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Thanks again to Billy Wortley for his contributions. As we anticipate the forthcoming S.N.F.C. Prize Presentation let us turn the clock back sixty years and reflect on the leading arrivals from the S.N.F.C. Blue Riband race from Rennes in 1966. On that occasion a convoy of 5,730 birds competed from the event being liberated at 6.15am into a West Wind. As evening came in it became cold and there were intermittent showers. M.Nash and Sons from Croy timed at 9.07pm to gain 1st West Section 1st Open from 551 miles . George Hind and Jim Crombie from Annan timed at 7.06pm to gain 1st South Section 2nd Open from 479 miles, Mr. and Mrs.Tom Birkley from Breich timed at 9.12pm to gain 1st East Section 3rd Open from 539 miles and Bob McDonald from Fraserburgh timed at 12.28pm on the second day to gain 1st North Section 175th Open from 662 miles. As we anticipate the forthcoming S.N.F.C. Prize Presentation let us turn the clock back sixty years and reflect on the leading arrivals from the S.N.F.C. Blue Riband race from Rennes in 1966. On that occasion a convoy of 5,730 birds competed from the event being liberated at 6.15am into a West Wind. As evening came in it became cold and there were intermittent showers. M.Nash and Sons from Croy timed at 9.07pm to gain 1st West Section 1st Open from 551 miles . George Hind and Jim Crombie from Annan timed at 7.06pm to gain 1st South Section 2nd Open from 479 miles, Mr. and Mrs.Tom Birkley from Breich timed at 9.12pm to gain 1st East Section 3rd Open from 539 miles and Bob McDonald from Fraserburgh timed at 12.28pm on the second day to gain 1st North Section 175th Open from 662 miles. Whilst the winning loft raced under the loft title M.Nash and Sons the active members of the partnership were brothers Jim and John Nash. They were the third generation of the Nash family to have raced pigeons, indeed James Nash the grandfather of Jim and John, won the O.B. Average Cup in Kilsyth Club in 1906 and 1907. It was reported in the Pigeon Press in 1966 that the principal motivator in the National winning partnership was Jim Nash and whilst pigeons were in his blood, he had another sporting interest, which was boxing. Jim developed an interest in boxing whilst still at school and having won the Scottish Boys Guild Championship in 1936, he turned professional but then the War interrupted his boxing career and during the War years he was a Sergeant Major in the Army School of Physical Training. When the War was over he recommenced boxing and scored 19 knockouts in 20 fights but time had caught up with him and his career was over. Having retired from boxing he concentrated on the pigeons, supporting his father. The bloodlines housed at that time were primarily Osman, indeed when Col. Osman died, his daughter gifted a son of ‘Olympic’ to a friend in Scotland and in time these bloodlines were passed to Matt Nash. Over successive seasons the loft won out of turn, but season 1966 proved to be extra special. In Inland competition the Nash partnership were 1st and 2nd Club, 3rd and 9th Fed. Newton le Willows, 1st and 2nd Club, 3rd and 4th Fed. Cheltenham and then as an indicator that the loft was really ‘on song’, they timed the first five arrivals in the Club from Bournemouth, being 2nd, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Fed. and 2nd, 8th, 9th 10th, 11th and 29th Open Race. The National winner was 1963 Blue hen ‘Daphne’s Delight’, which was 1st Club 3rd Fed. Lancaster as a youngster from 140 miles. As a yearling she was 1st Dumfries, 2nd Penrith, 3rd Whitchurch and 4th Bournemouth. In 1965, when she was 2 y.o., she was 1st Club, 8th Fed and 6th Open Race from Bournemouth, a distance of 372 miles and then raced from Avranches, when she was timed but didn’t make the list. In 1966 she had four Inland Races before going to Rennes and was basketed for the National sitting eight day eggs and growing her first Primary Flight. On the night of the race, Jim Nash learned at 8pm that George Hind and Jim Crombie had timed into Annan at 7.06pm and quickly calculated that pigeons flying around 540 miles would have to be in around 8.45pm to be along with the Annan pigeon. The actual flying distance to the loft of Jim and John Nash was 551 miles and as the night advanced they made a further calculation and established that the absolute deadline for them to time to beat the Annan pigeon would be 9.10pm. The minutes ticked by and at 9pm, Jim looked at his watch and made the observation that the fatal minutes had arrived. Five minutes passed then six, then seven. It was reported at the time that at 9.07, Jim turned to a friend who was standing beside him and said “watch the Blue Hen drop out of the sky now to win”, he paused to open the door to enter the house and John shouted “here is the Blue Hen”. ‘Daphne’s Delight’ recorded a velocity of 1086ypm to win the National with George Hind and Jim Crombie’s pigeon recording a velocity of 1080ypm to be 2nd Open. When ‘Daphne’s Delight’ homed from Rennes she was in superb condition with good body and tight feather, she went into her box immediately and covered her eggs. She was actually bred by the legendary Jock Reid from Stenhousemuir and gifted to the Nash brothers. Dam was bred by J.W.Langstone from Worcester and was purchased at the Langstone Sale by Lance Severn from Bulwell and gifted to Jock Reid. Her Sire was Lot 11 in the Sale, being bred from a Blue W.F. Delbar cock, a grandson of ‘Le Bon Bleu’. Maternal grand dam of ‘Daphnie’s Delight’ was J,W.Langstone’s famous ‘Sister’, nestmate of ‘Cinderella’ the N.F.C. 1956 Pau winner. ‘Sister’ was also a brilliant performer being 3rd, 110th and 8th from three consecutive Pau Nationals. Sire of the Rennes National winner was Blue cock ‘9828’, nestmate to the famous ‘Tryst Girl’. It was stated at the time that they were bred from a pair of Delbars, a Blue cock and a Blue hen presented to Jock Reid by S.W.Bishop. The cock 832 was from ‘Coppi’ and ‘Montesi’ and the hen 786 from 803 and 812. 