Newbury Inland National

Details: Published: 01 January 2020; Hits: 948

SCOTTISH NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

Report by Joe Murphy

Newbury Inland National

There was a very good entry for the first national of the 2007 with over 4.400 birds entered with 3.918 of these being SNFC birds and the others made from federations who convoyed with the club. The buzz everyone received from this increased birdage was immense as it was a ‘blast from the past’ so to speak. One fancier who phoned me from Ayrshire (this area sent 188 birds from the new race marking station in Kilmarnock) said it was like being back in the ‘Charlie Graham Time’ when we sent over 7.000 birds to the national. Hopefully we will have this number at the Maidstone race which is in a few weeks' time. The officials and management committee deserve a ‘pat on the back’ for this forward thinking transaction of inviting federations to convoy with them for the old bird inland nationals. (My own personal opinion is we could have done the same with the young bird national, still this may happen in the future.) It was good to see this increase in birdage and long may it continue and the introduction of fanciers being able to join the SNFC for these individual races at £7.00 per race is also a progressive move. Before I report on the race I know how hard everyone worked at the Fife race marking & clock stations and it would be the same at ALL stations. On behalf of the officials and management committee we would like to THANK everyone who assisted us. Without their hard work and dedication we could not achieve this goal.

The birdage breakdown is as follows: Section A: 549 birds; Section B: 651 birds; Section C: 1092 birds; Section D: 353 birds; Section E: 830 birds; Section F: 188 birds; Section G: 255 birds with a total of 3918 birds. Region East 2096 birds: Region West 1018 birds: Region North 255 birds: Region South 549 birds these are only the SNFC birds in the 4,400 bird convoy.

Weather

The liberation was delayed due to some low mist at the Newbury race point; the reports stated that once that cleared we would have sunshine all the way homewards. The race control team were also in contact with 2 Welsh organisations that had 7000 birds at Epsom which was 40 miles east of Newbury. I notified the membership I would update Lib Line service after 09.00am by which time we hope to have a further update from the convoyer and race control team. The birds were liberated at 09.00 hours into a very light north wind visibility was perfect at the liberation point with blue sky and it was nice and warm. Colin Gray the convoyer reported that the convoy cleared the site within seconds. Steve Appleby weather report was as follows;

Conditions today for the SNFC race from Newbury are very good. A dry day with long spells of sunshine. Mist has been located in many areas at first light this morning but will soon disperse as the sun gains strength. (Mist is present at Newbury) Heavy cloud is confined to the east of the country and not on the line of flight. Winds are light or variable but any influence will come from the North. So a good steady race in prospect for the SNFC convoy of pigeons. The green colour on this satellite image identifies the clear skies on the line of flight from Newbury to Scotland. This image was place on the www.snfc.co.uk web site for fanciers to read prior to the race. Can I also thank the fanciers who phoned in the lib line service to allow me to update this service and the national web page. At one point the volume of pigeon being recorded was between 20 and 40 birds at a time and it took Margaret and me some time to write all these down and record them, hence the delay in reporting them to the lib line however we managed. I would again like to stress that fanciers are still phoning the WRONG number to find out if pigeons are in. They keep phoning the answering machine which is for recorded your arrival, this is not only costing them money but it also takes up quite a lot of my time listening to these recordings with nothing on them which is a total waist of my time also. So can you please follow directions of the phone numbers on page 20 of your SNFC rule book.

Earliest Arrivals into sections

These were Section A south section Roy & Marion Seaton of Annan at 14.53, Bill Pirie Eastriggs 14.53 and Robbie Rome Annan at 14.57. Section B Mr & Mrs Rab Ainslie of Ormiston 16.41, John Bird Prestonpans 16.59 and A & R Pringle Gorebridge 16.57; Section C Ron Stevenson Leven 17.29, Willie Stark Lochgelly 17.33 & 17.15 and Jimmy Beveridge Lochgelly 17.36. Section D P McGowan & Son Stirling 17.39; Stewart Brothers Stirling 17.42 and Dave Jamieson East Calder 17.26. Section E Jim Cullen Uddingston 17.10; Alan Pallard Uddingston 17.10 and James Lindsay Wishaw 17.20; Section F A McKee Kirkconnel 17.00 & 17.45, Archie McNeillie Drongan 17.04 and Robert Armstrong Renfrew at 17.06 with his last years Sporting Challenge entry Paisley Express. Section G north section John Hunter Aberdeen 19.31 and Arthur Evans Stonehaven 21.36 and 21.55.

