0:00:21 > 0:00:22The pigeon.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Not just a bird, but a force of nature.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30How many other birds can fly like they do?
0:00:30 > 0:00:34The distance they do and the time they do? None.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36The creature that, for centuries,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39has been man's helpmate and companion.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43They're quite quirky. They do have sort of an individual personality.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47They're just a friendly, happy, curious little bird.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Come on, my little darling.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53People who keep pigeons are known as fanciers.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55I've never known anything more exciting,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57to see a pigeon coming out of the sky.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Some breed pigeons to race them.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03It's the same preparation, you know, with racing pigeons,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06as it is for athletes and football players.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Others breed them to be, well, fancy.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14What we look for is a lovely little apple-shaped body, like that.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18It's a love that borders on obsession.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23I've heard grown men who keep pigeons, and they'll coo, coo, coo,
0:01:23 > 0:01:24for bloody hours.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28But for some, the pigeon has been public enemy number one.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Neighbours regarded pigeons as nuisances,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32often they made a lot of noise,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34they created a lot of mess.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Yet, when it counts, this bird has always come through for us.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43It was the humble pigeon that effectively brought help to save your life.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46So, settle back in your deck chairs, and look up to the skies.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50It's time to fly back through the decades
0:01:50 > 0:01:51with man's best feathered friend.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Of all the ways to engage with pigeons,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09racing is by far the most popular.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14From the 1850s to the 1970s,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17there were men that could hardly think of anything else.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23It was a very serious business, because everybody wanted to win.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26You know, you were convinced that you were going to win.
0:02:26 > 0:02:287-1-K-9-9-2-0...
0:02:28 > 0:02:31It was a hobby - some would say a life's work -
0:02:31 > 0:02:34steeped in rules and rituals.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Even before the first bird was released.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40You spend all week waiting for Friday to come.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Friday comes and you've got a selection of birds
0:02:43 > 0:02:45that you fancy for that weekend.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Put them in a basket, take them to your club,
0:02:50 > 0:02:51where everyone else will be.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Lots of baskets of pigeons lined up.
0:02:56 > 0:03:001-7-4-N-6-9-5-7-6.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03The whole attraction of pigeon racing isn't just the race itself.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05It's a process, in many ways.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08There's the rituals, of what time you feed the birds,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10how you train them, how you release them.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13It's part of your everyday existence.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16And that means it's not a sport which is just a short, sharp excitement.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Because even the race itself, in terms of long-distance racing,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22is actually quite a drawn-out process.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25So, let's see how a typical race in the '70s would play out.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30The pre-race formalities begin with each pigeon
0:03:30 > 0:03:33being given a numbered ring.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37And that would be wrote down on our race sheet...
0:03:37 > 0:03:38..5-5-4-9.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43..and put into an envelope, sealed.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46And it would be put into the secretary's case.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Once registered, the birds are loaded onto transporters.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Cocks and hens travel separately,
0:03:54 > 0:03:59so there's no fighting or funny business to distract them on the way.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02The pigeons are now driven away from their home turf to an unfamiliar
0:04:02 > 0:04:04release point.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It may be tens or hundreds of miles away.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13Now their owners synchronise their racing clocks.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15- Go. - CLOCKS CLICK IN UNISON
0:04:15 > 0:04:21Everyone would get together and you would set the clocks together,
0:04:21 > 0:04:23exactly to the second.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26And if anyone... Because you'd hear a noise that would go pchtow.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28'At the third stroke,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32'it will be 7.45 precisely.'
0:04:33 > 0:04:35One, two, go.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37CLOCKS CLICK IN UNISON
0:04:37 > 0:04:38Any not gone?
0:04:38 > 0:04:41And they should all read the exact same time so that there
0:04:41 > 0:04:43is no fluctuation or people don't have an advantage.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49The clocks get a last check...
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Then it's off to the pub.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54ORGAN PLAYS
0:04:58 > 0:05:01To talk about pigeons.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06A lot of it is just regaling stories about previous races or birds that
0:05:06 > 0:05:10they've had in the past that have done weird things or that have been
0:05:10 > 0:05:11particularly good.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14You're all missing one thing which is the most
0:05:14 > 0:05:17important of the lot, and that is character.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21If the pigeon hasn't got the temperament, the character,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23it'll never win anything.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25We're all cracking jokes.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27But deep down inside you're hoping
0:05:27 > 0:05:30that you're going to knock hell out of them.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32You're going to beat them.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36We'll just bet an old-age pensioner wins the race tomorrow.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44At first light the next day, the actual race begins.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Last chance for a drink of water until they hit the sea.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52And if you've never seen one before, you're in for a treat.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Yes, they're all coming to the troughs now.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Get ready, Dave.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01Right, let go!
0:06:13 > 0:06:16All the fronts of the baskets drop, all hell breaks loose,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19the pigeons go everywhere, feathers, sawdust fly everywhere.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32And when they release the pigeons,
0:06:32 > 0:06:38the only thing on that bird's mind is to get home as quick as possible,
0:06:38 > 0:06:39to its loft.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46They'd circle up in a big batch,
0:06:46 > 0:06:47getting wider and wider.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50And then eventually when they've figured out where they need to go,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52then they've gone.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58The homing pigeon seems to have an extraordinary global satnav
0:06:58 > 0:06:59in its head.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01So how exactly does that work?
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Whenever I'm asked, I always give a fairly kind of...
0:07:09 > 0:07:12..a fairly kind of non-specific series of answers.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Because I'm still not convinced that anyone really knows how they do it.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25Homing pigeons have been recorded flying 600 miles in 15 hours.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28The equivalent of driving at 40mph from London to Berlin
0:07:28 > 0:07:30without a map.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Back at the pigeons' coops or lofts, the men's job is to sit still.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47You would get up really early in the morning and you would sit in
0:07:47 > 0:07:52a deckchair or chair in the garden and you would wait.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56As the expected arrival time gets nearer,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58excitement mounts.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01It would all be, like, deadly hush.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04There'd be no kites flying, there'd be no noise.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07You'd have to be in the garden and quiet while the pigeon men were all
0:08:07 > 0:08:09waiting for the birds to come in.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14It was very therapeutic, just sitting there,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16looking up at the sky.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19It is something, you know, I haven't done since I was a child
0:08:19 > 0:08:21and I was looking at clouds.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24It was generally me mum who'd shout at us.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25It wasn't the pigeon guys.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Because she'd probably get some earache off them.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31You know, "Them bloody kids are making a noise in the garden,
0:08:31 > 0:08:32"and my pigeons are coming in."
