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05-04-2008 Fancy pigeon racing at school fair? |
| Richmond & Twickenham Times |
Feathered friends are getting ready to get into a flap at a Teddington school's May fair.
Stanley Infant and Junior Schools thought of a variation on the traditional balloon race and will race pigeons at its fair on Sunday, May 18.
The school decided to let off racing pigeons, supplied by Spelthorne Pigeon Club, as an eco-friendly alternative to latex balloons.
The birds will be released from the school playing field at 2.30pm, from where they will race each other back to their home lofts and electronic timers will log the return of each creature.
The race ties in with the animal theme of the fair, which will feature a dog agility display, ferret racing and a petting zoo, alongside the usual stalls and rides.
It runs from noon until 3pm at the schools in Strathmore Road.
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05-03-2008 Lottery 'coo' for pigeon racers |
| BBC NEWS |
A pigeon racing club in south Wales has been awarded a £17,000 lottery grant to help them attract younger members and buy new electronic tagging equipment.
Members of the Hanbury Arms Pigeon Club in Hanbury, Torfaen will use the money to help them promote their activities in schools and youth clubs.
The new project will also help them work with lone parent families.
The Big Lottery Fund has also awarded 15 other projects with similar aims in Wales with grants worth over £3m.
According to Malcolm Anslow, the vice chair of the Hanbury Arms Pigeon Club, pigeon races can begin from as far afield as Germany and Belgium and competitions take place between individuals, clubs and on an international scale.
The race distances range from 55 miles to 450 miles.
The pigeons are transported to the race starts, set free and then their owners must wait for their return to the club coups.
Mr Anslow said their speeds range from 45mph to 70mph if weather conditions are favourable and races take place 22 weeks a year in the summer months.
In the winter months, club members care for and exhibit their pigeons.
The lottery money will buy the Torfaen club a new electronic timing system which will allow members to more accurately measure their birds' race timings.
Mr Anslow said the need for the project was identified after a week-long pilot festival which demonstrated that young people wanted to be part of the club.
"Two years ago, we went into the schools and we found that there was a huge amount of interest in pigeon racing among the youngsters," said Mr Anslow, who joined the club when he was 10-years-old.
"The other good thing about the project is that it gets youngsters involved with nature and wildlife and gets them out into the open to enjoy the fresh air. It will be both fun and educational for them at the same time."
Members get to learn about animal care and even a little maths when it comes to working out the speed of the pigeons, said Mr Anslow.
The sport is even catching up with new technologies. Scientists are currently developing rings which can be tracked by satellites, similar to the navigational systems in cars.
"In the future, our members might be able to follow the progress of their birds on their computers," said Mr Anslow.
"Youngsters have so many other toys, computers and gadgets to keep them occupied today and I suppose they haven't realised that we're here. In Belgium on the other hand, pigeon racing is like a national sport."
One youngster to have embraced pigeon racing wholeheartedly is Mr Anslow's 12-year-old grandson Declan Smith who joined the Hanbury club four years ago.
"It is better being out at the pigeon club than sitting in the house," he said.
"I help my bampy care for about 150 pigeons and I love racing them. I do have my favourites - normally because of their colours."
Janet Reed from the Big Lottery Fund the £3m in grants would "have a positive impact on the lives of many people in the community".
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05-01-2008 Much a Doo for pigeon daft Kieran |
| By Ally McGilvray - Border Telegraph |
A BIRD fancier from Galashiels is causing a flap in the world of pigeon racing.
Eleven-year-old Kieran Jamieson-McDermott, of Magdala Terrace, is believed to be one of the youngest to try his hand at the sport in Scotland.
He is preparing to launch into his first season racing pigeons at a meet in North Yorkshire this weekend.
The Glendinning Primary School pupil, who started visiting pigeon shows when he was only six-years-old, overtakes his 51-year-old dad, Eggy, as the youngest member of the Galashiels and District Homing Club.
Speaking to the Border Telegraph while tending to his 60 pigeons at the loft in his back garden, Kieran said: “I’m a little bit nervous but really quite excited about my first race.
“I don’t know anyone else my age who likes pigeons but I started off helping my dad and I really liked them so I started breeding them myself.”
The primary seven pupil was born into pigeons after being conceived during the weekend of one of the country’s biggest pigeon shows in Blackpool in 1996.
Kieran added: “The best bit about keeping pigeons is setting them free and then seeing them flying home.”
The pigeon fanciers race their birds from as far away as France over the course of the season, which runs from April to September.
Kieran’s first race starts in Northallerton on Saturday. His dad, Eggy, said: “It will be difficult in his first year but it’s been noted that he has a special way of handling pigeons.
“Nobody knows the real secret as to how the pigeons find their way home but the trick is to motivate them so they will fly back faster.”
He added: “It is a dying game at the moment and the concerns are there aren’t enough younger people taking up the sport to replace the older generation.”
The pigeon clubs in Galashiels and Selkirk were forced to merge after membership dropped in recent years and they struggled to attract a new generation to the sport.
Joe Murphy, who runs national pigeon website Elimar Pigeon Services, said: “It is very rare to see someone as young Kieran coming into the sport nowadays as so many young people have too many other interests and we wish him all the best for the future.”
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