The Joe Murphy Column
I start this week’s column with a blast from the past!!!! I received an email from Albert Oribine from Port Glasgow who wrote; ‘Hi Joe, I can remember you writing many years ago when I had the pigeons in the 70/80/90’s and I gave some young birds to Albert Cook who flew in Fife Federation. I have just read your article in the RP about Fortune Lady / Kingdom Spirt. I’m glad to see your still going strong. I gave up the birds in 2001 due to ill health but I have a pal who has started back again into the sport. I got him 4 young birds from Jim Smith of Polmont who was a very good friend of a dear friend of mine; Davie Wilson who played from my team; Glasgow Rangers. Sadly, Davie has passed away now. You take care Joe and it was very nice to read your articles again yours Albert’. Yes, you are right Albert I started doing a weekly column away back in 1976 and have continued to do this EVERY WEEK since, (the occasional one missed) which is not bad, considering the time and effort that goes into these. Hopefully I can get another 2 years to make it up to 50 years, of being a scribe for the SCOTTISH PIGEON SPORT.
Dewar Trophy Book
Received an email from Paul Sumner from Victoria in Australia who wrote; ‘Hi Joe, I enjoy reading your column and was interested in getting a copy of your book ‘The Dewar Trophy Book’ however it is going to be a bit hard to send you the money as I’m in Australia, and unless you have a PayPal account. I will have to think of some other way, what would be the cost including postage to Australia? It is a year ago this week that we were in Scotland to do a ‘Great Rail Journey’ tour of the Scottish Highlands starting in Edinburgh, before returning 10 days later when the tour finished. Then having a few days there before hiring a car to drive to Fraserburgh where my wife's family originated from. We then drove back down to Carlisle for a few days to visit my good friend Tom Gilbertson. He took us around to visit Gordon Grant in Gretna. I had thought about contacting you while we were in Edinburgh but ran out of time. As we were only on foot until we picked up the car to head up to Fraserburgh, I wish I had known there was a pigeon club up there, I didn't know until we got back home. All the best yours Paul Sumner; Victoria, Australia. I wrote back to Paul and told him about our son Mark is going to New Zealand in 3 weeks’ time and wondered if this would help him out with Mark posting the book there. Our brother-in-law is over in England just now visiting his relatives so if we can get hold of him maybe he can take the book back to Australia with him. I thanked Paul for his interest in the book and hopefully we can help him out as much as we can.
Visit to Gordon Loft see text
Interesting Point for all Clubs & Federations
Before I start on the Federation results; I would just like to point out a little observation I have noticed over the years while doing my column. The North of Scotland federation only give 3 POSITIONS TO EACH FANCIER. So, for example if a fancier takes the first 8 in the section of the federation, he only gets his first 3 birds places. This way the other fancier can get 4th 5th & 6th, and the next gets the 7th 8th & 9th etc. This way the majority of the members have a chance of winning federation prize cards or money. Whereas the big teams don’t take all the positions or prize money. This way at least everything is equally shared out between the members. I honestly think this is a great idea, I spoke to fanciers about it last year and I think it would be better system for other federations to use. I’m open to hear your suggestions on this so please email me your opinions.
Results;
North of Scotland Federation
News from George Duthie with the Strathkinness (1) old bird race flown on 27th April 2024; with 49 members sending 1461 birds, these were liberated at 08-45am into a light south east wind. Taking the first 3 places in the east section who had 24 members sending 834 birds is Colin McRae of Fraserburgh & District with his winner doing a velocity of 1694. A W Buchan of the same club is 4th 5th & 9th section with G Findlay of Peterhead & District club winning 6th 7th & 8th section and open. R Bain of Fraserburgh & District wins 10th section and open. The West Section had 25 members sending 627 birds; winning 1st 8th & 9th section 33rd 40th & 41st open is J Abel of Devern Valley club. A Fulton of the same club is 2nd section 34th open with G McLeod winning 3rd section 35th open. R Hay & Family also from the same club win 4th 5th & 7th section 36th 37th & 39th open. N Raymond wins 6th section 38th open and A Wilson wins 10th section 42nd open.
