Cullybackey - A Living History
Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 3:00 pm
CULLYBACKEY HOMING PIGEON SOCIETY! A LIVING HISTORY. - Presentation to the Cullybackey Historical Society by William Livingstone of Ahoghill 21-01-16.
"Cullybackey HPS" a long established and greatly revered institution dating back to long before any meaningful or thorough records were kept, but is still a club always known to have punched well above its weight in National competition to keep Cullybackey village always to the fore up and down Ireland and further afield with its exploits in this unique and fascinating world of pigeon racing.
As a member of neighbouring Ahoghill club I wouldn't be best placed or informed to give a history talk on Cullybackey HPS although as the stories and characters emerged in my research I can easily relate to them all and can recall most of them from days past.
At first when I set out on this task I was considering the written history of the club by consulting minute books and any other records which may or may not exist but I quickly realised that lists of statistics, facts and figures would only bore an audience to tears.
So I decided that a much more colourful informal and wide-ranging varied living history of this great club would be much more entertaining and memorable, yet no less informative.
So I set out to consult and interview all the senior influential still active members.
Again knowing the characters I was dealing with a week of meetings like this wouldn't cover their insight, knowledge and honour, so I endeavoured to curtail their passion and enthusiasm to a few questions each on their memories, influences, personal highlights and achievements in the sport in general and in their own club in particular.
These men, like all pigeon fanciers I find, display a schoolboy type of eagerness to talk, discuss, research, compare share, swap, deal, just like we used to do in the school playground swapping marbles etc.
Even now as grumpy old men on all other matters of life, when it comes to pigeons, we just simply never grew up.
That same childish approach though not obvious to us is so obvious to the observant onlooker who on street corners, or in work-places used to interrupt our noisy huddles by pretending to throw a handful of sawdust around our feet to dry up the imaginary droppings as we shared our hard luck stories and post mortems into what went wrong on the previous race day.
Now that was a necessarily long drawn out introduction to set the scene and reveal to you a wee bit about the mysteries and wide ranging aspects of the pigeon world past and present
I called with four highly respected long established and very successful fanciers in their own right each with an insatiable willingness to recall not only their own performances and successes but to give credit to a previous generation of revered fanciers who inspired them by their achievements in the sport.
Now some of these men have been heavily involved in the sport right from their childhood in the late fifties I early sixties with long memories of passed on stories and anecdotes going back obviously as far as the war years. The war years…. now there's a history in itself which if I have time I will amaze and excite you as you hear of the exploits of these brave courageous airmail messengers of the many battlefields in two world wars and other conflicts and their life saving conquests.
My first interview was with Alan Darragh from his renowned Swallow Brae Lofts down there at Bridgend overlooking the river Maine.
Alans memories take him back to more humble beginnings as he remembers his boyhood at the old family home near the site where the famous Wrightbus factory now stands. He has recollections that his late father Jack Darragh had a brief foray into the racing game in a partnership with a Tam Stewart to a loft at the bungalows on Station Rd.
The dates available tell us that Jack was born in 1908and having joined The Royal Navy in 1923 would indicate that he must have joined up as a fifteen year old and having progressed into the elite Royal Marines went on to serve until approx. 1945.
He returned and set up home there at Galgorm. As an example of humble beginnings Alan remembers his dad bringing him two pigeons home and settling them to a tea chest in the hen house. A typical story
of the time which was repeated often with the famous Galagher's boxes becoming the typical first loft around the country. Alan has fond memories of his early partnership as a schoolboy with his dad and their first sixteen foot loft being delivered on a lorry, and the precarious operation of having it placed on site having been bought from a Cullybackey fancier.
Alan's information supports the fact that George Simpson senior was a significant figure in the racing scene for quite a few years having been a member also of the Ballymena Championship Club for a period of time probably as a result of a club split in 1954 where a breakaway club called the Northend Club may have been the reason for the change of name from Cullybackey Flying club to Cullybackey HPS
The big personalities recalled by Alan included the famous Smyth Bros., who raced to a loft in Teeshan before relocating in Ballymena and transferring to Ballymena and District. It was noted that their most famous bird, Leading Lady's race record and breeding success was begun while racing in Cullybackey. The breeding lines of Leading Lady were much sought after stock for many years and may still be mentioned in pedigrees today. Other names be referred to with affection were The Moore Bros of the famous Wull Sam family who maintained a great interest in Alan 's performances especially when he came to race from the location of their roots at The Swallow Brae.
His list of names again threw up Alfie Greenwood, Sam Patton, Lecky again and Tam Johnson and George Glenholmes all men who had competed over many years and held their own both in club and national racing and of course the famous Reid Bros. whom we'll hear more from later from the new kid on the block who has inherited their legacy of stock and know how and keeps their name alive in his partnership of Reid Bros and Harry McCloy.