Probable winner of Section A, 1st south region and 1st open are Roy & Marion Seaton of Annan timed in a 3 year old dark chequer widowhood cock named who has had 6 races this season from Appleton, Stafford 1 & 2 , Cheltenham and Marlborough. These races as you can see are down on the west side of the country and Roy & Marion’s birds go with the Premier club who are convoyed by West Cumbria federation. ‘Jimmy - Mac’ came on a true line right over the Solway the same route he does in club racing every week. As a youngster he only had 2 races out to 60 miles and as a yearling out the 200 mile mark. He is bred in the purple and his sire was direct from George MacAloney & son William of Coatbridge from their No 1 stock pair who are known as the ‘Dream Pair’ and are Camphius Janssen’s the Dream cock was bred by C W L. & Green and he is a full brother to their champion ‘Gold Blend’ a winner of 11 x 1st federation and an R.P.R.A. award winner in the N.W. Region. The Dream hen was bred by from stock from C W L & GREEN stock birds, she is the nest mate to Janefield Wonderboy in only 13 races he won; 1st fed 4122 birds; 2nd fed 9025 birds; 3rd fed 6148 birds; 3rd fed 8411 birds; 1st sect 1999 birds; 2nd sect 2178 birds; 2nd sect 2269 birds; 3rd sect 1413 birds; 4th sect 1487 birds and 6th sect 2225 birds. Janefield Wonderboy had his photograph published on the front cover of the BHW 3 days after he was actually killed in the partnerships back garden by a female sparrow hawk.

Roy Seaton

The best son of the ‘Dream Pair’ is Janefield Amal Cock’, more about him in one of my future Joe Murphy Column articles in the fancy press. The Dream Pair are parents or grand parents of the following 1st federation winners for George and William MacAloney in the last 6 ½ seasons. 1st fed 3460 birds; 1st fed 3696 birds; 1st fed 8689 birds; 1st fed 5780 birds; 1st fed 4607 birds; 1st fed 9171 birds; 1st fed 7000 birds; 1st fed 8605 birds; 1st fed 5318 birds; 1st fed 1425 birds; 1st fed 2983 birds; 1st fed 9880 birds; 1st fed 9946 birds; 1st fed 2195 birds; 1st fed 9738 birds; 1st fed 8593 birds; 1st fed 3412 birds; 1st fed 7502 birds; 1st fed 10592 birds; 1st fed 9810 birds; 1st fed 7416 birds; 1st fed 2518 birds; 1st fed 8040 birds; In the last 6 ½ years the children and grand children from this pair have taken over 100 federation prizes some team performances are as follow; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th with 9,738 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th with 3,460 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th with 7,502 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th with 8.593 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th with 10,592 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th with 5,780 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th with 5,010 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th with 9,946 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 6th with 8,605 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 10th with 9,171 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd with 8,040 birds; 1st 2nd 3rd 7th 9th with 6,297 birds; It is little wonder that Roy Seton contacted the MacAloney partnership to obtain stock from this ‘WONDER PAIR’ as can be seen from the above results; you will read more about the MacAloney partnership later in this report as they also have a hand in the breeding of the 1st bird in the West Section.