Clubs First Bird Winners;
Fraserburgh & District winner C McRae velocity 1694.299; Peterhead & District winner G Findlay velocity 1667.241; Fraserburgh West End winner, A Higgins velocity 1656.414; Individual winner C Donaldson velocity 1582.123; Inverurie winner S Witherspoon velocity 1581.83; Devern Valley winner J Abel velocity 1535.873; Keith winner R Wilson velocity 1369.049; Elgin & District winner G Geddes velocity 1139.772.
Angus Federation of Racing Pigeon Societies.
News from federation secretary David Liddle with the Wooler Old Bird race flown on 27th April with 25 members sending 740 birds; these were liberated at 09-00 am with no wind at the liberation point. Taking the first 2 places plus 4th open is Davie Glen of Forfar club with the winner doing 1689 velocity. Ian Scott of the same club is 3rd 8th 10th to 16th plus 18th & 19th open. Kenny Droog & son are 6th 7th 9th & 17th with Eric Galloway in 20th place.
Forfar Club result;
Had 14 members sending 488 birds: Davie Glen was 1st & 2nd club and federation for the second week running with two 2-year-old widowhood cocks. Both cocks are of Vandenabeele breeding and have flown well previously with several club and federation positions. Ian Scott is 3rd club and federation with a yearling widowhood cock which is a son of Ian`s SNFC section winner from Huntingdon last year and contains the bloodlines of his SNFC Roye winner ‘Sun Princess’. The dam’s side is Cattrysse breeding from Charlie Bell; regards David.
Club Winners; Forfar 14 members 488 bird’s winner D Glen 1689.60 velocity; Arbroath 6 members 154 birds winner P Cameron velocity 1594.83. Gourdon 3 members 70 birds winners D & D Hay velocity 1465.21
Montrose 2 members sent 28 birds winners A & S Whyte velocity 1212.90
Arbroath Racing Pigeon Club; news from Charlie Cameron with the result of the Wooler Old Bird 2nd race flown on 27th April with the convoy liberated at 09-00am with no wind at the race point; 6 members sent 154 birds. Paul Cameron takes the first 4 places with Charlie & Glen taking the next 3 places. Les McKay is 8th & 9th with Chic & Anne Carrie making up the top 10 place.
Fife Federation of Homing Pigeon Societies.
News from George Todd with the Alnwick (1) race which was flown on 27th April with the convoy of 1490 birds liberated at 10:00am in a light east wind. Birdage; Dunfermline 253 birds; Crossgates 316 birds; Lochgelly 220 birds; Methilhaven 259 birds; Kennoway 333 birds, St Andrews 120 birds; Novar & Lothian 89 birds. The Turpie & McCord partnership take 1st 2nd & 4th places; B Chalmers of Kennoway is 3rd open with his club mate Stevie Ritchie winning 5th place. Dave Armour of Methilhaven is 6th & 7th with John Harcus of St Andrews taking the last 3 places to make up the top 10.
West Section winners are as follows; Top spot goes to Willie Stark of Lochgelly with another bird in 7th place. His club mate Jim Doig wins 2nd spot, with Crossgates George Bell winning 3rd & 4th place. J Hynd & son Ian are 4th 5th 8th & 10th places, with C Buchanan of Crossgates winning 9th position. Other Club First Bird winners were Frank Mitchell who won Dunfermline.
East of Scotland Federation.
News from Tom McEwan who informs us that the federation were at Thirsk on the 27th April; with the convoy liberated at 08-00am into a north east wind. Topping the federation is John Baillie of Tranent with a blue chequer cock. He is from a team of youngsters John purchased from Andrew Lawley which contain Koopman Bloodlines from Galaxy Lofts. John had a nice double as he also won 10th open federation place. There again well to the fore finishing with 2 birds in the top 10 is Keith Howie of Prestonpans. Keeping up his good run of form is former Gold Cup winner George Veitch of East Saltoun finishing 3rd 8th & 9th open. Andrew Gilpin of Haddington is well to the fore in 5th open. Then we have Tom & Scott McEwan of Elphinstone with a good double in 6th & 7th open.
