The Joe Murphy Column

[Ian McKay]

The Joe Murphy Column

 

This week I have been busy mating my birds up and things seem to be going well so far. It is very time consuming and I have been letting them out of their nest box a pair at time but we still have the grandchildren this week as the schools are closed 3 days this week. Margaret has the patience of a ‘Saint’ and can get them to do anything she wishes. But me, if things are getting tense I just go out to the loft for a short while (this is my way of getting out of the situation). Once the birds are down on eggs then it is much easier and time to relax with the birds. I’m more than happy with my pairings this year and I gave every bird a CCIE Tablet for Canker; Coccidiosis, irritation of the mucous membrane; internal parasites and External parasites in their box while mating up. By the time this column appears I hope to have the majority of them down on eggs. Kevin has his birds mated and we will move the first round of eggs from the stock birds up to Arbroath for the racers to rear. I hope all your eggs are filled and good luck to all readers of the column for the new season.

 

Password

 

Every day you hear about people having their computer or bank personal items ‘hacked’ and the amount of problems this has caused people. Many years ago my children told me to keep changing my password and like many of your readers we have the greatest ‘password’ ever ‘A RING NUMBER’. You can go back to your first pigeon to win you a 1st prize, or the best breeding pair you have had, or your first national winner. You get what I’m talking about all you have to do then is add a prefix like what you called the pigeon for example; TCGB75V82671 and I can bet you no-one will ever be able to break into this password. You can change it so that the TC is at the end of the number or whatever you wish. So if you are having problems or using the same password for all your transactions then think of a ring number and give it a try.

 

East of Scotland Federation Sale

 

Received an email from John Baillie the press officer from the above federation who informed us that his federation young bird sale went well considering 2 Scottish Cup football games and the Scottish rugby team were also playing. However John says ‘everybody I've spoken to today all seemed to enjoy the afternoon or early and late evening for some!! If we could thank the panel of Norman Renton, Andrew Lees, David Jamieson and Jim Wilkinson for a great afternoon. As we have always said, everybody wins flying differently with methods and training, but they all have 2 things in common - good pigeons and hard work! We must thank ALL the donors again for the quality of pigeons they had either put in or are giving as youngsters this year and to the buyers of these birds. I hope they all produce or race as good as their parents and grandparents. A special THANK YOU to Tom McEwen of Elphinstone who phoned round all the top fanciers to achieve a list as good as any in Brittan so thank you Tom. The raffle was very successful and the members who donated must also be thanked. The East of Scotland Federation has also been successful in obtaining financial support from the Scottish Coal Industry Special Welfare Fund (SCISWF) towards the Federations new premises. This we thank them very much. The premises have been ordered and hopefully being erected early March. Thanks again Joe for all the publicity you give to our federation concerning the above sale and quiz as well as publicising our weekly race results, yours in sport John Baillie’.

 

BICC Presentation

 

Received an email from my good friend Guy Reed of Isle of Wight who attended the above presentation of prizes and trophies he wrote; ‘Dear Joe & Margaret, I know what I’m going to write will appeal to you as you also rise to the challenge when it comes to distance racing. I thought I would drop you a line to let you know, I just experienced my first BICC presentation diner, at Bournemouth. I arrived Friday pm, right away meeting up with old and making new friends throughout the evening, and the camaraderie was immediate. That evening I joined John Rumeny, Marc & Julie Errington, George Purvis (who no longer races but takes a very active interest in his good friend John Rumeny) and Brian Garnham of Lincolnshire a Kings Cup winner from Lerwick. Reg Wright who came from Hull and had previously won 2nd open BICC national so between us we covered the entire country. It seems that night we attended the single bird long distance club for their presentation. I won’t do much name dropping here as the event will be covered by Gareth Watkins in the press but both evenings were sheer bliss for me, being in conversation with some of the country’s finest long distance fanciers. The BICC is the place to meet men who arise to the challenge of the toughest racing in that it includes not just National races but the International events.