Now I turn to what I term a phenomenon in the sport of pigeon racing. In the rivalry and competitive nature of the sport some may dare to contradict my theory but Alan Darragh has set and broken more records than I could record here and has set records that I doubt will ever be broken. To list his achievements would take me all night and for anyone else to list them would be the same because each individual would quote a different top performance as their most memorable. Alan himself is happy to allow others to differ over this and to allow his performances to speak for themselves. I did however venture to persuade him to reluctantly share personally what his most pleasing performances were and what ones stand out and gave him the most pleasure.
He immediately plumped for his Kings cup winning performance with the now legendary Independent Ranger in 1986 from Guernsey winning close on £2000, having been 71st open from Jersey the previous week. He arrived at 8-30 pm. on the day having flown into very strong head winds to record a velocity of 891 YPM. The race was flown on Independence Day 4• July hence the name "Independent Ranger".
We can all remember the news filtering through that the Kings Cup had been won into Cullybackey. That, he claimed as his greatest one off thrill but he claimed his greatest satisfaction came from becoming 'National Champion' the title given for timing in all five National Water races, setting a record that still stands today.
He followed this with a series of Swallow Brae champions winning a first second and third in the yearling national from Penzance led home by Swallow Brae Lad, a Penzance Classic first second third led home by Peddlar's Dream, and again a first North section second open in the King's Cup from France, the race being won on the first day by a bird into Dublin and Alan timing Swallow Brae Dawn at 4-57am on the second morning to be runner up, by any standards an amazing feat. Only one man, a Dubliner has won The King's Cup twice but Alan can boast a first and a runner-up King's Cup. As an administrator within the sport Alan has also served for twenty years or more as a committee man. He has served as race controller for both NIPA and INFC and is the present chairman of the NIPA.
I'll leave it there and not bore you as non-fanciers with long lists of results and statistics, which are already well documented in the annals of pigeon folklore.
I next talked to Jimmy Greer who has himself achieved the ultimate accolade in the sport by winning the much coveted King George Fifth Cup by taking first open in a five hundred mile plus marathon three day race from Messac in France in the year 2004. An achievement recognised in long distance racing circles as one of the most testing from any race point, having to negotiate two channels, with all the natural obstacles and dangers that entails.
This two year old blue hen with this performance also won what is known as The Queen's Cup awarded to the bird with the best velocity in the British Isles of any bird flying a distance of over 420 miles. Jimmy was presented with this award in Blackpool.
Cullybackey HPS can now boast two King's Cup winners. Jimmy has been a consistent racer especially in long distance racing over many years as a continuous member of the Cullybackey club since he joined as a schoolboy in the early sixties.
As an indication of how family orientated the sport is Jimmy named his bird 'Rachel' after his late wife who sadly passed away just about a year before this big win. He is an almanac of information from even well before this time as he recalls lists of names and stories from a previous generation.
One of his anecdotes tells of a time when the club had only one timing clock, which was located at the Orange Hall in the centre of the village. Runners were employed to rush to the clock centre with the precious rubber race marker after the arrival of a bird. Running time was allowed according to how far the loft was from the centre. Always a bone of contention as to how long you were allowed.
A particular funny story he told would illustrate the competitive nature and rivalry that existed even in those early days. He told how a man called Alex Laverty was rushing from his loft with the afore mentioned race mark ring when he got a puncture in his bike halfway from his loft up the Kilrea line. He spotted the unfortunate Katie Kilpatrick on her bike and impolitely unseated her and finished his journey on her bike. She being from a family of racers herself understood the urgency of the situation and was not unduly annoyed by the incident.
The prize giving functions in the famous 'Lecky's Hut' threw up some interesting details of how when the business of the night was complete a crate of drink was kicked from below the table and hot whiskies were served from the kettle boiling on the old stove in the back room . Not something we would approve of in today's club premises but never the less a historical fact noted from a previous generation.
Those in attendance would have been Alfie Greenwood, Tam Johnston, Sandy Reid, William Armstrong, Jimmy Kilpatick, Jim Wilson, Willie Spence (a man with one leg), Sammy Davidson, Sammy Herbison and Davy Surgenor.
Willie Armstrong won the club race from St. Malo in France with pigeon ring number 1001 and some wit claimed it could clean a big, big carpet for less than half-a-crown.
In those days the pigeon men could often be seen carrying home their paper bag of one stone weight of pigeon food costing eight and sixpence a bag, usually a weeks supply which in the war years could only be purchased with the coupons supplied by 'The National Pigeon Service' which existed at that time to manage the important, steady training and preparation of birds for the war effort.
Lecky's train crash was a well talked about incident where his birds from the loft beside the railway line went down to pick on the lines and got wiped out by a passing train. Jimmy says a club also existed in Harperstown at one time most likely for the many members from that side of the village and met in what then was called the band hall later to become the scout hall. This could have been The North End club mentioned earlier. The highest number of club members at any one time varied in estimation to as many as seventy-two!!