0:08:32 > 0:08:36You know, so, it was just kind of a respect for the guys who had
0:08:36 > 0:08:39the pigeons, you know. Don't make a noise in the garden, you know.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52When the first pigeon appears, the next part of the ritual begins.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56You'd know roughly what time the birds were coming back,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58because you'd hear all the tins start rattling.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01You know, "Come on, come on, come on. Come on!"
0:09:01 > 0:09:02RATTLING
0:09:02 > 0:09:03Come on.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08And then the pigeon is almost there, it's almost in the garden.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12They're really trying, but not trying to be too desperate,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14because they don't want to scare the pigeon.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Precious moments can be lost chasing an athlete round the garden.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21Come on.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26I had one particular pigeon, it would sit on the house roof.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30And it would sit there for an hour.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Didn't matter what I did.
0:09:32 > 0:09:33It wouldn't come in.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38And then the pigeon will eventually go in the loft and they'll clock it.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Ah... And then there's a breath of fresh air.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46For the pigeons, the race is over.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51For the men it's back down the clubhouse or the pub
0:09:51 > 0:09:53for the final part of the process.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56The opening of the clocks.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Three strikes, once on your printers, go!
0:09:59 > 0:10:01CLOCKS CLICK AND RATTLE
0:10:01 > 0:10:05The secretary would take the things all out of his case
0:10:05 > 0:10:09and that's when the work started to work out who had won.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Racers learn the art of pigeon maths.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Distance divided by time equals velocity.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22There's only pigeon in that I can see. It's in at 15 hours,
0:10:22 > 0:10:2422 minutes.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Because the winner isn't the pigeon that gets home first
0:10:28 > 0:10:31but the one that attains the fastest average speed
0:10:31 > 0:10:33between the release point and its loft.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41So pigeon racing is an absorbing passion.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45And with gambling on pigeon racing illegal in Britain,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48it's all done in the spirit of competition.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54It's a sport that gets into your blood, you know.
0:10:54 > 0:10:55And you just can't get it out.
0:10:55 > 0:11:03Once you get interested in them they become part of you.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07And that is really all you think about.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Training pigeons, breeding champions,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22building the lofts and maintaining them,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24preparing for race day,
0:11:24 > 0:11:29finding the best birdseed, passing on what you know or keeping mum.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36For many people, pigeons were an integral part of the fabric of life
0:11:36 > 0:11:41and in some families they helped stitch the generations together.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45There are people in their autobiographies who talk about how pigeon racing
0:11:45 > 0:11:48brought them closer to their father, it was a shared activity.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50They shared in feeding the birds,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52they shared in clearing out the hutches.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00I grew up around pigeons.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Jonathan Lee comes from a family steeped in all things pigeon.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10My mum's dad kept pigeons,
0:12:10 > 0:12:14his dad kept pigeons, and my nan's dad kept pigeons.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19So, as my grandad would say, he was born with a pigeon in his hand.
0:12:19 > 0:12:20They met through pigeons,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23so arguably I might not be here if it wasn't for pigeons.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30I first became interested in pigeons when I was very young because
0:12:30 > 0:12:34my father has kept them since the age of 13
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and he's now 77 and still keeps them.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43As a teenager we never used to have a holiday that lasted seven days,
0:12:43 > 0:12:49it only lasted from Monday to Friday because on the Saturday and Sunday
0:12:49 > 0:12:50the pigeons would be coming home.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53We used to always come back at Friday lunchtime
0:12:53 > 0:12:56because Dad had to go and enter his pigeons at the pigeon race
0:12:56 > 0:12:57on Friday evening.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05And now I'd like you to meet Gerald Francis,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07who, I believe you were judging, Gerald, yesterday, weren't you?
0:13:07 > 0:13:09I was helping judge.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10- How old are you?- 12.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Well, how did you become an assistant judge at that very young age?
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Well, some of Mr Richards's friends who are judges...
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Little Gerry Francis.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Years before he became a champion footballer,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24he was a lad with a head full of pigeon lore.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28I'd been the youngest ever steward
0:13:28 > 0:13:31to judge at the International Pigeon Show at Olympia.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33And so Peter Hague had me on there
0:13:33 > 0:13:35with President Tito's pigeons
0:13:35 > 0:13:37and the Queen's loft manager, Len Rush.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Well, congratulations on being a judge at your very tender years.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42But, before we leave you, whose is that bird?
0:13:42 > 0:13:45It comes from Czechoslovakia,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48and I don't know the name of the person whose pigeon it is.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Wouldn't be Marshal Tito's by any chance, would it?
0:13:50 > 0:13:53- Yes, I think it is.- Think it is? Thank you very much, Gerald. Jolly good.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Like footballing, pigeon fancying
0:13:55 > 0:13:58was a way of life in the industrial towns.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01The art was handed down from generation to generation.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05My life was probably mapped out for me a bit
0:14:05 > 0:14:07because my father had racing pigeons
0:14:07 > 0:14:09and was a professional footballer.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13My mother's father was a professional footballer
0:14:13 > 0:14:16but all his brothers had racing pigeons as well.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18So, on both sides of my family
0:14:18 > 0:14:21we had football and we had racing pigeons.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Probably my destiny was already written.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Now, this pigeon is Just For The Kids
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and she was the one the kids picked out and she won over £2,000,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39which bought them the quad bike and we brought her back and called her
0:14:39 > 0:14:40Just For The Kids.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47She's been producing winners for me now since 2006.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49While Gerry learned about pigeons from his dad,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Loz began fancying with his grandad.
