what do you look for?

[MIL]

Pigeon men have a funny way of "adapting" (for want of a better word)

We have far fewer members now than say in the 1980's but far more Clubs!

It'd be fascinating to wind the clock forward 50 years and see what the sport looks like then

[Murray]

Pigeon men have a funny way of "adapting" (for want of a better word)

We have far fewer members now than say in the 1980's but far more Clubs!

It'd be fascinating to wind the clock forward 50 years and see what the sport looks like then

All you need to start a new club is two members and a resentment....

[king]

Pigeon men have a funny way of "adapting" (for want of a better word)

We have far fewer members now than say in the 1980's but far more Clubs!

It'd be fascinating to wind the clock forward 50 years and see what the sport looks like then

I can remember what the sport looked like 50 years ago (well 49 years ago)
My club had near on 60 members. Fanciers never used vets. Only treated for basics worms/canker/coxi. Many kept NO stock birds. The one big stud was Louella. My club had no mob flyers 25/30 was a big sender) The birds went EVERY Friday regardless of the forecast. If they were held over so be it. Weather was not feared by fanciers, if it was overcast and dry they were up, if it was dry at race point but rain on route or home end they were up. The vels were on average much slower, but the races were still very competitive. When the weather was good they could still fly up to 2000ypm. Fanciers didn't fill the clock most clocked there first bird or a 2nd if close or pool birds. Most clocks came in with less than a handful clocked in. Yes we had the odd bad race or disaster but most birds returned. Expensive birds & paper pedigree birds were of no interest to anybody.
Friday night marking was a social event, the club was FULL 30+ members sat drinking till closing. Sat not so many as many fancier took their wife's out
As far as pigeon racing go's they were the good old days.

[MIL]

Pigeon men have a funny way of "adapting" (for want of a better word)

We have far fewer members now than say in the 1980's but far more Clubs!

It'd be fascinating to wind the clock forward 50 years and see what the sport looks like then

All you need to start a new club is two members and a resentment....

You're not wrong.

[MIL]

Pigeon men have a funny way of "adapting" (for want of a better word)

We have far fewer members now than say in the 1980's but far more Clubs!

It'd be fascinating to wind the clock forward 50 years and see what the sport looks like then

I can remember what the sport looked like 50 years ago (well 49 years ago)
My club had near on 60 members. Fanciers never used vets. Only treated for basics worms/canker/coxi. Many kept NO stock birds. The one big stud was Louella. My club had no mob flyers 25/30 was a big sender) The birds went EVERY Friday regardless of the forecast. If they were held over so be it. Weather was not feared by fanciers, if it was overcast and dry they were up, if it was dry at race point but rain on route or home end they were up. The vels were on average much slower, but the races were still very competitive. When the weather was good they could still fly up to 2000ypm. Fanciers didn't fill the clock most clocked there first bird or a 2nd if close or pool birds. Most clocks came in with less than a handful clocked in. Yes we had the odd bad race or disaster but most birds returned. Expensive birds & paper pedigree birds were of no interest to anybody.
Friday night marking was a social event, the club was FULL 30+ members sat drinking till closing. Sat not so many as many fancier took their wife's out
As far as pigeon racing go's they were the good old days.

Everything you say is correct Dave

I would point out though that pigeons were still being exchanged for big sums of money even 40+ years ago

I recall Louella buying 'De Smaragd II' NL85-8559363 for a then world record sum of £77,000 in the late 1980's and direct children of him were acquired by various fanciers in the UK.

Add to that I recall George Corbett "Dark 'Uns" (Busschaerts) of "Coppi" x "Pe" line being advertised in the BHW for 4 figures - and this was back in the 1980's. When you rang for them they'd gone. I know because I tried a couple of times

Pigeon buying / selling has always gone on and it always will go on

What's developed is the internet and social media has now made this much more glaringly obvious than it was decades ago - but it was still there

[Anthony webster]

That is very true Tony, most fanciers are still very honest and genuine people, Jed Jackson's wife said to me a few years ago, that before his death, he told her if she ever needed anything just to ask a pigeon man, she lived by this until her passing a couple of years ago and was never disappointed.
Andy and I got into pigeons through our Dad and were lucky enough to have grown up amongst some very good pigeon fanciers in what was then a 40+ member, very strong, Worthing and District HS, so a lot of our original birds and the advice we still go by today was given to us by them. Even today, having been keeping pigeons most of my life I'm still being helped along by some excellent pigeon fanciers. As you can gather I'm primarily a distance flier, Ive already been gifted birds by Dave Bridger, and as I am in need of a bit of speed in my loft this year one of our top fliers, Alan Still, has gifted me 4 cock birds, one is a stock bird he purchased from Darren May, the other three are same way bred birds, "Pit Bulls" from his Federation winning widowhood team. I know these are now surplus to his requirements as he needed to make space but they still overshadow any sprint pigeon I have !!

