THE QUEEN’S WINGS
DVD REVIEW
by GARETH WATKINS
I recently watched the latest DVD in the outstanding collection of works by American film director/producer Jim Jenner, which featured the history of our Royal Family’s association with the sport of pigeon racing and the preparations for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee race which took place in June 2012.
Jim Jenner has a twenty year, 13 film body of work and his instructional films about the fancy and work as an "Ambassador" for the sport through his telling of our story in documentary films has gone a long way to raising our profile with the general public. The Queen’s Wings is the latest in a long line of top class productions.
It goes without saying that the quality of the production, as would be expected, was outstanding in every way. The filming and editing were of the very highest standard with shots of the returning pigeons entering the various lofts from a “bird’s eye” viewpoint.
The first part of the film concentrates on the history of the involvement of the Royal Family in the sport of pigeon racing. This has a highly informative section on the keen interest shown by Edward VII and his son George V the Queen’s grandfather. Indeed George V set up a new loft on the Sandringham Estate so that he could compete in pigeon races against his father Edward VII. The film goes on to highlight the various loft managers that have been employed at the Royal Lofts up to the present time.
Jim and Royal Lofts manager Peter Farrow
In the second part of the film Jim and his team concentrate on the preparations for the 2012 Golden Jubilee Race organised by the MNFC to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Numerous top class fanciers’ lofts were visited along the length and breadth of the area that is encompassed by the Midlands National Flying Club and Jim gives us an insight into the various loft designs of these National winning fanciers and their race preparations for their selected candidates.
One encouraging fact to arise from the DVD is the involvement of the younger generation within the sport.
A point of general interest to the public at large is Jim’s explanation of how the winner of the race can be calculated from thousands of pigeons liberated at a single point and then expected to race home to hundreds of different locations over a wide area.
The video also explains the various aspects of race preparation and transportation with the end result - the liberation of thousands of entrants at Fougeres in Northern France to race home to their lofts dispersed throughout the MNFC radius.
Jim Jenner with Jubilee race winner Ron Fullbrook and Mason
This section demonstrates the varying weather conditions the pigeons have to contend with along the route. It also gives the viewer an excellent insight into the tensions that arise as the ETA for arrivals approaches which is heightened to an even greater extent by the use of modern computer technology.
This DVD encapsulates all that is good about the sport of pigeon racing which we as pigeon fanciers are already aware of and it should go a long way to making the general public appreciate why pigeon fanciers are so fanatical about our sport. In this respect, perhaps the Confederation of British Racing Pigeon Unions could use it as part of the publicity campaign to change legislation into the protection of raptors.
Jim Jenner and boys at Kingsmead who featured in the DVD
The historical involvement of the Royal Family and the extensive use of racing pigeons during the War effort should also prove extremely interesting to the general public and I feel strongly that this DVD should get as wide a viewing as possible, to the extent that it should be shown on the National television networks, where I feel sure it would be of great interest and enjoyed by many thousands of people.
Congratulations Jim Jenner and his team on another resounding success and outstanding production.
You can order a copy of the DVD via the Secrets of Champions logo on the left-hand side of this page.
March 2013
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