My Life In The Sport Of Pigeon Racing

[1967]

MyFather George Flockhart started keeping racing pigeons in 1920 in the small village of New Winton which comprised of 33 houses.The only employment was the coal mines which meant all fanciers were coal miners.Aclub was started with elleven fanciers which took in members from yhe outlying villages and at one time they mustered as many as 24 members.

A24 bird toulet clock was purchased and everyone ran to the club clock.They were all measured for running time,my fathers distance was 118 yards. Our next door neighbour's boy was three years older than me and was a good runner,sohe got the job of running with the first ring as i ran with the second one. Jim Learmouth usually got £1 from my father as he won a good few races in the race to the clock. His running eventually won him the Christmas half-mile at Powderhall Stadium . Jim Learmouth later owend the Tranmere Hotel in Tranent until his retirement and always showed a keen intrest in the pigeons.In these days we sent our birds to racepoints by rail which meant a half-mile carry to the station after the birds were race marked the young lads in the village organised a sweep at 1-/(5p)each,the winner would take all usually about £1 .It was all very exciting,especially as the winner was never disclosed until the sunday morning when the velocity was made out.

In these days most fanciers couldn't afford to send to France and i recall Alex McNeil of New Winton,a great friend of my father,sending a Hen to Rennes in 1922 my father fancied her and was up at dawn next morning after liberation to watch for her.Alex was still in bed when she homed and had to be aroused to get her timed to finish 2nd Open to G.Gardiner of Glasgow. this was probably the right insentive for my Father to try for distance racing.

Also in these days it was the done thing to pay a visit to local lofts on a Sunday morning, and i remember just before the start of the racing season in 1926 visiting Jimmy Robertson of Elphinstone,a small village one mile away. He asked me if i had any rings on me.I always carried a ring hoping to get a pied,Jimmy duly rung me a pied, its ring number was SURP26E2323. This bird went on to win out of Rennes twice and Nantes and bred in his lifetime 40 or so 500 milers. it was on Wegge&Gits bloodlines and lived to the ripe old age of 21.In 1933 my father gave Alex McLaughlin of Stenhousemuir a pied cock bred from it when he came to visit us one Sunday morning .In conversation about 500 milers, Alex was told to take the pied cock through to Dave Love who was his loft manager with the words still ringing in my ears,''if he doesn't time in out of Rennes i'll eat my bonnet'' As a two year old it had won Salisbury in club and Alex sent through £1 so that my father could visit him as he was going to America on holiday .His wife was an American and they went to their ranch every year . On going through his birds for the channel father asked why the Gay Pied Cock wasn't going . He said he was leaving it till it was three years old. As soon as Alex left the old boy told theloft manager to send it,and if it got lost he would give him one the same way bred.So of it went to Rennes. The birds were up in a north west wind and the Gay Pied was clocked on the night flying 35 miles further than the winner to Casey Bros of Strathaven and finished 2nd section 3rd Open in 1935.Ihave many memories of the past, most of them happy ones.

I started work at the age of 14,jobs were hard to find.Iwas lucky to get one with the CO-OP in their markrt gardens and had to work three hours overtime every night for three pence an hour.overtime was never a convenient way of life for pigeon fanciers and even as a young lad it was something i could have done without.On the occasion of a channel race it could be slightly annoying having to put in these hours when you could have been sitting at the loft sampling the atmosphere that surrounds such events.Iremember onr Rennes race when we were getting wet,and the falling mist made it very uncomfortable for us when our old gaffer decided to call a halt for the day. Despite our condition it was a great feeling,and i was glad to get home to wait for the birds,not exactly looking for them,but more hoping as the weather was bad.

As i was cycling home i met my father on his bike with the clock,my thoughts were that the clock had stopped and he was taking it for a re-set,and when i asked him where he was going he replied he had timed the Cheq Hen.What a thrill that was .The next day a big bentley car arrives at the door, it was Mr McCutcheon from Harrogate looking for George Flockhart. This gentleman was a chaffeur to a professor who had a patient in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh and visited him once a month. on the Friday of the Rennes race they travelled to Edinburgh and had to have their lights on all the way owing to fog.Visibility was down to 20 yards and he told my father he did not know how the Cheq Hen managed to get through,she was only 6th Open and the winner was timed to a Mr Duncanson of Leven in Fife.there were only two birds clocked flying over 500 miles on the day.Iam sure thet this gave the fanciers in the East of Scotland theurge to try 500 mile S.N.F.C. racesas up to then only a few tried the long races upto the outbreak of the second world war.

[tiger]

:emoticon-0137-clapping:

[andyyy]

Brilliant read!!

[maverick]

well done look forward to more

[andy Burgess]

excellent read , really enjoyed that .nice to learn some local history .

[buster151]

great read

[smiler]

great read

[ALF]

:emoticon-0137-clapping:

[St Finnan Loft]

That wee story made it worthwhile logging in today, thanks

[gordi.b]

Great stuff Joe keep it up .

[William Reid]

[knoxjn]

fantastic guy steeped in the traditions of pigeon racing would have been so proud to see wilf winning the gold medal a few years back sorely missed

[blaz]

a very good read

[GRAHAM MITCHELL]

Very enjoyable read.Hope theres more to come.

[JADE]

great stuff well done

[1967]

great stuff well done