Now back to the famous Reid Bros. affectionately known as The Reids Of The Rock and the story told by Harry McCloy junior who is still trying to trace the roots of this great pigeon dynasty. The racing partnership consisted of Sammy, Bob, James, Tommy, with Andy, the longest surviving brother. There was also a Sandy who went to New Zealand and a sister Sarah who went Canada and young Harry tells me there are still some of their letters to home preserved where an update on the pigeon scene was always requested in their correspondence
Harry has reason to believe that the original stock of the still dominant dark pigeons in his lofts were brought to 'The Rock' by an American soldier padre, an important part of an American Battalion who set up camp on the Reid Bros. lands during the war. No more details are to the fore yet but Harry intends to research the matter further. He has rediscovered what he has identified as 'The Rock Pulpit' a cutting shaped in the rock where the padre preached to the soldiers regularly each Sabbath.
These famous black pigeons were housed in lofts above the stables and were so settled and friendly that they often came and picked around the lint dams while the Bros were out working there. Their training methods were limited compared to today's fitness regimes where the training tosses in preparation for the France races had to coincide with where the cattle markets may have been at that
particular time, Ballyclare etc
George Glenholmes one of their great rivals lived within whistling distance over the Granagh Hill. When George had timed before them his shrill tuneful whistle could be heard loud and clear over the air but when they had the first bird over the hill Georges whistle fell strangely silent. Their performances at the distance races were folklore around the country but they weren't short of a hard luck story or two where in spite of having a big team of look-outs for returning birds they were known to miss one and find it already in the loft when it was too late. Sounds familiar somehow!
Harry having taken over the stock admits to a lot of youthful exuberance in his first attempts at racing. He claims to have lifted a number of untrained old birds straight into a long race from Penzance much to the annoyance of his mother Rosy, another of the Reid Bros. prodigies who assured him they would never return, again underestimating the abilities of these birds. They returned to win him several prizes on the day. Amongst Harry's personal choice of performances from his so far short successful career in the sport was his First, Second, Third, club, First Second Third Combine, First Second Third Section and Twentieth Open National from Portland. Not bad for a novice!!
The Russel Bros. of Billy John and the late James and Len from their famous lofts in Tullygrawley were a very successful partnership in Cullybackey HPS and in turn in National racing.
They certainly excelled and dominated over various periods down many years not only in racing but were also great stalwarts in their service to the club by their work ethics in many menial tasks that often go unnoticed in the sport. Len also served unstintingly as an office-bearer in the chairmanship and in various other capacities and his influence is still felt today. Len I'm told was the driving force behind the innovative scheme to relocate to their present impressive premises after the previous premises in the old hut had to be vacated on the death of Ernie Lecky who owned the property.
The procurement of the valuable site and the inspiration to follow it through I'm told was very much down to Len, who along with numerous volunteers carried the project through to its present admirable state. The list of willing contributors is endless but the names that repeatedly came to the fore are as follows, Len Russel, James Greer, who led from the front as chairman during the process, Roy Rock, Alfie Greenwood, Jimmy Martin, Charley Young and Alan Darragh.
In between times I learn that the club used the old B. Special hut on the Old Road for a period of time before erecting a temporary wooden hut on their newly acquired site.
Going back to the Russel Bros. Billy recalled to me one of the hilarious incidents where an early bird arrived home from a hard race with a broken leg, landing on the high up trap board and couldn't trap by itself. The three Bros had to ride on each other's backs to retrieve the poor bird and clock it in.
Billy once had a dream of a gift bird from the late great Willie Erwin arriving from a big race where he sat bolt upright in bed when he seen it arrive, only for it to come true the very next day to win the race. The names Billy fondly remembers were neighbours Hughie Johnston, Jim Law and Bobby McKendry, but he also emphasised strongly the influence of their mother in ensuring the birds were given the best of care.
An outstanding all round performer which Billy well remembers, was one they called 'Burn Brae Star' named after a local land-mark. The harder the day the better the performance was how Billy described this fine bird. He also recalls a bird he named 'The Wee Red Hen' a favourite of them all, but sadly being found dead on the road somewhere and brought back home to be buried in a marked grave in the garden.
He also remembers a strange statement out of the blue from the famous Ernie Lecky just a short period of time before he died, where he reminisced about the people who had died recently and stood up to announce, "By the law of averages boys I won't be around much longer".
Another of his recollections was the late night gatherings in the old hut where all the locals made their way up the railway line in the evenings to enjoy an evenings craic, often lasting into the wee small hours.
What intrigued me about Billy was that in spite of all his big winners and outstanding performances, his best reminiscences seemed to be of simple wee sentimental incidents drawn from a lifetime in pigeons.
I think there could be no better conclusion to our talk than to recognise that any pastime that can lead us to "Consider Our Latter End" and to count our Blessings along the way is surely time well spent!!
PADDY!!
