sapper756

Thats avah set up finished and ready for her little team of 22 ybs for 2026 shes bizzing only a small team hopfully 1 or 2 will come well for her she puts all her time into the birds used to peddle upto 4 miles aday to feed whe she was helping on the allotments thats dedication now shes set up at home she likes it better good luck avah

Copied from Facebook A few words from Billy on the passing of Jim Crombie. Condolences to the family. I was sad to learn of the passing of Jim Crombie. In his early years Jim lived in the village of Watchhill, near Annan and had an interest in the pigeon hobby from when he attended school. At that time his two best friends were near neighbours, Will Ferguson and Jimmy Dalgliesh who had an interest in the pigeon hobby also and in later years also became very able fanciers. In the early 1960’s the Crombie family moved into a new house in Annan and at the same time the Hind family similarly moved home becoming near neighbours, George Hind also kept pigeons and on moving residence the two friends, who were relatively young at the time, erected their lofts adjacent to each other on a piece of waste ground close to their homes and within months entered partnership, purchasing a superb former RAF loft to house the pigeons. They then went out of their way to acquire well proven bloodlines. Each of the partners had previously owned direct Kirkpatrick pigeons and they augmented these lines with introductions from local fanciers Willie Graham, Jack Hadden and Tom Little. Jim and George shared a close friendship with Tom Little 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 further develop the team they introduced birds from other successful fanciers including George Gorley, S.B.Cooper, Ayton Marshall, George Welton etc. The partners total objective was to succeed in National competition and as the years passed a number of real quality pigeons emerged. Consider, for example, Shawhill Express’ that flew the channel nine times, ‘Shawhill Endurance’ that won from the channel when on the wing for 15½ hours and ‘Shawhill Agnes’ that was 4th Open Avranches etc. The two most impressive pigeons from that era, however, were ‘Shawhill Triumph’ and ‘Shawhill Faithful’. 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 National winner were obtained from Willie Graham, the Sire having been bred by 1958 Rennes National winners’ Thomson and Kean, whilst the Dam was bred by Jack Hadden, who was Secretary of the Solway Federation. ‘Shawhill Faithful’ was a Blue hen that contained Kirkpatrick and Tom Little Logan bloodlines. She flew the channel five times with her favourite race point being Rennes. She scored from Rennes on four occasions with her best performance being in 1966 when she was 1st Section 2nd Open. In time George married and moved to live in Ayrshire. Jim continued to race under his own name and in 1978 was 1st Open S.N.F.C. Nantes with Dark hen ‘Shawhill Elizabeth’, when there were only two arrivals on the night and she was on the wing for 15 hours 40 minutes. The following year this fine pigeon went back to Nantes and was 13th Open, after having been on the wing for 15 hours. ‘Shawhill Elizabeth’ actually contained the lines of ‘Shawhill Triumph’ and ‘Shawhill Faithful’. When Jim won the Nantes National he was not at the loft when the pigeon homed and it was John Mechan, his 14 year old nephew, who timed the winner. In time John entered partnership with his uncle, competing as Crombie and Mechan and what a formidable partnership they proved to be with a number of superb pigeons emerging. Consider, for example, Grizzle cock ‘Shawhill Prince’. He went to Lille as a yearling and on a day that proved difficult for the South Section competitors was 7th Section. In 2001, when 2 y.o., he was worked on Roundabout and was re-paired for the channel. On this occasion he competed from the Gold Cup race from Liege and homed right at the front to be 1st Section 2nd Open National. The following year he was again worked on Roundabout in inland competition and was subsequently re-paired for the channel. Once more he competed from the Gold Cup event and on this occasion racing from Reims, he was again at the front to be 3rd Section 5th Open National. On that occasion he was entered in the Joe Murphy Sporting Challenge, which he won. Having once more featured prominently in the National result in 2002, the partners were contacted by a fancier from Germany who wanted to buy the Grizzle cock; indeed they asked Jim and John to name their price. They chose, however, to keep the pigeon; in 2003 he was once more prepared for the Gold Cup race from Reims, and was 18th Section 75th Open. He was thereafter retired to stock. In 2003, they were 1st Open from the S.N.F.C. extreme distance race from Chenoise, on that occasion the Scottish pigeons were convoyed with the Up North Combine. The total convoy was released at 6.00am and whilst some twenty pigeons were recorded into North East England on the day of liberation there were no arrivals into Scotland. Jim and John’s winner was timed at 6.15am on the second day to record a velocity of 805ypm and head the result by 31ypm. The Chenoise winner was Blue hen ‘Shawhill Lady’, that won the National when 3 y.o. Sire was a Blue Dordin cross Cock that was 5th Open Nantes 1994. Dam of the Chenoise winner was