0:14:55 > 0:14:56The thing about roller pigeons,
0:14:56 > 0:15:01what we look for is a lovely little apple-shaped body like that.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05You see that shape, it's like a lovely little apple shape.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Stop struggling, lad.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10My grandfather only lived a few houses up from us
0:15:10 > 0:15:13and he was a mad pigeon man
0:15:13 > 0:15:16and there was, like a lot of the guys down the street,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19there was a lot of flyers down this road, you know, in the early '60s,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21it was very big, pigeon flying, back then.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24So, kind of brought up with my grandfather,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26putting rings on for him,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29going with him to take the young birds on flights.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32But, yeah, that's Lucky.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Been lucky so far, haven't you, fella?
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Come on. Oh, shut up moaning.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48This is a white bushart.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Colin Hill has kept pigeons for 70 years.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57This pigeon is what we call Aaron.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02He was born the same year as my grandson,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06so we decided to call him that.
0:16:06 > 0:16:07He's nine years old now.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12He's bred some good young birds to fly.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Because we gave it to the grandson I've only raced it once
0:16:16 > 0:16:18and he didn't come home on time.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21So we never sent it no more, did we?
0:16:21 > 0:16:22No.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26But he's a nice pigeon.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30- Yeah.- And all the young 'uns he breeds are white.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35- Yeah, they will be about 14. - They're the young 'uns, aren't they?
0:16:38 > 0:16:41From the cradle to the grave,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45pigeons have been a source of fascination and consolation.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48He's not a bad one, is he?
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Got a good eye, hasn't he?
0:16:52 > 0:16:56So that's like them eyes of yours, is that.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01This man was holding part of everyday life in his hands.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09In certain parts of the country pigeons would have been part of
0:17:09 > 0:17:14the landscape. Anywhere where there was industry or large amounts of
0:17:14 > 0:17:16working-class people, I mean,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19it wasn't only working-class people that kept pigeons,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21but it is synonymous with working-class life.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Packs of pigeons in the sky, you would have seen it on a daily basis.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32The thickest clouds were seen in the skies around coalmines because
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Britain's miners were famous pigeon fanciers.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41In many mining communities there was simply space to keep pigeons.
0:17:41 > 0:17:42There were allotments,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45there were slightly bigger backyards in some areas
0:17:45 > 0:17:47and this allowed people to keep pigeons.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56And the other thing to remember is that miners were also relatively well-paid
0:17:56 > 0:17:59when you compare them with other industrial occupations,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02and pigeon racing was never a cheap sport.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05You needed money for the birds, for feed,
0:18:05 > 0:18:10for race entry fees, and maybe that is the key reason why it was popular
0:18:10 > 0:18:11amongst miners.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16They would be in the dark all the day
0:18:16 > 0:18:21and then at the weekends they would come home and they wanted to look up
0:18:21 > 0:18:25at the sky because it's something that they missed so much in their day-to-day life.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38My family, coming from a mining background in South Wales...
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Grandfather, as soon as he finished school, at the age of 14
0:18:41 > 0:18:44or something, went into the mines.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48It was either pigeons or greyhounds, or both, in their case,
0:18:48 > 0:18:49at the time.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Can you tell me what there is about pigeons which is so fascinating?
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Well, the most fascinating thing is when it comes home after a race.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02- Yeah. - There is nothing more exciting.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05I've never known anything more exciting than seeing a pigeon coming
0:19:05 > 0:19:08out the skies there and everybody has been waiting two or three hours,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11sometimes two and three days, you know.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And I've done a lot of things in my life,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17but that's the most interesting thing I've ever seen.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20- Seeing a pigeon coming home? - Pigeon coming home after a race.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Working men took up pigeon racing around the 1850s.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Until then, homing pigeons were used as messengers.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Everyone from Noah to Victorian bankers relied on pigeon post to
0:19:37 > 0:19:41carry news of war, love letters, stock market information,
0:19:41 > 0:19:42sporting results.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47But when the telegraph arrived in the 1840s,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50these useful birds were made redundant.
0:19:51 > 0:19:57Thousands of unemployed pigeons flooded the market, to be picked up cheap by working men.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01And the utility bird turned into a sporting bird.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06But in 1914,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08the outbreak of the First World War
0:20:08 > 0:20:10changed the story for pigeons once more.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16They were put back to work as messengers with renewed purpose.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Very important to this side
0:20:20 > 0:20:26and many lives were saved in the First World War through the pigeons.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34Once the major kind of land battles started taking place,
0:20:34 > 0:20:38they realised that pigeons for communication were probably the most
0:20:38 > 0:20:40reliable way of doing it.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43So then, literally hundreds of thousands of pigeons
0:20:43 > 0:20:44were used at the front.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48They were remarkably reliable, over 90% reliability.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52In the old days of kind of the field telegraph,
0:20:52 > 0:20:54where you were relying on a cable,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57if things were being shelled and those cables broke,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59you had no contact with the people behind you.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02It was the humble pigeon that effectively brought help
0:21:02 > 0:21:03to save your life.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07The wartime pigeon service was operated by men
0:21:07 > 0:21:10who had been fanciers on civvy street.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12They were dubbed the pigeoneers.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15A pigeoneer,
0:21:15 > 0:21:20his sole job was to look after the pigeons and to get them to the front
0:21:20 > 0:21:21where they were needed.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26The pigeoneer was in charge of a movable loft,
0:21:26 > 0:21:27holding up to 150 birds.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31They were pulled along the...
0:21:31 > 0:21:34not far from the actual fighting.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38They had a motorbike lad,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42he used to have to put four pigeons in a basket,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44go to the front line,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48all through the shells and the bombing and God knows what.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Now, I would call that a brave man.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57Because the front line moved around, the lofts had to be mobile.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Lofts could be basically anything from as simple as a cart
0:22:01 > 0:22:05with the pigeon loft literally nailed to the back.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10They even used converted double-decker buses,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12even triple-decker pigeon lofts.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Remarkably, though their loft was on the move,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18the pigeons would still find it.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22We know quite a bit about the wartime pigeoneers
0:22:22 > 0:22:24because they had their own annual.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32And this is recording the exploits of pigeon fanciers
0:22:32 > 0:22:37serving in the front lines, recording either their service,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40sadly sometimes their demise, or their injuries.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43So these were just normal working-class people who were
0:22:43 > 0:22:44serving at the front
0:22:44 > 0:22:48that happened to have an affinity with pigeon racing
0:22:48 > 0:22:53and there were many pages and numerous pigeon fanciers listed.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59The pigeon's contribution to the Great War
0:22:59 > 0:23:01became part of its mythology.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06- Yes, it's one of the King's carrier pigeons.- No, it isn't...