During WWII pigeons were used by the Forces as message carriers.
Paddy was one of thirty pigeons delivered to RAF Hum to operational units of the US Army on June the eighth 1944.
They were used in connection with a secret task code named 'U2'
Paddy was released in Normandy at around 8-15am on June 12th carrying coded information on the Allied advance. He returned to his loft in Hampshire in just 4hrs. 50mins.
This was the fastest time recorded by a message carrying pigeon during the Normandy landings For his services Paddy was awarded 'The Dickin Medal' on Sept 1st 1944.
He had previously served at RAF Ballykelly on air/sea rescue missions.
Andrew Hughes JP of Carnlough was the proud owner of Paddy. He handed over several of his pigeons to be trained along with others for service with the Forces. Paddy lived for eleven years and to date is the only Irish recipient of the Dickin Medal which is the animal equivalent of 'The Victoria Cross' Lame And District Historical society. MMJX
PDSA
For Gallantry
We Also Serve.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF PIGEONS IN GENERAL!
There is evidence to believe that the domestication of pigeons can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt.
Even in the Bible we have an incident where Jesus himself turned over the benches of those who sold doves and called them thieves robbers, well not much has changed there. But the scriptures reveal much about the pigeon's place in all societies
The origins of the first racing of pigeons would probably have been in China, most likely motivated by gambling.
Pigeon racing as we know it today started in Belguim around 1850.
It soon reached Britain and grew fast in popularity and peaked in 1960 with a known 170,000 fancier in the UK alone.
During the first Olympic Games in 776 BC each athlete would bring with him a pigeon from his own village. If he won his event the pigeon would return to the village with the good news.
Another lucrative use of these amazing birds was in stocks and shares and many other commercial projects as far back as the 1850's where these birds delivered vital messages at unrivalled speeds. The last pigeon messaging service of this kind was disbanded in India as recently as 2006 and 800 hundred remaining birds were retired to a zoo.
The Dickin Medal was awarded to any animal to distinguish itself in bravery in wartime. Of 55 medals awarded to date, 32 are pigeons.
6000 birds racing from Nantes in France in 1997 were nearly all lost having been affected by Concordes' sonic boom over the channel.
The first air mail service in New Zealand in 1896 called Pigeon- gram operated from the Great Barrier Reef covering the distance in one and three quarter hours averaging speeds of 77 MPH
To illustrate the vital role pigeons played in the war effort here's a quote Major General Fowler of the Department of Communications for the British Army.
He says, "It is the pigeon on which we must depend when every other method fails. During quiet periods we can rely on telephone, telegraph, flag signals, our dogs and various other methods in use on the front of The British Army, but when the battle rages and everything else gives way to barrage and machine gun ire to say nothing of gas attacks and bombings it is to the pigeon we go for succour.
When the troops are lost or surrounded in the mazes on the front or are advancing and yet beyond the known localities then we depend absolutely on the pigeon for our communication.
Regular methods in such cases are worthless and it is at such times that we need most a messenger we can rely on. In pigeons we have them. I am glad to say they have never failed.
"CHER-AMI"
Probably the most famous recipient of an award for bravery in the First Great War was a British pigeon called "Cher-Ami" which was donated to the US Army Signal Corp. on the 3rd of Oct. 1918. 500 men from a battalion of the 77th Infantry became trapped and cut off near Argonne
N.E . France with no food or ammunition. The troops were being bombarded by friendly fire. Within 24hrs of being cut off, over 300 men had been lost and with no other option available to him Commander Major Charles Whittlesey wrote a note saying, "Many wounded we cannot evacuate" and attached it to a carrier pigeon . The bird was released and was immediately shot down by German snipers. A second bird was sent with a message saying, "Men are suffering can help be sent?" The second bird was also shot down. The last bird 'Cher-Ami' was called on and Major Whittlsey wrote a final message saying" We are along a road parallel to 276.4 our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us, for heaven's sake stop it!" and attached the message to 'Cher-Ami' The bird on release was immediately shot through the breast by enemy fire and fell to the ground but managed to get back up in the air. 'Cher-Ami' then flew 25mls back to his loft at division headquarters through a constant barrage of enemy fire and made the journey in 25mins. As a result 194 men from 77tt. Infantry Division were saved. 'Cher·Ami' had delivered the message despite being shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, covered in blood and with a leg hanging on by only a tendon. He became a hero of the 77th Division and medics managed to save his life and replace his leg with a wooden one. When the bird was well enough to travel he was sent back to the USA and became a mascot of the Department of Service. The pigeon was awarded Croix de Guerre Medal with a Palm Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages in Verdun.
He died a Fort Monmouth New Jersey on June 13th 1919 from the wounds he received in battle and was later inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame in 1931.
He also received a gold medal from Organised Bodies of American Racing Pigeon Fanciers in recognition of his extraordinary service during WWI
An estimated 16,544 pigeons were parachuted into occupied Europe during the 2nd World War but only 1842 returned.