The weather was very kind and on the Saturday a good long walk along the beach was enjoyed in bright sunshine, with an easy view of the needles on the Isle of Wight, which demonstrated just how close the Island is to the mainland, to my 'north eastern pals' who joined me for the walk. I was not up to my normal drinking antics as I had been rather unwell for about three weeks, and was glad of the extra rest, but this meant I enjoyed the conversations all the more. I came away feeling I had learnt something and that’s a good thing in my book. I can also add some new names to my list of greats that I’ve come to know in my life through this fantastic sport of ours. On the Saturday night the BICC presentation was a joy and the way they presented the trophies was quite emotional, especially when Ron Dove was awarded the Barcelona trophy, which gave a lump in the throat for me and I suspect for others too. This inspires like no other race, Barcelona again for me this year 2017, fingers crossed. The hotel service and the food were excellent, and I would like to say a special thanks to my ‘Pompy' pals Mick Bunney, Albi Deacon, and Kevin Bakes who encouraged me to attend. So for those who are not in the Internationals I say give it a try, even a taste of an achievement is worth the effort, and those flying against you will take you to their hearts. Best wishes to you both yours in sport Guy’.

 

John Rumeny George Purvis Brian Granham Marc Errington

 

John Tyerman John Rumeny and George Purvis

 

Marc & Julie Errington

 

Good SNFC Birds

 

Received an email from fellow fancier Vic Couper who wrote the following; ‘Hi Joe, I would like to say how much I enjoy your reports on good SNFC birds and of course Joe's Joke. I live in a very small village called Dennyloanhead, a few hundred yards from where the first ever SNFC Rennes race was won, this was in 1910 by a Mr W McLean with his champion blue cock ‘No Surrender’. It is my ambition to have my name on the Gold Cup along with his. I hope you don’t’ mind me writing to you but I have a very good bird in my loft at the moment he has scored in club and Federation but has excelled at the SNFC inland nationals and is a real money spinner. He was bred from my ‘Number 1’ pair a mealy cock from Pete Patrick of Thornton and a chequer hen from George Harris of Dunipace and this pair is breeding some very good SNFC birds for me. The chequer cock (who I have named Vic’s Boy Joe Murphy see picture Victor has agreed to this!!) SU14AV 749 his performances are as follows, in 2015 from the Portsmouth race he won 36th section E winning £229.90.flying 375 miles. Then he won 15th section E plus £119.90 from Eastbourne a distance of 402 miles. Then in 2016 he was my sole entry into the Buckingham race a distance of 300 miles and won 30th section E and £525.35 plus the nomination of a free entry to the Gran Canaria one loft race. He then went to Littlehampton race a distance of 385 miles and he won 38th section E. The local SNFC members have a £10 nomination on these inland national race and he has won them all plus £400. So fingers crossed that ‘Vic’s Boy’ achieves his goal and wins a Meritorious Bronze Award in the new season.

 

Our second pigeon is ‘Veronica’s Boy’ SU13WS 940 raced by Liam Byrne of Glasgow and named after his wife Veronica. In 2015 this dark chequer cock won 4th section F from SNFC Gold Cup race from Alencon a distance of 544 miles. He recorded a velocity of 634 competing against 1416 birds. In 2016 he won 1st section F 33rd open SNFC Reims Gold Cup race flying 579 miles he recorded a velocity of 747 flying against 1323 birds, my thanks to Jim Hannah for the photograph of Liam’s winner.

 

Veronicas Boy

Obituary

 

I was very saddened to read in last week’s BHW the passing of Brian Stansfield the father of our ex editor Cameron. I phoned Cameron to express my condolence I had only spoken to his dad a few times but he was a ‘Distance man’ and his race was Tarbes. Cameron informed me that he is going to have some of his dad’s birds set up for the Tarbes National in 2017 and it would be a fitting tribute to this man if his name appeared on the open national result. We wish Cameron well with his dad’s birds and once again our condolences at Brian are passing to his wife, and the whole family; our heartfelt condolences.

 

Joe’s Joke

 

A 25-year-old Jewish girl tells her mum that she might be pregnant. Very worried, the mother goes to the local pharmacy and buys a pregnancy test kit. The test confirms that her daughter is pregnant. Shouting and crying, the mother says, "Who was the selfish bugger that did this to you? I demand to know! Without answering, the girl picks up the phone and makes a call. Half an hour later, a Bentley stops in front of their house. A middle-aged and very distinguished man steps out of the car and enters the house. He sits in the lounge with the father and mother, and tells them, "Your daughter has informed me of the problem. I can't marry her because of my personal family situation but I'll take charge. I will pay all costs and provide for your daughter for the rest of her life." He continues, "Additionally, if a girl is born I will bequeath two retail furniture stores, a deli, a chateau in France and a £1 million bank account." He continues, "If a boy is born my legacy will be a chain of jewellery stores and a £25 million bank account."

"However, if there is a miscarriage I'm not sure what to do. What would you suggest?" All silent at this point, the mother placed a hand firmly on the man's shoulder and told him "You'll try again."

 

 

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