The Joe Murphy Column

[Ian McKay]

The Joe Murphy Column

 

Blackpool once again was a good weekend and it was good to speak to so many pigeon fanciers from all over. Quite a number of people came up and said how much they enjoyed the column and loved the ‘Joe’s Jokes’ and it was good to know that they liked this lighted sided addition to the column. Another thing highlighted was the fact that I gave credit to good pigeons and they enjoyed reading about these wonderful feathered friends of ours. I’m a pigeon man first and foremost and pigeons have been part of my life since I was a wee 10 year old boy and I’m nearly three score years and ten now. Margaret and I travelled by train this time and it was so relaxing that if I ever go again then this is the way I’ll travel. Our only problem with this was on our return journey as they were working on the lines and we had to catch a coach from Blackpool to Preston and this turned out to be a disaster with the driver getting lost as his sat - nav told him to go over a bridge that the road was ‘closed’. When we finally arrived at Preston one poor lady had missed her train and had to wait an hour and a half, while others had to hurry to get to Manchester Airport to get their flights back to Ireland (hope they made it in time) Our first port of call was to the BHW stand to meet up with all the girls (who work so hard during this weekend) Poor Tracy will never forget her weekend for a long time. We also met up with the editor Steve and his good lady Netta and Helen who look after all the scribes in the allocated room. The Scottish Show racers did very well and it was nice to congratulate John and Alice Bell of Catrine in Ayrshire on winning Best in Show and Supreme Champion. This being the 5th time they have won this major event and is an outstanding achievement so well done to both of them and also their daughter who also won a 1st prize card. Can you just imagine winning the Scottish National Gold Cup 5 times you would be hailed as the greatest pigeon fancier of all time? And John and Alice Bell must surely rank as this within the showing world and I hope all Scottish pigeon fanciers are proud of you. I know that I am.

 

Regarding the show it has diminished in size and was a bit of a let-down as I remember when you used to walk round the top balconies and the large area where Catteralls had their transporter and all the stalls were there. These areas are now closed and everything is congested into the Ballroom the Arena and Floral Hall. These places were busy first thing on Saturday morning but after this fanciers start to go out to the pigeon sales that are on in various venues throughout Blackpool. This obviously has a knock on effect on the show and it is only going to get worse. Nowadays we have show’s like the RP in November at the North East and then another in Telford. We also have Belfast and Dublin show as well as the SHU show in Scotland, there is going to be the Spring Fayre at Doncaster Racecourse on Saturday 25th February 2017. So plenty of time for fanciers to stock up on requirements prior to the new racing season and of course there is the Web sites were you can purchase pigeons on a weekly basis. All the above must have a knock-on effect to the Blackpool show and it is just as well people like John & Alice Bell enter their show pigeons are there would be no show at all. Kevin and I pigeon in the Charity Auction made a good price of £360 and I’m glad our donation helped raise the total amount to £5000 toward this worthy cause. I visited Andy Gregson at his stand and purchased a very well-bred yearling hen from him so hopefully this will breed us something in the future. Continuing on the sale of pigeons at Blackpool I noticed on the BBC news a topic on ‘Pigeons for Sale’ and thought it was about ‘The Night with the Stars’ sale. As these pigeons made thousands of pounds but nothing could be further from the truth - read on: In Sanliurfa, south-east of Turkey, a cage full of pigeons sits surrounded by a circle of stools. Nearby, a poster on the wall advertises a now-passed "National Most Beautiful Pigeon Contest". Here, they auction the birds to a dedicated band of pigeon keepers and breeders, a pastime that has been thriving for hundreds of years in the region and across the nearby border in Syria. Ismail Ozbek is one of those breeders. He keeps about 200 pigeons in lofts fitted with alarms and closed circuit TV cameras to ensure their safety. Mr Ozbek has given these prized birds lyrical names such as Sari Aynali, Kara Alaca, Kirk Telli and Ispir. Small bells and strings of beads adorn their feet, and some even wear silver jewels in their feathers. (See photograph) At auction these birds command high prices, in spite of unrest in the region and the recent clashes between Kurdish insurgents and government troops. One of the most coveted of Mr Ozbek's birds has a value of 1,500 Turkish lira (£320). Auctioneer Imam Dildas once sold a pair of pigeons for 35,000 Turkish lira (£75-00). "This is a passion, a hobby you cannot quit", said Mr Dildas. "I've been known to sell the fridge and my wife's gold bracelets to pay for pigeons." With the Syrian border just 30 miles away, many of the best birds came across to Turkey as the civil war heightened, causing oversupply, which led to lower prices, but as the conflict escalated, the prices rose once more. By the end of the auction, Mr Dildas had sold about 13,000 Lira (£2,750) worth of birds. His commission is 10% and I bet he wished he had sold the birds in Blackpool ha ha.

