Scott Irving from Annan was 1st Section. Having originally lived in Annan, Scott’s father moved to the village of Brydekirk following his marriage and joined the local Club. On visiting West Cumbria he met and formed a friendship with Johnny Mossop and Billy Moore from Distington and as the years passed, obtained quality bloodlines from them. Scott Junior had taken an interest in his father’s pigeons from when he was a wee lad and by the time he was 12 years old he had matured into was a very able fancier and was an important part of the partnership with his father competing under the loft title Scott Irving and Son. The pigeons that they obtained from Mossop and Moore were truly superb with a number of top-quality birds having emerged. Consider for example that in 1991 they won the Niort National with their winner recording a velocity of 1529ypm from 600+ miles, heading the result by 100ypm and in 1997 they won Sartilly with the only arrival into Scotland on the day of liberation. In time, Scott Junior acquired his own property in Annan, forming his own loft and soon featured amongst the winners from the Classics. Importantly, as the years moved forward he formed a meaningful friendship and obtained stock from George Hilson from Bury. Following the passing of his father, he has raced pigeons into his own loft at Annan and has additionally raced a team to the original loft at Brydekirk with the two sheds being numbered Loft 1 and Loft 2. Having achieved a succession of good results, he truly ‘set the heather on fire’ in 2013, winning out of turn in the Club, Federation and the National. He was 2nd Section, 3rd Open from the opening National of the season from Newbury and 1st, 2nd and 4th Section, 3rd and 10th Open from the next National from Maidstone. From the S.N.F.C. Ypres Commemorative race he was 1st Section 10th Open and from the S.N.F.C. extreme distance event from Ancenis was 1st Section 1st Open with the only arrival on the day of liberation. As the season drew to a close he won the Section from the Y.B. National from Leicester. The success story continued year after year and in 2017, he was 1st, 2nd and 3rd Open S.N.F.C. Falaise. The winning pigeon from Ypres is a 3 y.o. Blue hen that went to the Y.B. National in its maiden season and to Cheltenham as a yearling. It was paired in March 2025 and reared a pair of youngsters. It was then split from its mate and put on Roundabout; it entered the race basket at Lymm and progressed through the Federation programme, it competed from the Reading National being 8th Section 67th Open, went to Brighton and thereafter went to Billericay being 27th Section. It was then re-paired, went to Ypres covering overdue eggs and was 3rd Section. In 2026 it was similarly managed. It was paired in March, reared a single youngster and was then split from its mate and put on Roundabout. It went to Lymm, Stafford, and Wollaston. The plan was to send her to Cheltenham (2) but as the race was cancelled she went instead to the Inland National from Billericay. She was basketed for Ypres covering overdue eggs. Her Sire was the Sire also of the loft’s 2nd Open S.N.F.C. Liege 2018, being is direct Son of George Hilson’s ‘Tyson’. Dam is from ‘Mr. Lambrini when paired to ‘Ouija Board’. ‘Mr.Lambrini’ was an outstanding stock cock that was bred by Stevie Ferguson from Annan direct from Stevie’s 2008 Tours winner. ‘Ouija Board’ was three times in the first 21 in the Open in the National from the Channel and was named after the famous racehorse
Scott Irving from Annan was 1st Section. Having originally lived in Annan, Scott’s father moved to the village of Brydekirk following his marriage and joined the local Club. On visiting West Cumbria he met and formed a friendship with Johnny Mossop and Billy Moore from Distington and as the years passed, obtained quality bloodlines from them. Scott Junior had taken an interest in his father’s pigeons from when he was a wee lad and by the time he was 12 years old he had matured into was a very able fancier and was an important part of the partnership with his father competing under the loft title Scott Irving and Son. The pigeons that they obtained from Mossop and Moore were truly superb with a number of top-quality birds having emerged. Consider for example that in 1991 they won the Niort National with their winner recording a velocity of 1529ypm from 600+ miles, heading the result by 100ypm and in 1997 they won Sartilly with the only arrival into Scotland on the day of liberation. In time, Scott Junior acquired his own property in Annan, forming his own loft and soon featured amongst the winners from the Classics. Importantly, as the years moved forward he formed a meaningful friendship and obtained stock from George Hilson from Bury. Following the passing of his father, he has raced pigeons into his own loft at Annan and has additionally raced a team to the original loft at Brydekirk with the two sheds being numbered Loft 1 and Loft 2. Having achieved a succession of good results, he truly ‘set the heather on fire’ in 2013, winning out of turn in the Club, Federation and the National. He was 2nd Section, 3rd Open from the opening National of the season from Newbury and 1st, 2nd and 4th Section, 3rd and 10th Open from the next National from Maidstone. From the S.N.F.C. Ypres Commemorative