Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Pint and pigeons anyone? Pub sets up own racing club
The landlords of the Plough and Harrow in Bridge have celebrated their first year behind the bar by forming a pigeon fanciers club.
Nick and Kirsty Jarrett joined together with regulars at the High Street pub to acquire two birds which they will race later in the year.
The pigeons – called Plough and Harrow – are only six weeks old and paid their first visit to the pub on Easter Sunday. They will make their debut race later in the year.
Club member Dick Mellar, 60, said: “There’s actually quite a bit of pigeon fancying round here and we thought it would be nice for the pub to start a club.
“Pigeons are amazing. They’re actually the most medalled animals from what they did during the wars, carrying messages between trenches.
“We’ll fly them in August and then they’ll make way their way back to Bridge. It is one the great mysteries how they can get back to their loft.”
How pigeons are able to navigate remains a source of interest to animal behaviour experts. One theory is that the birds have a magnetic compass which directs them and that they can make use of the position of the sun.
An Oxford University study in 2004 found that pigeons who flew the same routes switched to relying on physical features such as roads to get home and even made right or left turns at junctions.
In August, the Plough and Harrow birds will be taken 100 miles away to Portsmouth and released.
The pair are expected to arrive back in Bridge in less than two hours later.
Their home is a pigeon loft at Ray Kennett’s house in Brewery Lane. The 66-year-old, who has been racing pigeons since 1964, said: “I caught the bug when I first did it and have been racing them ever since.
“You watch the birds develop from little yellow balls of fluff and then start preparing them for racing. They’ll always fly back here to their loft. They are quite amazing and can live up to 20 years.”
Nick and Kirsty say they are delighted by the addition of the pigeon club and have even had special pink shirts made for members.
“We just thought it would be a nice thing to do for the pub and the village,” Nick, 46, said.
Kirsty, 42, added: “We’ve had a brilliant first year and this just tops it off.”