Dam of ‘Jimmy - Mac’ is from Roy’s brother Jim from his old Tom Larkin chequer cock crossed with Ron Williamson of Northern Ireland hen. Roy highlighted that in the past 3 years breeding from this pair only one bird has been lost, in fact two sisters to the chequer cock both won their clubs on the same day. One won the Premier club and the other the Annan RPC. Roy was telling me that he had 6 birds at the race with 5 of them being previous 1st prize winner and ‘Jimmy - Mac’ was the only bird not to have one a race, well you can’t get any better than this 1st club, 1st Federation, 1st Region South 1st section A and 1st open SNFC; Not taking anything away from the MacAloney’s performances but the greatest result of all those mentioned above has to be the ‘Icing on the cake’ with a 1st open SNFC Newbury from a convoy of 4.400 birds. If you’re going to win any race in Scotland then is must be with this SNFC who are one of the oldest established club in Scotland going for the past 113 years and both the MacAloney’s and the Seton partnerships are past SNFC winners with George & William winning Sartilly 2 in 1987 and Roy & Marion winning Sartilly 2 in 1989. Our congratulations to Roy and Marion on this success and we look forward to them gaining more success with this great club of ours. My thanks to William MacAloney for his prompt email reply to my phone call for details.

Scott Irvine of Brydekirk timed in a yearling blue cock flown on roundabout. This year he has been to Appleton, Walstone, Cheltenham and Marlborough 250 miles winning 2nd club. He then had the next week off but was trained 3 times from 30 miles and was shown his hen for 10 minutes prior to basketing. Scott opened the doors to let the cocks through beside the hens and 2 cocks started to show off on the loft floor. The blue cock started to fight them both like a ‘pit bull terrier’ and in full swing he started to knock lumps out of them so much so that Scott thought he was like an obsessed animal. This was obviously his motivation to race home and now that he is 2nd open SNFC Scott has decided to call him ‘Briggville Animal’ we will watch for this pigeons progress over the next few years. He was bred by Steve Bennett of Bristol whom Scott met through one of the pigeon chat rooms and Steve said he would send Scott up a couple of birds to try and here is the ‘Animal; doing well so young in his career congratulations to Scott and Steve on this win.

Scott Irving

Third south region and open is Bill Pirie is an Aberdonian who moved to the south of Scotland when he retired and now resides in Eastriggs, Bill timed in a yearling chequer hen on the roundabout system. She had 5 races this year Shap, Appleton, Stafford, Worcester and Cheltenham the weekend prior to basketing. Her cock was dropped at this race so Bill allowed her to go back into the nest box on the Wednesday night and then put her back into her own section after a few minutes and this was how she was entered for the race. As a youngster she had 4 races out to Appleton 116 miles. Her sire was bred by C Hindmarsh & son of Harlowhill Lofts near Newcastle from Kavanagh Brothers stock from Sprint Master and the Big Hen. The dam was bred by Peter William Smith of Burgh Le Marsh and purchased at his entire clearance sale; she is from Wildemeersch Bliksem lines.

Bill Pirie

My eternal gratitude to David Smith of Gretna for his photographs of the above winners you don’t know how important it is that committee members assist me in compiling this report and David Smith is without doubt one of the best thank you again mate.

Section B probable winner and 1st east region are Elaine & Rab Ainslie fly as Mr & Mrs in the local Gladsmuir club. The partnership only keep a small 12 bird race team and their winner is a 2 year old blue bar cock flown on widowhood. He was paired up in January reared 2 youngsters then split up and repaired in March. He received 4 or 5 training tosses from 20 miles before going into the first race of the season he then had every race to Peterborough which was flown last Saturday. He had his daily exercise round the loft and was shown his hen for a few minutes prior to basketing for the national. As a youngster he had 3 or 4 races to 100 miles then stopped, as a yearling he flew to Maidstone being a steady bird without winning a prize card. Sire and Dam were both bred by Rab’s brother Sandy and his son in law David Fisher who lived in Ipswich and now reside in Dunbar. The bloodlines are De Klacks from the 361 line and were bred by the Cosworth Stud.

