A culture with a mythical status in the north-east, pigeon crees cluster like brightly painted Wild West shacks from Skinningrove to the Scotswood Road. A cross-channel race is a tense blue-sky sport of watch and wait for dedicated owners and the “toss” of thousands of pigeons is an awesome sight. In 1905, the volume of pigeon traffic on the railways from mining districts was heavy enough to begin running pigeon specials during the racing season.
Yorkshire Film Archive
After retiring from the ring, Siskin established a pigeon loft at his home on the edge of the Fryup moors. He won a number of national competitions with birds named after former world flyweight champions, including Pancho (Villa), Fidel (LaBarba) and Small Montana, which won the 2007 Grand National.
Flyweight/unpub
THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT 
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