"Cullybackey HPS" a long established and greatly revered institution dating back to long before any meaningful or thorough records were kept, but is still a club always known to have punched well above its weight in National competition to keep Cullybackey village always to the fore up and down Ireland and further afield with its exploits in this unique and fascinating world of pigeon racing.
As a member of neighbouring Ahoghill club I wouldn't be best placed or informed to give a history talk on Cullybackey HPS although as the stories and characters emerged in my research I can easily relate to them all and can recall most of them from days past.
At first when I set out on this task I was considering the written history of the club by consulting minute books and any other records which may or may not exist but I quickly realised that lists of statistics, facts and figures would only bore an audience to tears.
So I decided that a much more colourful informal and wide-ranging varied living history of this great club would be much more entertaining and memorable, yet no less informative.
So I set out to consult and interview all the senior influential still active members.
Again knowing the characters I was dealing with a week of meetings like this wouldn't cover their insight, knowledge and honour, so I endeavoured to curtail their passion and enthusiasm to a few questions each on their memories, influences, personal highlights and achievements in the sport in general and in their own club in particular.
These men, like all pigeon fanciers I find, display a schoolboy type of eagerness to talk, discuss, research, compare share, swap, deal, just like we used to do in the school playground swapping marbles etc.
Even now as grumpy old men on all other matters of life, when it comes to pigeons, we just simply never grew up.
That same childish approach though not obvious to us is so obvious to the observant onlooker who on street corners, or in work-places used to interrupt our noisy huddles by pretending to throw a handful of sawdust around our feet to dry up the imaginary droppings as we shared our hard luck stories and post mortems into what went wrong on the previous race day.
Now that was a necessarily long drawn out introduction to set the scene and reveal to you a wee bit about the mysteries and wide ranging aspects of the pigeon world past and present
I called with four highly respected long established and very successful fanciers in their own right each with an insatiable willingness to recall not only their own performances and successes but to give credit to a previous generation of revered fanciers who inspired them by their achievements in the sport.
Now some of these men have been heavily involved in the sport right from their childhood in the late fifties I early sixties with long memories of passed on stories and anecdotes going back obviously as far as the war years. The war years…. now there's a history in itself which if I have time I will amaze and excite you as you hear of the exploits of these brave courageous airmail messengers of the many battlefields in two world wars and other conflicts and their life saving conquests.
My first interview was with Alan Darragh from his renowned Swallow Brae Lofts down there at Bridgend overlooking the river Maine.
Alans memories take him back to more humble beginnings as he remembers his boyhood at the old family home near the site where the famous Wrightbus factory now stands. He has recollections that his late father Jack Darragh had a brief foray into the racing game in a partnership with a Tam Stewart to a loft at the bungalows on Station Rd.
The dates available tell us that Jack was born in 1908and having joined The Royal Navy in 1923 would indicate that he must have joined up as a fifteen year old and having progressed into the elite Royal Marines went on to serve until approx. 1945.
He returned and set up home there at Galgorm. As an example of humble beginnings Alan remembers his dad bringing him two pigeons home and settling them to a tea chest in the hen house. A typical story
of the time which was repeated often with the famous Galagher's boxes becoming the typical first loft around the country. Alan has fond memories of his early partnership as a schoolboy with his dad and their first sixteen foot loft being delivered on a lorry, and the precarious operation of having it placed on site having been bought from a Cullybackey fancier.
Alan's information supports the fact that George Simpson senior was a significant figure in the racing scene for quite a few years having been a member also of the Ballymena Championship Club for a period of time probably as a result of a club split in 1954 where a breakaway club called the Northend Club may have been the reason for the change of name from Cullybackey Flying club to Cullybackey HPS
The big personalities recalled by Alan included the famous Smyth Bros., who raced to a loft in Teeshan before relocating in Ballymena and transferring to Ballymena and District. It was noted that their most famous bird, Leading Lady's race record and breeding success was begun while racing in Cullybackey. The breeding lines of Leading Lady were much sought after stock for many years and may still be mentioned in pedigrees today. Other names be referred to with affection were The Moore Bros of the famous Wull Sam family who maintained a great interest in Alan 's performances especially when he came to race from the location of their roots at The Swallow Brae.
His list of names again threw up Alfie Greenwood, Sam Patton, Lecky again and Tam Johnson and George Glenholmes all men who had competed over many years and held their own both in club and national racing and of course the famous Reid Bros. whom we'll hear more from later from the new kid on the block who has inherited their legacy of stock and know how and keeps their name alive in his partnership of Reid Bros and Harry McCloy.