Mr & Mrs Ainslie

2nd section B and 2nd east region is Jimmy Little who is an 81 year old fancier who has kept pigeon since 1957 and he is also a member of the same club as the Ainslie’s. Jimmy is a little hard of hearing so it was a little difficult for him to understand me over the phone however I managed to obtain some details of his winner. She is a 3 year old blue hen sent sitting eggs, she has always been a steady bird and this year she has had 3 races with her last 2 weeks ago at Wakefield and then into Newbury. She is bred from his old family of pigeons who survive by the race basket and this is Jimmy’s pedigree. Jimmy has problems with his feet and bending so he had some fancier sitting with him in his back garden as he enjoys the company. Jimmy’s bird came with Mr & Mrs Ainslie bird and they split and went to their respective lofts. Jimmy’s hen went from bowl to bowl and he had to come out the loft to use a stick to get it in. She dropped on the floor where he has put some food and she dropped in with the other birds and he could not pick it out so he shouted to the laddie Ness to come and help him and he picked it out with the national rubbers on.

81 year old Jimmy Little

This has made Jimmy think as he is getting too old and if he does not find some young lad who is interested in pigeons then he will have to give them up. This would be sad as Jimmy was 2nd open Rennes in 1992 when Jock Honeyman & son won the race. Jimmy lost his wife Nellie 5 years ago and he misses her so much, they had 3 daughters and 1 son and his daughters look after him well, however he is still lonely and enjoys the company of fanciers coming to visit him for a ‘natter on the doos’ and he thanked me for phoning him. What a lovely old man and by the way he nor I are trying to take anything away from the Ainslie’s pigeon it is the clock that counts all I’m trying to emphasise is that he is a nice old man who is still trying hard to win the national at 81 years old. My thanks to Ricky Simpson who is not on the management committee for his efforts and contribution in obtaining photos of the Ainslie’s and Old Jimmy thanks Rick you are a credit to the sport.

Third section B is Colin McGregor of Auchendinny which is situated between Roslyn & Penicuik timed in a 4 year old blue bar cock bred by Bob Watt of Penicuik. Colin obtained this cock at the start of the year and paired him up allowing him to rear 2 youngsters and while in this nest condition he managed to break him to his new surroundings. He received 2 training tosses from Selkirk and into his first race from Selby a distance of 160 miles, he then went to Newark and the Leicester open race last Saturday returning late at night. He was then given one training toss from Carter Bar on the Wednesday the day prior to basketing for the Newbury race and was sent sitting 9 days on eggs. He has been a good pigeon in the past for Bob Watt andhas flown the channel as well, he is bred down from birds from Mr & Mrs Inglis of Blyth in Northumberland being from a Dordin crossed Kruth cock and a Dordin hen.

Colin McGregor's blue Newbury hen

Section C probable winner is Ron Stevenson of Leven, last year our last federation winner was Gilmour Brothers of Leven who won the Falaise race and not to be outdone is Ian Gilmour’s close pal Ron Stevenson. These 2 fanciers have been the backbone of this old established club for more years than I care to remember. When I started up in 1970 Harry Wilson was the club secretary and a few years later he gave up this job this was when Ron Stevenson took over this post and has held it ever since, Ian Gilmour has been the president for about the same length of time and without these two dyed-in-the-wool SHU and SNFC members this club would not have survived. Ron timed in a 4 year old chequer hen that had 3 races this year including Leicester 260 miles the week before. She was being set up for the Gold Cup race from Alencon however her eggs hatched on the Wednesday the day before basketing for Newbury that Ron decided she had to go and he sent her and kept her cock at home. As a young bird she flew to Ripon 146 miles, then as a yearling she flew Newbury with the SNFC and as a 2 year old she was sent to Maidstone and Falaise being timed on the federation result from this channel race. Last year she returned from Falaise on the 3rd day injured and was left to recover and she certainly has as she comes up to win the region with over 1000 birds entered. Sire is a red cock purchased at the Methilhaven club sale and was bred by Austin Whittaker from a Mr & Mrs Pattie of Cardenden. Dam is a home bred hen from Ron’s old family that have been cultivated over the years from his late dad’s pigeons.

Ron Stevenson

Willie Stark of Lochgelly timed in a chequer pied 2 year old hen who as a youngster flew the federation programme out to Wakefield open then as a yearling she won 10th club Ripon and 10th club Wakefield and she flew every race to the coast.

