Humble Beginning

As far as I could recall, the earliest memories I have are of my cousin who kept pigeons (known as Heeray (diamonds with blue eyes) across the road from ours, he use to liberate them early mornings (everyday), for some reason the vivid memory of subcontinental winter mornings, with ample sunshine and the light refreshing breeze from river have clung to my mind and his birds taking to the sky while the Express Service train crossed the old bridge to its onward journey South. I was captivated as a child, I use to go over to his loft and try to be very obedient (as to not get sent away, as he was not very social and warming) but his heart was in the right place. He would give me pigeons eggs to take it to my mother and ask her to fry them for me (I was about 5 years of age), yes I use to eat them but that never took away the element of fascination pigeons brought to me. During the day I use to accompany my late grandmother on her rounds and we use to go to my grandmothers fathers house, where her nephew also kept pigeons (this is the 1970's, off I was hanging around the brick loft of his and tried to get a sneak preview of his birds through the vents. I was always asking him for a pair to keep but at that tender age I was not granted my wish.

My father, my uncles all kept pigeons, they also used an ancient method which is to dig a burrow in to the ground (large enough to stand in as per their desired requirement and carve boxes within the earth to house their birds (1930's/40's, still common at that time in rural areas, resourcefulness), then cover the burrow with a mall entry point (as with any method you will have pro's & its con's). Throughout my family, we have kept pigeons and they still do. I have cousins in midlands who are keen fanciers till date, and my father still has a pair at his in London, which he always says 'that i keep them as they remind me of you and will carry on till I can', he has some exceptional doves (perfect droppers).

I have kept predominantly high flying breeds of the subcontinent (35 (Pentees) Walay, Golden and Salaray Teddy) whereas 35 Walay being my favourites (just majestic & highly intelligent, workhorses in the skies, with a well balanced wing action) I still have a few to hand but due to the nature of their flight, which requires constant warmer currents not frequented within this hemisphere, It has been my opinion for a very long time, that these birds are not suited for the weather here in the UK. The first tipplers I acquired, were from my friend Tony Goffy, who had worked with his birds foundation being the Boden's. He gifted myself with quite a few birds to get going, which I thoroughly enjoyed, he has packed up tipplers since and pursues racing now. As i got acquainted with these birds, much suited for the conditions, I managed to get the Shannons from the (late) Harry in mid summer 2015, the year he packed up. I got a pair of blues from Davey Warrener (the cock flew 18 plus hours at Davey's), a pair of Pilots from the late Gary Watson and a pair of another pilots from my very dear friend Fiasat Khan these were the Tony Veater's line of pilots, all this was to evaluate, traits of a given strain over the course of few years and what I would like from the birds I keep. I decided to side with the Shannons (others are equally excellent bloodlines and due to restrictive nature of space available, one has to make a difficult choice), Shannons, which are a very nervous birds (I will avoid at this stage, the further indulgence as to how this genetic trait is inherited), so an unexperienced fancier would be advised to avoid starting with Shannons or Pilots (if you could find an actual bloodline). The boden strain of birds are a better choice as per my own observations, very easier to handle comparatively.

I have met many good people throughout the tippler world but some would always stand out, Fiasat Khan (we chat almost everyday), Davey Warrener (always there for you), the late Harry Shannon, Jim Cook (one of Harry's friends), Raj K along with Goffy, and I will do injustice if do not mention Bobby Dunseith who is a gentleman, these folks are very warm and kind hearted, an asset to the tippler sport.