The Dark Loft
(Internet Published) Feb 2001
Sheffield, England was the no.1 spot for Tipplers right from the early days
in the 1800's, when the original stock arrived from Asia. Great interest was
taken in these high flying pigeons, by men who were (be present day
standards) pathetically poor.
The slum areas of Sheffield usually had about 6 small houses side by side or
even back to back which shared a communal back yard. This back yard was a
play area for the kids and the women used to have clotheslines strung across
to dry washing. It was usual for one or two of the tenants to claim corners
of such yards and build a chicken coop or pigeon loft. Obviously the
activity and the noise in such back yards from kids, dogs, cats and people
made it essential for some kind of screening, otherwise the pigeons
especially would have been disturbed almost all of the time. Nothing subdues
pigeons more effective than a dark loft so this is basically why the dark
loft became standard procedure.
Demolition of these slum areas began in the 1930's and the people were
re-housed where they had individual small back gardens. Then in World War
Two, the terrible air raids destroyed a lot of slum property. After the war
many new houses were built and the remaining slum areas disappeared.
However, in many cases the re-located tenants were not allowed to keep
pigeons and this is why the Tippler sport declined.
However, it was essential to keep Tipplers quiet and free from disturbance
so the darkness loft idea prevailed, especially for the contest intended
kits. Furthermore, the dark loft or flying boxes restricted or slowed down
the moult, which was an advantage. Almost any novice knows that Tipplers
that are advanced in the moult, are likely to be sore or be lacking in the
essential peak condition for marathon times.
Of course these large wire mesh windows are a great attraction for cats and
thieves. These days both man and wife are usually away at work all day. Kids
soon get into lofts, take away a few pigeons and leave access for a few cats
to finish off the rest. This means that lofts must always be very strongly
built, rat proof and it certainly doesn't do to have pigeons visible from
the outside of the loft. To have pigeons visible from the street is an open
invitation and a guarantee for theft and vandalism.
Such security often means that the loft is rather dark so we must not
overcrowd and neglect ventilation, for if we do the germs and viruses will
kill more pigeons than cats, kids or vandals.