My friend Stacy Simmons raced down by you he's cousins and uncles n grandad still race down where you are there last names are gunn.

Yes I know of the Gunns and do remember the name Simmons !!
The Gunn's have belonged and raced with Brighton for many years, I remember the name from the Old Portsmouth North Road Federation days. I think they race in both the Southcoast Federation and the Sussex North Road Federation, they also compete in Classics, there are several of racing as individuals or in partnerships. They often appear in the Federation and classic results, Lance Gunn often tops our Fed and does very well in the Classics, he won the BICC young bird National from Guernsey in 2022.
https://www.pipa.be/en/articles/report- ... ember-2022

Ya I know lance really well, he races well and is really dedicated flyer he races with he's dad Graham now, then he's brother Aaron races plus he's uncle Tracy n he's grandad race as partners and my best pal stacy there cousin moved away to scunthorpe 3 years ago and races there now,
Very small world the pigeon game.

[Anthony webster]

Pigeon men have a funny way of "adapting" (for want of a better word)

We have far fewer members now than say in the 1980's but far more Clubs!

It'd be fascinating to wind the clock forward 50 years and see what the sport looks like then

Probably a nicer sport and hobby then Mike
People back then had very strong views and fantastic morals in my opinion.

[MIL]

In my experience from coming into contact with 1,000's of members I would categorise it very simply really

Pigeons either bring out the very best, or the very worst in people - with little ground inbetween

[Andy]

Pigeon men have a funny way of "adapting" (for want of a better word)

We have far fewer members now than say in the 1980's but far more Clubs!

It'd be fascinating to wind the clock forward 50 years and see what the sport looks like then

I can remember what the sport looked like 50 years ago (well 49 years ago)
My club had near on 60 members. Fanciers never used vets. Only treated for basics worms/canker/coxi. Many kept NO stock birds. The one big stud was Louella. My club had no mob flyers 25/30 was a big sender) The birds went EVERY Friday regardless of the forecast. If they were held over so be it. Weather was not feared by fanciers, if it was overcast and dry they were up, if it was dry at race point but rain on route or home end they were up. The vels were on average much slower, but the races were still very competitive. When the weather was good they could still fly up to 2000ypm. Fanciers didn't fill the clock most clocked there first bird or a 2nd if close or pool birds. Most clocks came in with less than a handful clocked in. Yes we had the odd bad race or disaster but most birds returned. Expensive birds & paper pedigree birds were of no interest to anybody.
Friday night marking was a social event, the club was FULL 30+ members sat drinking till closing. Sat not so many as many fancier took their wife's out
As far as pigeon racing go's they were the good old days.

I remember those sort of times well. You used to just time your first bird, or maybe a couple if they came close together, even putting 2 rubbers in one thimble. Even if the second one was a fair bit behind the first you would usually time it just in case there was a problem with the first rubber. Yes I remember some bad races but generally racing was good. Birds missing on the day were usually there waiting to be let in the following morning. Back in Worthing some members would stay in the pub until closing. I used to go to the club on a Wednesday to set the clock’s ready for the Friday night as we had 30+ to set.
I must say though that I am in a good sociable club now. We mark at a social club and most members will stay and have a drink or two both Friday and Saturday evenings. We are last pick up for the transporter and take it in turns to wait for the lorry, 2 members per week. Pick up can be just before midnight on some occasions.

[Trev]

My friend Stacy Simmons raced down by you he's cousins and uncles n grandad still race down where you are there last names are gunn.

Yes I know of the Gunns and do remember the name Simmons !!
The Gunn's have belonged and raced with Brighton for many years, I remember the name from the Old Portsmouth North Road Federation days. I think they race in both the Southcoast Federation and the Sussex North Road Federation, they also compete in Classics, there are several of racing as individuals or in partnerships. They often appear in the Federation and classic results, Lance Gunn often tops our Fed and does very well in the Classics, he won the BICC young bird National from Guernsey in 2022.
https://www.pipa.be/en/articles/report- ... ember-2022

Ya I know lance really well, he races well and is really dedicated flyer he races with he's dad Graham now, then he's brother Aaron races plus he's uncle Tracy n he's grandad race as partners and my best pal stacy there cousin moved away to scunthorpe 3 years ago and races there now,
Very small world the pigeon game.

It certainly is mate