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The Joe Murphy Column


Ian McKay
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The Joe Murphy Column

 

I noticed last week the Barcelona international liberated 17.000 birds at 08-05 British time on Friday 7th July with 94 UK members sending 279 birds. At the time of writing this article only 8 birds have been clocked in 4 days. With the Padfield Family timing the winner on day 3 flying 757 miles and just over an hour and a half later they timed their 2nd pigeon to win 3rd prize. D Winton & son of Chadwell timed the 1st east section bird flying 700 miles and are looking in 2nd place. Bob Bate of Lovedean wins the centre section and is 4th open flying 674 miles and R J Goodard & son of Reading wins 2nd centre section 5th open flying 711 miles. The last 3rd day pigeon was to SR & WH Knox of Tyler Hill winning 2nd east section 6th open flying 686 miles. Then Mark Gilbert of Winkfield has a bird just after 07-30 on the 4th morning to win 3rd centre section 7th open flying 707 miles. Mr & Mrs S Rhodes of Aylesham timed before 8 o’clock to win 3rd east section 8th open flying 680 miles. Well done to all who managed to get a bird home in this very testing race yet Holland and Belgium seemed to have had a better race altogether.

 

SNFC

 

Continuing from the disaster of the Alencon national we then turned our attention to the Ancenis race were 76 members sent 184 birds this was broken down into the following sections Section A (south section) 61; Section B (east of Scotland up to Edinburgh) 28; Section C (Fife Dundee & Angus) 17; Section D (From the Forth Bridge into West Lothian and Stirling) 22; Section E (Lanarkshire) 48; Section F (Glasgow & Ayrshire) 2; Section G (Aberdeen and the north of Scotland) – 6 birds. The convoy were liberated at 06-15am on Saturday 15th July into a variable wind, west/south-west turning to south/south-west. Information from the convoyer was the birds cleared the site in one batch heading in north-west direction. The forecast for Scotland and the north east of England for the Saturday was full cloud cover and rain and that is what happened the whole day. The Scottish Open (golf) officials brought forward the start of play for the 3rd round earlier by 2 hours as the European Tour officials confirmed adverse weather conditions were forecast with 35 mph west winds for late afternoon Saturday and Sunday as they wanted play concluded by 16-00 hours. The Formula 1 race from Silverstone shown on TV that the weather closed in and they did not have good visibility. You will see from the weather reports I have included into this article that there was a band of rain coming in from Ireland all the way across to York in the east side of England (these were publicised prior to the liberation) and yet we still went at 06-15 hours. Why did we not wait and have a midday liberation and even if the birds made it into the midlands they then had a clear run home on the Sunday. The BICC had 3192 birds at Le Mans and they waited until 09-00 am before liberating the birds on Saturday 15th July into blue skies and sunshine. Their report stated that the convoy cleared well in a very light north east wind the weather in France is very good with visibility on the channel shown as excellent, the winds are shown as SW force 4/5 this was compiled by John Tyerman & Mark Gilbert BICC race advisors. The reason for the later liberation was to allow the bad weather (drizzle/low cloud on the east side and Midlands, so it was clear when they came in during the afternoon) which is shown on the. They had over 300 first bird recorded arrivals from Le Mans and France was completely clear and that includes Ancenis. The BICC leaders were doing high 1400's and even Ray Anderson from Washington (Tyne and Wear) clocked at 21-32pm flying 489 miles so had a good race with several fanciers reporting they had excellent returns. However there were no birds recorded into Scotland from Ancenis on the day and Sunday started much brighter with the sun out but it was also a strong west wind. The first pigeon on the web site was to E Hodgson & son of Annan at 09-58 on Sunday morning then another south pigeon to W F Van Neil at 09-28 (He is having a good year and this should be 1st section A) then a bird into the west of Scotland to Jock Alston of Ravenstruther at 10-00 to win 1st section E and 1st west section. There was not another bird reported until near 5 o’clock at teatime. When we had D & R Osbourne of Locharbriggs in the south section timed in at 16-43. Tom and Mary Paterson of Plean in Stirlingshire timed one at 17-25 for 1st section D with Jim Sanderson of Pathhead a double 1st open SNFC Nantes winner timing at 17-39 to win 1st section B. W J Smith of Maxwelltown in the south section timed at 18-18 then word of George Veitch of Pencaitland (last year’s Gold Cup winner) timing in at 18-30 for 2nd section B. We then had word of 3 south section birds on the Sunday to Craig Halbert of