WPW the main man of Solway Federation 2026

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An article highlighting the west of the Solway from the main man WPW.

In former years the full title of our local Federation was the Solway Federation of Racing Pigeon Societies of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. The Federation was born out of a Meeting that was held at Dumfries in 1928 with Clubs represented at the Meeting being Dumfries & Maxwelltown, Langholm, Annan, Lockerbie, Dalbeattie, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright, Wigtown and Whithorn. Whilst representatives of Wigtown and Whithorn Clubs were very much involved in the formation of the Federation they did not immediately participate and it was a number of years later before any of the Wigtownshire Clubs became actively involved. Due to the geography of our area, with the Solway Firth to the South and the Cumbrian Hills beyond, the birds habitually dog-leg from the East around the periphery of the Solway as they make their way home, which put the Wigtownshire entrants at a real disadvantage in ‘Open’ competition and as a consequence, the Wigtownshire fanciers chose to leave the Solway in 1972 and joined Kyle Federation but importantly retained a close friendship and association with former colleagues in the 

 

Within this article let us initially reflect on a special pigeon that raced into Wigtownshire some fifty plus years ago. In 1968, some 5,846 pigeons competed from S.N.F.C. Rennes, which were liberated at 5.40am into a light S.W. wind. As the birds made their way home, they experienced an Easterly influence in the wind which pushed them to the West and caused the leaders to come off the Irish Sea as they entered Scotland. 1st South Section, 1st Open was Tommy Harper from Stranraer, who timed at 4.28pm from 497 miles and recorded a velocity of 1350ypm. When the S.N.F.C. Centenary Book was compiled, I provided information on each of the National winning pigeons that had competed into the South Section. To my surprise, when the book was published, it was noted that the author had chosen not to include the 1968 race winner amongst the South Section pigeons and had instead included it in the Chapter titled ‘The West Coasters’, with the following explanation. “The 1968 Rennes National was an example of a race flown in the type of conditions that traditionally favoured the west coast. Incredibly the winner was timed into Stranraer. The town, of course lies in Galloway, well to the South of Ayrshire and is in the extreme west of the S.N.F.C. South Section. It must be one of the most disadvantageous locations in Scotland to race into from National races. Stranraer lies out on a limb, with a fair extent of sea lying to the south of its Galloway coastline, in fact the town is probably nearer Northern Ireland than Dumfries.”

 

Prior to entering the pigeon game in earnest, Tommy Harper bred and showed Sebright Bantams and Norwich Canaries and kept only a few pigeons as a complementary pastime. He developed a serious interest in the pigeon hobby in 1964 when his brother James moved house and gifted Tommy his team of stock pigeons, the bloodlines of which were primarily Kirkpatrick obtained from local fanciers J. Marshall, Harry Campbell and Simon Currie. From the outset he gained a number of positions in the Club, which was creditable because at the time, there were in excess of 40 members in Stranraer Club. In his first year in the Club in 1965, Tommy had a Grizzle Cock come to win but the cock didn’t even make the list as he wasted more than an hour on the trap. Three years later, however, this same cock came to the front again and on this occasion, he not only headed the list in his local Club, he actually won the National. As a youngster the Grizzle Cock flew the full programme from Dumfries to Leyland and the following season as a yearling, he again flew the full programme from Dumfries to Christchurch. When 2 y.o. he flew from Dumfries to Lancaster and was then off the road for several weeks when the Harper family moved home, a distance of some fifteen miles. Having been off the road for six weeks he was lifted into Guernsey and homed within 10 hours. In 1968 he went through the programme from Dumfries to Worcester and was then rested for two weeks before he competed from Rennes. He was basketed for the Classic with a full wing and sitting 18-day eggs. Within the article that Tommy Harper wrote for the Squills Year Book, following his National success, he said “Luck was certainly with us that day. I am a dairyman and go the milking at 3.30pm. Normally (son) Tommy would have been watching for the birds but I had two fanciers call in the afternoon and they said there would be none in before 8.00pm that night, so Tommy came to help my wife and myself to get finished early. We meant to be on the look-out at 5.00pm. However, Tommy was coming down past the house with the first batch of cows to the field about 4.20pm when he saw the Grizzle land. The clock was in the house and the door was locked, so he climbed in through the window, got the clock and timed him in. I think I am right in saying he will be the youngest person ever to time in the winner of the Scottish National”. The Grizzle was received as a gift from friend Simon Currie from Stranraer and was appropriately named “Stranraer Simon”. He was bred from a Hen from Johnnie Cook from Mauchline x a Kirkpatrick Cock. In former years I was promised a detailed pedigree from Simon but regrettably, this was never received. I do know, however, that Simon Currie was a frequent visitor to the home of the late George Jackson from Annan and by coincidence, George Jackson was the original owner of Grizzle Cock ‘Galabank Producer’, having purchased him from Willie Graham who assisted John Kirkpatrick his pigeons prior to his passing. Following his National triumph, ‘Stranraer Simon’ was sold to Louis Massarella and when coupled to quality hens, proved to be an absolute goldmine at stock and was the lead pigeon in the L.P.W. family of Kirkpatrick Grizzles.   

 

With Knowledge of the explained difficulty of competing successfully into Stranraer in National competition, consider the following ….  

