Pigeon racing has always been a popular pastime among Teesside folk and it is an activity which has been somewhat neglected by Remember When. This of course was not deliberate or even an oversight, it is just that until now we had very little information from readers about the history of the sport in the area. That was until we heard from Stan Wheatley who has recalled a very famous race involving a pigeon from the Cannon Street district of Middlesbrough, which won the championship in 1951.
Middlesbrough from the air looking west along Newport Road towards Stockton. Visible on the right is the Cannon Street area as well as much of the old Newport area in the centre. This picture was taken before either the A66 dual carriagway was built or the A19 viaduct. Date unknown but probably about 1960 when the Cannon Street district and community was still intact.
The race was for short distance birds, which meant that the bird only had to fly for a duration of only a few minutes. The pigeon racing fraternity in the Cannon Street area was a close-knit community with everyone looking out for everyone else. Although there was natural sporting rivalry between the many clubs they would always help each other out.
Cannon Street area in the 1950s taken from the Newport Bridge showing with all those coal fires burning how difficult it might have been for a pigeon to find its way home. Picture by the late Sydney Hunt.
The backyards of the terraced houses where the pigeons were kept and raced home to, were whitewashed and various black symbols such as crosses, triangles, circles and squares were painted on the whitewashed back wall of the house. This was so the birds could easily recognise their home as timing was everything in these races which were decided in seconds on a stop watch.
The Short Distance Union Championship Certificate awarded to Young Maestro owned by Eddie Connors from Arthur Street in Middlesbrough 1951 with an unprecedented 12 points.
Many of the races started from Billingham Bottoms, the birds would be released individually and timed on their flight back to Cannon Street across the River Tees and round by the gasometers. Stan Wheatley remembers what a great outdoor sport this was for the men in those years after the war he says:
"We were as fit as lops, tanned in the summer, and freezing in the winter, but loving every second of it. We were all pigeon daft, all the old fanciers has their secret tonics and diets etc for the birds and they didn't need weather forecasts they would look skyward and could tell what the day was going to be like and they were rarely wrong. All the corn was bought from Elliotts on Boundary Road. On February or March the young were bred for the current year's races. They all had to be ringed with that year's SDU (Short Distance Union) registration ring in the owners name when the young birds were settled to their home and flying around all right."
A wartime aerial photograph of Cannon Street clearly showing the gasometers which served as a local landmark for the birds. The gasometers are still there today but nearly everything else has gone.
However, it was one race in particular that Stan remembers best of all when a young bird achieved legendary status among the clubs of Cannon Street and beyond. This bird owned by Eddie Connors from Arthur Street was named 'Young Maestro' and it achieved a speed that no other bird had achieved before or we understand since (although we are prepared to be corrected on that!). The race took place in the summer of 1951 and Stan has described the excitement in some fascinating detail.
Eddie Connors (left) and Puff McGarey with Mick the dog pictured in Arthur Street in the Cannon Street area of Middlesbrough in around 1950.
In the latest edition of Remember When magazine published on Saturday August 7, 2010 we are publishing a feature describing the full excitement of the race, which made history in a community, which has now disappeared but has not been forgotten. Even if you know nothing about pigeons or think you have no interest in them, you will still find this article a captivating read as it gives you a glimpse back to how people passed their time around sixty years ago and the close knit community in which they lived.
Source: Gazette Live 30/07/2010
