Coo,,, what's that mister.

I start with another of Westerner's excellent pictures of rural life at the pastures!!!

In a quiet corner of Salmon Pastures sits my small tribute to that happy band of South Yorkshiremen who get their leisure time kicks out of pigeon racing,,
Now I have never been a member of the racing fraternity but I do remember them visiting the local hostelry of choice on the build up to a race with their massive "O Gauge" clocks and it becomes very clear quite quickly how serious a business it is too,,, and rightly so.

I also remember the pigeon racers had built their own Coo Sim Town on a hill near the Bertie Bassett factory,, if there was one loft there must have been about 20,,, no 2 the same and I don't think anybody had actually bought any of the materials to build their loft,,, they probably occasioned upon them on the way back from the meeting at the local,,, or it fell off the back of a passing lorry,,, distinctive does not do these creative constructions justice,,, in their own way they were works of art.

Sheds are very personal things,,, I probably spend more time in mine than I do the lounge,,,, I'm not allowed to solder on the dining room table as I might have an accident,,, or glue,,, or paint,,, or cut out bits of plastic.

Anyway you are probably wondering what all this has got to do with the price of rice in downtown Hyderbad,,, well yesterday was the annual anniversary of another year closer to full time modelling and I was presented with a lovely model of an LNER pigeon van,,, to sit in the sidings at Memorial yard right beneath the pigeon loft.

This wonderful act of benevolence was from my old Southern railway mate David Orton & we have been modelling together for quite a long time,,, since we both had hair and were defending the empire against the onslaught of the Russian Hordes,,, not to mention the regular & obligatory Force 9 hangover's the day after
Thank you mate,,,and your timing is perfect,,, there is currently a 19 page expose on the LNER website forums thingy that is disecting in very close detail all manner of pointless trivia related to pigeon vans,,, and I hope for my sake the roof stays attached to the body or we are going to have people measuring the distance between the pigeon ladies and gents toilets in relation to the vestibule window on the left hand side facing north and if they carry on they will be outbidding War & Peace and get a life will yer!!!

Just as a small comparison you have a picture at the top how lofts are possibly done in Yorkshire and I finish with a Californian equivalent,,,, ha ha,,,, more money than sense,,, could only happen in the US of A.

It looks nothing like a shed,,,, I bet it's got carpets and if your not allowed to get legless with your mates in something like that!!! What is the point.