Jim Emerton was just three years old when he became the proud owner of his first pigeons.

“My father kept them and I used to watch him at his loft,” he says. “He knew I was interested and bought a few for me.”

As he grew, the young lad’s affection for his birds did not wane. As a schoolboy, he wrote an essay about a pigeon flying from France to his north of England home.

The former Bradford College student, who now lives in York, went on to breed and race pigeons and became a world authority on the sport. Retired, he still advises breeders across the world and has now written a fascinating book on the subject.

Jim’s dad was not a pigeon racer - he kept fancy birds: tumblers - selected for their ability to tumble or roll over in flight - feathery footed Priests, and Jacobins, with feathered hoods over their heads. Jim learned a lot from him.

He began pigeon racing in 1977, working his way up from being a club flier in local working men’s clubs to international status, with birds flying for England.

“When I was a student in Bradford I used to release birds form the back of my van in Great Horton Road,” he recalls.

His success over the years in breeding and racing champions led to him becoming one of the most respected figures in the sport.

Jim’s bird ‘Barcelona Dream’ still holds the British International Championship long distance record of 879 miles, set in 1995 at the prestigious Barcelona International.

‘There have been many lovely moments,’ he writes, ‘Before the climax to my career when Dax My Girl arrived to be the furthest flying bird in the International result at 687 miles in 2004. It was one sunny July day when Dorothy, Jean and I sat with heady anticipation in the cottage garden.’

Jim’s mum Dorothy was very much hands-on, taking an active role in her son’s passion until she was 91. “Under my guidance, she carried out most of the tasks in the loft,” he says.

Named after her, Dorothy’s Courage flew home first in a race with a starting line up of 6,066 birds.. “Her genes have been passed down to marathon birds today,” says Jim.

In pigeon-racing terminology, ‘marathon’ means a distance in excess of 700 miles and can go beyond 1000 miles.

He pays tribute to Jean, his wife, who has supported him and his pastime since they first met in 1978 at a social club. ‘I sent her to sleep with incessant chatter about pigeons and myself and thus it has been for 37 years,’ he laughs.

“Jean and my mum have been deeply significant in my pigeon racing - I could not have achieved what I did without them.”

He retired from pigeon breeding and racing in 2006, although not entirely. He has remained a key figure in that world, taking up-and-coming breeders under his wing and passing on his expertise not only in the UK but across the globe.

Jim still has two racing partners in Ireland and is ‘sleeping partner’ to a breeder in Somerset, with whom he owns a number of birds, two of them grandchildren of Barcelona Dream.

Success came recently in a Barcelona International race with Musgrove President, bred in Somerset, and which he describes as “a marvellous endurance bird.”

After years writing for specialist magazines and journals and making regular contributions to the top website for pigeon racing, Elimar, he is now sharing his knowledge, experiences and thoughts in a book entitled, simply, ‘Pigeon Racing.’

Offering ‘personal insights’, it delves below the surface of the sport, looking at areas from getting started to choosing the right birds and the romance of racing. His advice for the novice is to read extensively on the subject, befriend top pigeoners and seek their advice.

For breeding, genetics has more influence than good looks or handling qualities, although keeping the bird in good health is crucial.

Both the experienced racer and the interested bystander will take something away from this book, which leaves no pebble unturned in its exploration of this fascinating sport where big money can change hands - top racers can sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds. The sport is becoming increasingly popular in parts of Asia, including China, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iran.

In the same way that a well-maintained house is crucial to our wellbeing, the birds need a comfortable loft. ‘It should be nice and cosy with deep, deep litter and lots of nooks and crannies for shelter, security and nesting,’ he writes.

Jim describes the ups and downs of the sport, its triumphs and the jealousies that run deep among breeders and racers.

There are many things that can befall a bird making its way home. Sparrowhawks, ‘the deadly ambush predator’ of racing pigeons account for some casualties, as do severe weather conditions.

Jim’s favourite bird was Diabolos - the Greek root of the word devil. “He was a great race bird and a wonderful breeder.”

‘Each bird is an individual with peculiar psychological traits’, he writes, ‘I like birds that are outstanding characters and quiet hens and cocks that doze and sleep in the transporters; the really fast sprinters look as though they are on fire.’

Breeders, too, come in all shapes and sizes. ‘We are a motley crew of mad monks, illuminated by a shared dream…It is an extension of the old, traditional values, of the old sage, pipe in mouth, corn tin in hand, sunning himself in his deckchair in his rose garden. That is how the iconic birds in folklore and history were raced,’ he writes.

On the birds’ amazing ability to find their way home he adds: ‘the how and why of this process remains elusive to science and the fancy at large. Who can tell what a pigeon experiences within its being or the exact method or impetus that drives a pigeon to home over great distances up to and over 1000 miles against variable weather conditions. It remains the beautiful mystery!’

*Pigeon Racing by Jim Emerton, is published by Mereo, priced £9.99. It is available from Amazon.