The Joe Murphy Column

[Ian McKay]

The Joe Murphy Column

 

What a contrast we have had with the weather up here in Scotland you would see from last week’s issue on the Friday we had about 3 inches of snow. Then the following day it was bright sunshine with not a drop of snow to be seen. In fact from the reports from clubs and federations it turned out to be a good racing day with nearly 99% of the pigeon’s home. I have to say that the weather forecasters are getting it spot on nowadays and it just goes to show you that their knowledge and information has improved a 100 fold. Kevin sent all his team this week and dropped some late breds which makes you wonder if it is worth the bother of trying to keep them for the racing team. You get the odd one or two who make the grade but to be honest youngsters are better to have one or two races in the year of their birth. His first bird was a chequer hen bred by Rob Glover who has been a very consistent pigeon over the years and is now one of the national team so let us hope she come good in the channel events.

 

Results

 

Angus Federation

 

The members sent 823 birds to Ridsdale liberated at 08-00 hours into a light south west wind the federation winner was doing a velocity of 1315 ypm to the Forfar loft of David J Liddle who took the first 3 positions in the fed as well as being 11th & 15th open. Ian Scott of the same club was 4th 5th 14th & 16th with Macaulay Ferguson and Curran in 6th 10th & 13th places. Bob Baldie had another good race being 7th 8th 9th 18th 19th & 20th with Davie Glen making up the top 20 in 12th & 17th positions.

East section winners are as follows: 1st 6th & 7th D & D Hay of Gourdon. 2nd is L McKay of Inchcape with Charlie Cameron of Arbroath in 3rd place. B Main of Inchcape is 4th & 10th with Chic and Ann Carrie of the same club in 5th spot. The Montrose partnership of J & J Leven is 8th with Kevin J Murphy of Arbroath in 9th spot.

Club Winners are as follows: Forfar 465 birds David J Liddle; Gourdon 51 birds D & D Hay; Arbroath 145 birds Charlie Cameron; Montrose 54 birds J & J Leven; Inchcape 108 birds L McKay.

Arbroath RPS

News from Charlie Cameron who informs us that from Ridsdale race they had 5 members sending 145 birds liberated at 08-00 am into a light south west wind. Taking the number one spot again this week as well as 3rd & 4th places is Charlie Cameron with the first bird a dark chequer cock bred from a pair of Ferdinand Malfait stock birds and he scored from Alencon last year. The second bird winning 3rd club is blue white flighted 2 year old cock a Mark Gilbert crossed Len Downie bloodlines.

Second club is Kevin J Murphy with a 3 year old chequer hen sent due to hatch, this hen is known as the Z Hen and was bred by my dad’s good friend Rob Gower of Nuneaton she won 159th open SNFC Billericay last year and has flown Buckingham, Maidstone, Eastbourne and Clermont and is a very consistent hen.

Ayrshire North Road Federation

 

News from Andy Kyle who sends in the Stirling race results from the attached clubs.

Mauchline Club winner and 1st federation on a velocity 1252 and is owned and raced by Kory Galloway, our youngest fancier having recently just turned 16. His pigeon is 2 year old blue home bred Leen Boers cock from Tumley Lofts stock. He was a steady racer as a yearling winning 4th club Montrose before being badly hawked on return from the Fraserburgh race. He has not been bred from at this stage of his life and was sent flying widowhood. He is bred down from Tumley lofts stud on his sire's side when paired to a stock hen from the lofts of Gerald Delaney O’Roory Hill Stud. The Grand Sire of this pigeon has become responsible for 2 club winners for Kory through his two sons, both having won 2 races each.

Carrick Club winner and 2nd federation is owned and raced by Jamieson and Cameron and this 4 year old blue cock was bred by Jamieson & McWhirter from Brian May stock. He has won numerous positions in the past but this is his first time winning 1st prize. His winning velocity was 1221 ypm.

Cumnock Club winner and 9th federation is owned and raced by J & A McDougall their pigeon is a yearling mealy hen only having had one race previously as a young bird. She is bred from Busschaert origins stock pigeons and her winning velocity was 1188 ypm.

Valley North Club winner and 13th federation is owned and raced by Derek McCullen with a 2 year old blue Rex Doe Noppen cock and was sent with 2 big young birds in the nest his winning velocity was 1176 ypm. He has previously won 1st club on the south road.