803 was an own brother of ‘Favori’ and 812 was from ‘Old Delbar of 43’. It was further stated at the time that 9828, the Sire of the Rennes winner, was inbred to the Ace Delbar stock pair ‘The 75’ and ‘Leylyke’, 803 being a son and ‘Montesi’ a grand-daughter. When I previously wrote in the Fancy Press about ‘Daphne’s Delight’ and included a similar pedigree, I received two very informative letters, one from Dennis Grant from Haddington and the other from Jack Bolitho who each pointed out that the original pedigree was misleading because although ‘The 75’ and ‘Leylyke’ contained Delbar bloodlines, they were actually Vandenbroucke’s and were indeed the Ace stock pair of Jos Vandenbroucke of Wielsbeke. In the articles that Jim Nash subsequently wrote for the Year Books, he made several important observations. He said, for example that “it is important to remember one thing, long distance pigeon racing is not the easiest of sports; to achieve lasting success in this field it is essential that the ‘goal’ be constantly in view. Perhaps it is because of my upbringing, but I never do things by half”. He added “in my younger days I was a boxer and one does not achieve any success in that field sitting on one’s backside in the gym. In the same way I never considered that racing pigeons would achieve much sitting on their perches in a cosy loft”. He also said “whilst I am willing to concede that all roads lead to Rome – what is important is that a particular road be chosen and adhered to instead of switching from one to another according to the fashion of the day”. I believe that these few words encapsulated Jim Nash’s attitude toward pigeon racing which, when put into practise elevated him into the annals of Scottish pigeon racing. George Hind and Jim Crombie from Annan were 1st South Section 2nd Open with Blue Hen ‘Shawhill Faithful’. Having formerly resided in villages of Howgill and Watchhill on the outskirts of Annan, the Hind and Crombie families moved into a new housing complex in Annan Township in the early 1960’s. On moving residence, the two friends erected their lofts adjacent to each other in a fenced paddock on the local Shawhill Sportsfield. Considering the close proximity of the lofts, Jim and George soon entered partnership and within months they acquired a former RAF loft, which they obtained from Jack McGlasson who lived in Annan. Jack was very affluent; he was the principal buyer at the Doctor Buckley Sale and purchased a number of pigeons at the Kirkpatrick Dispersal Sale. Having built their loft, George and Jim then went about assembling a squad of top quality pigeons and on forming their team they made contact with several of the most prominent fanciers in the Country. They each owned direct Kirkpatrick pigeons and these lines were augmented with introductions from local fanciers Willie Graham, Jack Hadden and Tom Little. They shared a close friendship with Tom Little from Creca and through this friendship they obtained examples of Tom’s Logan family. They attended the T.A.Warrington Sale and made several acquisitions and to develop the team further they introduced birds from other successful fanciers including George Gorley, S.B.Cooper, Ayton Marshall, George Welton etc. Their total objective was to succeed in Classic and National competition and as the years passed a number of real quality pigeons emerged. Away back in the mid 1960’s they competed from Pau with the N.F.C. with one of the pigeons that flew Pau, making an impression in the stock shed. ‘Shawhill Express’ flew the channel nine times, ‘Shawhill Endurance’ won from the channel when on the wing for 15½ hours whilst ‘Shawhill Agnes’ was 4th Open Avranches. ‘Shawhill Telstar ‘was a Red Vandevelde hen that was bred by George Gorley from Cockermouth. She was 3rd Section, 8th Open S.N.F.C., 39th Open Vaux International Nantes. The two most impressive pigeons from that era, however, were ‘Shawhill Triumph’ and ‘Shawhill Faithful’, which was the pigeon that was 2nd Open Rennes 1966. Shawhill Triumph’ was a Red Cock that was 1st Solway Continental Club, 3rd Fed. Guernsey and then in 1965 was 1st Open S.N.F.C. Beauvais. The parents of the Red cock were obtained from fellow Club member, Willie Graham. Sire was bred by Thomson and Kean from Annan who won the Rennes National in 1958… Dam was bred by Jack Hadden and contained the best of Kirkpatrick bloodlines. ‘Shawhill Faithful’ was a Blue hen that was bred from a Kirkpatrick cock when coupled to a Tom Little Logan hen. Sire was bred from two direct Kirkpatrick’s; indeed the paternal grand dam of the 2nd