Prestonpans HS.
Top spot goes to John Baillie with a yearling chequer cock. Keith Howie is 2nd with a 2-year-old blue hen who won 2nd club 4th federation last week. She is from Keith’s Vandenabeele bloodlines; sire is a ½ brother to ‘Flight Leader’ (Hawkins & Evans) Dam is from Graham Stewart of Whitecraigs which is a granddaughter of ‘Shadow’. Third place is won by Brian Lavery with a yearling red hen.
Ayrshire Federation
News from Baz Nicol; who wrote, ‘Good morning, Joe I hope this finds you well. I was asked by a few members of Ayrshire federation if I could send you some detail on the federation results this season - I hope you wouldn’t mind putting them into your column.’
The Ayrshire Fed started at Lauder on the 20th April after a spell of poor weather the birdage was low however 54 members sent 1085 birds. The convoy was liberated at 09-45am into a light south wind. Winning 1st North Section and topping the open was sprint ‘King’ Dave Howie and his better half Kirsty Higgins, with a beautiful dark yearling cock on a velocity of 1408 ypm (see photo). This bird has already won top 5 position as a youngster. He was bred by David Sara and is from Heremans-Ceuster origins; well, done Dave and Kirsty who are a very hard team to beat. They took the first 5 on the result, plus 7th & 9th. J & S O’Hare are 6th with J Savage of Kilwinning taking 8th place. A Barbour of Dalry HS is 10th.
D Howie's Ayrshire Federation Winner
D Howie is 1st open Ayrshire Federation Lauder OB. 1st Centre section and 14th open is Robert ‘The Don’ Donegan on 1376. South Section winners are J & S Galloway of Cumnock & District on 1347ypm. J Auld of the same club is 2nd with M Smith of Whitletts & District winning 3rd & 4th with W Lawrence also from Whitletts in 5th place. Other Club Winners; Kilmarnock Invitation won by W Julyan; Irvine HS winner H Pollock; Carrick & District winners Cully & Dunlop.
By all accounts Joe, a gentle start to the season with excellent weather conditions on the opening day. Looking forward to the new season now with better weather ahead. Kindest regards Baz Nicol. My thanks to Baz for the result and the photo of the federation winner to go with the report.
Central Federation
News from Bernie Britton of the Otterburn race which had an entry of 995 pigeons.
Winchburgh club sent 302 birds and taking 1st club 1st federation is Henry Borthwick with a bird bred from a double federation winner from Andy McCartney which contained Donaldson bloodlines. Henry is also 4th club 7th federation with a home bred bird which is a previous federation topper. Both these birds were flown on the widowhood. Taking 2nd club & federation is T & G Weir with a Ritchie Elliot Herman Cuester being a grandson of Olympiad and was sitting 10 days. Third club 6th federation is Peter Keogh with a celibate yearling hen that previously took 38th open SNFC YB National. She is a Frans Zwols x Aarden and she is a half-sister to Peter's 9th open Algarve Golden race winner. Gordon MacKenzie is 1st & 2nd with pigeons bred by Cameron Heeps; 3rd pigeon is my own Gaby Vandenabeele and 4th pigeon bred by Bobby Logan.
Kingdom Racing Pigeon Association; news from Pete Patrick who wrote; ‘Hi Joe, we were at Alnwick for our second race of 2024. Taking the first three positions was Coaltown of Balgonie's Gary Hall, his winner is a red Vandenabeele cock, followed by a chequer Herman Custer cock. This cock was 2nd club 2nd federation from Wooler last week; his next bird was a Deweerd mealy cock all are on roundabout. In 4th position was Dave Whyte of St Serfs. Gary also took fifth closely followed by club mate Chic Dinsdale in 6th place. Rosyth Club was won by Mitchell & Stonehouse and at Leuchars we had Tom Berwick edge out E & E Young for the red card. Thanks once again for highlighting our winners Joe yours Pete.