a Mealy hen that was bred from a pair of pigeons that were obtained from friend David Jamieson. In 2006 Jim and John were once more 2nd Open from the Gold Cup race, which on this occasion was flown from Alencon. Their winning pigeon on that occasion a 4 y.o. Grizzle hen that had scored previously from the 2004 Gold Cup Classic from Le Ferte Bernard, being 11th Section 45th Open. The Sire was a full brother of ‘Shawhill Prince’ whilst the Dam was a direct daughter of the same ‘Shawhill Prince’. In 2011 the partners were 1st Section 3rd Open from The Gold Cup race from Messac, the winning pigeon a 2 y.o. Dark Chequer hen. Her Dam was bred by Kevin Lawson and was a Van de Weyer x Van Loon, closely related to the breeder’s Gold medal winners; indeed her Dam was a full sister to 3 x Gold medal winners. Sire was bred by Stewart Brothers from Stirling. One week after the Gold Cup race, members of the S.N.F.C. competed from their extreme distance event, which on this occasion was flown from Tours, with the Scottish pigeons being conveyed by the Midland National. The convoy was liberated at 5.50am into an East North East Wind. Around 7.00pm a pigeon arrived from no-where and hit the roof but hesitated on the trap. It eventually trapped and was timed at 7.04pm to win the National on 1225ypm from 553 miles, 27ypm ahead of the bird that was 2nd Open. The National winner was a 4 y.o. Blue hen, Sire is a Dark Cock and the Dam is a Blue hen, both of which were bred by John’s close friend, David Jamieson who formerly resided at Annan and then returned to Central Scotland. The Tours National winner was named ‘Shawhill Grace Olivia’. The pigeons mentioned are but examples of the birds raced. Importantly the only birds that left the loft were gifts to friends or pigeons donated to Club or Charity Sales. Arguably the best pigeon to have been gifted to a friend was a Blue hen that was given to Billy Smith from Dumfries and went on to win the Niort National in 2012. Dam was a Blue Chequer hen that was obtained from Mark Bulled from Harlow, who won the 2012 N.F.C. Blue Riband event from Tarbes, the Chequer hen being similarly bred to the Tarbes winner, Sire was a Dark Cock that was bred from Blue Hen ‘Shawhill Lady’, when she was paired to her own grandfather. Jim possessed the ability to identify best pigeons, he was occasionally asked to judge at prestige Shows and on almost every occasion that he judged, the pigeon that he put up to win its Class would go on to win Best in Show. During the years also he visited some of the best lofts in the country and on viewing the pigeons Jim would invariably select the best birds in the loft. He also loved the social side of the sport. In the 1960’S he travelled to Ecclefechan to attend the annual Open Show. As it was, the majority of people attending the show weren’t in the Hall with the pigeons but were in the nearby Hotel being entertained by the local Showband. With Jim being a household name and ‘good fun’, he was immediately recognised when he went through the door with the MC ’ announcing … “Introducing the famous Jim Crombie from Annan etc etc”. Everyone in the room cheered and applauded. Needless to say he absolutely loved the adulation. The years moved forward and regrettably, Jim had a Stroke, which severely prejudiced his mobility to the extent that he could no longer look after the pigeons. John Mechan manages a busy engineering company, which requires him to work long hours and attend meetings across the country and whilst he continued to work the pigeons he was finding it difficult. In 2017, therefore he and Jim parted with the race team and subsequently parted with the stock birds. They competed for the last time in 2017 and were once again along with the leaders from the Gold Cup race from Alencon, being 3rd Section 6th Open. With the passage of time Jim’s mobility further deteriorated and he agreed to be admitted to the local Care Home where Care was on hand 24/7, he had company and was ever so well looked after and fed. In the Home also was a nominated worker who organised Activities with something different taking place each and every day with Singers and Musicians coming into the Home to entertain the residents. On one occasion in recent months when the music was playing, the entertainer passed the microphone to Jim to sing and he performed so well a video of him singing was viewed on Facebook by in excess of fifteen thousand people with almost one thousand comments. Good as the home was, however, he used to say “if I could only get home and get a loft at the back door with half a dozen pigeons”. The months and years passed but he always retained an interest in our hobby and liked nothing better than to talk ‘pigeons’. In recent weeks his health further deteriorated and he was admitted to Dumfries Infirmary where he regrettably passed away. Photos appended show Jim with George Hind and Jim with his nephew John Mechan. The third photo shows Jim at Annan Homing Club Centenary Dance holding a letter of congratulations received from The Queen. Quiet and unassuming he was respected and admired by all who knew him and will be sadly missed by his friends in the pigeon fancy and by his friends and neighbours in the wider community . On behalf of all members of the local fancy I extend condolences to the family at this sad time.

