Pigeon Racing in Barnsley

You've probably seen this before but for those of you that haven't.........enjoy

 

I can remember when folks took a pigeon to Oakwell to send home with the score. No instant radio scores in those “good old days”!!

 

Talking pigeons? Bloody hell, what an era.

 

Squab for a bob

 

I knew Trevor the man who said "good morning Norris." He passed away about 20 years ago seems strange seeing him again.

 

royal arms, sunday morning, i used to go down

 

That's Eric Richardson (Perk) our union man from Dodworth Pit new a few on there that worked at Dodworth/Redbrook but can't remember their names, just wonder if the bloke with the camera called Norris is Norra Schofield a timber lad at Dodworth he used to go in the Royal.

 

Big Eric was our guide when we went down the shaft at the Yorkshire Coal mining Museum.
There was an Italian family on our tour and they had some difficulty understanding Eric's broad
Barnsley accent especially when he mentioned " snap tin and watter bottle. " He seemed to be a real
character.

 

nocker schofield, i used to play football with him, all round nutcase and sadly missed. know both les fairbanks snr and jnr

 

I have raced pigeons for 60 years . Still racing them. That's why my pen name is Homer, many thought it was the other Homer. The type of racing that flourished in Barnsley was milers.
They have small lofts in a circle and not many birds. These milers are taught to fly quickly to this circle of lofts and a dropper or decoy bird is dropped into the square and the fastest bird to hit the loft or floor is the winner
They are let go individually about a mile up road
Our type is racing down country to Portsmouth and then into France over the channel
Our lofts are situated all over Barnsley area and with the aid of a pigeon timing clock time the birds in and your distance flown divided by time to do it in determines the winner in yards per minute
Cheers

 

My wife's family were all born in Wombwell and her uncles kept pigeons. Two of them moved to work in Doncaster in the early 50's and to this day are still actively involved in keeping and racing pigeons
in Dunscroft.

Didn't realise until I got talking to one of her uncles at a family do, that some of the birds used for
breeding, can be worth quite a lot of money.

 

I've got a homing pigeon for sale on Ebay.......sold it 6 times so far

 

Is it him then jedi?
I'd heard Norra had died a fair few years ago he could not have been very old when he passed think he was a bit younger than me I'm 70 this year you always knew it was Norra coming up the main gate with materials always singing and sharting.

 

Dave Cherry brings to light a lot of old videos and he 're-births' them as these watchable clips of life in the villages around Barnsley.

I'm grateful to Dave for bringing out the video of the big sports day on Bank End fields. Halfway into that video I was stunned to see my granma in her best dress. She was middle aged and just the same as when she came down to our house to get us off to school when me mam started work again. I was stunned. The footage was very clear and quite close up and Maggie was working the refreshments.

my thanks, Dave Cherry.

 

i'm 63 and i think he was around my age. i knew him through the fairbanks's and footy at the royal ( terry stewart had it then ) i knew his brother joe better and in later years keith ( he was married to a friend of an ex g/f)

 

It's got to be him at that age, I know Terry Stewart very well he lives in Silkstone now and he lost his wife (Carol) about 2 years ago did you know Terry Stewarts brother owns Rotherham football club, anyway thanks Jedi for that bit of info brings back memories to an owd cogger like me.

 

Great pub - was a decent pub crawl on Wakey road - Sportsman, Woodman, Club, Royal .... good old days

 

did you not bother with my old local the new lodge hotel ?

 

I rewired that many years ago

 

Got the joke about selling a homing pigeon multiple times on ebay, but seriously, after my wife asked me.... how do you train or rather 're-train' them i.e. is it possible to acquire a bird that homes to a certain loft? Is that even possible or is it a ' bird for life'? Are they special breed or descended from selected domestic pigeons and bred from those 'winners' rather like race horses.
Actually how do you stop them from flying off the first time you let them out. Do they instinctively return to the place where they are fed after you have had them for a short time (like cats do)?

In the words of Sgt Schultz from Hogan's heroes ..."I know nothing!"