Now I turn to what I term a phenomenon in the sport of pigeon racing. In the rivalry and competitive nature of the sport some may dare to contradict my theory but Alan Darragh has set and broken more records than I could record here and has set records that I doubt will ever be broken. To list his achievements would take me all night and for anyone else to list them would be the same because each individual would quote a different top performance as their most memorable. Alan himself is happy to allow others to differ over this and to allow his performances to speak for themselves. I did however venture to persuade him to reluctantly share personally what his most pleasing performances were and what ones stand out and gave him the most pleasure.
He immediately plumped for his Kings cup winning performance with the now legendary Independent Ranger in 1986 from Guernsey winning close on £2000, having been 71st open from Jersey the previous week. He arrived at 8-30 pm. on the day having flown into very strong head winds to record a velocity of 891 YPM. The race was flown on Independence Day 4• July hence the name "Independent Ranger".
We can all remember the news filtering through that the Kings Cup had been won into Cullybackey. That, he claimed as his greatest one off thrill but he claimed his greatest satisfaction came from becoming 'National Champion' the title given for timing in all five National Water races, setting a record that still stands today.
He followed this with a series of Swallow Brae champions winning a first second and third in the yearling national from Penzance led home by Swallow Brae Lad, a Penzance Classic first second third led home by Peddlar's Dream, and again a first North section second open in the King's Cup from France, the race being won on the first day by a bird into Dublin and Alan timing Swallow Brae Dawn at 4-57am on the second morning to be runner up, by any standards an amazing feat. Only one man, a Dubliner has won The King's Cup twice but Alan can boast a first and a runner-up King's Cup. As an administrator within the sport Alan has also served for twenty years or more as a committee man. He has served as race controller for both NIPA and INFC and is the present chairman of the NIPA.
I'll leave it there and not bore you as non-fanciers with long lists of results and statistics, which are already well documented in the annals of pigeon folklore.
I next talked to Jimmy Greer who has himself achieved the ultimate accolade in the sport by winning the much coveted King George Fifth Cup by taking first open in a five hundred mile plus marathon three day race from Messac in France in the year 2004. An achievement recognised in long distance racing circles as one of the most testing from any race point, having to negotiate two channels, with all the natural obstacles and dangers that entails.
This two year old blue hen with this performance also won what is known as The Queen's Cup awarded to the bird with the best velocity in the British Isles of any bird flying a distance of over 420 miles. Jimmy was presented with this award in Blackpool.
Cullybackey HPS can now boast two King's Cup winners. Jimmy has been a consistent racer especially in long distance racing over many years as a continuous member of the Cullybackey club since he joined as a schoolboy in the early sixties.
As an indication of how family orientated the sport is Jimmy named his bird 'Rachel' after his late wife who sadly passed away just about a year before this big win. He is an almanac of information from even well before this time as he recalls lists of names and stories from a previous generation.
One of his anecdotes tells of a time when the club had only one timing clock, which was located at the Orange Hall in the centre of the village. Runners were employed to rush to the clock centre with the precious rubber race marker after the arrival of a bird. Running time was allowed according to how far the loft was from the centre. Always a bone of contention as to how long you were allowed.
A particular funny story he told would illustrate the competitive nature and rivalry that existed even in those early days. He told how a man called Alex Laverty was rushing from his loft with the afore mentioned race mark ring when he got a puncture in his bike halfway from his loft up the Kilrea line. He spotted the unfortunate Katie Kilpatrick on her bike and impolitely unseated her and finished his journey on her bike. She being from a family of racers herself understood the urgency of the situation and was not unduly annoyed by the incident.
The prize giving functions in the famous 'Lecky's Hut' threw up some interesting details of how when the business of the night was complete a crate of drink was kicked from below the table and hot whiskies were served from the kettle boiling on the old stove in the back room . Not something we would approve of in today's club premises but never the less a historical fact noted from a previous generation.
Those in attendance would have been Alfie Greenwood, Tam Johnston, Sandy Reid, William Armstrong, Jimmy Kilpatick, Jim Wilson, Willie Spence (a man with one leg), Sammy Davidson, Sammy Herbison and Davy Surgenor.
Willie Armstrong won the club race from St. Malo in France with pigeon ring number 1001 and some wit claimed it could clean a big, big carpet for less than half-a-crown.
In those days the pigeon men could often be seen carrying home their paper bag of one stone weight of pigeon food costing eight and sixpence a bag, usually a weeks supply which in the war years could only be purchased with the coupons supplied by 'The National Pigeon Service' which existed at that time to manage the important, steady training and preparation of birds for the war effort.
Lecky's train crash was a well talked about incident where his birds from the loft beside the railway line went down to pick on the lines and got wiped out by a passing train. Jimmy says a club also existed in Harperstown at one time most likely for the many members from that side of the village and met in what then was called the band hall later to become the scout hall. This could have been The North End club mentioned earlier. The highest number of club members at any one time varied in estimation to as many as seventy-two!!