 

Turkish Pigeon

 

Wilson Noble of Fraserburgh

 

I noticed that fellow scribe Ryan Hay (whom I met at Blackpool) had an article on my old friend Wilson Noble and other outstanding fanciers from Fraserburgh area in last week’s BHW. This brought back happy memories of a holiday we had in Fraserburgh when we visited Bob MacDonald and Wilson and Eileen. On the morning we were leaving he gave Kevin and I an egg (the other was not filled) Eileen put it in toilet roll and into an empty cardboard box (that you got 6 chicken eggs from in the shops) we put it on the dashboard to keep it warm and drove home. I put the egg under one of my pairs and then helped Margaret empty the car and assist with washing all our clothes. When I entered the loft the next morning there was eggs shell on the loft floor and I wondered what the hell was going on. As I had all my birds sitting on pot eggs, so looking under the hen that I had put Wilson's egg under and low and behold it had hatched. This bird turned out to be a black white flight cock and was a grandson of 'Black Rocket' winner of 1st North Section 11th open Rennes flying 663 miles timed at 23-09 hours being 17 hours 40 minutes on the wing ON THE DAY of liberation and what makes this all the more remarkable was the national winner was flying 178 miles less than ‘Black Rocket’. We named our cock the 'Nantes Cock' as he won 14th open SNFC Nantes 600 miles in 1988 the year Donaldson & Downie won the national. He in turn bred 'Black Beauty' a 3 times SNFC winner for us and was one of Kevin's favourite pigeons. He in turn bred a hen that won 35th open SNFC Lille in 2000 and was one of Kevin's first pigeons to win a national diploma for him flying on his own. As a matter of interest this was the start of his 104 SNFC Diplomas he has won since then. The old 'Nantes Cock' moved up to Arbroath with him and died at the age of 19 years. I also have to say that I’m also great friends with Bob Whyte of Fraserburgh who flew in the famous partnership with George Ritchie as Ritchie and Whyte. The won 1st north section 2nd open SNFC Nantes flying 727 miles with their champion hen ‘Storm Queen’ this wonderful hen had won 54th open SNFC Beauvais the previous year. One of our present day stock hens comes down from ‘Storm Queen’ with descendants who have won 1st ,2nd , 3rd & 4th North Section winning 125th & 126th open Rennes flying 661 miles, they have also won 1st north section 57th open Liege flying 570 miles; 1st north section 5th open ; 1st north section 6th open Chenoise. One of Bob’s top pigeons was ‘High Hopes’ who flew the channel 6 times winning 3rd & 6th north section. He turned out to be an outstanding stock pigeon being the sire of birds to win from 661 miles right to 721 miles. He was the sire of ‘Last Chance’ winner of 12th north section Alencon 663 miles and 1st north section 42nd open SNFC Tours being the only bird in race time in the north section. She in turn is the dam of our hen ‘Martha’ who has bred pigeons to win 18th open SNFC Ypres, 19th open SNFC Clermont, 86th and 134th open SNFC Alencon. I hold Bob Whyte, Wilson Noble and George Rankin of Blantyre with the highest respect as they impressed me the most in my pigeon life time as they were ALL exceptional pigeon men and it was with great pride that I called them my 'Friends'. Ryan story brought back a lot of happy memories indeed which was a special part of ‘my life'.

This week’s Photos

 

As I met the owners of birds that won 1st North section in the SNFC at Blackpool this weekend I will include their picture and their winning birds. Firstly I must again thank Jim Hannah for forwarding on the photograph of the pigeon. ‘Glenugie Over The Top’ raced by George Taylor of Peterhead this chequer hen SU13NE 7852 won 1st club 1st federation 1st north section 129th open SNFC Ypres flying 498 miles with 440 members sending 2323 birds. The second pigeon is also a chequer hen SU14NE 5402 ‘Palace Lady’ bred and raced by Stuart Maskame of Peterhead. She won 1st north section SNFC Buckingham fling 383 miles against 4328 birds entered by 521 members.

 

Glenugie Over The Top

 

George Taylor

 

Palace Lady

 

Stuart Maskem

Guess Who

 

Regarding my photograph of a pigeon official doing his share of the chores in the house this brought a few laughs with some people. He did not know this picture was being taken as his son came into the house and caught him. This was Willie Dunsmore of the Pentland federation and I believe he took this in good part. He and Bobby Graham do an excellent job running this federation and we wish them and their members every success for the 2017 season.

 

Joes's Joke

 

A Scottish pigeon fancier was sitting in a bar in Blackpool at the weekend enjoying a cocktail when an exceptionally gorgeous, sexy, young woman enters. The man can’t stop staring at her. The young woman notices this and walks directly toward him. Before he could offer his apologies for being so rude, the young woman says to him, "I'll do anything you want me to do, no matter how kinky, for £100, with one condition." Flabbergasted, the man asks what the condition is. The young woman replies, "You have to tell me what you want me to do in just four words." The man considers her proposition for a moment, withdraws his wallet from his pocket, and hands the woman five £20 notes. He looks deeply into her eyes and slowly says, "Paint my pigeon loft."

 

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