Open Rennes was purchased from Mrs. Kirkpatrick and was nestmate to the Sire of Thomson Brothers great pigeon ‘Cloggie’s Choice’. The Logan hen was only one day old when Jim Crombie and George Hind received her from Tom Little. They brought it home from Creca in a handkerchief and reared it under a pair of their own pigeons. She proved to be a very able performer and flew the channel four times, always on the day of liberation and gained 13th Solway Fed Dol and 112th Open S.N.F.C. Rennes. At stock she left a number of winners including ‘Shawhill Faithful’, which flew the channel five times. She scored from Rennes on four occasions with her best performance being achieved in 1966, when she was 1st Section 2nd Open. The Blue hen also made an impression at stock and when Jim Crombie won the Nantes National in 1978 with ‘Shawhill Elizabeth, the winning pigeon contained the bloodlines of the 2nd Open Rennes. Mr. and Mrs. Tom Birkley from Breich were 1st East Section 3rd Open with Red Chequer Cock ‘Rashiehill Supreme’. Popular opinion of the time was that the three leading pigeons in the Open result had raced together from the event. Several days after the race I travelled to Breich with George Hind to view Tom Birkley’s winning pigeon. It was a superb, long cast Red Chequer cock with a bold head and fine feathering. Tom was friendly with John McGillivray from Forth and by his own admission, learned a great deal about the pigeon game from this great fancier. He told us that day that the finest pigeon he had ever seen was John McGillivray’s ‘Dream Girl’, which was 1st Open S.N.F.C. Nantes 1956. ‘Dream Girl’ was of course sired by the great Kirkpatrick cock ‘1276’, which in turn was a son of John Kirkpatrick’s ‘Galabank Duke’. The Sire of ‘Rashiehill Supreme’ was a Red cock from John McGillivray stock and was indeed a grandson of John McGillivray’s noted Mealy hen. I should add that as John McGillivray only ever had one original Kirkpatrick pigeon in his shed and in conversation we were led to understand that the 3rd Open Rennes contained the lines of ‘1276’. The Dam was a Blue Chequer Kirkpatrick hen from Colin McKinnon, who was a long-time friend of John Kirkpatrick and used to stay with Mr.and Mrs. Kirkpatrick at their home at Galabank Avenue, Annan. Our readers will appreciate that not only was ‘Rashiehill Supreme’ a right nice pigeon; he possessed tremendous bloodlines from the lofts of two very talented fanciers. The Red Cock had flown consistently from when he was a youngster, flying from Selby on the East Coast of Yorkshire and from Worcester, 250 miles when he was 3rd Fed., 11th Section 30th Open from the Y.B. National in 1964. As a yearling he was first bird to the loft from the first four races with the Federation and having missed the fifth race in the programme, was then sent to Worcester gaining 3rd Club and Nom., being beaten by a loft-mate that was 1st Club 2nd Fed. He was then ‘put by’ for the remainder of the 1965 season. In 1966 he had three races to Worcester being the first bird to the loft on two occasions. He was thereafter lifted into Rennes and was right at the front to be 1st Section 3rd Open. Tom Birkley was widely travelled and was a regular visitor into the Solway area in the company of Fred Jubb from Kirkfieldbank and Jim Clarkston from West Calder. He was a frequent visitor also to Ballymena in Northern Ireland where he met the famous Smyth Brothers, Billy Irwin, Tommy Harper, Bob Keilty and Bobby McAdorey. He talked also of having travelled to St.Just to view the loft and pigeons of Arthur Hill and during the visit had handled several champions including ‘Galabank Prince’ and the noted Grizzle Hen ‘6498’. Regrettably I don’t have any particulars of the pigeon that won the North Section for Bob McDonald but we all remember that when the BHW Show was originally held at Blackpool Bob McDonald was one of the first to have a Trade Stand exhibiting examples of his fabulous Ko Nipius/Jan Aarden based family. The S.N.F.C. Prize Presentation in 1966 was held in The Marlborough House Hotel in Glasgow. There was a record attendance with the impression being that every ‘other’ person in the function room hailed from the village of Croy. President Percy Cameron presented the trophies to the winning fanciers from Rennes with Jim and John Nash being presented with the famous Gold Cup and the King George V Cup. They also received a cheque for £1,386 18s, which was an immense amount of money at the time. A subsequent report in a local newspaper read “The Band played, the crowds cheered; brothers James and John Nash marched proudly through the streets of their village. No – this wasn’t a wartime victory parade – it was the triumphant return of two pigeon fanciers who had smashed every record in the Scottish Racing Calendar”. Photographs were included showing the Nash brothers with their family in a procession including a brass band parading the National trophies around the streets of Croy with Jim Nash proudly holding the Gold Cup. Hundreds of people were shown lining the street including a large number of children. The photographs that complement this article show (a) Jim and John Nash (b) ‘Daphne’s Delight’ (c) George Hind and Jim Crombie (d) ‘Shawhill Faithful’, (e ) Mr. and Mrs. Tom Birkley (f) ‘Rashiehill Supreme’.