0:23:06 > 0:23:08This scene in Blackadder Goes Forth reflects
0:23:08 > 0:23:10the significance of the pigeon's role.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Lieutenant, revolver, please.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Oh, now, sir, you really shouldn't do this, you know.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Come on, George. With 50,000 men getting killed a week,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20who's going to miss a pigeon?
0:23:20 > 0:23:21GUNSHOT
0:23:21 > 0:23:24A role far more important than feeding a hungry soldier.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Well, not you, obviously, sir.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31In any case, it's scarcely a court-martial offence.
0:23:31 > 0:23:32Get plucking, Baldrick.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36"PS, due to communication crisis,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39"the shooting of carrier pigeons is now a court-martial offence."
0:23:46 > 0:23:49In the peace time of the 1920s,
0:23:49 > 0:23:54pigeon men resumed their passion and their sport got an unexpected boost.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Before the war, working-class fanciers
0:24:01 > 0:24:04had only been able to do short-distance racing.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08This was where baskets of pigeons
0:24:08 > 0:24:11would be carried on foot to a few fields away before being let go.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18But improvements in transport moved the sport up a gear.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31Britain was now serviced by a vast railway network and the trains were
0:24:31 > 0:24:33roped in to serve pigeon racing.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Steam trains meant that you could move large numbers of pigeons
0:24:39 > 0:24:41relatively cheaply
0:24:41 > 0:24:46and, as most steam trains ran from kind of centres of population,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49which is where the majority of the pigeon fanciers lived,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53you could then move large numbers of pigeons cheaply,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55which meant that you could race pigeons.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59And some railways, lines even had designated,
0:24:59 > 0:25:00bespoke pigeon carriages
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and they would be sent to the local station master,
0:25:03 > 0:25:08who would take the baskets off, read his instructions from the club
0:25:08 > 0:25:11as to what time roughly they wanted them liberating,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13and the station master would liberate the pigeons.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14They would then fly home.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Pigeon fancying attracted thousands of new members.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24But at the same time the pigeon expresses were helping to promote the hobby,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27local councils were plotting to stop it.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Through the '20s and '30s,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35the government pushed through a national programme of slum clearance.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Thousands of working-class families
0:25:39 > 0:25:43would be rehoused but their pigeons had no place in suburbia.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Local authorities across Britain are somewhat reluctant to allow pigeons
0:25:48 > 0:25:50to be kept on their new estates.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54They were perfectly aware that neighbours regarded pigeons as
0:25:54 > 0:25:55nuisances often.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57They made a lot of noise, they created a lot of mess,
0:25:57 > 0:26:02there were allegations that they would damage houses and outbuildings.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04The pigeon fanciers, however,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06were blessed with long memories and foresight.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10The pigeon associations start lobbying councils
0:26:10 > 0:26:14saying remember just how important pigeons were in the First World War.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15If there's going to be another conflict,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20the country's going to need pigeons, and what we see in the late 1930s is
0:26:20 > 0:26:24council after council going back on some of its previous bans on keeping
0:26:24 > 0:26:26pigeons and we see pigeon racing allowed again
0:26:26 > 0:26:29on some of the new council estates that have been built.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34And thank goodness, because the pigeon associations were proved right.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40In 1939, another war did break out
0:26:40 > 0:26:44and Britain had a new batch of birds to send to battle.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48You know, they were like the James Bond of the pigeon world
0:26:48 > 0:26:53and they made a hell of a lot of good flights.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56The RAF have got the bird, or rather the birds.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59That's "pigeon" English for the feathered messengers
0:26:59 > 0:27:01that are being tried out to speed up communication.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03An RAF pigeon takes off from the cockpit.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Pigeons in the Second World War were called up to serve in the various
0:27:07 > 0:27:09forces and this document is basically
0:27:09 > 0:27:12the call-up papers instructing the pigeon fancier
0:27:12 > 0:27:16where to deliver his pigeons to, and these in particular are
0:27:16 > 0:27:18going to an RAF station.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Once the pigeons arrived at the RAF station,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24the owner would then lose all track of where those pigeons are.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Pigeons in this war had two main jobs.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32The first was as an aid to spying,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35smuggling information out of occupied Europe back to Britain.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41They also carried films back.
0:27:41 > 0:27:47Where the Germans were releasing the doodlebugs and all them, the V1,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50the first thing was the pigeon that brought
0:27:50 > 0:27:54where that was happening back on his back, on a film.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58The main problem here was how to deliver a pigeon to a secret agent.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Luckily, someone came up with a cunning plan.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08What they quickly developed was a method of wrapping pigeons
0:28:08 > 0:28:11so they could drop them from aircraft.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15However, obviously, if you drop a pigeon that can't fly out from
0:28:15 > 0:28:18an aircraft, it will inevitably meet its end.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22And what they developed was the pigeon parachute.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26They would set the pigeon into the tube.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31It would have in there a bit of food
0:28:31 > 0:28:35and a notebook, and then it would be fixed to a parachute.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42This is a World War II pigeon parachute.
0:28:44 > 0:28:50And then the pigeon parachute would be released from the small aeroplane
0:28:50 > 0:28:51travelling over France.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57And the resistance boys would be down, see it coming,
0:28:57 > 0:29:01they would pick it up, and they were only allowed to keep them
0:29:01 > 0:29:04for two days and then they would have to release them
0:29:04 > 0:29:06and then we'd send more out there.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10And many thousands were parachuted into France
0:29:10 > 0:29:14and some pigeons did this on numerous occasions.
0:29:14 > 0:29:19The second important use for pigeons was to act as SOS signals for
0:29:19 > 0:29:21stricken planes.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Pigeons would accompany bomber crews on their missions.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29Most aircraft that took off from here had
0:29:29 > 0:29:34two pigeons put in two metal tins, and they went out with them.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39If the plane was hit and the crew had time to act,
0:29:39 > 0:29:41the pigeons would be released.
