In the Beginning...
More than seventy-five years ago I received my first racing
pigeons. My father caught them in a farmer's barn and brought
them home along with a box to house them in. I still
remember them as vividly as if they were here now. One was
a big blue cock and the other a small red hen with one
eye. I thought they were magnificent and the loft, a box
two feet by four feet, was luxurious.
My father had detected early in my life that I
was very interested in birds. I have a photograph taken when I was
two years old which shows me feeding my grandmother's
chickens. The glass plate negative from which the photo
was taken is still intact. I hesitate to mention that
in the picture I'm wearing a
dress. Little boys did wear dresses in those days...
well, some of them did obviously!
Before long my father became interested in the
pigeons and we started a larger loft in a disused chicken
house in my uncle's construction yard. Our foundation
stock was the original pair and a few birds purchased at
the city market. Some were banded which showed that they
were probably strays. We rented a clock and joined the
local club, the Birkenshaw Club in West Yorkshire,
England.
Our success was about what you'd expect with
stock from a farmer's barn and the city market, and our
name appeared regularly at the bottom of the race
results. Moderate success did come when we acquired a red
hen of the Soffle strain. This hen actually scored
seventh in a race and homed with its top beak stuck
through the bottom beak.
Times were tough and money was scarce so the
partnership didn't last long. One thing did endure and
that is my love of pigeons and, whenever I've been able
to, I've raced. I always read everything I could find on
the subject and I listened carefully to the
experts.
"Real wisdom comes when you realize
you don't know too much." ~ Larry
Holbrook
When I returned home after serving with the
British 1st and 6th airborne divisions during World War
II and later, I built a small loft and bought the best
birds I could afford: one pair of breeders of the old
Logan family. From this pair I bred three young birds and
raced them with the local club. I had no clock and had to
run with the race bands to another fancier's clock. The
three young birds scored in every race and won the
longest race (200 miles) by 20 minutes, homing in the
pouring rain. The individual attention I lavished on
those birds certainly contributed towards their
success.
In 1953 I emigrated to Canada and settled in
Ontario initially. It wasn't long before more pigeons
were acquired which I raced with the Owen Sound Club.
Later I also raced with the East Hamilton Club. In 1967 I
moved to British Columbia and eventually raced with the
Capital City
Club of Victoria.
When I lived on Gabriola Island, my club
was the Mid-Island Racing
Club which flies in combine with Victoria and
Nanaimo. I have been successful in winning races with each
club I have raced. My knowledge of pigeon fancying and
pigeon racing is both wide and deep. I am now retired and
living in Nanaimo and every day I answer emails from both
seasoned and beginning pigeon fanciers. And often I get
emails from people who have found lost pigeons and need
help returning them to their rightful owners. It is my great
pleasure to help anyone associated with pigeons in any way
that I can.
This Web site is an exciting adventure. It was
designed and is maintained by my daughter Andrea who
owns Able Webs.