Willie Stark & son Joe

This year she was 4th club Otterburn and 5th club Leicester open and she cast her 1st flight in the basket, she returned and went back on her eggs which she was sitting overdue and she rose on Wednesday and was sent to the race in this condition. She is earmarked to go to the SNFC Alencon Gold Cup race in 3 weeks time so watch out for her on the result. Her dam was bred by Chick Stewart of Ballingry she flew Claremont winning 67th open SNFC in 2002. Sire was purchased at the late Storrar & Whyte clearance sale as a matter of interest Willie timed in another 2 good birds at 17:34 & 17:49 these should also be well up on the open result.

3rd section C is Mick Donnachie of Kingseat is 3rd with a velocity of 1154 sorry no details of Mick’s winner.

Section D probable winners are Peter McGowan & son Jamie who timed a yearling chequer pied hen flying on the roundabout system. She has had 6 out of the 8 races this season winning 3rd federation Otterburn and she also won 19th open Newark winning £186 into the bargain. After this race she received 8 tosses at the 36 miles mark and was given her cock for 2 hours on the Thursday before basketing and they had started to make a nest. As a youngster she did very well winning numerous prizes she was a gift from Tam Blair a fellow North West fancier whose is a household name in these parts. Breeding is Vanderree crossed Van Loon and Peter and Jamie would like to again thank Tam for this 1st section D winner.

Second section with a velocity of 1161 are Stewart Brothers of Stirling I phoned John earlier today for details and he was to send them by email and it is not after midnight and I have not received them if they come first thing in the morning I will add them in if not they have missed out sorry but this report has to be away by 07.30 as I’m working and do not have time to wait. I started assembling this report at 11.00 hours this morning and here I am 13 hours later writing it for the pigeon press to catch their deadline. I even had to eat my meals today speaking to fanciers on the phone so that will tell you what kind of day I’ve had and this is after spending most of yesterday on the lib line service.

3rd section D are C & J Lumsden of Stoneburn with a velocity of 1145 again I’m sorry to say I have no details of this winner as I only received this information after 22.00 so have not had time to contact this partnership but will make an effort to do so some time this week.

Probable Section E winner and 1st west section is Alex Blyth of Carluke who timed in a blue chequer 4 year old pied cock his racing career as a young bird was 3 races Otterburns and 1 & 2 and Towlaw. As a yearling he was put on the widowhood system and had 5 races to Huntingdon where he was 4th club into a NW wind taking 8 hrs 18 minutes. Then as a 2 year old he was entered in 7 races including Newbury 4/6/05 liberated at 06.30 hours he was Alex’s timer at 15-27-11 pm being 9 hours on wing he was on the result but a minor position. As a 3 year old when paired up and sitting at the end of February a female sparrow hawk entered through my sputnik on hearing the commotion and entering the loft I thought it was him lying with his back ripped out. The sparrow hawk had already killed 3 birds over the previous 7 days so this was the 4 bird it had killed it died of brushites with me holding the brush. On examination it was his hen that was killed he was sitting in a nest box with 9 other birds they never moved till lunch time the following day I tried him with 4 different hens but he was not happy so after a couple of races he was stopped for the year then at the back end of 2006 season I put him in the hen section to pick his own hen. As a 4 year old his whole season was geared for Newbury with 4 races from Otterburn, Hexham, Ripon, Newark 14 days rest then Newbury apart from a young bird he has had no training at all, only one hour free flight morning and night no flagging they must want to fly or something is not right. Alex says ‘His sire was bred by George MacAloney and Son William of Coatbridge being 25801 and is from the last daughter 10663 from the Speckle hen and blue pied cock 8349 which I also have in my stock loft he goes back to the Eddie Lauder Busschearts. Dam was bred by myself and is 16059 from a G MacAloney and Son hen L 35 containing the lines of the famous Super Mac a winner of 17 first prizeswhen paired to a blue white flight cock from the late Jack Bunch of Netherburn this pair have left me pigeons that excel at 300 to 400 miles Joe. I wish to thank George and William MacAloney for allowing me access to their fantastic family of pigeons also my wife Margaret for the help she gives me throughout the year’. Well here we are with the West section winner containing the MacAloney bloodlines well done to them and Alex on another outstanding result.