0:29:41 > 0:29:48It didn't matter what time, night, what weather conditions it were,
0:29:48 > 0:29:50they were thrown out to find home.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58In February 1942, this happened to a pigeon called Winkie.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01She was one of two birds returning home from Norway with a crew.
0:30:02 > 0:30:09A Beaufort bomber had been hit by flak and it had ditched in the sea.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11When possible, birds were sent back
0:30:11 > 0:30:15carrying the coordinates of the crash location.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17But in this case, there was no time.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19And then liberated two pigeons,
0:30:19 > 0:30:24Winkie, and the other one never made it, it was lost,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29probably drowned in the middle of February when the weather was really
0:30:29 > 0:30:30cold and wet and bad.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36Covered in oil, Winkie faced a 120-mile journey in freezing winds
0:30:36 > 0:30:38to her loft on the Scottish coast.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43But Winkie did manage to fly back home.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47The RAF knew when the plane had ditched and when Winkie had arrived.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Factoring in wind direction and Winkie's likely speed,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52they worked out where the plane must be.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57After Winkie done a fantastic thing, got back,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00they made a medal up for all the animals,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03what we call the Dickin medal.
0:31:04 > 0:31:11And of the 65 awarded to date, there's been one cat, three horses,
0:31:11 > 0:31:1429 dogs and 32 pigeons,
0:31:14 > 0:31:18so pigeons at the moment hold most of the Dickin medals.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22The very first Dickin Medal for animal gallantry
0:31:22 > 0:31:24went to Winkie the pigeon,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27and Ken Hall was a member of the club that bred her.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32And he's still on display in Dundee Museum,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35he's been preserved and he's on display
0:31:35 > 0:31:38with his Dickin's medal right up to present day.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44When the war ended, hundreds of thousands of pigeons
0:31:44 > 0:31:47were released across the world as symbols of freedom and hope.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53The hordes of pigeons made for a moving sight.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56But they wouldn't always be viewed that way.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04Come with me now as we fast forward to the early 1960s
0:32:04 > 0:32:05and the centre of London.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Not yet swinging.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11One of the most familiar landmarks in London,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Notice anything strange about it?
0:32:18 > 0:32:21- Anything missing?- No.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23- Take a closer look. - Tourists, traffic?
0:32:23 > 0:32:25- Have you guessed it? - Living statues?
0:32:25 > 0:32:28- No, pigeons. - Oh, of course.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32In the 1960s,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35London councillors began their assault on the pigeons
0:32:35 > 0:32:36in Trafalgar Square.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41They piped lines of plastic jelly on buildings to stop them perching.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45It didn't deter the pigeons for long,
0:32:45 > 0:32:47they just found other places to land.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53So why had pigeons gone from being heroes to pests?
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Word had got out that generous Londoners
0:32:59 > 0:33:01were handing out free meals.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11And more pigeons meant even more pigeons.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23Pigeons are prolific breeders.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26A pair can produce up to a dozen youngsters a year.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30And those young start breeding at six months.
0:33:30 > 0:33:36So that means one pair can beget around 18 children and grandchildren per annum.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Each bird produces annually up to 25 pounds of poo.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Pigeon maths suggests that in the 1960s,
0:33:46 > 0:33:51about 35,000 pigeons were aerial bombing Trafalgar Square
0:33:51 > 0:33:54with 390 tonnes of guano a year.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Why are you so anxious to clear the pigeons away from the buildings?
0:33:58 > 0:34:03To try and get the buildings clean and to stop the waste of public money in keeping them clean.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05To get them in a more hygienic condition.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09But wouldn't it be much easier to destroy the pigeons?
0:34:09 > 0:34:11It would, but what about the people?
0:34:11 > 0:34:14The people like them, they're a tourist attraction.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16Public opinion is against us.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18We'd like the pigeons to go onto the trees.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20It's not the pigeons we object to,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23it's what they leave behind on the buildings.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Pigeons are among the few birds that
0:34:25 > 0:34:27have learned to thrive alongside man.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Their adaptability is the secret to their success.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38Now, always in these programmes so far we've tried to go back into
0:34:38 > 0:34:42the past and find the ancestor of the bird or the creature that we're
0:34:42 > 0:34:44studying. And we'll do this now with pigeons.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50First of all, we'll have a look at the five species of pigeons,
0:34:50 > 0:34:52which we find in Britain and Europe.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55The beginning, the first one, is a wood pigeon.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59Pigeons are from the family of Columbidae
0:34:59 > 0:35:04and all, no matter how fast, clever or fancy share a common lineage.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11And that brings us on to the last of the five, the rock dove.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Now, the rock dove is the most important
0:35:14 > 0:35:16and that's why we left it until last.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20Note these black bars on this blue-grey back
0:35:20 > 0:35:23and this very white patch here,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25which we have above the tail.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29The rock dove is the ancestor of all the tame pigeons.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32No matter where you find them and how varied they are,
0:35:32 > 0:35:34the rock dove is the one from which they came.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40The wild rock dove's natural habitat is seaside cliffs.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43They like to nest in the caves and cracks.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Hence the pigeon's fatal attraction
0:35:47 > 0:35:50for our large and cliff-like old stone buildings.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54What good was a squeeze of council jelly
0:35:54 > 0:35:56against the might of evolution?
0:35:57 > 0:36:01But as Britain moved inexorably into the age of washing whiter
0:36:01 > 0:36:03and the clean, modern lines of concrete and plastic,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07civic war was declared on the dirty old pigeon.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14The '50s and '60s sees a whole host of developments in housing.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17We see tower blocks, we see new council estates,
0:36:17 > 0:36:22we see private housing estates on the edge of towns and all of these
0:36:22 > 0:36:25things in many ways made it more difficult to keep pigeons.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Utopia was pigeon free.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32Die-hard fanciers had to set up their lofts elsewhere.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Some of them did move to allotments,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39into areas further away from where they lived,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42but because you had to go there every day to look after your birds,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45that would require time and effort.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50Relocated, the lofts could be bigger and better.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53These coops were a visible part of working-class communities
0:36:53 > 0:36:55and they often stand out as well,
0:36:55 > 0:36:59because many pigeon racers painted them bright colours in order
0:36:59 > 0:37:03for it to be easier for the pigeon to spot which one of the coops
0:37:03 > 0:37:04around was its home.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Pigeons are thought to be able to see millions of different hues.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13They recognise their own lofts and nesting boxes by colour.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18But the decoration of a new coop said something else, too.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26It showed you cared, even if no-one else did.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29Come on, then.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31Come on.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36'This is Sean Boy, named after my grandson, Sean.'