Thanks to davy and Will Rutherford for gifting 2 ybs to avah shes asked for a black yb she got her black yb shes over the moon thanks again lads you have made her a happy girl avah and my self are going threw a very diffecult time so we mamaged 2 yb races this season and had to stop witch we didnt wamt to but family comes first weve had alot of messages asking about avah and how shes getting on thanks again for the messages and we will be bk next season to carry on our goals 2 yb races avah managed to get a 1st club and a couple ither spots in top 10 club results so hopfully she gets a good season next year

Good morning folks

Morning folks

Fed Moot and presentation Night sat 20 February 2027 The Thistle Hurlford Nr kilmarnock special Guests Nigel laycock.Andy Millar and Sean&Linda trodden keep this date spare more info will follow thanks

great

The Clearance Sale for the late GA Firth will be held at the Gretna Social Club on Sunday 11th October. Sale starts at 2pm viewing from 12.30pm Sales list - Old Birds Please note these listings are to the best of my knowledge Lot 1 - GB23N48289 - Ch C - 100% Decruiff - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 2 - GB23N03796 - Blue C - From House of Arran Stud - one of George’s best racers Lot 3 - GB24N10129 - Ch C - Fenick Bros x Fenick Bros - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 4 - GB24A66819 - P/Blue C - u/k background - bred by GAF Lot 5 - GB24N10128 - D/Ch C - 100% Fenick Bros (Van den Bulks) - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 6 - GB24A66803 - Mealy C - K Rooney - Ireland - bred by GAF Lot 7 - GB24N10166 - Ch C - Woodruffe Bros x Owen Markey - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 8 - GB25D21295 - C/Pd C - u/k background - bred by GAF Lot 9 - GB25N08752 - Ch H - Woodruffe Bros x Decruiff - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 10 - GB25N08749 - Blue H - VDB x Best Blue Kittel - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 11 - GB25N08773 - Blue H - Pure Alfie Hawthorne - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 12 - GB25N08761 - Blue (tick eye) H - VDB x Owen Markey - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 13 - GB25D21313 - Blue C - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 14 - GB25D21296 - Blue C - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 15 - GB25N08747 - Ch H - Gerinczx x Decruiff - bred by MJ McGrath Youngbirds Lot 16 - GB26D13113 - Blue H(?) - 100% Owen Markey - bred by MJ McGrath Lot 17 - SUS262065 - Ch C - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 18 - SU26S2072 - Blue C(?) - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 19 - SU26S2161 - Ch H - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 20 - SU26S2162 - Blue PD - H - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 21 - SU26 4325 - Blue H(?) - 100% PD Stud - bred by GAF Lot 22 - SU26 4326 - Blue C(?) - 100% PD Stud - bred by GAF Lot 23 - SU26 4337 - Blue C(?) - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 24 - SU26 4340 - Ch C(?) - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 25 - SU26 4343 - Ch C(?) - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 26 - SU26 4348 - Blue H - 100% D. Walsh - bred by GAF Lot 27 - SU26 4351 - Blue H - PD Stud x Excelsior Stud - bred by GAF Lot 28 - GB26N28920 - Blue H - Padfields x Willy Daniels - Bred by MJ McGrath Lot 29 - GB26N28921 - ChPd H - Woodruffe Bros x WB Decruiff - bred by MJ Mc Grath Lot 30 - SU26S2052 - Blue H - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 31 - SU26S2059 - ChWF H - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 32 - SU26S2066 - Blue C - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 