1st Section E, Alex Blyth

2nd section E 2nd west region is Jim Cullen from Uddingston as you will see from the velocities this was a very close race with Jim beaten by the drop of a hat 01 of a yard. However knowing Jim as I do he will be the first to shake hands with the winner. Jim timed in a 2 year old blue chequer cock sent feeding a big youngster and looking at his hen. He was not raced as a youngster only trained then as a yearling he flew out to Maidstone a distance of 365 miles winning 1st club 9th open Lanarkshire Federation. This year he was raced to the 190+ mile mark then stopped 2 weeks ago he then received 3 training tosses from 50 miles on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday prior to basketing on the Thursday night for Newbury. Sire unfortunately was lost last year being a son of Jim’s number 1 stock cock 820. Dam was purchased at the late Jock Traill entire clearance sale she is 50% Jim Hannah as her mother was a grand daughter of Blue Girl.

Jim Cullen

Jim Cullen is a dedicated fancier and one of the honest straight talking people you could wish to meet so I think this is the right time to highlight a call I received from Jim Mullen of the Uddingston club. Many of you will remember that Jim Cullen, Jim Cameron and Dave Young organised a sale of pigeons to assist Jim Mullen his wife Carol and family who lost their young son Jay in a tragic accident. Jim & Carol would like to publicly thank these 3 men and all the others who donated or purchased pigeons at the sale. This fantastic gesture by the pigeon fanciers meant so much to the whole Mullen family and they will forever be in their gratitude. I always say ‘God works in mysterious ways’ and Jim Cullen has been repaid for his contribution towards this sale and we now have to watch the other national results for Jim Cameron and Dave Young’s name as they to deserve some form of reward for their effort.

Jim Cullen's 2nd section winner

3rd section E 3rd west region is Alan Pollard of Uddingston Alan is an Englishman who moved up to Scotland last year and he timed in a yearling blue hen sent sitting 15 days on eggs he remarked that when she dropped she was in immaculate condition. She flew the full federation programme including the Scotch Corner disaster. This year she had the first 5 races to Bobworth 188 miles, she then received a few tosses from Alan when he went to work a distance of 40 miles or so. She was bred by Alan Atkinson of Sandycroft in Wales and Alan is known locally as the ‘Sandycroft Slayer’. Alan sent 14 birds to the race and when I spoke to him on Sunday he had 3 home and in fact only has 9 birds left in his loft. My thanks to Gareth Rankin a committee member who although he had a busy day with his young family took the time to go out and take pictures of the west section winners and email them to me after 22.30 great stuff and thanks once again Gareth your support is appreciated.

Alan Pollard

Alan Pollard's 3rd section hen

Section F probable winner is Graham Liddle of Giffnock who flies in the Barrhead & District flying club. I only received this information that Graham had won after 22.00 hours and I had to phone him after this to obtain details of his winner. Graham timed in a 4 year old blue cock sent sitting one day on the 2nd egg of his 3rd nest. Graham paired his pigeon up on the 18th of March and the section winner has not reared a youngster this year however his eggs have been floated under foster parents. He has been raced from Kelso, Otterburn, Ripon and Leicester 250 miles taking 5 ½ hours on the wing. Last year this cock won twice in the same nest condition being 2nd club 5th federation Leicester and 1st club 6th federation Falaise, he also won 1st club Otterburn and 1st club Huntington so he is a good pigeon. From a baby till a 2 year old he was nothing special just a steady bird however as he has matured he has become something very exceptional. He was purchased from Louella Pigeon World and is from their Delbar family and was one of a batch of 6 for £99. The sire was lost off the top of the loft but the mother has bred winners in the past for Graham.

