Pigeon fanciers will man the barricades

[tommy d]

Pigeon fanciers will man the barricades

..

 

 

With just days to go before they face eviction, the fight to save Ryhope's historic pigeon lofts has now reached the top-tier of Government.

 

 

The crees made headlines around the world when architecture watchdog English Heritage stepped in to list one of the buildings.

 

That earned them a 10-year stay of execution, but the deadline runs out on New Year's Day and allotment holders have vowed to defy the bailiffs.

 

The land is owned by Newcastle-based WorkTalent Ltd, which has offered the men a pay-off and use of a new site at Tunstall Bank if they move.

 

Houghton and Washington East MP Fraser Kemp, whose constituency includes the crees, has been given leave to raise the issue in the House on Tuesday.

 

"I have got permission from the speaker to raise it in Parliament," said Mr Kemp.

 

"I intend to go into detail about the ownership of the land.

 

"It would be in the best interests of everybody if this piece of land, which has no real development value, was to be transferred to a community trust for the benefit of the children of Ryhope."

 

Lewis Llewellyn is one the pigeon fanciers who use the allotments. He said the me

 

n would be on the site on New Year's Day, ready to defy the bailiffs.

 

"They have tried to send us a threatening letter to say the bailiffs are coming on January the first," he said.

 

"We will be there. We will put a barricade up if needs be.

 

"If they try to come down here with a bulldozer, they will have more than us to contend with."

 

Lewis hopes the people of Ryhope will rally round in the allotment holders' hour of need.

 

"I would like to see as many people there as possible," he said. "They could offer us £20million and it would not make a difference."

 

Companies House lists Worktalent as based at an address in Grey Street, Newcastle, which is also that of its solicitor Mark, Gilbert, Morse.

 

[madmaxlofts]

if you knew the date for sure im sure alot ov pigeon men would come and support you

i would but i cant see them coming new years day

 

if theyve offered you a payout and the use ov another allotment ,can you explain why your so reluctant to move, as im sure people on here would want to know and it could only help your cause.

 

all the best anyways

[Guest]

Tommy, the very best of luck, terrific that it will be raised in the House, let's hope your MP can find a way of stopping this.

You can go to companies house and for a smallish fee you can get the details of all directors and all accounts. I used to go to the Leeds Office of Companies House when I was doing fraud work and access the system direct, paying by enquiry. That was back in 95/96, I assume by now you should be able to go online to get the details. But they are available if you want to find out who you are dealing with.

Very best wishes and hope things work out right for you.

[tommy d]

hi lads,am not a member of this club,just sore it in local news paper.i keep tumblers,and a few bonny race pigeons as a hobby,unemployed so cannot afford to race sorry if i mislead yous.

[Guest]

hi lads,am not a member of this club,just sore it in local news paper.i keep tumblers,and a few bonny race pigeons as a hobby,unemployed so cannot afford to race sorry if i mislead yous.

not mislead anyone Tom , thanks for hilighting this . keep us posted on what happens.  thanks     andy

 

 

[tommy d]

_http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/regions/north_east/video/114000/bb/114584_16x9_bb.asx

the loft in question on the tv

[Pompey Mick]

A good two page spread in the Daily Mirror.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/12/22/a-very-british-coo-89520-20262358/

 

Good luck to them, we are forever losing these little oasis in towns and cities.  They're valuable green lungs in an otherwise densely developed areas.

[tommy d]

The fight to save allotments housing the country's only listed pigeon crees has been backed by more than 25 MPs.

 

The pigeon loft belonging to Maurice Surtees and Lewis Llewellyn at the Ryhope Allotments has made headlines around the world over the past 10 years.

 

And the pair of pigeon fanciers have even hosted a Hollywood film star at the cree.

 

But the land on which the allotments sit is earmarked for development and the tenants have been told they must leave.

 

Now, with just weeks to go, MPs from across the country and from all political parties are getting behind a last ditch bid to save the Grade II listed lofts.

 

Fraser Kemp, MP for Houghton and Washington East, has filed a Common's Motion arguing the allotments should be saved, and he says support for the cause in the House of Commons is growing every day.

 

He said: "I just think it's an indication as to the absolutely amazing amount of support we've had for the campaign. I've had messages of support from people all over the place."

 

Mr Kemp added that he had been surprised how many people remembered the pigeon loft from the first round of the fight to save the allotments in 1998.

 

The campaign of retired pitman Maurice, 75, and retired fitter Lewis, 65, made international news 10 years ago when they first took on plans to remove their cree, which has been at the Back Ryhope Street site since 1953.

 

Earlier this year, actor Robbie Coltrane swapped Hollywood for Wearside to make a TV programme about the pair for his series B-Road Britain.The Harry Potter star

spent a day with Maurice and Lewis to learn more about their fight.

 

Inspired by their story, Mr Kemp put down a motion stating: "This House supports the campaign by Ryhope Allotment holders to maintain and protect their environment which includes the nation's only listed pigeon crees."These historic allotments should be held in trust by the community and provide facilities for local children to enjoy and understand horticulture and the care of pigeons."