Eastriggs (who has won the last 2 nationals from Ancenis) timed at 18-39 and E Warwick of Brydekirk times at 19-37 and Derek Nordon of Langholm 19-37 and the final bird on the day was to Derek Hay of Kirkintilloch who timed at 23-13 in the dark. (more about this later) 12 Gallant birds made it home on the second day then on Monday W McDonald became the 3rd section E pigeon in the race timing in at 06-55 with Davie Jamieson of East Calder timed at 07-18 to win 2nd section D with Jim Wood of Uddingston being the 3rd section E bird home from the race at 08-58 and finally John McNeill of Broxburn timed at 11-31 for 3rd section D. These are ALL the pigeons reported on the lib line and as you will see NO PIGEONS in sections C or G which means no birds made it north of the Firth of Forth. 16 pigeons home from an entry of 184 from the very best long distance pigeons in Scotland which is disastrous. The cream of Scotland’s long distance pigeons has been destroyed in the last 2 races from Alencon & Ancenis which has put fanciers back years. Let us say the pigeons were put down in the York area when they came up against the rain. These are were old experienced racing pigeons who have been over the course before so they would have sat there and when the time came they would have had a drink from the puddles and then headed home. But this never happened as you can see from the above result. OK the first 3 birds maybe did this as they are home the next morning but the pigeons that came in the afternoon and on the Monday must have done most of their flying on the Sunday. So they were further away BUT the question is where?? And what has happened to the rest of the birds? The SNRPC liberated their 517 birds at Arras at 06-45 am into a west to south west wind on Sunday 16th July. They had NO BIRDS on the day and as I write this column they only have 27 birds home from their entry. If this club has had a good race then we could have blamed the SNFC officials but they have experienced the same thing. As other major clubs throughout Europe have also suffered you just have to look at the Barcelona International race. Monday’s weather forecast said it was to be bad in the middle of England but the charts at night showed a clear map of Britain and said it was a beautiful day. However as I upgraded my weekly report for the BHW on Space Weather is showed that the K index figure was 6 which was very high and this had not been predicted. So maybe that's the problem? Is there something in the atmosphere that is affecting the birds homing ability. We all know there is something wrong and I do not believe for one minute that the race controllers don’t give a dam because they do. However maybe they should be more meticulous in their duties and use the technology that is around at the present time i.e. web cam; weather stations throughout Europe etc. It is endless were you can obtain information from and the World Wide Web is now at our fingertips. The Scottish national Flying Club is the ONLY club that caters for ALL of the country; the people from the North section pay their fees the same as everyone else and are entitled to have a chance of winning the national. Early morning liberations in races when the birds can only make it into the south section are unfair. Not only on the north section but on everyone else who has pigeons at the race therefore if it means midday liberation to suit EVERYONE then this should be carried out.

 

I have spoken to many fanciers over the past few weeks and with the losses experienced at Alencon and now Ancenis this has torn the heart out of the members. I have been in the sport since 1970 and have never spoken to so many downhearted people in all my life. They are absolutely distraught with the loss of their birds and some will NOT be back until there are changes made within the club. I asked the following lad if I could put his email in my column to prove that I’m not making these stories up he wrote; ‘Dear Joe, I completely agree with your article on the Scottish National to give all fanciers a level playing field and, as for the Alencon race I entered two birds - one four year old hen that had flown the channel three times before and the other a four year old cock that had flown the channel twice before. I have been a member since 1966 and to say I was completely downhearted and questioning why I was punishing my birds is an understatement, but today 13th July, after spending the day at hospital, I came home to find the hen I'd sent to Alencon had arrived back home. I cannot describe the feeling when I saw her. She was as light as a feather and could hardly keep her eyes open. I have promised her not to send her again. I hope the Scottish National starts thinking about what you've said. Keep up the good work. Best regards Michael Main of Portlethen’. To show the quality of pigeons that are raced by the members of the Scottish National I will highlight birds that have shown their quality in making the Ancenis result.

