14oz Bundle of Feathers  

Pigeons have been raced in the UK for hundreds of years. It is a family affair that can often be traced back through generations. But the sport is now in decline with ageing pigeon fanciers dying and their children and grandchildren more interested in computer games and television than following the traditions of breeding and caring for the feathered athletes.

The fancier is an expert. He knows the birds individual foibles and abilities, the best type of feed for different types of flying and the best pairings of male and female for the best offspring. It is his knowledge of little details and minutiae that can mean the difference between victory or defeat on race day.

Fancying is a social affair with meetings, events, shows, races, auctions and presentations and, although the sport on the whole is in decline, there are still many fanciers around the country who, every Saturday, wait expectantly for their birds to come home. The pigeons are capable of remarkable feats of athleticism, intelligence, endurance, and above all navigation, finding their way home to roost from hundreds of miles away.

Sam Strickland joined fanciers all over the country in the build up to the 2008 racing season. Text and photographs by Sam Strickland.    

 

  

A pigeon chick hatches in Alby Stockwell’s hand. “In your loft you’re God.” Manor Park, East London.

Keith Turnbull lures young pigeons into his lofts with a distinctive high-pitched whistle. The birds come to associate their owner’s calls with food which helps them to be coaxed in on race day. Barnsley, South Yorkshire. 

Bernie Bennett examines a young bird’s wing while deciding which of his newly bred pigeons he will put into the 2008 pre-season auction. Dagenham, East London.

 

A cock escapes from its crate in the back of Shaky Jutla’s white van on route to a release point for a training flight. Junction 14, the M11, Cambridgeshire. 

 

  

 

Birds await the auctioneer’s hammer during a pre-season auction at the Leyton House Club in Stratford, East London. Pigeon events are always accompanied by beer: “Pigeon racing is probably the greatest excuse to drink in the world. Most wives winge about the time their husbands spend with their birds. I don’t know why their moaning – while were in the shed at least we’re not playing about with dirty tarts, not unless were a bit lucky.” Big John, Stratford East London.  

Boxed and labelled pigeons ready for collection after being sold at the Leyton House Club auction. Stratford, East London.

 

Bernie Bennett releases a new purchase at this Dagenham lofts. Bernie is known countrywide for his column “Notes from the Igloo” featured in British Homing World magazine. He has written about the sport for almost half a century. 

Inside view of Steven and George Chalkley’s loft in Forest Gate, East London. “Pigeon racing is a great leveller – a poor unemployed man can often beat the millionaire, if he works hard enough.” – George Chalkley. 

Derek Smith and Brian Foster vaccinate a young pigeon against Paramyxovirus which can cause serious respiratory problems in the birds. Dagenham, East London.

 

Shaky and Vikram Jutla give their birds a final training flight before the first race of the 2008 season. The Indian cousins who live in West Ham, are among only a handful of Asian fanciers in the UK. Trumpington,     Cambridge.   

 

Graham Burton shows the wing stamp of one of his birds. Pigeons are often lost during races and have been known to land, exhausted, hundreds of miles off course, on oil rigs off the coast of Scotland. The birds are returned by riggers, sometimes months after the race in which they were lost. 

  

Nigel and Susan Smithson watch as a young hen flies from her basket during training near Cambridge. 

  

Members of the London North Road Club ring pigeons the night before the first race.  Each bird has a numbered ring placed on its leg which will be quickly removed when the bird comes home from racing and inserted into the fancier’s clock to note its time. 

Pigeons are loaded onto special transporters late at night. Leyton House    Club, East London.

A panorama, made up of three photographs, shows a young family watching the liberation of 639 pigeons from the East Anglian Federation of Racing Pigeons. Wanstead Flats, East London.(PRESS FOR LARGER VERSION)

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT SAMSTRICKLAND 2008