Now back to the famous Reid Bros. affectionately known as The Reids Of The Rock and the story told by Harry McCloy junior who is still trying to trace the roots of this great pigeon dynasty. The racing partnership consisted of Sammy, Bob, James, Tommy, with Andy, the longest surviving brother. There was also a Sandy who went to New Zealand and a sister Sarah who went Canada and young Harry tells me there are still some of their letters to home preserved where an update on the pigeon scene was always requested in their correspondence
Harry has reason to believe that the original stock of the still dominant dark pigeons in his lofts were brought to 'The Rock' by an American soldier padre, an important part of an American Battalion who set up camp on the Reid Bros. lands during the war. No more details are to the fore yet but Harry intends to research the matter further. He has rediscovered what he has identified as 'The Rock Pulpit' a cutting shaped in the rock where the padre preached to the soldiers regularly each Sabbath.
These famous black pigeons were housed in lofts above the stables and were so settled and friendly that they often came and picked around the lint dams while the Bros were out working there. Their training methods were limited compared to today's fitness regimes where the training tosses in preparation for the France races had to coincide with where the cattle markets may have been at that
particular time, Ballyclare etc
George Glenholmes one of their great rivals lived within whistling distance over the Granagh Hill. When George had timed before them his shrill tuneful whistle could be heard loud and clear over the air but when they had the first bird over the hill Georges whistle fell strangely silent. Their performances at the distance races were folklore around the country but they weren't short of a hard luck story or two where in spite of having a big team of look-outs for returning birds they were known to miss one and find it already in the loft when it was too late. Sounds familiar somehow!
Harry having taken over the stock admits to a lot of youthful exuberance in his first attempts at racing. He claims to have lifted a number of untrained old birds straight into a long race from Penzance much to the annoyance of his mother Rosy, another of the Reid Bros. prodigies who assured him they would never return, again underestimating the abilities of these birds. They returned to win him several prizes on the day. Amongst Harry's personal choice of performances from his so far short successful career in the sport was his First, Second, Third, club, First Second Third Combine, First Second Third Section and Twentieth Open National from Portland. Not bad for a novice!!
The Russel Bros. of Billy John and the late James and Len from their famous lofts in Tullygrawley were a very successful partnership in Cullybackey HPS and in turn in National racing.
They certainly excelled and dominated over various periods down many years not only in racing but were also great stalwarts in their service to the club by their work ethics in many menial tasks that often go unnoticed in the sport. Len also served unstintingly as an office-bearer in the chairmanship and in various other capacities and his influence is still felt today. Len I'm told was the driving force behind the innovative scheme to relocate to their present impressive premises after the previous premises in the old hut had to be vacated on the death of Ernie Lecky who owned the property.
The procurement of the valuable site and the inspiration to follow it through I'm told was very much down to Len, who along with numerous volunteers carried the project through to its present admirable state. The list of willing contributors is endless but the names that repeatedly came to the fore are as follows, Len Russel, James Greer, who led from the front as chairman during the process, Roy Rock, Alfie Greenwood, Jimmy Martin, Charley Young and Alan Darragh.
In between times I learn that the club used the old B. Special hut on the Old Road for a period of time before erecting a temporary wooden hut on their newly acquired site.
Going back to the Russel Bros. Billy recalled to me one of the hilarious incidents where an early bird arrived home from a hard race with a broken leg, landing on the high up trap board and couldn't trap by itself. The three Bros had to ride on each other's backs to retrieve the poor bird and clock it in.
Billy once had a dream of a gift bird from the late great Willie Erwin arriving from a big race where he sat bolt upright in bed when he seen it arrive, only for it to come true the very next day to win the race. The names Billy fondly remembers were neighbours Hughie Johnston, Jim Law and Bobby McKendry, but he also emphasised strongly the influence of their mother in ensuring the birds were given the best of care.
An outstanding all round performer which Billy well remembers, was one they called 'Burn Brae Star' named after a local land-mark. The harder the day the better the performance was how Billy described this fine bird. He also recalls a bird he named 'The Wee Red Hen' a favourite of them all, but sadly being found dead on the road somewhere and brought back home to be buried in a marked grave in the garden.
He also remembers a strange statement out of the blue from the famous Ernie Lecky just a short period of time before he died, where he reminisced about the people who had died recently and stood up to announce, "By the law of averages boys I won't be around much longer".
Another of his recollections was the late night gatherings in the old hut where all the locals made their way up the railway line in the evenings to enjoy an evenings craic, often lasting into the wee small hours.
What intrigued me about Billy was that in spite of all his big winners and outstanding performances, his best reminiscences seemed to be of simple wee sentimental incidents drawn from a lifetime in pigeons.
I think there could be no better conclusion to our talk than to recognise that any pastime that can lead us to "Consider Our Latter End" and to count our Blessings along the way is surely time well spent!!
PADDY!!
During WWII pigeons were used by the Forces as message carriers.
Paddy was one of thirty pigeons delivered to RAF Hum to operational units of the US Army on June the eighth 1944.