 

Band of Rain from West Scotland on day of Ancenis race

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View of France 15 July

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View of Channel from Isle of Wight

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Good SNFC Birds

 

Derek Hay of Kirkintilloch was going to be on Sunday night the back of 11 pm and as his wife Linda closed the bedroom curtains she said ‘There’s an owl landed on your loft’ and Derek looking out noticed that his sensor light had come on and there was his hen from the race going into the trap. He ran out in his boxer shorts (believe me this was not a pretty sight and I’m glad it was dark as it would have frightened any children or even woman who were about) and yes it was his hen from Ancenis and she was clocked at 23-13 hours. Derek picked her up and gave her a big kiss. (Just as well Linda never saw this) and then took a photograph of her as she nestled down over the top of her youngster. They have now called this blue hen ‘Little Owl’ and she is the winner of 2nd west section 11th open and now wins her SNFC Silver Award. As she has now won 3 times from the longest race point of Ancenis flying 605 miles; in 2014 she won 10th west section 46th open then in 2015 she won 5th west section 23rd open Ancenis. In 2016 she missed winning silver award by an hour from Ancenis but now has completed the task in 2017 so well done to Derek and Linda on this wonderful achievement. See attached photograph of Little Owl. George Veitch of Pencaitland has also won a SNFC Silver Award with his chequer cock, see photograph. This 7 year old was on the probable result from Portsmouth in 2015. He scored from Maidstone winning 82nd section B 210th open and he was then sent to Ancenis and won 6th section B 27th open flying 594 miles. The following year 2016 he again scored from Ancenis winning 9th section B and 49th open and now come up and wins 2nd section B 6th open to win his SNFC Silver Award well done George. On looking at this Ancenis result I checked out some of the other fanciers who timed in and was fascinating how many good pigeons are amongst these 18 birds. D & R Osborne of Locharbriggs timed in a blue bar cock to win 3rd section A 7th open and his cock won 40th open Ancenis last year. My old mate Stevie Ferguson of Annan is the only fancier with 2 birds on this result and is first bird is a red cock that was timed from Ypres in 2014 and then went on to win 33rd open Ancenis last year and now comes up to win 5th section A 9th open. I received an email from Ant Morley who wrote ‘Hello Joe just like to mention a pigeon we bred for our friend Steve Ferguson from Annan. (red cock mentioned above) The sire was bought from your BHW/ Joe Murphy Sporting Challenge sale and was bred by Graham White of Dumbarton and the dam was bred by your son Kevin Murphy and bought as a youngster both these birds were in 2010. 'I hope you find this of interest wishing you all the best yours Ant Morley of Rousell & Morley’. My thanks to Ant for this information Stevie’s 2nd bird is a blue chequer hen who won 4th section A 4th open Ancenis last year and now win 9th section A 14th open Ancenis well done Stevie Boy’. Craig Halbert of Eastriggs won the Ancenis race the past 2 years and is on the result once again. He timed in a blue bar cock to win 6th section A 10th open and this cock won 48th open Ancenis last year and the previous year 2015 he won 5th section A 8th open proving what a good pigeon he is well done Craig. Another household name from the south Derek Nordon of Langholm timed in his blue bar hen that won 17th section A from Roye last year and now she wins 7th section A 12th open Ancenis. W McDonald of Uddingston is 3rd section E 15th open flying 597 miles and this fancier won 3rd section E 18th open from Ancenis in 2015 thus proving he is a true distance fancier. Davie Jamieson of East Calder who has a fantastic record in this Ancenis race is there once again with a chequer cock that won 3rd section D 21st open Ancenis in 2016 and now wins 2nd section D and is again 16th open well done Davie. Another household name from section D is John McNeill of Broxburn who timed the last bird in race time to win 3rd section D 18th open with the same mealy hen that won 5th section D 16th open last year. Now I would like to mention the 1st open winner Jock Alston of Ravenstruther near Lanark in the west side of Scotland. This is a win that no one will begrudge Jock as he has been a household name within our sport as he is a true long distance fancier who is steeped in the SNFC. A few years back Jock won the Scottish Homing Union bird of the Year and the famous Dewar Trophy with his lovely blue cock named ‘Renstrie Reward’ who won 4 times in the SNFC. Jock now wins the SNFC Gold Globe for the 1st bird in the longest distance race in Scotland. He timed his 3 year old chequer hen now named ‘Isabella’ after his late wife, this hen won 62nd section E 481st open from the Bedhampton race earlier in the year. Her sister was Jock’s main candidate for the Alencon race but like so many others she has not returned from the race (he looks for her every day) Bloodlines are the old Scottish bloodlines of Townfoot Goodboy from Davie Angus of Symington and the Stirling cock from Mitchell of Douglaswater who also contained the Townfoot Goodboy bloodlines. Jock informed me that many years ago he visited Louella Stud who had purchased Townfoot Goodboy to see if they had any offspring from him. Michael went and spoke to his dad and came back with an old mealy cock in his hands saying to Jock. ‘This is the last son of him he is 9 years old but is still filling his eggs so if you wish to take a chance you can have him for x amount of money’ and Jock paid up and came home with the cock which is in the breeding of his winner Isabella’. As I said earlier Jock Alston is proud to be a member of the SNFC and has been on national results for the past 33 years (which is some record) having won the west section 5 times and 3 times of these were from races from France. Jock believes that the high standards of the club are so important and I totally agree with him but feel these are starting to slip nowadays. For those of you who are steeped in the history of this great club this is the only the 9th time the longest race has been won into the west section. The last time in 1998 when J McGhie & son and grandson of Newmains who the race with a velocity of 800 ypm. (Jock was doing 772) The time before this was in 1987 when Jock Cosgrove & son John of Lesmahagow won the race and the time before this was Willie O’Neill of Larkhall away back in 1964. John MacGillivray & son of Forth won the race in 1956 & 1958 with J R Turner of Carstairs winning it in 1953. You have to go back to 1938 to find the next west section open winner is Smith & Aitkin of Braidwood and the first west section person to win the Nantes race was J Gillespie of Airdrie. Once again our congratulations to Jock Alston on winning the race and to all the others mentioned above on making the result.