 

More than 25 MPs have now signed up to the motion, and Mr Kemp says the number is growing every day.

 

The Back Ryhope Street site has eight established pigeon lofts.

 

Mr Surtees' loft was built in 1953 using equipment and materials "borrowed" from the pit.

 

It has already won Grade II status from English Heritage, and in September is was one of the main attractions features in the Tyne and Wear Heritage Open Days programme.

 

 

 

The full article contains 431 words and appears in n/a newspaper.

Last Updated: 24 November 2007 9:39 AM

[coey]

hi tommy. any more news on this matter mate? did the bailiffs come?

[tommy d]

Pigeon men will not be moved

 

[/img]

 

 

 

Maurice Surtees, left, with fellow Ryhope pigeon men, and supporters including Fraser Kemp MP, Coun David Errington and 10-year-old Linzi Saunders who has written a letter about the cree campaign to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

An army of pigeon fancying pensioners are bracing themselves for a fight tomorrow when bailiffs could move in to turf them out.

 

And the community is gearing up to back their campaign to save their beloved pigeon crees – with "half of Ryhope" expected to show up at the allotments if needed to defend them.

 

The lease for the land, which is home to the world's only listed pigeon cree, expires at midnight and landowner WorkTalent Ltd has earmarked the site for development.

 

In spite of being kept in the dark about the company's next move, the pigeon men are taking no chances and have vowed to spend New Year's Day at the allotments, in case the bailiffs arrive.

 

Maurice Surtees, owner of the Grade II listed cree, said: "The people of Ryhope would never let them stop us from seeing the pigeons. They just wouldn't let that happen."

 

He added: "We don't know what is happening tomorrow. We're waiting for a phone call telling us but we'll be down at the allotments – us and half of Ryhope.

 

"We've had no notification from the bailiffs so we're in the dark really. We just want to live happily ever after. We don't want any trouble. We just want to continue doing what we've done for years."

 

The men remain optimistic they will not be evicted tomorrow, but just in case they have people from across the country on stand-by after their plight went global.

 

Pal and fellow pigeon fancier, Lewis Llewellyn, 65, said: "We will all be here. There's plenty of support.

 

"People have written to us

from all over the country who want to be here tomorrow, but we don't know if the bailiffs will be coming so we didn't want them to waste their time getting here."

 

The pigeon fanciers this month rejected a deal to move to a new base at Tunstall Bank, along with a pay-off of about £2,000 each.

 

But on Friday, gentoo Ventures announced it had started talks with WorkTalent to try and broker a deal to save the Back Ryhope Street site and keep the land as working allotments and pigeon crees for the benefit of the community.

 

Stewart Allen, managing director said: "We have now spoken to the developer and opened discussions with them about the future of these allotments."

 

Fraser Kemp, MP for the area, has also fought the men's corner in Parliament.

 

"The landowners need to realise that they are being offered a very attractive deal," he said. "It's a very frustrating situation."

 

 

 

The full article contains 430 words and appears in n/a newspaper.

Last Updated: 31 December 2007 8:00 AM.

 

this is the last i have heard,will try and find out more for you mate.

[coey]

ok. cheers mate.  

[jimmy white]

i hope things go well tommy ,, it would be great to keep the allotments ,, these are some of the things missing  nowadays  

[tommy d]

i think dave barkel is from around that area?

[jimmy white]

i think dave barkel is from around that area?

 

is dave barkel related to jack barkel?? think both originated from that area

[Guest j.bamling]

yes they are

[tommy d]

i think jack barkel is Dave barkels uncle

[tommy d]

its still on going, this is the last i have heard, i will up date when i get more news.

Pigeon fanciers stand firm

A determined army of pigeon fanciers stood firm on their D-Day fight to save the world's only listed cree.

With the threat of bailiffs turning up at Ryhope allotments yesterday, dozens braved the pouring rain to protect their heritage.

 

The lease for the Back Ryhope Street land expired on the stroke of New Year's Day, and landowner WorkTalent had warned that bailiffs could remove the tenants to make way for development.

 

The allotment holders, including Maurice Surtees whose cree has Grade II listed status, decided not to take any chances and rallied an army of supporters to stand vigil throughout the day.

 

Among

them were Robina Fairbairn, 54 from Houghton, and Ann Ferrier, 53, from Cox Green, who are members of Wearside Friends of the Earth.

"It is shocking what they are trying to do," said Ann. "It is total disregard for these people and their way of life."

 

Another supporter, Graham Burns, 41, whose home overlooks the allotment site, went along with his young son, Declan, 10."Everyone comes around, it is a huge part of the community, I grew up with it and a lot of children round here love to visit."

 

Jimmy Saunders, 69, of Queen Street, Ryhope, is one of the allotment holders and visits every day.

 

The retired shipyard worker, said: "I am a widower, so I live on my own. Going down to the allotment keeps me going. It's my life really and I think I would die without it."

[coey]

thanks for the update mate. please keep informed. anthony.