Lives In A Landscape

Burdiehouse is a council scheme on the outermost tip of Edinburgh and it's here, hidden away from the world outside, that Alan encounters the pigeon, or doo men, locked in a constant battle to capture each other's birds. These men are neighbours but when it comes to pigeons the battle lines are drawn. This is an old game: 'doo flying' has been practised in Scotland since Victorian times. Hundreds of doo men fly 'horseman thief' pigeons from lofts, bedrooms and sheds. The aim being to lure and capture the pigeons of their rivals.The doomen's pigeons mean a lot to them - they are groomed, their feathers dyed and combed to make them look their best. Some families have kept doos for generations. It's a passion passed on from father to son. In Burdiehouse Alan talks to Paul who comes from a long line of doo men. Paul gave up the birds and moved away from the scheme when he got married, but since separating from his wife has moved in with his mother Anne and built a doo hut in the garden. Central to his new life