 

Little Owl of Derek Hay

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Falaise National

 

As I write this article the birds have been race marked for the last old bird race or the year from Falaise and Kevin said he has never met so many fanciers so low in all the time he has been helping out at Dundee race marking station. I have also heard that many people are sick at the losses of their beloved birds. I have said it in my column that the officials and management committee need to change the way they are running the club. For Ypres there was a drop in birdage going into the race baskets from 20 to 17 and I believe that this was down to 16 birds per basket this week. However I can assure you that at one race marking station and they STILL PUT 20 BIRDS PER BASKET. Which is crazy as there are only 802 birds sent to this race which is the lowest entry on record; and a transporter going to France with ¾ of it with empty baskets, it beggars belief. I said it a few weeks ago that fanciers were going to join the other national and go to Arras. Maybe the SNFC officials think I was stirring it up well the proof is in the entries. The SNRPC had their biggest entry at Arras while the SNFC has now got their lowest entry for the last old bird race of 2017. This used to be the race where everyone emptied the loft and the ones that came home earned a perch for the year but now fanciers either have to keep the birds they have got or dispose of them and call it a day. If the membership does not see changes within the SNFC then I can see the numbers of members dropping which is a pity as it has so much history attached to it.

 

Joe’s Joke

 

New SIM to Surprise Her Husband

Woman buys a new Sim Card. Puts it in her phone and decides to surprise her husband who is seated on the couch in the living room. She goes to the kitchen, calls her husband with the new number: "Hello Darling." The husband responds in a low tone: "let me call you back later Honey, my wife is in the kitchen’.

 

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 Pigeon Racing the Basics who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland.

 

© Compiled by Joe Murphy

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