Stranraer North Club winner is known as ‘Bob’ doing a velocity of 1172, he is owned and raced by Robertson and McCurdy, this yearling cock was only flown once last year as a young bird trainer from Thornton. He is out of their ‘Stafford Hen’ who won the South West Federation and was the best yearling hen in 2015 to clinch the yearling average for us. She is bred down from a small family within the partnerships loft who have bred and won many federation and club winners over the last couple of years.

 

East of Scotland Federation

 

News from new press officer John Baillie of Tranent who discloses; The East of Scotland Federation were liberated from Tow Law at 08-55 into a west wind. Topping the federation this week is the inform loft of Tom & Scott McEwen from Elphinstone. Taking 2nd & 3rd open positions is John Bird from Prestonpans, with 4th & 9th position going to Jim McNeil of Tranent. We are then back to Prestonpans for 5th open for Tam Waddell and Brian Laverty takes the 6th position. T Hunnam of Port Seton fills 7th place and yours truly John Baillie of Tranent completes the top 10 positions winning 8th & 9th open places.

Prestonpans Homing Society: Taking 1st position is Tom & Scot McEwen with a 2 year old cock this bird is bred again like the partners previous 1st fed topper from Ridsdale being a Paul Stobbs and Mark Gilbert cross. The sire of the winning bird is from a ½ brother to ‘Bobs Choice’ and the dam is bred from the Deweerdts from Mark Gilbert from ‘Ted’ & ‘Magnus’ bloodlines. Think Tom should be inviting Mark and Paul up to the East of Scotland to tell us all their secrets!! What says you Joe? Taking 2nd and 3rd club is secretary John Bird with is first bird a 3 year old hen being a Jos Thone crossed Jan Aarden. This hen topped the federation from Ridsdale in 2015 and also scored with the SNFC Alencon and has won many prizes in the federation. The cock in 3rd position is another 3 year old this time a Vandenabeele from the D & J Hawkins bloodlines crossed with John's own distance blood. This cock has 4 SNFC positions to his name and is another good performing bird for John. It was another cold day waiting on the birds but at the end of the day the majority of birds were home, till next week yours John’.

 

Tom McEwen who topped the East of Scotland Fed

 

Fife Federation

 

Dunfermline LRPC news from David Kennedy who writes ‘Hi Joe, the result of the Alnwick old bird race we had 10 members sending 247 birds. Continuing his winning streak and taking the first three positions is Frank Mitchell. First over the pad doing a velocity of 1080 ypm is a 2 year old roundabout hen, which won 2nd club and 8th Federation last week. Its breeding is the best of Jock Traill bloodlines.

Second is a late bred sitting 10 day eggs and was bred by Andrew Lawley of Elson from his M & D Evans bloodlines. The third bird is another roundabout pigeon, this time being a yearling cock, again from Jock Traill bloodlines. This week’s 2 bird is won by Andy Ritchie and the nomination was won by John Robertson, regards David’.

Glenrothes & Leslie PC news from Rosie Armit who tells us that the members sent 231 birds to Alnwick, and taking the 1st x 3 places are Turpie & McCord with a velocity of 1261. They timed a blue chequer yearling hen sent paired to another hen and also to a cock with the 3 of them all feeding a big young bird and sitting 4 day eggs. The sire was bred by Martin Bell of Kirkcaldy and the dam is a Braspenning. Their 2nd bird on 1259 is a blue yearling hen sent looking at a cock. This hen won 191st open in the SNFC young bird national in 2015 her sire is a Braspenning crossed Black & sons of Drumore while the dam was bred by David Black & Sons Drumore. Their 3rd bird on 1250 a 5 year old blue cock sent feeding 2 big young birds and sitting 1 day on eggs. He is a double grandson of Charlie Cameron's Belgium stray cock who had 21 x 1st prizes; my thanks to Rosie for the above information.

North of Scotland Federation

 

Buckie RPC news from Gavin Russell who sends news of his last 3 week’s results, for the 1st race of the season from Brechin no members sent any birds due to bad weather forecast on 17th April. However as we were back to the same race point of Brechin for the 2nd race a distance of 66 miles we had 6 members sending 93 birds. Taking 1st club and 10th west section (488 birds competing) is John Cumming on a velocity of 850 with a blue yearling cock on roundabout. His sire is a J Strachan Wildermeersch while the dam is a Jan Aarden via G Mair of Wales. 2nd club is Hugh Broadley on 848 with a blue chequer hen flying natural, she is a Jan Aarden from his long distance birds. 3rd club is Ian Coull with a velocity of 844 with a 2 year old blue pied cock flying spare he is a Paul Woolliss of Hull bloodlines. G Russell won the pools and returns were good for such a low velocity.

