Modern Barcelona Pigeons

[Kyleakin Lofts]

Modern ‘Barcelona’ pigeons

 

Pigeon Racing was originally based on the idea of improving the species by careful

selective breeding. The original idea was to extend the range and reliability the

pigeon. This unwritten mission statement clearly underpinned pigeon racing in its

early days.

 

The Idea

The idea attracted many learned professional people who at the time saw the

prospect of improving the breed as a worthy challenge to their intellect. An

intellectual challenge of this kind has now almost been forgotten in the modern

sport. Now winning is seen as the be all and end all.

 

Making money

Coupled with winning is making quite a lot of money in the process, so faster

pigeons competing over a lesser distance are now a more usual aim than more

reliable pigeons competing over ever longer distances. This is a modern trend

similar to modern Banking - Monetary rewards have over taken the ideas and high

mindedness of the past.

 

Odd-ball dedicated fanciers

In pigeons except for the few odd ball dedicated fanciers who want to excel at the

very long distances, ideas of improving the species are now almost forgotten. In

spite of all this the idea of improving the species refuses to go away. The results of

long races have a following even from those who would not even attempt such a

quest.

 

Magic

Long flights have a magic of their own and the Barcelona International is at he

cutting edge of this magic. The pigeons below represent the best of all cutting edge

pigeons. The rare best of a rare species – an ideal of which secretly we would all

like to aspire.

 

The three UK pigeons that made the International Result in both 2012 and 2013

UK Int. Name Town En Nm Distance Ring Velocity Year UK Pigeons

1 475 TEAM RML E-ROMFO 6 3 1142595 GB09J31666 1099.79 1012 534

2 1133 LANE NIGEL E-ROMFO 2 2 1142595 GB09J31666 15.2308,4 2013 475

11 5327 SHEPHERD A.E. E-WOODM 5 1 1078205 GB07N15256 19.4532,6 2012 534

8 2729 SHEPHERD A.E. E-WOODM 8 1 1078205 GB07N15256 20.0639,6 2013 475

7 4659 HALES DAVID E-HOCKL 3 2 1141619 GB09N99407 18.2501,6 2012 534

20 4789 HALES DAVID E-HOCKL 3 2 2 GB09N99407 10.5352,6 2013 475

 

In the 2013 race David Hales pigeon would have been 18th UK on Velocity but in

the international where below 800 mpm velocity comes into play, he now becomes

 

John Clements

[paddymac]

I have few Hales birds in my loft, bred down through the late Jim Biss family. My 2nd bird to the loft at the weekend was bred from a son off his 7th open Barcelona in 2009.