race he was 1st Section 10th Open and from the S.N.F.C. extreme distance event from Ancenis was 1st Section 1st Open with the only arrival on the day of liberation. As the season drew to a close he won the Section from the Y.B. National from Leicester. The success story continued year after year and in 2017, he was 1st, 2nd and 3rd Open S.N.F.C. Falaise. The winning pigeon from Ypres is a 3 y.o. Blue hen that went to the Y.B. National in its maiden season and to Cheltenham as a yearling. It was paired in March 2025 and reared a pair of youngsters. It was then split from its mate and put on Roundabout; it entered the race basket at Lymm and progressed through the Federation programme, it competed from the Reading National being 8th Section 67th Open, went to Brighton and thereafter went to Billericay being 27th Section. It was then re-paired, went to Ypres covering overdue eggs and was 3rd Section. In 2026 it was similarly managed. It was paired in March, reared a single youngster and was then split from its mate and put on Roundabout. It went to Lymm, Stafford, and Wollaston. The plan was to send her to Cheltenham (2) but as the race was cancelled she went instead to the Inland National from Billericay. She was basketed for Ypres covering overdue eggs. Her Sire was the Sire also of the loft’s 2nd Open S.N.F.C. Liege 2018, being is direct Son of George Hilson’s ‘Tyson’. Dam is from ‘Mr. Lambrini when paired to ‘Ouija Board’. ‘Mr.Lambrini’ was an outstanding stock cock that was bred by Stevie Ferguson from Annan direct from Stevie’s 2008 Tours winner. ‘Ouija Board’ was three times in the first 21 in the Open in the National from the Channel and was named after the famous racehorse.
Alistair Little from Ecclefechan was 2nd Section. Alistair has had an interest in the pigeon hobby since schoolboy years being initially tutored and encouraged by his late father. He then left the fancy but following his marriage, decided to form a loft at his home address being assisted by his wife Cindy and his father-in-law, the late Jimmy Dalgliesh. Together they assembled a very useful team of pigeons and achieved a number of successes from the Classics. Alistair has his own joinery business and with time being at a premium he once again chose to leave the Fancy for a while and when he parted with the birds he passed several to Jimmy, amongst which was a super Black Cock that scored several times from the Nationals including being 3rd S.N.F.C. Sartilly. In time Alistair re-entered the fancy and has quietly assembled a very impressive team of pigeons. He has gained a number of successes with the undoubted highlight being winning the 2026 SN.F.C. Blue Riband race from Alencon. The National winner being a 2021 Blue Chequer hen. Sire was obtained from Tumley Lofts having been bred from ‘Solway View Boy’ when paired to ‘Serenity’. ‘Solway View Boy’ was bred and raced by Craig Halbert being 1st Open S.N.F.C. Ancenis 2014. ‘Serenity’ is a top stock hen, having bred a number of top performance pigeons. Her Sire was Dennis Ford’s ‘Champion Seren Eleven’, which was 1st Open National Bergerac and 2nd Section 2nd Open National Bergerac. Dam of the National winner was obtained from Willie Borthwock from Annan, it was bred direct from ‘White Nose Bud’ when paired to a daughter of David Jamieson’s Rosary Beads’. ‘White Nose Bud’ was 1st Open from the S.N.F.C. Gold Cup race from Liege in 2018, being bred from two pigeons that Willie obtained from friend David Jamieson. The Sire was bred from a pigeon obtained from Brian Denney when paired to David Jamieson’s No. 1 Stock hen that had bred no fewer than eighteen pigeons to score from the channel with the Scottish National. Dam of ‘White Nose Bud’ was bred from a pair of pigeons that David purchased from Gebr Bruggemann. Rosary Beads’ meanwhile was a fabulous pigeon that was 2nd Section 3rd Open, 2nd Section 4th Open and 1st Section 11th Open from Ancenis 598 miles and secured a highly prized S.N.F.C. Silver Award. The winning pigeon from the recent National is a Yearling Red cock that was worked on the Darkness method as a youngster, going through the Fed. programme to the Fed. Open race from Lymm. He was one of several spare yearling cocks that Alistair had in the loft in 2026 and raced celibate he went through the programme to Cheltenham, gaining 4th Club Wollaston. He was then paired for Ypres and went to the race covering ten day eggs. Sire was obtained from Willie Borthwick bred from ‘White Nose Bud’ when paired to a hen obtained from John Gilmour from Ecclefechan. As explained ‘White Nose Bud’ was 1st Open from the S.N.F.C. Gold Cup race from Liege in 2018. The pigeon obtained from John Gilmour from Ecclefechan was bred from ‘Gilly’ that was 1st Open S.N.F.C. Alencon 2017 when paired to ‘Gilly’s Lass’ that was 1st Section 2nd Open S.N.F.C. Burdine, 5th Section 6th Open S.N.F.C. Falaise and 3rd Section 3rd Open S.N.F.C. Liege. Dam of the 2nd Section Ypres was obtained from John Mechan of the Crombie and Mechan partnership from Annan when he disposed of their team of stock birds. It is a Red Hen, closely bred to the noted Matt Jamieson Cock that was 4th Open Alencon and ‘Shawhill Prince' that was 2nd Open S.N.F.C. Liege. This hen was bred specially for stock and in Alistair’s hands also bred his 10th Open S.N.F.C. Alencon 2024.
