Ian McKay Posted October 27, 2016 Report Posted October 27, 2016 The Joe Murphy Column Received an email from Joe Connolly who writes; ‘Hi Joe, The two attached photographs might be of interest to your column. They depict a "mural" on the gable end wall of a neighbour's garage directly in front of Davy Cummins's loft.He lives in Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. A very picturesque spot situated at the foot of the Galtee Mountains. (It goes without saying that the birds of prey have a right fancy for the area as well which makes it a very difficult location to race to). Davy has kept pigeons for many years but only started racing them three years ago. He is now a member of Thurles R.P.C. which is 25 miles away from him and that journey takes about 40 minutes to drive. It requires quite a bit of dedication to make the two trips (race marking on a Friday night and clock check on a Saturday) every week throughout the season. The mural was painted by a friend of Davy's and after much head scratching and burning the midnight oil (and most likely partaking of many pints of Arthur Guinness), they came up with the very clever caption for the artwork. Both of them are huge fans of the rock band "Thin Lizzy" and one of their biggest hits was called "The Boys Are Back In Town". So they chose that name in honour of Phil Lynott, the lead vocalist and bass player with the band. A stroke of genius if you will pardon the pun; long may Davy's birds come back to Tipperary Town best regards Joe Connolly’. Mural The Boys are Back in Town Genuine Reduction Sale I have been informed by Tom & Scott McEwen of Elphinstone that they are going to reduce their team of birds unfortunately this sale has come about due to the unforeseen health issues of Tom. Who took a heart attack last Christmas and is now reliant on his wife Marlene and Scott to carry out the daily tasks of looking after the pigeons. Therefore it is with sadness that they have decided to substantially cutback the team to a more manageable size. There will be Scottish National and federation prize winners as well as top quality stock pigeons in the sale these will be for sale at their home from Friday 4th November (onwards) 2016 from 9am. So watch out for advert in BHW: strains housed are Deweerdt from International winner Mark Gilbert: The West Durham Amalgamation and Up North Combine award winning Stonehaven Lofts of Paul Stobbs: 1st SNFC Newbury winner Brian Cunningham of Prestonpans as they obtained all Brian’s top stock pigeons when he had to give up the sport. Plus their own Scottish National winning family Tom has won 3 x 1st open Scottish nationals and several birds in the top 10 open positions for example they were 7th open flying 491 miles in this year’s SNFC Roye race with 1135 birds competing. Plus winning an SNFC Silver Award for his pigeon winning 3 section prizes from over the English Channel: Tom has also won the Scottish Homing Union ‘Dewar Trophy’ for Scotland’s Bird of the Year, thus proving the quality of birds within the loft. Tom & Scott have won the East of Scotland federation 7 times this season and without doubt this is their strongest team of birds owned for a few years and are distraught this day has come. You will not get more genuine people than Tom Scott or Marlene as they are the salt of the earth and had it not been for Tom’s ill heath these pigeons would not have been on offer. No birds will be sold prior to the Sale on Friday 4th November as Scott is taking the day off work to assist his mum and dad. Midlothian Federation Open Pigeon Show Saturday 5th November 2016 Held At St Matthews Church Hall Carnethie Street, Rosewell, Midlothian EH24 9AT. Show will be Run Under SHU Rules Penning starts 9am and Judging 11am Prompt Classes are as follows; Flown Old Cock 2015/2016 Flown Old Hen 2015/2016 Old Cock Handling Old Hen Handling Old Cock Thru Wires Old Hen Thru Wires Midlothian Fed Cock Midlothian Fed Hen Young Cock Handling (Flown or un-flown) Young Hen Handling (Flown or un-flown). The Show Racers Old Cock Show Racer Handling Old Hen Show Racer Handling Old Show Racer Cock Thru Wires Old Show Racer Hen Thru Wires Young Cock Show Racer Handling Young Hen Show Racer Handling Young Cock Show Racer Thru Wires Young Hen Show Racer Thru Wires For Classes 7 & 8 must be on the Midlothian Federation result of any Midlothian Fed race or open result 2015/2016 season & Handling Class All Entries to Richard on 01875 821 758 (Entries