Homing - Pigeon makes £20,000 swoop for Kendal pair (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Homing - Pigeon makes £20,000 swoop for Kendal pair

12:15pm Thursday 19th November 2009 in

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PIGEON fanciers Peter Robinson and his son Tom achieved a "once in a lifetime" win when one of their birds landed the £20,000 first prize in the Royal Pigeon Racing Association One-Loft Final Race.

The successful pigeon was sold by internet auction last week for £515 to be used for breeding purposes by another fancier.

Retired K Shoes factory manager Peter, aged 64, who lives on Heron Hill in Kendal, bred the bird, which he sent at 28 days old to be trained and raced at the RPRA loft at Birdsmorton in Worcestershire.

Fanciers pay £100 per bird to be among the 1,000 pigeons which are trained to race to that loft over a series of five races held over increasing distances.

The series culminates with a 'big-money' Final Race from Lands End to Birdsmorton - a distance of 199 miles.

The Robinsons' pigeon was placed 111th, 12th and 19th before making a mistake in the fourth race and arriving back at the loft the following day at five o'clock.

In the Final Race, which because of bad weather was liberated from Truro rather than Land's End, 14 birds landed together back at the loft, but the Robinsons' pigeon went in first, landing the jackpot prize by .8 of a second.

Peter said: "I couldn't make the trip down south, so I went fishing and when a friend rang me to tell me about the win I nearly dropped my rod in the river.

"I had no clue how much money the win was worth because I'd never looked at the prize-list properly.

"Pigeon breeding is about having winning genes in the birds, but you still need luck to land a major race and this is a once in a lifetime win."

The Robinsons regularly race their birds in the Kendal Homing Society and Milnthorpe Homing Society and other regional clubs.

It is Peter's biggest single win during his 50 years in pigeon racing - an interest which began in his teens when he used to help legendary Gazette sports editor Doug Todd with his loft.

Peter's 19-year-old son Tom, a builder, now helps him and said: "You put a lot of work in caring and looking after the birds in the loft, and it makes it all worthwhile when you land a race like this one."

The pair have already entered three birds for the 2010 race in the hope that history will repeat itself.

*For the experts the pigeon,which was pictured on the front page of British Homing World weekly, was bred by a VandenbeelesxSoojens cock paired to a Lambrechts hen.

*Anyone interested in racing pigeons or requiring information about the sport should contact Roger Hillbeck, secretary of Kendal Homing Society, on 01539 728096.