For the 3rd race flown on the 30th April from Thornton a distance of 102 to 104 miles to the majority of members within the club and taking 1st club and 6th west section (851 birds) is that man again John Cumming with a velocity of 1273. He timed a yearling blue hen flying roundabout her dam is a daughter from ‘Poppy’ winner of 1st open SNFC Ypres for Stuart Maskame of Peterhead; her sire was bought at the federation sale and was donated by Ronnie Wilson of Keith. John is also 2nd club again with a yearling doing 1194 this blue chequer hen was also on roundabout. Her dam was bred by Derek Hay from Kirkintilloch while the sire is from Doug Feaks of Elgin. 3rd club is yours truly Gavin Russell with a blue cock on 1193 he was sent flying natural, his sire & dam are Belge rung Gyselbrechts purchased from Walter Ritchie of Elgin. John Cumming won the pools with his 1st bird and returns were not bad being 80 to 100% at the time of writing this report. I hope is what you are looking for Joe, many thanks for adding us to your column yours Gavin Russell’. There is no problem Gavin good to have you on board as one of the race result press officers.

Pentland Hill’s Federation

 

News from Andy Miller who informs us that the federation were at Tow Law (2) for their old bird race flown on Saturday 30th April 2016 with the convoy sent by 15 clubs with 3506 birds liberated at 08-55 hours into a light west wind. This was a good race with slight delay after the first arrivals, and then we had 99% returns. Taking the number one spot this week is the Willie Kinnear & sons partnership from Danderhall club their blue chequer cock known as the ‘Christmas Cock’ being the winner. This 4 year old was bred by Royal Oak Lofts, his sire is a top stock cock bred by Moore & Ogden from Wall Lunt & Greens ‘Gem 32’ and ‘Knockout Cock’ being sire of federation and combine winners for John Baker of Latchford. Dam is also from Moore & Ogden in fact she won 2 x 1st prizes and was dam of many prize winners she is also from Wall Lunt & Green partnership. As a youngster the Christmas cock won 2nd club 2nd federation 1588 birds from Ridsdale £58.50. He then won 1st club 1st open Ridsdale Any Age race 124 birds winning £276.40. He was then entered into the Morpeth Christmas race and won 1st club 1st open 257 birds winning £1615.50. As a yearling he won 10th club 22nd federation 1593 birds Wetherby £393. 40. From the Tow Law race he won 1st club 4th federation 1586 birds and £51.60. He was then entered into the Morpeth Christmas race and won 1st club 1st open 184 birds winning £1685.50. As a 2 year old he won 17th club from Newark 255 birds and £128.60 then raced from Tow Law he won 23rd club 470 birds and won £73.00. He was again sent to Tow Law and won 1st club 4th federation 1586 birds winning £51.60. In 2015 he was sent to Ridsdale and won 6th club 19th federation 1706 birds winning £332.50. He then had the next 2 Tow Law races and won 15th club 501 birds winning £394.00 in the first event then won 9th club 512 birds and won £142.00. He was then sent to Ripon and won 5th club 8th federation 1907 birds winning £413.50. This year 2016 he was won 7th club 10th federation 1223 birds from Ridsdale winning £425.00 then into the Tow Law race point to win 13th club 386 birds and £42.00 and now this week he wins 1st club 1st federation 2018 birds and £668.00 for his efforts. This cocks total winnings to date is a staggering £6.751.10 truly outstanding and he has proved by the above results that he is an exceptional pigeon well done to Willie and son’s Barry and James. Second federation is G Verth of Danderhall with Willie Pryde & son of Easthouses in 3rd 5th 7th & 8th open places. A McLaughlin of Edinburgh Premier is 4th with L Mitchell of Castlebrae in 6th spot. Owenson Brothers from Danderhall are 9th with W Hume junior of Danderhall in 10th place.