Don't forget folks 🤪

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Copied from Facebook 20th March 2026 Said goodbye to another pigeon racing legend today George Harris of dunipace.George won the SNFC frome race in Scotland’s fastest ever national race,he had a great send off today and his daughter had the congregation in stitches with tales of her father!! The excellent picture on the order of service is of geo and his good red cock which won handsomely from Rennes and story has it George spent the winnings on a sports car!! RIP George.

Copied from Facebook 12th March 2026 With kind permission from the Smith family: SMITH (Turriff) It is with great sadness, after a short illness, that we announce the passing of William J C Smith (Willie), at home on March 16, 2026, aged 82 yrs. Dearly beloved husband of Eileen, dearly loved dad to Andrew, Angela and Yvonne. A dear granda to Jack, Gregor and the late Austen, father in law to Nicola, and a loving brother and uncle. Funeral service to be held at St Andrew’s Parish Church Turriff, on Friday March 27 at 11am, thereafter to Turriff Cemetery. All family and friends respectfully invited. Donations if so desired may be given at the church in lieu of Friends of Turriff Hospital.

Dave ‘Topper’ Taylor of Sutton. On hearing that Dave ‘Topper’ Taylor had won the 1988 Young Bird National from Guernsey, I was highly chuffed, but not really surprised. I flew in the very strong Kingston club in the mid-1970 with ‘Topper’ and he has always been an ‘ace’ at young bird racing. When I cast my mind back to those days when ‘Topper’ and I were both young, foot loose and fancy free, I can remember him winning the Surrey Federation from the inland race points and winning the Kingston’s longest old bird race from Bergerac. Dave brought his Bergerac winner around my house to have its photo taken and he named the blue chequer hen, ‘Jackie’, after his then girl friend. Now Dave and Jackie are a long time married, with a family and live in Sutton. Jackie was very interested in the pigeons and she got them in from training, changed the drinking water three times a day and let the old birds fly out in the mornings. David’s father was a pigeon fancier, racing in the Kingston club with outstanding success from 1963. Dave started to take an interest at the age of seven and remembered his dad’s original stock birds cost £2-50p each from a fancier in Chicklewood. At that time he had been in the sport over 25 years when he won the Young Bird National and said at that time that he could still remember the fantastic performances being put up by the C. H. Besant & sons partnership in the strong Kingston club. His dad’s loft was 18ft. with bays and bucket traps, and says his ‘Heinz 57’ strain raced well. Dave clocked his first pigeon in for his dad in 1967, a grizzle he recalls, and won the Surrey Federation. The Taylor’s present loft is a very neat affair, with ‘Sputnik’ traps and a flight for the stock birds. The loft is well ventilated and dry, with no litter on the floors, but scraped out every day. The main family housed was Maurice Verheye, with some Busschaerts and Van Wildemeersch pigeons. At that time nearly all Dave’s stock came from his friend, Peter O’Connor of Kingston, who was an outstanding fancier in his own right. Peter had several good National positions, including 17th open NFC Guernsey in 1988 and his dad, the late John O’Connor, won 1st open SMT Combine from Plymouth in the late 1970’s. The sire and dam of Dave Taylor’s National winner, ‘Whitby Girl’, were both bred by Peter O’Connor and they were a Verheye brother and sister mating. In my 45 years as a pigeon writer and photographer I have handled countless National and Combine winners, but Dave’s, ‘Whitby Girl’, was something special. Her eye, feather and balance in the hand were very outstanding and would win in the show pen. On her build up to the Guernsey National she had one race from Blandford and then into the National feeding an eight day old youngster. She won the National by 23 ypm clear, with 10,416 birds taking part, lifting several trophies and £1,014. A fantastic performance! The second bird on the clock from the Guernsey National was the Verheye / Busschaert dark hen, ‘Whitby Wonder’, and she chalked up 93rd open. This game hen was really badly injured when very young and the National was her first race of her life. The Taylor loft was paired up in early March and all racing was done on the natural system. The birds were trained between 20 and 50 miles whenever ‘Topper’ thought they needed it and he told me the Verheye pigeons are good up to about 350 miles. The loft housed eight pairs of stock birds, 12 pairs of racers and about 30 babies are bred each season to race. Although Dave flew natural he fed like a widowhood racer, with depurative Saturday, Sunday, Monday and the mixture got heavier as the week progressed. He never fed beans, but a lot of maize at the end of the week. He said he liked his old birds to go to races sitting six to ten day old youngster and this nest condition was ideal for the longer distance races. ‘Topper’ never showed his pigeons and maintained that the hot and smokey conditions in most show halls are very bad for the birds. He never bred late breds and tells new starters in the sport to purchase quality and not quantity. Dave and Jackie had won the Federation several times and were premier prize winners in the very strong Sutton & Cheam club. Some say that the Taylor’s performance from the Sartilly National in 1990 was even better than when they won 1st open NFC Guernsey with ‘Whitby Girl’ in 1988. A total of 9,341 birds were entered in the race which were liberated at 07.30 hrs in a 10 mile an hour head wind from the north. Needless to say, the race turned out very hard with many fanciers returning their clocks empty. ‘Topper’ entered a well prepared team of 30 birds and got seven on the day of liberation, recording six on the clock, winning 6th, 7th, 15th, 49th, 75th, 285th open NFC Sartilly. A fantastic performance, by a brilliant young bird racer! The Taylor’s also recorded their good blue chequer white flight cock, ‘Whitby Prince’, to win 77th open NFC Nantes (11, 306 birds) and lifted £565. ‘Topper’ won over £2,000 in National Flying Club races in the 1990 season. As I’ve previously stated, I’ve known Dave a long time and he is a great guy, and a brilliant pigeon fancier! Text & Photos by Keith Mott (March 2026)