2nd section F is Andrew McKie from Kirkconnel in Ayrshire is known as ‘Para’ to everyone as he is an ex paratrooper. He had a great race from Newbury when he timed in 2 birds within 45 minutes when quite a number of people did not have a pigeon home. The first bird is a blue 3 year old hen sent feeding a six day old youngster. She was kept for breeding until 2006 and then put on the road. Her first race was Appleby a distance of 83 miles but did not score. She was given further training and sent to Wakefield 157 miles gaining a 3rd club position beaten by her loft mate then she was given regular training from Gretna and entered into the Stafford race 193 miles but out of the prizes.Then 3 training tosses from Gretna and sent to the Newbury National.Her sire is a blue cock kept for stock being a son of another blue cock who was paired to an Irving Buchan hen who was in fact his own mother. The dam of the blue hen was a blue hen being a daughter of Norrie Sharp blue cock when paired to a dark chequer CA hen bred by R Cormack of Winchburgh. This hen was loaned to K Lynch of Blairhalland scored three times from the SNFC Sartilly.

Para

My gratitude to Michael Rafferty who sent in these details and photos of Para and his winners by email this is a great help to me.

3rd section F is W Kelly of Kilmarnock with a velocity of 1019 again I only received this information after 22.00 so have not had time to contact this fancier but will endeavour to do so some time this week.

Probable 1st Section G 1st North region is John Hunter of Aberdeen timed in a pigeon at 19.31 which was before many fanciers in the central belt had a bird home and she should take a high position in the open national result. This 2 year old NW rung blue bar hen was gifted to John as a baby by top flyers Stewart Brothers of Stirling she is bred from their top breeding hen named Magic. The blue hen flew the whole young bird programme to Wakefield a distance of 237 miles. Then as a yearling she had 6 races taking 1st federation, 1st Combine Peterborough a distance of 322 miles. This year she has flown steady and the week prior to Newbury SNFC she won 2nd club 13th federation Rotherham. As a matter of interest John came back into pigeons 4 years ago after a break of 25 years since coming back he has won 3 North Sections and a 2nd North Section from Falaise flying a distance of 574 miles my thanks to John for sending the report and photo by email.

John Hunter

2nd section G is R & I Buchan of Peterhead with a velocity of 1015,

3rd section G is A K Willox of Peterhead with a velocity of 953 again I only received this information tonight so do not have time to contact these fancier’s but in saying this Irvine knows the drill and could have contacted me today as he has in the past, we have been pals a long time so he will take this remark in the constructive way it is intended.

Conclusion

Well when I started this report I was full of the joys of spring with the large entry and how everyone was feeling towards the progress of the SNFC now the tiredness is catching up. We are definitely on the right road and there are more and more fanciers coming back to the club each year if not each race. The innovation to convoy the federations to the inland nationals has proved it can be done and although we had some teething troubles at some marking stations overall it has been a great success. The race itself has not turned out to be what we had hoped for with many pigeons still missing, even as I write this report on the Sunday night quite a number of empty nest boxes. What has gone wrong God only knows; you have read the weather report and the convoyer and driver stated that they did not experience any weather obstacles on the road home. Neither did any of the other federation who had races on the same day. The race control team did everything possible and like the rest of us they anticipated a good steady race the leading birds are on the same par as last years winners with 1300 velocities. Between the borders and the central belt the birds seem to have slowed down considerably which is shown in the drop of velocities. It is the missing birds that worries me as I had hoped that the majority of the convoy would have been entered back into the Maidstone race in 2 weeks time nonetheless many will turn up and if they recover quickly in time some will be entered that’s for sure and some of the birds home may just come into condition as this race could have been the making of them. Only time will tell, one things for sure many birds don’t like the NORTH wind and this could be one of the main contribution factors as to why so many are missing from a 350 mile race.

We must not forget the winners of this SNFC Newbury race and to everyone who timed in well done and to the above mentioned fanciers and their winning pigeons congratulate again on their success in this our first national event of the season.

Newbury Section winners

Section A

R & M Seaton Annan 1301 1st Open

Scott Irvine Brydekirk 1299 2nd open

Bill Pirie Eastriggs 1292 3rd open

Section B

Mr & Mrs R Ainslie Ormiston 1218

Jimmy Little Ormiston 1214

Colin McGregor Rosewell

Section C

Ron Stevenson Leven 1171

Willie Stark Lochgelly 1157