"My name is Joe and for me, this story begins when I was 5.
My parents moved from Dundee to Kennoway in 1952 and my father had kept racing pigeons and so I began to learn from him. It begins with pairing the pigeons up, which results in chicks. About a month later, a ring goes on their foot and that pigeons yours.
Years ago when my son Kevin was just little, we had went to an auction and he put his wee hand up by accident and we had to pay for that pigeon, I only had my membership fees with me, so I had to borrow the extra £3 for the pigeon which cost £5 and believe it or not it went on to be successful that the £5 was soon forgotten about. He was the Dorden Cock. We took him to Blackpool and he came 4th in his class.
You have to work hard at it, I've given my life to these wee birds. You have to clean the aviary out and change the water and food everyday, really look after them. When the babies come, you have to take note and in 18 days, they hatch and a month later they're flying themselves"
Joe pulls out his keys and shows me the pigeons rings on his keys. "I keep these because they mattered to me"
My father worked in the pits and worked backshift so I would tend to them when he couldn't. He had a red checker, which is a breed of pigeon and called it Dundee Jenny after my mother, they were Dundonians of course, my mother had red hair and the older it got, it won more and soon became his favourite bird.
It was good fun and we just did the same, Margaret and I. There's a lot of satisfaction for breeding winners. When Margaret and I married in 1967 in Glenrothes, there was a wee rule about not getting pigeons! I had a job delivering coal at this time and one of the boys said "you know a bit about pigeons eh" and so I took it home, put it in the shed and that was it. Dad soon gave me some more and we joined Kennoway Racing Club, we soon moved there to Leven Road. It was so competitive. These wee birds need trained, it's a lot of work. When I worked at Seafield Pit, Margaret would help train them.
Like you and I, pigeons are different. They fly home to get to their eggs, that's the motivation but there has to be set conditions and that varies for each pigeon so notebooks are vital. It's the nature of a pigeon, it wants to return home to take care of the babies and when they do, they're right down, tending to the chicks.
We've raised money for charity with our winnings too, we never did this to be rich, it was just something that felt right because it's all we knew. There's a misconception about these birds, that they're "flying rats" and I'd take them into my hut and let them see the birds, spend some time with them.
They're wonderful, intelligent, wee birds, with tiny hearts that can fly them across seas to get home, and a radar inside of their little heads that guides them home, you tell me that's not an amazing thing
They're a comfort, and having them has given my life meaning. One of my pigeons, had babies and this week one of the babies won in the nationals and that's what it's all about for myself, just proud that I played a part in that"
I'm offered tea and biscuits and we get ready to go outside, where I met George, a pigeon that is 23 years old that Joe has had all it's life. Tomorrow I'll share more of Joes story but if you've enjoyed this part, give it a share.
These wee birds are so misunderstood and if I can change just one persons opinion of them, I'll be happy.
