HOMING: Horse racing might see itself as the self-styled sport of kings but pigeon racing, or homing, has traditionally been viewed as the sport of the working man. Despite this tag, famous pigeon fanciers include Premiership footballer Duncan Ferguson and the Queen, who owns lofts on several of her royal estates. Pioneer sports editor Christopher Beesley ruffles a few feathers as he takes a look at a sporting pastime that is still something of a mystery to most of the general public.
THE British might be a nation of animal lovers but pigeons don't seem to have soared to the top of the affection stakes.
Remarks like 'Flying Rats' are commonplace, says Arthur Wilde of the Victoria Homing Society, but for the likes of himself, the pedigree birds in his sport are just a precious as Red Rum was to Ginger McCain.
Based at the Royal British Legion on Stanney Lane, the Victoria Homing Society has approximately 18 regular members while other clubs in the area include Ellesmere Port, Hooton, Willaston and Neston.
Of course, before you can even contemplate racing, the pigeon fancier needs to start breeding their birds.
Arthur said: 'Our pigeons have got bigger pedigrees than even dogs at Crufts. There's a lot of detail involved. Each owner feeds and prepares their birds in their own individual way but you've got to look after the feathers if you want to win. It's important that your bird gets the right food and eats well so its feathers stay strong and don't snap off and become brittle.'
'As the young birds develop, you start to let them out of the loft but it can be quite a dangerous time for them with hawks circling, who often try and take babies from the floor. When you first get the pigeons flying
around, they go in a big group, but after a few weeks they start to kit up in smaller sections and eventually fly about on their own.'
Like all youngsters, the pigeons soon develop an inquisitive nature and they start to fly around a larger area - in Arthur's case, the whole of the Wirral peninsula.
He said: 'I'll then take them out to Chester Zoo or go down the A41 towards Whitchurch and release them. There's never a guarantee ever that a pigeon is going to come back, no matter how old it is, but at this stage, the breeder has to brace himself for quite a few losses. But the birds who make it back become more educated and are soon ready to race.'
When it comes to preparing for a race, there are lots of different tactics and strategies employed by fanciers when trying to get their birds to return home as quickly as possible.
Arthur said: 'As well as the natural cycle, some fanciers will send the cock and hen away before flying the youngsters, take the hen away for a while before returning on the last day or not let the cock see the hen all week. We have names for these like
the 'widowhood' and 'roundabout' systems, but each breeder has their own ideas about what works best.'
The older a racing pigeon gets, the further it can go from home before returning safely, and Arthur and his team-mates will often enter their birds in competitions from continental Europe.
He said: 'We regularly send them out to France, Spain and Belgium, with Nantes and Barcelona two popular venues. Some cover even greater distances such as North Africa. Our normal races are from different points in the UK and we hire a driver to take them down to their destination each week and release them.' Members' clocks are set together the night before the race and the pigeons' tags are sealed.
The tension then begins for the nervous owners as they have to patiently wait for their birds to return.
When the pigeons get home, their tags are taken off and placed into a thimble-like device which is placed into a clock.
Clock variation (whether it is fast or slow) is then taken into account, along with distance to the loft in question from the start point, and a velocity is calculated for the pigeon's speed of movement.
Arthur said: 'The Victoria Homing Society was founded by a group of young lads but many of them have grown old together now. Most of the younger generation don't seem too interested in our sport as they're all playing computer games, but there's nothing better than the feeling of when you see your first pigeon coming home.
'You look up to the sky and wonder whether it's one of yours. When it is and the pigeon that you've bred, raised and trained is the fastest, it's a marvellous sense of achievement.' nThe Victoria Homing Society meets on Fridays at the Royal British Legion, Stanney Lane, at 8pm and welcomes anyone interested in getting involved in the sport.
