Welcome to the pigeon site of Adrian Carr, I have decided to spend the long dark nights of winter creating this site to help make the close season pass quicker!

I race my pigeons into Kent flying with the Kent Cosmopolitan Federation, which  certainly has the largest birdage, although each of the Kent federations will argue (as if pigeon fanciers would do anything else), that theirs has the better pigeon fanciers.

I first kept pigeons, tipplers, tumblers and some strays, at the age of  10 whilst living in Ongar in Essex, back then I could see 3 lofts apart from my own whilst standing in my back garden, how times have changed!

At the age of 14 I had decided that I wanted to keep and race birds, but living where I did I was not within the radius of the two local clubs, so my poor father who had no interest at all in the birds, had to get me and the birds all the away over to Bishops Stortford, still do not think he has quite forgiven me!

Any way a few years later I took a healthy interest in birds of a different sort, married and the pigeons had to go. Eventually ended up living in Berlin, supporting the allied troop presence there until in 1989 the Berlin wall was dismantled and my wife, two young boys and myself returned to the UK and got a big garden, (oh and a house as well), in Tonbridge.  Through the boys keen interest in football we made a number of friends, one of which Chris Feast was fascinated by my non-stop talk of how wonderful pigeons were. As he then had his own contract cleaning company and was often doing battle with the results of feral pigeons, I was amazed one night in our local pub (where else) that he suggested that he and I establish a partnership and race pigeons!

January 1998 saw Chris and myself,  join the Cage Green Invitation Flying Club in Tonbridge, here we met some absolutely wonderful people not least of whom was a man who has since become a very close friend, John Marchant.

John suggested straight away that he would breed Chris and I some baby pigeons from his channel winning birds and free of charge to boot, he also introduced me to a man who I regard as a true gentleman and one of the nicest people I have ever met in any walk of life and that was John Tripp of star lofts. John supplied Chris and I with 12 young birds from his Van Den Bosch birds in 1998. We had great fun together racing these birds and in 2000 we broke our duck with a 98 blue pied bred by John Tripp which won 3^rd Combine, 1^st Fed and 1st club. This stopped John Marchants run of 14 consequtive channel victories in the club, he does still mention that from time to time even now which makes it that bit sweeter!

Spurred on by this small success Chris went to Holland and purchased 10 young birds direct from Marcel Sangers. Then as is often the case circumstances beyond my control meant we had to up sticks and move to Leicester due to work requirements. We gifted the stock birds from Sangers to various people and John Marchant quite fancied my favourite Sangers Hen so that’s were it went. It bred many good birds one of which was named “Tim” and won no less than 9 x 1^st’!

In August 2006 it was on the cards that we would be moving back down south and we ended up in Paddock Wood, between Tonbridge, Maidstone and Tonbridge Wells. By 2007 my lofts were up and young birds were acquired from various sources, once again John Marchant and his friend, Tony Haynes at Ponderosa came to the rescue with the supply of young birds, and upon a little research found that I was less than a mile outside the radius of my nearest club, so I re-joined the Cage Green Club.

During the winter of 2008 the local club, Maidstone RPC, extended its radius and I applied and was accepted, and I have to say again what a wonderful bunch of people. If they mind who wins, they never show it, and always congratulate the winner.

The members of Maidstone, like all clubs, have a deep debt of gratitude to the officials of the club who give up no end of their free time for the benefit of the general membership. So if you guys ever get around to reading through all this, Barbara, Alan and Bob many thanks. Bob Croucher  is well known to most fanciers and he has achieved my dream in winning the National, (he will proberbly do it again before me). Alan Cecil is a tireless worker for the pigeon fanciers of the UK being OIC at clock stations, Combine Secretary and countless other official positions, and still finds time to race a mean distance bird.