Willie Borthwick from Annan timed two birds on the night to be 3rd and 5th Section. Willie was reared in the village of Pumpherston, West Lothian where he developed his original interest in pigeons. His father was a bricklayer and when Willie was at Primary School he accompanied his Dad to a job one day and exploring the property where his father was working, showed interest in a loft of fantails on the site. The owner of the property took a shine to the young lad and duly gifted him a pair of the fantails and a pigeon-cote to house them. Before long the fancy pigeons were replaced with racers and that was the spark that lit the fire and inspired Willie’s interest in the pigeon sport. There were a number of good fanciers in the community at that time who advised and encouraged the aspiring young fancier, including Geordie Walker, who was his original mentor. He and Geordie eventually went into partnership and in time, were fortunate to win the Combine. As the years moved forward Willie competed to different locations, he for example, lived for a time in the village of Seafield and was a member of Blackburn Club. At that address he was 2nd in an Amalgamation race, with pigeons competing from a wide area, including Mid-Lothian and several Central Scotland Federations. In time he moved, through his work, to Blackburn in Lancashire and thereafter moved to Annan. He and his late wife set-up home in Annan and in time Willie re-entered the fancy at his new address. In 2018 he entered his name in the annals of the S.N.F.C. when he won the Blue Riband event from Liege. The National winner from Liege was a 4 y.o. Chequer White Flight cock with a white nose and was appropriately named ‘White Nose Bud’ being bred from two pigeons that Willie obtained from friend David Jamieson. The Sire was bred from a pigeon obtained from Brian Denney when paired to David Jamieson’s No. 1 Stock hen that had bred no fewer than eighteen pigeons to score from the channel with the Scottish National. Dam of ‘White Nose Bud’ was bred from a pair of pigeons that David purchased from Gebr Bruggemann. The bird that was 3rd Section Ypres is a 2 y.o. Blue Chequer hen that was latebred and as such, was unraced as a youngster. It entered the race basket as a yearling and went through the Fed. programme to 220 miles. In 2026 it was paired during the third week in February and having reared a pair of youngsters was the put on Roundabout and went through the programme to Billiricay. It was re-paired and went to Ypres covering four day old youngsters. Sire was Willie’s Liege National winner ‘White Nose Bud’. Dam a noted Blue hen that was 4th Open S.N.F.C. Alencon 2022. On that occasion he was actually 4th and 5th Open and such was the form of the loft in 2022, at the close of the season he gained the highly coveted Robert Telfer Award Trophy for the best average from all S.N.F.C. races. Dam of the Blue hen was a direct daughter of David Jamieson’s great hen ‘Rosary Beads’, Sire was what Willie described as his No. 1 Stock Cock, being named it ‘DTJ’ and contained the very best of John Ellis from Elphinstone lines. Willie’s second bird from Ypres, which was 5th Section, is also a 2 y.o. Blue Chequer hen that was worked on the conventional system as a youngster and went through the Fed. programme to Charnock Richard. It went to 220 miles as a yearling and similar to the 3rd Section was paired during the third week in February and having reared a pair of youngsters was put on Roundabout. It went through the programme to Billiricay, was re-paired and went to Ypres covering four day old youngsters. Sire is a son of ‘White Nose Bud’ and the Dam is a daughter of ‘DKJ’ the No. 1 Stock cock.
