Pigeon Racing
A Third Age Active Pursuits feature
by our Interests, Hobbies & Pastimes Editor

While Pigeons have been domesticated for thousands of years, and while it is believed that people may have raced Pigeons as far back as 220AD, it was not until mid-19th century Belgium that the sport of Pigeon Racing was officially developed.

It was in Belgium that Pigeon fanciers first began to develop birds for their endurance and stamina over long distances. Though less popular than it once was, the sport of Pigeon Racing has now spread across the world. Even her Majesty the Queen, the patron of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, has her own loft at Sandringham.

Pigeon fanciers keep their birds in specially designed lofts which can vary in size from structures large enough to keep a small number of birds to those large enough to house hundreds.

The young Pigeons are trained from about the age of 6 months during which time they learn the commands of their trainer and familiarise themselves with their loft and their surroundings. They are first set free before they can fly strongly for fear that they may not return, but gradually thereafter are trained to fly greater and greater distances. Astonishingly, a Pigeon can fly 500 miles in a single day at a speed of 40 or 50 mph.

Pigeon Racing is organised through clubs, of which there are many throughout the UK. Pigeons are taken from their lofts and are released at what is known as the ‘liberation site’. The birds are timed using synchronised timing clocks because they will each have to travel a different distance to reach their home loft. The winner is the fastest Pigeon home calculated by dividing the distance from the liberation site to their home loft, further divided by the time taken.

If you would like to learn more about Pigeon Racing in your Third Age, we are happy to recommend Racing Pigeons: A Practical Guide to the Sport, by Colin Osman, whose grandfather founded “The Racing Pigeon Weekly” which sells 35,000 copies every week.

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