0:37:36 > 0:37:38Come on, flower.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40'This one has everything.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44'Mainly, I should say, character.'
0:37:44 > 0:37:45Come on, my lad.
0:37:45 > 0:37:51'Lovely, silky feather, strong wings,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53'noble looking head.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57'Look at the look of intelligence that this bird has.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04'One that you only breed once, probably, in each lifetime.'
0:38:07 > 0:38:11The disaffected wives of fanciers were called pigeon widows.
0:38:11 > 0:38:17Like local councils, many took a dim view of their husbands' obsession.
0:38:21 > 0:38:27And I've heard men, grown men, who keep pigeons and they'll coo, coo,
0:38:27 > 0:38:32coo for bloody hours outside the pigeon creek, talking to pigeons.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Well, it's just something I can't explain at all about them.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38Well, I mean I get up at six o'clock in the morning,
0:38:38 > 0:38:42my wife thinks I'm pretty out of my mind at times because I spend more
0:38:42 > 0:38:45time with the pigeons than I do with my family.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49I can't expect my wife to understand because she's a woman.
0:38:51 > 0:38:52It's better than being in there,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55being nagged all the while by a wife, I should say myself.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57If you understand what I mean.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Some guys, it's just their whole life, you know,
0:39:00 > 0:39:04and I can imagine what it's like to be with someone
0:39:04 > 0:39:07who's just totally obsessed with one thing, you know.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09But I know a few pigeon men now
0:39:09 > 0:39:11whose, the wives just aren't interested.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15It's just...it's just their thing, you know, and it's...
0:39:15 > 0:39:16They're just pigeon widows.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23This is part of him, you know, and I think every wife feels this.
0:39:23 > 0:39:24Many, many times, you know,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27you want to go out shopping and they want to go to the loft, well,
0:39:27 > 0:39:29you can get them to stop going to the loft
0:39:29 > 0:39:31and stop being a pigeon man for a short while,
0:39:31 > 0:39:33but they always go back.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Even our courting days were all tied up with pigeons, I mean,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39most of our courting time was spent in front of the pigeon loft,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42you know, it was a case of love me,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45love my pigeons, and that's every pigeon man, and if you don't,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47well, then, you're just left outside.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51There was one woman who did grow up loving pigeons.
0:39:53 > 0:39:54The future Queen Elizabeth.
0:39:55 > 0:39:56That's her during the war.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01And here is a small girl hanging out at the Royal lofts.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08The Sandringham loft was established in the 1880s...
0:40:11 > 0:40:15..when the King of Belgium gave a pair of prized pigeons to
0:40:15 > 0:40:17the Royal Family.
0:40:25 > 0:40:30Now, these pair of youngsters are roughly nearly three weeks old and
0:40:30 > 0:40:32they're the pure strain.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36They're a fine pair of youngsters to look at now.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39What they'll turn out to be, well, of course, one never knows.
0:40:39 > 0:40:40Go on.
0:40:40 > 0:40:45Len Rush became the young Queen's loft manager in 1962.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49In the 1980s, he talked to the BBC about his passion.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51Go on, boy. Go on, boy.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55I always had had pigeons for many, many years and the birds I had then,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59they were the same strain as the Royal Lofts.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Of course, those pigeons came from the Royal Lofts.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06And when I took over, the Queen very kindly gave me the chance of keeping
0:41:06 > 0:41:08my own pigeons and racing hers.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12And, of course, there was a big contrast in having about 30 pigeons
0:41:12 > 0:41:15to roughly roundabout the 200 mark.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17On days when she wasn't busy ruling,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21the Queen would drive out to the suburbs and chat on with Len about
0:41:21 > 0:41:23bloodlines and bird seeds.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26I love my pigeons.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29They're part of me and although they belong to Her Majesty,
0:41:29 > 0:41:31I look upon them as my pigeons.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38Let's leave homing pigeons there and turn our attention to another branch
0:41:38 > 0:41:39of pigeon fancying.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46One of its most famous practitioners was the naturalist Charles Darwin.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Darwin was fascinated by a phenomenon
0:41:49 > 0:41:51that took hold in the 1800s,
0:41:51 > 0:41:55when fanciers began breeding extreme physical traits into their pigeons.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02Darwin had a theory that if man could do this, then so could nature.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07His findings became a cornerstone of his ground-breaking book.
0:42:09 > 0:42:14And since then, man has got genetic tinkering down to a fine art.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20This is Hein Van Grouw.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22He breeds Romanian Naked Necks.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26The Romanian Naked Neck, most people don't like it
0:42:26 > 0:42:29because, as you can see, it has a naked neck.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Clearly there are people who liked it
0:42:32 > 0:42:34because the mutation and the breeds are still around.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36It was never popular,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39even not in the country of origin.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41Come on, you go now.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44But, yeah, after more than 100 years, it's still there.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Hein also breeds Silky pigeons.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52And he's got a little experiment on the go.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55Here, this one has just hatched today
0:42:55 > 0:42:57and a few hours out of the egg.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59It's already
0:42:59 > 0:43:01filled up here a little bit with pigeon milk,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04so the parents have already fed it.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06Pigeons grow very fast.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09In one week, this will become this.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13In the next two weeks, he will be more or less fully grown,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16leave the nest and more or less being independent then.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21And this is a certain cross that will give silky feathers pigeons,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24if I'm lucky. I can already see on the way the down is curly,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26this is silky.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30That's sort of what he's aiming for, but a different colour.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38No other domestic animal has lent itself to being bred into such
0:43:38 > 0:43:40a bewildering variety of forms.
