A NEW episode of a BBC programme focuses on a group of pigeon racers in Rhyl.
Our Lives, a series celebrating “remarkable people doing extraordinary things”, released its Rhyl episode, entitled “Homing Instinct” (series eight, episode 14), on iPlayer on August 16.
The 30-minute episode is narrated by Brian Jones, a councillor in Rhyl, and also a long-standing member of the town’s pigeon racing club.
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Cllr Jones is the treasurer of the club, which meets at a shipping container adjacent to Rhyl Rugby Club.
“Rhyl is home to one of the oldest pigeon racing clubs in Wales,” he said.
“At one time, there were over 50 members, but now, we’re down to a handful.
“To me and the other members, it’s a lifeline - a place to socialise, talk about pigeons, but most of all, a place to make friends.”
During the episode, Cllr Jones and his fellow pigeon racers, club secretary Tommy and chairman Malcolm (“a pigeon man through and through”), seek to recruit new members on Rhyl’s High Street and from Ysgol Pant Pastynog in Denbigh.
Pigeon racing involves registering your loft where you keep your pigeons, before having them transported to the race’s starting point, where they are released so that they can fly back home.
The person whose pigeons fly home with the quickest average speed is the race’s winner.
Starting the new pigeon racing season is a race of about 100 miles from Hereford back to Rhyl, while the episode also shows highlights from a mid-season race from Weymouth.
It culminates in “the pigeon racing equivalent of the Grand National”, where pigeons from across the UK start flying back to their respective homes from Messac, France (about 400 miles from Rhyl).
Cllr Jones added: “Win or lose, we always try and make time for a little social, and what better place than Rhyl’s famous seafront?
“Yes, it might have seen better days, but there’s nowhere I’d rather be.
“We’re still determined to recruit some new racers to fly the flag for Rhyl in years to come. I’m so proud of our little club, and all of our wonderful members.
“No matter what we do, or where we go in life, we always return to Rhyl. Just like our pigeons, we all have that homing instinct.”
The Rhyl-based episode of Our Lives, “Homing Instinct”, is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
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