Almond Valley Federation
News from secretary Lynne Stewart with the result of the Wooler race which was flown on 27th April with the convoy of 1328 birds liberated at 09-45am. John Hadfield of West Calder club wins 1st 2nd 5th & 6th open. With Bonnybridge clubs S Russell winning 3rd spot. Balerno’s C Ross is 4th with Bonnybridge Vic Couper winning 7th 13th & 14th open. I McLelland of the same club is 8th with Freddie Jamieson & son of East Calder taking 9th spot. J Loney of Bonnybridge club is 10th & 11th with S McArdle of Carnwath club in 12th spot. P & R Fairley of East Calder club are 15th with John Bird of West Calder is 16th place. John Burnside of West Calder has 2 birds in 17th & 18th open with T Gavin of Fauldhouse in 19th spot and making up the top 20 is S Russell of Fauldhouse club.
Armadale 140 birds; J Hadfield 1666.825, 1663.723, 1657.936, 1657.168
Balerno 86 birds; C Ross 1660.624, 1617.619, 1616.467, 1609.969
Bonnybridge 478 birds; S Russell 1662.479, V Couper 1656.396, I McLelland 1653.891, J Loney 1651.304
Carnwath 140 birds; S McArdle 1648.584, 1614.909, 1523.596, 1522.951
East Calder 128 birds; F Jamieson & Son 1653.039, P & R Fairley 1640.894, F Jamieson & Son 1593.488, 1592.708
Fauldhouse 232 birds; T Gavin 1636.818, J Hendry 1598.785, T Gavin 1587.755, C Smillie 1579.779
West Calder 124 birds; J Bird 1640.377, 1630.622, 1606.372, 1606.010
Pentlandhills Federation
News from Andy Miller who wrote; ‘Hi Joe, for the third race of the 2024 from Thirsk on the 27th April, with a distance of 127-141 miles for the members. The convoy of 1420 birds entered by 62 lofts was liberated at 08:00 into a light north east wind, with a low temperature. Winning 1st federation is Edinburgh Premier partnership of Peter & James Hutton and silent partner (loft laddie) Stuart Gilchrist who timed their 4-year-old widowhood cock on 1526. The pigeon was bred by Mr & Mrs Tommy Baker & Son from Wrexham and is of SVR x Van Den Bulck origin. Stuart informs me this is the third loft location this bird has flown to for Stuart and he has won the following positions; 4th Fed, 2nd Fed and now 1st Fed at all locations. F & W Robertson of Danderhall club won 2nd 3rd 4th 10th 11th & 12th positions. A Baillie also from Danderhall won 5th 8th & 9th positions. With S & S Tierney from the same club winning 7th position. Our next race is Harrowgate; regards Andy’.
Photos
I keep asking fanciers and Press Officers to send me a photo of their federation winner for the column, which seems to be falling on deaf ears. It is not me who gets the publicity it is YOU!!! Fanciers want to look at good quality pigeons. For example; this week’s chequer hen rung SU74M7476 winner of 1st south section SNFC Rennes for Shillinglaw & Wylie. This hen is also the dam of ‘Liddle Supreme’ the SNFC Winner.
The photo of the Grizzle Hen was raced by R Clark and rung SURP53E2201. She was a great 550-mile racer in the SNFC. Winning 6 times from Rennes with 3 of these on the day of liberation and she also won £250. She was dam and granddam of winners. Bred by Tosh Brothers; 3rd section 12th open Irish National Dinard 500 miles on the day. 2201 is a daughter of ‘White Dawn’ winner of 1st Scottish National Flying Club in 1947 (the year I was born JM) when mated to a white cock winner of many federation races. This photo was taken when the Grizzle hen was 13 years old.
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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view online editions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com - Pigeon Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.com www.internationalracingpigeon.com Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland?
© Compiled by Joe Murphy