0:43:42 > 0:43:43Or behaviours.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47My interest in pigeons is the Birmingham Roller pigeon,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50as it's called, which is a performing pigeon.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56Well, it came originally from the area around Birmingham,
0:43:56 > 0:43:58the West Midlands, the Black Country.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04Birmingham Roller pigeons were first bred in the 1920s when a breeder
0:44:04 > 0:44:09called Bill Pensom noticed a pigeon do an unusual aerial roll.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12He could pick that trait out and he knew exactly what he wanted and it
0:44:12 > 0:44:14must've took him a long time.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19Hopefully, you'll see the birds go straight up, usually not,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22you need a flag to get them up because they're lazy.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26They will circle the garden initially really tight
0:44:26 > 0:44:28and then hopefully they will gain altitude
0:44:28 > 0:44:30and fly together as a group.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35And then they'll get to a certain height,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37usually around 200 feet maybe,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41sometimes higher, and then as the birds turn into the wind
0:44:41 > 0:44:44they will all break, flip backwards and roll down.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53It's very difficult to get 20 birds flying like that.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00Recent research suggests the trait that is being bred
0:45:00 > 0:45:01may be narcolepsy.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10In other words, these birds could be temporarily nodding off in flight.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19A more extreme creation is the Parlour Tumbler,
0:45:19 > 0:45:22a pigeon that has been bred to do this.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28The Parlour Tumbler has lost the ability to fly.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36The record for tumbling in a straight line
0:45:36 > 0:45:38is a mind-boggling 200 metres.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42That just went about three.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48In 1984, cameras captured some of the methods then used
0:45:48 > 0:45:50in competitive fancy breeding.
0:45:56 > 0:46:01Some of these birds as young birds get drained so they get used to it,
0:46:01 > 0:46:05of keeping always the crop filled up with air.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08I will just shortly demonstrate how that is done
0:46:08 > 0:46:15but it is one of the part of the training of training a cropper bird.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19This practice is now frowned upon.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27Fancy breeding is often for competition.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30Breeders use all kinds of methods to show their bird
0:46:30 > 0:46:32to its best advantage.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37This is an African Owl.
0:46:37 > 0:46:43One of the few breeds of short-faced pigeons,
0:46:43 > 0:46:46which are not very good at feeding their own young.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49One of the main features is that that particular bird
0:46:49 > 0:46:51should have a short as possible beak.
0:46:52 > 0:47:00Fanciers use a little matchbox and file the beak down.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Mainly to do it straight.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04It doesn't hurt the pigeon.
0:47:08 > 0:47:13Also, we can give it a little bit of cosmetic surgery
0:47:13 > 0:47:16of painting the wattles white.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19This is not illegal.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21All fanciers are doing it.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26Fancy breeding takes years to get results.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31But in the 1980s, if you didn't have time or the patience,
0:47:31 > 0:47:32you could just cut corners.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37Before the war, there were a lot of exotic birds here
0:47:37 > 0:47:41that lived on grapes and bananas, and when I went to the war,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44they died because there were no grapes or bananas
0:47:44 > 0:47:47and everyone was rather sad.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49And then I came back on leave
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and I thought what I could do to cheer the place up.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Pigeon fancying appealed to all classes.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00It's just that the working class generally did most of the work.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06They have to be put in separate boxes in the airing cupboard
0:48:06 > 0:48:11to dry because otherwise they get together and their colours run.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17How fancy pigeons came to look as they do is easy to understand.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24But the remarkable homing instinct continues to perplex.
0:48:25 > 0:48:30We've got plenty of birds in the world that can fly from A to B...
0:48:32 > 0:48:34..on migration,
0:48:34 > 0:48:37but they're the only bird that can fly at speed.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41In the 1970s, scientists were convinced
0:48:41 > 0:48:43they could solve the mystery.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47The birds act as though, upon release,
0:48:47 > 0:48:51they somehow from the map determine, in the abstract,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54that home, in this case, is south-east.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56We know very little about that map,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59that small voice that tells the bird
0:48:59 > 0:49:01where he is and where home is.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03There's hundreds of theories.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07The Americans years ago spent a fortune,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09and I mean a lot of dollars.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15If one wants to find out the role of the eye and the role of vision,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18the best thing is to eliminate vision,
0:49:18 > 0:49:22but eliminating vision does not work in pigeons because
0:49:22 > 0:49:26as soon as you cut out vision, then the bird does not fly any more,
0:49:26 > 0:49:31so we reduce vision by inserting frosted contact lenses
0:49:31 > 0:49:32into the bird's eye.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39They made them blind by patches over their eyes,
0:49:39 > 0:49:41they've done everything.
0:49:41 > 0:49:42But nobody knows.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45There are so many ways man has engaged with pigeon.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50All too often, the pigeon has come off worse.
0:49:50 > 0:49:51GUNSHOTS
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Not so much pigeon fancying as whether you fancy pigeon.
0:49:57 > 0:49:58This was a wood pigeon.
0:50:00 > 0:50:01At this time of year,
0:50:01 > 0:50:06which is the best time for pigeons, when they're feeding grain
0:50:06 > 0:50:08and young vegetables in the fields,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10and become very tender, plump little birds.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14We've never liked to eat city pigeons,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17considering them disease-ridden vermin.
0:50:17 > 0:50:18But come autumn,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21the plumptious wood pigeon is consumed in 100 different ways.
0:50:21 > 0:50:26The other pigeon dish we're doing at present on our menu
0:50:26 > 0:50:31is a roast pigeon in a sauce with Armagnac and juniper berries.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33That looks delicious.
0:50:33 > 0:50:34Is it?
0:50:34 > 0:50:36It's really delicious.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39- Really delicious.- Oh, delicious.
0:50:39 > 0:50:40I thought it was delicious, thank you.
