ron Hallam.Readers may remember in the early to mid seventies Ron Halam put up some tremendous performances with the Busschaerts.The most notable i think was in 1973 when he was 1st 2nd and 3rd Open London South Coast Combine Bergerac,when there was only four birds on the day from an entry of 3,988 birds at a distance of 458 miles.

George duly got in touch with Ron Hallam,and asked about purchasing youngsters of that year,1975,and asked if it would be possible to get them direct of George Busschaert.Ron said he would arrange for this for him and would be in touch in due course.A short time after this George received a telephone call from Mrs Hallam saying the birds had been despatched and were on their way to Scotland as Roy Hallam had chosen a pair for him.George said that the Hallams were the only people who had ever sent pigeons to him without receiving money first,and said they were a pleasure to deal with.These two youngsters arrived the next day,and that was Georges first piece of good fortune as they both turned out to be cocks.The first youngster out of the box was a lovely Blue Cheq Belg 75-3207057 later to be known as 'Puskas'The second youngster Blue Bar white flight Belg 75-3207087 in later life known as' Bamstick.

'With the first two youngsters known to be cocks George once again got in contact with Roy Hallam and asked if he could get two direct hens for him.When the next draft of young birds came over from George Busschaerts,Roy Hallam selected two young hens and sent them up to Scotland for George.The two young hens ring numbers were Belg 75-3207242 a Dark Cheq and Belg 75-3207284 and by coincidence a full sister to Belg 75-3207057'Puskas'although not known at that time.The breeding of the four youngsters was as follows 3207057 and 3207284 were grand-children of the 'Klaren'and Cheq White flight'Sooten'on one side,and'Crayonne'and'Sylvie'on the other.3207087 was a son of'DE-Sloore'and 3207242 was a grand-daughter of 'De622'and 'Nica Nora'.In 1976 the two pairs were put together and no matter which way they paired they bred 1st prize winners every year, Club firsts too numerouse to mention,but during the course of this article i will mention some of their performances at 500 miles pure and crossed.

1977 was a memorable year for George Wilson,one most fanciers dream about.In this year with his magnificent blue bar cock 'Burnside King'SU74SN7713 he won 16th Open SNFC Rennes 7,200 birds competing and 16th SNFC Averanches winning the 'Dewar trophy'for the best performance put up that year by one bird.Burnside King was bred by the late Sandy Hogg of Edinburgh and selected by George as a young bird from Sandys loft.This cock also won five 1st prizes in club .In the same year,1977,George Mealy cock 'Burnside Lad'was 12th Open SNFC Nantes 606 miles,thus 'Burnside King'and 'Burnside Lad' won for him the Dr.William Anderson Memorial Trophy for the best average Rennes 544miles, Nantes 606 miles and Averanches 505 miles in the SNFC races.

In 1979 with having established a team of Busschaerts George decided to try a couple at Averanches 505 miles.He decided to send a nest pair of hens 1959 and 1960 both 1st prize winners in club at 260 miles.In their first race at 500 miles they were timed within a minute of each other,1960 being timed at 8,35 p.m. to be 188th Open and 1959 to take 191st Open.

Good read brought back a few memories, The Watchman was a class act.

[ALF]

Good read is this the same George Wilson who was president of the SNRPC by any chance???

[andy]

Good read is this the same George Wilson who was president of the SNRPC by any chance???

NAW!

[ALF]

NAW!

cheers Andy

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

Alex Mitchell was the main Busschaert man in our area.Could listen to him talk a bot doos aw day,a good fried of Jake Burrells

 

Jimmy Johnston was the first to introduce the Billy Parkes that I'm a ware of-they were some tools

[andy Burgess]

i love reading these old articles on site . just thought i would "bump" this and part 2 up , happy reading

[Valiant Fifer]

Good read. Wilson Bros were personal friends of the late great Eddie Newcombe.

Think it was George that was in Eddie's class at school.

[paddymac]

Enjoyed reading that article, thanks for sharing

[Kyleakin Lofts]

Good read.

[Mossgiel]

Good read. Wilson Bros were personal friends of the late great Eddie Newcombe.

Think it was George that was in Eddie's class at school.

 

That is correct they were in the same class.

 

I was at George Wilson's loft in the early 80's just after he moved to the compound on the railway embankment near Murrayfield stadium. There were another 3 lofts on the site. They were experiencing difficulties getting the birds to exercise as they would land on a high factory roof about 200 yards away. Big George soon sorted that, he got himself a catapult and fired stones at the roof until the birds broke this bad habit, it didn't do a lot of good for the asbestos cement roof mind you!! George was always looking to improve his team, before he finished with the birds, he brought in some birds from Fountainhead stud of the Verschelde bloodlines, these were very successful too. Although, I think George would have won with most families of pigeons as he was a class fancier.

[THE FIFER]

That is correct they were in the same class.

 

I was at George Wilson's loft in the early 80's just after he moved to the compound on the railway embankment near Murrayfield stadium. There were another 3 lofts on the site. They were experiencing difficulties getting the birds to exercise as they would land on a high factory roof about 200 yards away. Big George soon sorted that, he got himself a catapult and fired stones at the roof until the birds broke this bad habit, it didn't do a lot of good for the asbestos cement roof mind you!! George was always looking to improve his team, before he finished with the birds, he brought in some birds from Fountainhead stud of the Verschelde bloodlines, these were very successful too. Although, I think George would have won with most families of pigeons as he was a class fancier.

 

good memories I bet m8,