33 - SU26S2068 - Blue C - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 34 - SU26S2074 - Blue C - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 35 - SU26S2075 - Ch H - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 36 - SU26 4328 - Ch H -100% Willy Daniels - bred by GAF Lot 37 - SU26 4329 - Blue C(?) - B Feneck x Alfie Hawthorne - bred by GAF Lot 38 - SU26 4330 - CPD H - 100% Willy Daniels bred by GAF Lot 39 - SU26 4331 - Ch H - Pure Jan Mees (Alfie Hawthorne) x Owen Markey - bred GAF Lot 40 - SU26 4334 - Ch C - Woodruffe Bros x Owen Markey - bred by GAF Lot 41 - SU26 4339 - Blue H - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 42 - SU26 4344 - Blue C(?) - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 43 - SU26 4347 - Ch C - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 44 - SU26 4349 - Ch C - 100% Derek Walsh - bred by GAF Lot 45 - SU26 4353 - Ch H - u/k background bred by GAF Lot 46 - SU26 4354 - Blue H - u/k background bred by GAF 1 clock and three pads Several baskets

Well done

SEVERN VALLEY FEDERATION Morning All, birds have been liberated from yelverton at 9am In a SSE wind. Best of luck all.

FIFE FANCIER.pdf

Well done all

SOLWAY FEDERATION The winners of this year’s young bird Gold Ring Race from Cannock. 1st Jamie Carberry from Gretna winning £652 2nd K Guenther & G Son from Dumfries winning £163 and winning the nomination of £160 were J&B Morgan from Lockerbie. Well done to all the winners and thankyou to everyone who supported the race.

Copied from Facebook This is to highlight and celebrate the top performance loft in Lanarkshire federation season 2026. Beating 39,345 birds from 1946 lofts over 3,056 miles in 19 race programme from 80 miles to 389 miles. Billy Holland of Chryston federation trophy's won 2026 . The J Cowan Mem Trophy- Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON Vel 1211.6 ( Best Old Bird Average) . The Reid Mem Trophy -Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON Vel 1282.5 (Best Combine average over Leicester, Kettering, Billericay and Brighton) . The H McClymont Mem Trophy -Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON Vel 1180.5 (Best Combine average over all federation races) . The J Torrance Mem Trophy -Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON -Vel 1087.4 (Best average Billericay & Brighton) . The Arrapine Trophy -Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON- Vel 1088.0 ( Best average the 3 longest races) . The Carriage Trophy -Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON -Vel 1088.0 . THE D Logan Mem Trophy -Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON -2nd Open ( First hen timed Billericay race) . North Section Combined Average Winner-Wm HOLLAND CHRYSTON- Vel 1180.5 Well done to Billy and Im sure members and friends will show their appreciation for all the hard work it takes to be crowned the Champion loft Lanarkshire federation 2026. Full loft report has been submitted to the BHW Stud Book 2026. Tom Corrie jnr Lanarkshire Press Officer. Photo 1 -Billy Holland Photo 2 -2nd Open Brighton,389 miles, 2026 Photo 3 -2nd Open Billericay,352 miles,2026

You ate very much welcome, I thank you for the information shared regarding Liberations etc. Take care pal, hopefully we can work together next season

I would like to thank Brian Herd ( administrator ) for all the help he has once again given me during the past season getting the Fife FED results on to basics, ie: taking the wrong results down when I have made a balls of it and putting the correct one up. All extra work for Brian, done no problem. So once again thank you Brian.

Well done all

Well done all

Well done ALL timers