Copied from Facebook 16th March 2026 What Makes a Pigeon Mentally Tough During Hard Races Deep Explanation Mental toughness in pigeons is the ability to maintain direction, effort, and composure under prolonged stress. It is the difference between a pigeon that keeps flying toward home and one that hesitates, drifts, or gives up. 1️⃣ Nervous System Stability Hard races push the pigeon’s nervous system to its limits. A mentally tough pigeon has: Stable neural signaling Controlled stress response Efficient coordination under fatigue When stress hormones rise during a race, weaker pigeons: Panic Waste energy Make poor directional decisions Mentally stable pigeons stay focused on the homing task. 👉 Calm brain = efficient flight. 2️⃣ Strong Homing Confidence Mentally strong pigeons trust their orientation. They: Commit to direction Avoid unnecessary circling Resist following confused flocks Weak-minded pigeons often: Drift with other birds Change direction frequently Lose valuable time and energy. Confidence reduces hesitation. 3️⃣ Stress Tolerance Hard races create multiple stress factors: Isolation from the flock Weather pressure Fatigue Lack of landmarks (especially over sea) Mentally tough pigeons tolerate stress without panic. They keep flying even when conditions deteriorate. 4️⃣ Energy Discipline Mental weakness often causes energy waste. Examples: Erratic flight patterns Excessive wing flapping Climbing and descending repeatedly Mentally strong pigeons maintain: Smooth wing rhythm Efficient flight line Controlled pace. This conserves energy for the final kilometers. 5️⃣ Experience and Learning Mental resilience improves through: Progressive training distances Exposure to difficult conditions Successful returns from challenging races Each difficult return strengthens homing confidence. However, excessive pressure too early can break confidence. 👉 Mental toughness must be built gradually. 6️⃣ Genetic Influence Some families naturally produce pigeons with: High stress tolerance Strong homing instinct Determined flight behavior These pigeons show: Calm eyes Quick trapping Consistent returns under difficult conditions. Mental strength is partly inherited. 7️⃣ Loft Environment and Handling The loft environment strongly affects mental stability. Good loft management includes: Calm trapping routine Minimal stress handling Stable daily schedule Constant disturbance or rough handling creates nervous pigeons that panic under pressure. 8️⃣ Motivation to Return Home Mentally tough pigeons possess strong home attachment. Motivation can come from: Nest position Mate bond Territorial instinct This emotional drive pushes them to continue flying even when exhausted. CORE TRUTH Hard races are not won by the strongest wings. They are won by the calmest minds. Final Reality When conditions are easy, many pigeons can fly fast. But when races become difficult, three things decide the result: mental stability recovery ability efficient energy use. The pigeon that stays calm, committed, and efficient will reach home. - Calihan Loft TV Official

Copied from Facebook 15th March 2026 Aberdeen & Dist RPC YB Breeder/Buyer sale Sunday 26th April 2026 612 club Gt. Northern Rd Penning 1pm Sale 2pm Payout 1/3 club 1/3 breeder 1/3 buyer Race to be flown from Swallwell 29th Aug (If no race then Swallwell 5th Sep) Terms a) if no pigeon in pen,ring numbers by Sunday 8th May b) payment by 28th June c) transfers if necessary according to SHU rules d) NO limit on entries All claims to J Cowie sec within 48 hrs Queries to J Cowie 07724148830 or Colin Rae 07979321384 Raffle in aid of funds,donations gratefully accepted. James Cowie Sec.