Our history
The Murray & Mills Story
From the first pair to the world stage.
1976
First pigeons
John, aged 18, swapped two rabbits for a pair of pigeons. They weren't terribly successful, but the bug had bitten.
1976
The Dordin foundation
John and new partner Dave Cockerel bought six Massarella 'Ramses'-line youngsters for £60 — the foundation of the loft's first great distance hens.
1982
Two 1st Federations in one night
Two Dordin hens, split across two Federations for the 510-mile Nevers race, both won 1st Federation on a foul day when fewer than 30 birds were clocked across the area.
1984
A break, and a £4,500 sale
Dave Cockerel left the partnership; the team was auctioned at Ackroyd Street WMC, Morley, realising £4,500 from an original £60 outlay.
1985–86
Murray & Mills is born
John met Denise Mills. After marrying, the pair kept the partnership name in memory of her late father, Ted Mills, who died before he could race with them.
1986
Young Supervise
A son of Massarella's record-breaking 'Supervisor' became the foundation sire of a new era — sire to 'Rainman', 'White Tail', 'Concord' and 'The 42'.
1992
The GYA Nevers smash
The partnership's toughest loss — three of their best birds, including 'Rainman' (1st GYA Clermont 1990), never returned.
1995
Fastest pigeon into the Combine
'Concord' clocked 2400 ypm (83mph) from 207 miles to win 1st AWVC Fareham — still the fastest pigeon ever into the Aire & Wharfe Valleys Combine.
1997
Three from five at 561 miles
'Bully' won 1st Section, 1st Open Northern Classic from Saintes, with 'Big Eyes' and 'The Big Hen' clocked 4th & 5th within ten minutes of him.
1998
Three in four minutes
From the 507-mile Poitiers race, three full siblings — 'Lightning', 'Peter' and 'The Big Hen' — were all clocked within four minutes of each other.
1998
A Midland National record
'Bully' and 'The Big Hen' were both clocked from the 627-mile Bergerac race — a record for the North East Section of the Midland National.
2018
Into One Loft racing
Though we only began participating in one loft racing in 2018, we have been steadily building a family of pigeons capable of competing worldwide.
Since 2018
Just The Job
Our first standout pigeon was Just The Job, a magnificent red chequer cock bred from Red Storm, the only pigeon to return on the day from Bourges at 530 miles, and a descendant of the legendary Red Danial (Staf Van Reet).