after 7pm) Entries close 22/10/2016 £1 per Entry and No Duplications, Prize Money will depend on Entries “Our Supreme Champion Winner of this Show Last year went on to become Reserve Champion of Great Britain at Blackpool Show January 2016 for Mrs Audrey Ferguson†News from Bernie Received the last result from Bernie Britton regarding Broxburn club he writes ‘Here is our club and federation Wakefield result with 510 birds liberated into a north west wind at 08-30 hours. The winner and 2nd Combine is Gordon Mackenzie flying a red chequer cock a Luc van Hock bred from birds via John Smith of Duz Work fame. 2nd & 3rd club 3rd & 4th open John McNeill flying 2 grandsons of Sanny’s Memory they are both darkness youngster. The other positions won in the combine are as follows Gordon won 2nd, 33rd 34th 35th 36th 37th 38th 39th 41st 42nd 64th 68th 72nd 79th 80th 89th & 93rd. John won 3rd 4th 43rd 44th 45th 46th 47th 48th 49th 53rd 54th 55th 70th 104th & 106th as you can see Joe, great flying by 2 top fanciers who also did well in the national’s. Thank you once again Joe for all your help in publicising our club results throughout the year; take care Bernie. Good SNFC Birds Richard & Jamie Combe of Elphinstone with Chequer pied hen SU12E 651 named ‘Setonpark Sylvie’. This hen has won 6 times in the Scottish national starting in 2014 when she won 93rd section B 130th open from Maidstone a distance of 357 miles, a few weeks later she was entered from the Ypres race a distance of 426 miles and she won 26th section B 38th open. The following year she again had an inland race this time from Billericay a distance of 330 miles and she won 197th open but no section prize, however this set her up for the SNFC Gold Cup race from Alencon a distance of 533 miles and she won 34th section B 106th open. This year she again had the same preparation with the inland race from Buckingham a distance of 283 miles and she won 283rd open then set up for the Gold Cup race from Reims a distance of 548 miles she won her 3rd section prize from over the channel to be 29th section B 89th open thus winning her a SNFC Silver Award. We now come to John Baillie of Tranent with his chequer cock SU11ML 1956 named ‘Parksyde Ambition’ this cock won his 4 open positions in 4 SNFC Gold Cup races flying to different locations and it was John’s ambition to win a SNFC Silver Award with this very special pigeon. As a 2 year old he was sent to Alencon a distance of 532 miles and won 135th open flying into the town of Loanhead. The following year again racing to the loft at Loanhead he was sent to Alencon and won 16th section B 44th open doing a velocity of 702 ypm to gain his first section prize. Then John moved house to Tranent in East Lothian in 2015 and the chequer cock was broken to the new environment and continued to home well from the club races with is in mind he was again entered into the Gold Cup race from Alencon and he won 32nd section B 102nd open doing a velocity of 754 ypm. This pleased John as he felt the cock was coming directly home to the new location. This year he set him up for the Reims race a distance of 550 miles and he duly obliged by winning 9th section B 32nd open to win his coveted SNFC Silver Award Our third fancier to win a SNFC Silver Award is Brian Kelly of Chirnside in the Scottish Borders who wins his award with his Blue Pied hen NEHU2011BOR 701 This hen won her first section prize by winning 1st section B 18th open from Clermont a distance of 485 miles in 2014. The following year she again went to the last old bird race of the season from Clermont and won 12th section B 41st open and then this year she was entered into the SNFC Gold Cup race from Reims and she won 16th section B 60th open flying 525 miles. We congratulate the above 4 fanciers on achieving the honour of winning a SNFC Silver Award and wish them well in the future with their pigeons. Joe’s Joke A wife comes home late one night and quietly opens the door to her bedroom. From under the blanket, she sees four legs instead of just her husband's two. She reaches for a baseball bat and starts hitting the blanket as hard as she can. Once she's done, she goes to the kitchen to have a drink. As she enters, she sees her husband there, reading a magazine. He says, "Hi darling, your parents have come to visit us, so I let them stay in our bedroom. Did you say hello?" 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
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