THE thrill of pigeons released from the loft for the first early morning flight; the thrill when striking the clocks the evening before racing.
The sight of your bird breaking away from a northbound racing flight and the excitement when the bird traps cleanly with the realisation that the rubber ring entered the clock in a fast time.
It all adds up to a tremendously underrated sport, the Queen among its followers.
My heart goes out to Philip Galloway when finding all of his beloved pigeons dead (Echo, Aug 9). Years ago, aged 11, exactly the same thing happened to me. To this day the sight of those beautiful pigeons indiscriminately killed still haunts me.
Bernard McCormick, Newton Aycliffe
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