The Barwick-in-Elmet Homing Society
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The Barwick-in-Elmet Homing Society
from The Barwicker No.56
One of the old sporting activities in
Barwick was pigeon racing. There was such a lot
of interest that a club was formed in the early
1930s with approximately 16 members. This was
called 'The Barwick-in-Elmet Homing Society'. The
headquarters for the club was the New Inn. Some
of the names of the members recalled were; Walt
Lovett, Brian Lawn, Billy Markham, Jack Birch,
George and Tommy Kirk, Albert Lincoln, Albert
Poulter, Joe Walton (Secretary), Herbert
Woodhead, Bill Wall, Bill Stone, Harry West, Bill
Healds, Jimmy Bacon, Fred Lumb and Billy Green.
Each of the members had a pigeon loft
situated in the back garden, along with the
vegetables that each householder grew (now called
organic food). The pigeons were exercised weekly
before a race, being taken in a pigeon basket by
bicycle, to a distance as far as Swillington.
Then on Friday nights, the pigeons selected for
racing were taken to the New Inn to get a rubber
ring put on its leg for the race on Saturday.
The number of each ring was recorded on a race
sheet. All the pigeons were then put into a big
basket and transported to Scholes Railway Station
by pony and cart owned by Mr Freeman. They were
sent from Leeds City Station to a race point
about 60 miles away, for instance Nottingham, for
the first race of the season, to be released on
the Saturday morning for a flight home of about
1« hours. The pigeons' welfare on the journey
was the responsibility of the 'Convoyer' who also
cared for the birds in the event of overnight
delayed liberation due to rainy or misty
conditions.
The excitement then started on the
Saturday morning. "Have you heard what time
they are liberated?" all the members were asking.
A telephone call would come through to the New
Inn and the liberation time was given. A notice
would be put up in the front window of the New
Inn for all to see and the news would be passed
from one to another. An ETA (Estimated Time of
Arrival) was worked out and the younger members
of the pigeon community were on stand-by to
collect the rings from the racing pigeons when
they arrived home and they had to run as fast as
possible to the New Inn to put the ring in a
special clock which recorded the time. There was
only one clock (now each member has his own
clock). On Saturday night all the members would
arrive at the New Inn to compare times and to
find out the winner who was duly rewarded.
The Barwick-in-Elmet Homing Society was
wound up just before the outbreak of World War
II. However there are several pigeon racing
enthusiasts still in the village who are members
of the Aberford Society. Nowadays the pigeons
are taken by road using a large purpose-built
pigeon transporter van.
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