They were used in connection with a secret task code named 'U2'
Paddy was released in Normandy at around 8-15am on June 12th carrying coded information on the Allied advance. He returned to his loft in Hampshire in just 4hrs. 50mins.
This was the fastest time recorded by a message carrying pigeon during the Normandy landings For his services Paddy was awarded 'The Dickin Medal' on Sept 1st 1944.
He had previously served at RAF Ballykelly on air/sea rescue missions.
Andrew Hughes JP of Carnlough was the proud owner of Paddy. He handed over several of his pigeons to be trained along with others for service with the Forces. Paddy lived for eleven years and to date is the only Irish recipient of the Dickin Medal which is the animal equivalent of 'The Victoria Cross' Lame And District Historical society. MMJX
PDSA
For Gallantry
We Also Serve.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF PIGEONS IN GENERAL!
There is evidence to believe that the domestication of pigeons can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt.
Even in the Bible we have an incident where Jesus himself turned over the benches of those who sold doves and called them thieves robbers, well not much has changed there. But the scriptures reveal much about the pigeon's place in all societies
The origins of the first racing of pigeons would probably have been in China, most likely motivated by gambling.
Pigeon racing as we know it today started in Belguim around 1850.
It soon reached Britain and grew fast in popularity and peaked in 1960 with a known 170,000 fancier in the UK alone.
During the first Olympic Games in 776 BC each athlete would bring with him a pigeon from his own village. If he won his event the pigeon would return to the village with the good news.
Another lucrative use of these amazing birds was in stocks and shares and many other commercial projects as far back as the 1850's where these birds delivered vital messages at unrivalled speeds. The last pigeon messaging service of this kind was disbanded in India as recently as 2006 and 800 hundred remaining birds were retired to a zoo.
The Dickin Medal was awarded to any animal to distinguish itself in bravery in wartime. Of 55 medals awarded to date, 32 are pigeons.
6000 birds racing from Nantes in France in 1997 were nearly all lost having been affected by Concordes' sonic boom over the channel.
The first air mail service in New Zealand in 1896 called Pigeon- gram operated from the Great Barrier Reef covering the distance in one and three quarter hours averaging speeds of 77 MPH
To illustrate the vital role pigeons played in the war effort here's a quote Major General Fowler of the Department of Communications for the British Army.
He says, "It is the pigeon on which we must depend when every other method fails. During quiet periods we can rely on telephone, telegraph, flag signals, our dogs and various other methods in use on the front of The British Army, but when the battle rages and everything else gives way to barrage and machine gun ire to say nothing of gas attacks and bombings it is to the pigeon we go for succour.
When the troops are lost or surrounded in the mazes on the front or are advancing and yet beyond the known localities then we depend absolutely on the pigeon for our communication.
Regular methods in such cases are worthless and it is at such times that we need most a messenger we can rely on. In pigeons we have them. I am glad to say they have never failed.
"CHER-AMI"
Probably the most famous recipient of an award for bravery in the First Great War was a British pigeon called "Cher-Ami" which was donated to the US Army Signal Corp. on the 3rd of Oct. 1918. 500 men from a battalion of the 77th Infantry became trapped and cut off near Argonne
N.E . France with no food or ammunition. The troops were being bombarded by friendly fire. Within 24hrs of being cut off, over 300 men had been lost and with no other option available to him Commander Major Charles Whittlesey wrote a note saying, "Many wounded we cannot evacuate" and attached it to a carrier pigeon . The bird was released and was immediately shot down by German snipers. A second bird was sent with a message saying, "Men are suffering can help be sent?" The second bird was also shot down. The last bird 'Cher-Ami' was called on and Major Whittlsey wrote a final message saying" We are along a road parallel to 276.4 our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us, for heaven's sake stop it!" and attached the message to 'Cher-Ami' The bird on release was immediately shot through the breast by enemy fire and fell to the ground but managed to get back up in the air. 'Cher-Ami' then flew 25mls back to his loft at division headquarters through a constant barrage of enemy fire and made the journey in 25mins. As a result 194 men from 77tt. Infantry Division were saved. 'Cher·Ami' had delivered the message despite being shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, covered in blood and with a leg hanging on by only a tendon. He became a hero of the 77th Division and medics managed to save his life and replace his leg with a wooden one. When the bird was well enough to travel he was sent back to the USA and became a mascot of the Department of Service. The pigeon was awarded Croix de Guerre Medal with a Palm Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroic service in delivering 12 important messages in Verdun.
He died a Fort Monmouth New Jersey on June 13th 1919 from the wounds he received in battle and was later inducted into the Racing Pigeon Hall of Fame in 1931.
He also received a gold medal from Organised Bodies of American Racing Pigeon Fanciers in recognition of his extraordinary service during WWI
An estimated 16,544 pigeons were parachuted into occupied Europe during the 2nd World War but only 1842 returned.