The London Marathon is a long-distance running event held in London, United Kingdom, part of the World Marathon Majors. The event was first run on 29 March 1981 and has been held in the spring of every year since. Since 2010, the race has been sponsored by Virgin Money.
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with its sister project Sport Relief.
The original Wembley Stadium was a football stadium in Wembley Park, London, which stood on the same site now occupied by its successor, the new Wembley Stadium. The demolition in 2003 of its famous Twin Towers upset many people worldwide. Debris from the stadium was used to make the Northala Fields in Northolt, London.
The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the rock pigeon, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distances. The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its nest, using magnetoreception. This made it relatively easy to breed from the birds that repeatedly found their way home over long distances. Flights as long as 1,800 km have been recorded by birds in competitive pigeon racing. Their average flying speed over moderate 965 km distances is around 97 km/h and speeds of up to 160 km/h have been observed in top racers for short distances.
Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specially trained racing pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance. The time it takes the animal to cover the specified distance is measured and the bird's rate of travel is calculated and compared with all of the other pigeons in the race to determine which animal returned at the highest speed.
Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen is a British self-styled "homestyle consultant" and television personality best known for his appearances on the BBC programme Changing Rooms and for being a judge on the ITV reality series Popstar to Operastar in 2010.
The Kennel Club ("KC") is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to act as governing body for various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also operates the national register of pedigree dogs in the United Kingdom and acts as a lobby group on issues involving dogs in the UK. Its headquarters are located on Clarges Street in Mayfair, London, with business offices in Aylesbury.
Homing pigeons have long played an important role in war. Due to their homing ability, speed and altitude, they were often used as military messengers. Carrier pigeons of the Racing Homer breed were used to carry messages in World War I and World War II, and 32 such pigeons were presented with the Dickin Medal. They ceased being used as of 1957.
Fancy pigeons are a type of domestic pigeons, which are domesticated varieties of the wild rock dove. They are bred by pigeon fanciers for various traits relating to size, shape, color, and behavior, who often exhibit their birds at pigeon shows, fairs and other livestock exhibits.
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire. Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations, they run each year for sixty-six days, from late August until early November at a time when most other English seaside resorts' seasons are coming to an end. They are 5.2 miles (8 km) long and use over one million bulbs. The display stretches along the Promenade from Starr Gate at the south end of the town to Bispham in the north.
The domestic pigeon is a pigeon subspecies that was derived from the rock dove. The rock pigeon is the world's oldest domesticated bird. Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets mention the domestication of pigeons more than 5,000 years ago, as do Egyptian hieroglyphics. Research suggests that domestication of pigeons occurred as early as 10,000 years ago.
Pigeon keeping or pigeon fancying is the art and science of breeding domestic pigeons. People have practised pigeon keeping for about 10,000 years in almost every part of the world. In that time, humans have substantially altered the morphology and the behaviour of the domesticated descendants of the rock dove to suit their needs for food, aesthetic satisfaction and entertainment.
Animals in sport are a specific form of working animals. Many animals, at least in more commercial sports, are highly trained. Two of the most common animals in sport are horses and dogs.
A release dove, also called white pigeon, is a rock dove bred for size and overall resemblance to a white dove. Pure white doves exist in nature as albinos. Not all release doves are rock doves and most breeders of doves for various uses do not domesticate their birds.
The Up North Combine is an amalgamation of pigeon racing clubs and federations founded in 1905. Headquarters are located in Greatham, Hartlepool, and the radius of serving federations go from Staithes (south) to Berwick (north). The combine is governed by the North of England Homing Union(NEHU). They organise the annual Mighty Up North Combine race from Lille. The race is Britain's largest and has been called "the world's greatest".
The Birmingham Roller is a very popular breed of domesticated pigeon that originated in Birmingham, England, where they were developed via selective breeding, for their ability to do rapid backward somersaults while flying. As the name suggests and as also mentioned by Wendell Levi in his book The Pigeon, this breed was developed in and around the City of Birmingham in England. The Birmingham Roller has a flying type and a show type. Show Rollers are larger than the flying variety, and are bred just for show. A similar breed called a Parlor Roller look much like Birmingham Rollers, but can't fly; rather, they spin backwards, somersaulting on the ground for many yards. Oriental Rollers are another aerial performer and come in many colour varieties. Some fanciers fly their rollers in competition, both locally and nationally. There is even a World Cup competition that includes several other countries. Kits are scored for quality and depth, as well as the number of birds that roll at the same time, referred to as a turn or break. The Birmingham Roller is a very popular breed of performing pigeon, with around 10,000 breeders worldwide.
Countryside Live is the little sister event of the annual farming and rural showcase, the Great Yorkshire Show. Held each October at the Great Yorkshire Showground on the edge of the spa town of Harrogate, England, the two-day event is designed to act as a shop window for the farming industry and to be an enjoyable family day out. The show has been organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society every year since it was first held in 2001.
A Racing Homer is a breed of domestic pigeon that has been selectively bred for more speed and enhanced homing instinct for the sport of pigeon racing. A popular domestic pigeon breed, the Racing Homer is also one of the newest.
A pigeon whistle is a device attached to a pigeon such that it emits a noise whilst flying. They have long been used in Asian countries, particularly China for entertainment, tracking and to deter attack by birds of prey. The practice was once common but is now much less widespread owing to increasing urbanisation and regulation of pigeon keeping. A modern version of the device, based on specimens held at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, has been developed by musician Nathaniel Mann. Mann has performed with the devices attached to racing pigeons at festivals across the United Kingdom.