0:50:40 > 0:50:41Yes, I thought it might be.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48City pigeons continue to be targeted in a different way.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51In Trafalgar Square,
0:50:51 > 0:50:53what had started in the '60s with a jelly gun
0:50:53 > 0:50:56ended in the noughties with a ban.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01There are just a few hours left if you want to feed the pigeons
0:51:01 > 0:51:04legally in Trafalgar Square. From tomorrow,
0:51:04 > 0:51:06a new bylaw comes into effect
0:51:06 > 0:51:10outlawing it, to get rid of what some people call flying rats.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15There was some public outcry and a campaign was launched.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20This pedestrian precinct that we're standing on here
0:51:20 > 0:51:23does not come within the confines of Trafalgar Square.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27People would therefore be perfectly within the law
0:51:27 > 0:51:29to feed in those areas.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32But this time, the council won.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38In the world of pigeon racing, things were looking bleak, too.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40The glory days were well and truly over.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44So, the peak was in the '60s and '70s,
0:51:44 > 0:51:48pigeon results were placed on the back of the Sunday newspapers
0:51:48 > 0:51:52and pigeon racing had a much higher kind of social profile.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54Everybody understood what pigeon racing was about
0:51:54 > 0:52:00and really it's been a steady kind of decline from the '70s onwards.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02The pigeon's old champions in the industrial towns
0:52:02 > 0:52:05were losing their own battles.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09That's the era when, in many ways,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11the traditional working-class communities
0:52:11 > 0:52:15are on their last legs in their traditional form.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19It's the era of mass closures in the mining industry,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21it's the era when people feel
0:52:21 > 0:52:24an old way of life is starting to fade away,
0:52:24 > 0:52:26and pigeon racing is part of that.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31Today, the number of fanciers is way down on what it used to be.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36People want cleaner, less consuming pastimes.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40There's not much room for people to keep pigeons.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42You can't let them fly out any more.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47Even if you keep them indoors, like I do,
0:52:47 > 0:52:50you might have neighbours who start complaining about the noise.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Nowadays, perhaps to be cynical, everybody wants to go on holiday.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57I know by experience, very difficult to find people who want to look after your birds.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00And, of course, they never do it as well as you do, anyway,
0:53:00 > 0:53:01but that's a different story.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05So, I guess it's the whole modern world nowadays.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09But men like Ken Hall grew up with pigeons.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13And the modern world just can't compete.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18These are the allotments.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Can we come and have a look inside at your birds?
0:53:21 > 0:53:22Yes. Come in.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26Come on, my little darlings.
0:53:26 > 0:53:27Come on.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32So, how many have you got in here, Ken?
0:53:32 > 0:53:34There's about 32.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38Most of them have flown the Channel, mind.
0:53:38 > 0:53:39Would you like me to catch one?
0:53:39 > 0:53:42- Yes, please.- I'll try to if I can.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Come on, my little darlings.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Come on. Come on, my little sweethearts.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49Come on.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54I used to race reasonably regularly.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57Today, at my age, I don't race as such
0:53:57 > 0:54:02but I do send my birds away with the club and they
0:54:02 > 0:54:05are liveried with the club.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08The good pigeons,
0:54:08 > 0:54:10they're hard to come by. Few and far between.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18I picked this, this is the oldest pigeon in the loft.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It's a Czech white hen.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23Hello, lass. I'm not going to hurt you, you know.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25I don't know why you're...
0:54:27 > 0:54:29This will be my last year.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34I just can't look after them properly as I should be.
0:54:36 > 0:54:37Now I just enjoy...
0:54:39 > 0:54:41..and watching them come back.
0:54:50 > 0:54:51Is that a baby, Alan?
0:54:51 > 0:54:53No, it's me.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57The average age of a British pigeon fancier today is 65.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01One way forward is to encourage younger members
0:55:01 > 0:55:04but that isn't always easy.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06The younger generation...
0:55:08 > 0:55:13..don't really want a lot to do with the pigeons.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15It's a full-time job.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20I've got two young grandchildren.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22The eldest one of the two,
0:55:22 > 0:55:25he has actually spent hours in my pigeon loft
0:55:25 > 0:55:29but he would still like to go out and play football.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Do you think one day you'll race pigeons as well?
0:55:32 > 0:55:33- No.- No.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39Because in our garden we probably haven't got the space to keep them.
0:55:40 > 0:55:45Yeah. We've already got loads of pets, that's why.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51Pigeon fancying might be in decline in Britain...
0:55:55 > 0:55:58..but the sport has migrated all over the world.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05In Eastern European countries,
0:56:05 > 0:56:10and also southern Mediterranean countries, pigeon racing is growing.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14Average age of the fancier there'd probably be late teens,
0:56:14 > 0:56:19early 20s, and it's mainly on the back of kind of one-loft racing,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21where the prizes associated with a one-loft race are
0:56:21 > 0:56:23kind of life-changing.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28One-loft racing is a modern way of getting into the sport.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33You can win money but don't need to spend any on having your own loft.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35It's an innovation that has brought in a lot of new blood.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39It's not impossible to imagine a future
0:56:39 > 0:56:43where suddenly people rediscover pigeon racing. After all,
0:56:43 > 0:56:46the attractions that made it so popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
0:56:46 > 0:56:47are still there.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50It is still a sport that challenges people,
0:56:50 > 0:56:52that gives people a sense of excitement and people a sense of
0:56:52 > 0:56:57accomplishment as they see their bird grow from a small chick into
0:56:57 > 0:57:02an adult that can race and can bring some fame and stature to them as individuals.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08This is today's typical pigeon fancier, somewhere in China.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13But he could be any British pigeon man of the last 160 years.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18Their faces express the same hope, the same focus.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22Come on.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26Perhaps this is a good time for a last bit of pigeon maths.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29Patience plus purpose
0:57:29 > 0:57:30equals pleasure.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39For me, there's nothing better than early on a summer's day,
0:57:39 > 0:57:44you let your birds out to fly, they go up like tiny little dots.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48They'll come sweeping down, you hear the wings coming across your head...
0:57:48 > 0:57:49WINGS FLAP
0:57:51 > 0:57:53..back up and disappear off.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56That's a magical sight.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01We keep saying, me and the wife, we'll get rid of them,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03we'll pack it all up.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07But the next day I go up there and sit in me chair.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13No, life wouldn't be worth living without the pigeons there.
0:58:15 > 0:58:16I think so, anyway.