 

Alex Wilson resides in the village of Leswalt, 3½ miles West of Stranraer, close to the Irish Sea and competes in partnership with his son, Cameron as A. Wilson and Son. Because of the ongoing problem with the Peregrine Falcon, he recognises that his pigeons must be fit early in the season to react to raptor attacks and as a consequence, he races them celibate in the early part of the season. He told me that if he breeds from them in the Spring, they are too soft and are ‘easy picking for the falcon’. He feeds modern mixtures in a controlled manner and due to the system, that he works and the feeding regime, the birds exercise at home like youngsters. At the gateway to the season his adult pigeons have several training tosses and then go to three local races along the Northern aspect of the Solway Firth with the third race being from Gretna (85 miles flying distance). They then go to Lymm with the Solway Federation and continue to go with them every alternate week through to Cheltenham or to the first Inland National. Having worked the team celibate during the early part of the season Alex then pairs them for the Classics and normally sends them to the Nationals covering 12 to 14 days eggs.  

 

 In 2015 the longest race in the S.N.F.C. programme was flown from Ancenis with the convoy being released at 7.15am into a South West wind. Alex timed at 6.02 in the morning to be 1st Section F, 17th Open National on 933ypm. The winning pigeon a 2009 Blue Chequer cock that went to the race covering a four-day old youngster. When hatched, the other youngster from the nest was moved under another pair. When the Chequer cock went to the National the youngster that he was feeding was moved into the box beside its nest mate and when he returned from the race the two youngsters were returned to the original nest and he and his mate covered them. The Chequer cock had always been a good one. He was trained locally as a youngster but unraced. He entered the race basket as a yearling and when 2 y.o. was 34th Sect. 434th Open Marlborough. He went to the channel when he was 3 y.o. from Ypres and in 2013 was sent to the Inland National from Maidstone but returned minus his tail and with half his wing out and off the back of such trauma; his confidence had to be gradually rebuilt. As explained, in 2015 he realised his potential, being 17th Open National. Alex shares a close friendship with David Jamieson from Bathgate and has occasionally had several of David’s top stock pigeons on loan. He has further received a number of top-quality birds from David and importantly has been advised how to race them. The Dam of the Chequer cock was purchased by Alex from Jimmy Alexander from Prestonpans, having been bred by David Jamieson from ‘Scar Face’ when paired to ‘the Norrie Cochrane Hen’. Sire of the Chequer cock was obtained from Les Parkinson from Preston, being an Andy Gregson Van der Wegen. The nest sister of the Chequer cock that was 17th Open Ancenis was killed by a Falcon above the loft when only a youngster. Having explained that the cock was unraced as a youngster, it should be understood just how difficult it is to get youngsters to race into Stranraer and district. They endeavour to work their young birds as far as Carlisle in their maiden season but find it extremely difficult, experiencing considerable losses.

 

During the season past, Alex once again won the Section with the National, on this occasion from the very difficult Gold Cup race from Alencon. Various opinions have been expressed as to what caused the difficult race, with the most probable explanation being the intense heat, which at the time, impacted on all pigeon organisations across the entire country. In such circumstance it was a considerable achievement for Alex to time a pigeon so near the front into Stranraer from Scotland’s Premier Race. As explained the race was flown from Alencon with the convoy being released at 6.00am on 28th June following a two- day holdover, with the birds initially working into a light South West wind, which retained its Westerly influence enroute and increased appreciably in strength over the North of England and at the home end. Alex timed at 7.32 in the morning to be 1st Section F, 28th Open National on 732ypm. The winning pigeon a 3. y.o. Blue Chequer cock that went through the inland programme as a yearling and was the first bird to the loft from Brighton in 2025. On build up to the 2026 Alencon National it was initially worked celibate having had five preparatory races through to Wollaston. It then went to Cheltenham but due to indifferent conditions, the convoy was brought back up the road to Shap. With the birds working into a strong West wind on a difficult day, the cock was on the wing for 6 hours from Shap. He thereafter went to nest and was basketed for the Gold Cup race covering a four-day old youngster, which was his first youngster of the season. Now, consider the bloodlines….. Sire was obtained from David Jamieson, having been bred from a son of Vandersmissen of Freialdenhofen when paired to an inbred grand-daughter of ‘Forrest Gump’; Dam meanwhile was bred from ‘Kannibaal Barcelona’ when paired to a daughter of ‘Euro Diamond’ when he was coupled to his half-sister, daughter of ‘George’. Expanding on the birds listed above consider that "Super Vandersmissen" gained the following German National positions, 3rd National Marseille (2,560 birds), 6th National Perpignan (3,101 birds), 19th National Barcelona (3,237 birds), 19th National Marseille (2,051 birds) plus five further National positions. ‘Forrest Gump’ was awarded 3rd International Ace Pigeon in 2002. At stock he bred a dynasty of winners. ‘Kannibaal Barcelona’ was bred and raced by Etienne Meirlaen and having gained 1st Provincial, 3rd National (against 11,641 birds), and 4th International Barcelona (against 25,750 birds) proved to be an Ace producer. ‘Euro Diamond’ was bred and raced by Peter and Dr. Hans-Peter Brockamp from Boppart, Germany, he was a Star performer and in accord with the other birds listed was a top producer.   

 

Interestingly, in conversation I learned that if there is West in the wind the birds make their way home to Stranraer on the route they were initially trained on and regularly race on in local competition, dog-legging from the East across the Northern aspect of the Solway Firth. If, however, there is a fresh East wind they break for home in North Wales and fly the sea across the Isle of Man home to Stranraer and in such circumstance record higher velocities than the leading birds into the Solway Fed. with which they had been liberated. Requoting the words of the author of the S.N.F.C. Centenary Book, “Stranraer must be one of the most disadvantageous locations in Scotland to race into from National races”; in that context I recognise above the undoubted achievement of these two very game pigeons that were raced by Alex Wilson.   

 

Photographs show (a) ‘Stranraer Simon’, (b) Alex Wilson, (c) Alex Wilson’s 1st Section ‘F’ 28th Open S.N.F.C. Alencon (taken in mid-October) and (d) the eye of Alex Wilson’s Section winner from Alencon.