 

Barry Kinnear Who topped Pentland Fed

 

 

Club Winners are as follows;

 

Danderhall 558 birds; 1st Kinnear 2nd Verth 3rd Owenson

Easthouses 407 birds; 1st 2nd & 3rd W Pryde & Son

Edinburgh Premier 322 birds; 1st McLaughlin 2nd & 3rd Gilchrist

Castlebrae 190 birds; 1st & 3rd L Mitchell 2nd A Mitchell

Sighthill 194 birds; 1st & 2nd Miller 3rd Bremner

Woodburn 250 birds; 1st & 2nd Lapinski 3rd Halley & Kelly

Arniston 44 birds; 1st Mercer 2nd Ray

Gilmerton 175 birds; 1st Bennet 2nd & 3rd Robertson

Bonnyrigg 189 birds; 1st Brown 2nd Benson 3rd J Dewar

Edinburgh West 196 birds; 1st & 2nd I Bennett 3rd C Bennett

Loanhead 184 birds; 1st Smith 2nd Simpson 3rd Murray

Rosewell 112 birds; 1st 2nd & 3rd Winter

New Lothian 71 birds;

Traprain 518 birds; 1st 2nd & 3rd Thomson

Others 58 birds

New Lothian RPC from the Tow Law (2) for their old bird race flown on Saturday 30th April 2016 with the convoy sent by 69 lofts with 2018 birds competing. Taking top prize and winning £472 is the W Kinnear & son’s partnership from Danderhall. Club mate G Verth is 2nd with Easthouses Willie Pryde & son with 4 pigeons to win 3rd 5th 7th & 8th open places. A McLaughlin of Edinburgh Premier is 4th with L Mitchell of Castlebrae in 6th spot. Owenson Brothers from Danderhall are 9th with club mate W Hume junior in 10th place.

 

Good SNFC Birds

 

This week I start with John Baillie of Tranent the press officer of East of Scotland federation. John has a very good chequer cock SU11ML 195 who was raced for 2 years at Loanhead in Midlothian before John moved house to the East of Scotland village of Tranent. He has won 2 section prizes and been 3 times on the National Gold Cup result from Alencon and therefore requires 1 more section prize to win his SNFC Silver Award and hopefully he can achieve this in 2016. His performances are as follows; in 2013 he won 134th open flying 532 miles from Alencon. The following year he was 16th section B 44th open again from Alencon then he was broken to his new loft location and again came up ‘trumps’ by winning 32nd section B 102nd open flying a distance of 535 miles. We wish John well with this chequer cock in this year’s national events. We now come to section C to the father and son loft of Jim and Gary Peggie of Methil whose chequer hen SU12F 5090 has won 3 times from inland nationals. In 2013 she won 34th section C 109th open from Maidstone a distance of 374 miles. Then in 2015 she was entered into the first national from Billericay a distance of 347 miles and she won 37th section C 107th open she was then sent to Eastbourne a distance of 400 miles and she won 6th section C 21st open so therefore another 2 section prizes in the inland national and she can achieve a Meritorious Inland Bronze Award wishing Jim and Gary all the best for the future. We now move to the North section to the Peterhead loft of Dave & Callum McDougall whose red cock SU11NE 1331 has won 3 section awards however requires one more from over the channel to achieve a SNFC Silver Award. His performances are as follows in 2013 he won 9th section G from Maidstone a distance of 447 miles. The following year he was entered into the Ypres race and won 7th section G 103rd open flying 499 miles. Then in 2015 he was sent to the Gold Cup race from Alencon a distance of 633 miles and won 3rd section G 83rd open. Once again we wish Dave and Callum all the very best in the national races and hope his red cock achieves his award.

 

Joe’s Joke

 

Sneezing:

A man and a woman were sitting beside each other in the first class section of an airplane. The woman sneezed, took out a tissue, wiped her nose, and then visibly shuddered for ten to fifteen seconds. The man went back to his reading. A few minutes later, the woman sneezed again, took a tissue, wiped her nose, and then shuddered violently once more. Assuming that the woman might have a cold, the man was still curious about the shuddering. A few more minutes passed when the woman sneezed yet again. As before she took a tissue, wiped her nose, her body shaking even more than before. Unable to restrain his curiosity, the man turned to the woman and said, 'I couldn't help but notice that you've sneezed three times, wiped your nose and then shuddered violently. Are you OK?'

'I am sorry if I disturbed you, I have a very rare medical condition; whenever I sneeze I have an orgasm'. The man, more than a bit embarrassed, was still curious. 'I have never heard of that condition before' he said. 'Are you taking anything for it?' The woman nodded, 'Pepper.'

 

 

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 and www.pigeon-chat.co.uk also www.pigeonbasics.com who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland.

 

© Compiled by Joe Murphy