"This is where Kaitlyn comes to meet daddy, and it helps them to bond and grow closer. It's where she's happiest..."
When a pigeon keeper became too ill to look after his lofts at Kersal Vale Allotments, fellow fancier, Adam McHaffie, helped him out by, firstly looking after his birds, and, later, taking over the plot and paying the rent. That was two years ago.
Since then Adam has built a pigeon palace at the site, with immaculate lofts now home to forty racing pigeons and 52 fancy pigeons. It's a haven for the birds, Adam and his daughter, Kaitlyn, who looks forward to helping out and bonding with her dad.
"For the last two years my daughter has loved coming here" says Adam "She weighs the pigeons, knows how much feed to give them, works out how many miles they fly and how fast they go. For Kaitlyn it's an education as well as a hobby. She would be seriously affected if she couldn't come down here, I don't know how I'm going to explain it to her."
Adam and Kaitlyn's idyllic world was smashed earlier this month when Salford Council issued an eviction notice, instructing them to vacate the plot by March 4th. Although Adam has been looking after the lofts and building his own pigeon paradise, officially the lease is still in the name of the previous keeper and so the Council wants him out...even though there's no obvious demand for pigeon lofts in Kersal Vale.
Indeed, the loft next door to Adam's is actually empty, and he has been on the official waiting list for two years. His family, friends and other plot holders believe something more sinister is going on down at the allotments...
"I think he's being victimised and bullied" says Adam's mother-in-law Sheila Dwyer "I think there's something going on with the management and it's totally unfair. The time, money and passion for the pigeons that Adam has put in should be taken into consideration.
"My main concern, however, is the relationship between the father and daughter and how it's going to be affected by this" she adds "This is where Kaitlyn comes to meet daddy, and it helps them to bond and grow closer. It's where she's happiest, being with the pigeons and her dad. They're not just taking it away from Adam, they're taking it away from his child."
Adam knows the serious lasting effect incidents like this can have on children and their future lives. Because he was that child...
"I had pigeons as a kid in growing up in Scotland, and when I was 12 years old we moved to a place called Livingston new town where I wasn't allowed to keep them anymore" he recalls "I built a loft in a nearby forest but while I was at school the council and police took it down. After that I became, what you might call, a delinquent. After all my troubles I started with the pigeons again and it de-stresses me. I don't have a worry in the world when I'm with my pigeons; it's only them I concentrate on. It's very good for my mental health. I'm under medication for my sleep and my doctor supports me."
It is not only Adam and Kaitlyn's welfare that is at stake, it's also the welfare of the prize pigeons which are currently breeding and nesting at the lofts.
"They can't just go in there and take down the huts because the babies will die of stress and others are nesting right now" Adam explains "Besides which, half of them are racing pigeons. If I sell them to you or give them to you and they escape they're going to come straight back here. They're born and bred here, they're homing pigeons.
"I've raced them from Portland, right at the bottom of England, and they came back here" he adds "Either they will be kept prisoner all their lives, which I don't agree with as birds have got feathers and wings and should be flying, or they will come back to Kersal Allotments."
When the Salford Star spoke to a Salford Council official about the eviction he would not comment publicly but said `there are two sides to the story'. Adam himself says that he's been accused of `all sorts' which have all proved unfounded... "All I've done is helped people here" he says "I've repaired pot holes in the paths and other allotment holders support me."
His partner, Beverley, agrees... "I think it's very unfair" she says "Adam is an asset to the place, and it's like there's a vendetta against him to get him off. But this is more about the relationship between Adam and Kaitlyn; they've got closer over the last two years. She comes down and gets very involved, they play for hours and it helps them bond."
Beverley attempted this week to launch an official e-petition on Salford Council's website in support of Adam, but she was informed that it wasn't the `appropriate channel'. So now supporters are preparing paper petitions which will be circulated around the community. Meanwhile, heartless Salford Council is drawing up court papers in readiness for an eviction of Adam, Kaitlyn and the pigeons...
"If they want me to leave, I will leave tomorrow if I had somewhere else to put these pigeons and the lofts because there's a lot of animosity in this place" says Adam "But no-one has offered me anywhere, and I can't find anywhere, and can't get any help."
Adam is being supported by Bill Smid, who ran the Langworthy Men's Action Group which centred on the use of allotments to aid male issues... "Adam is an individual in the community who has not got a voice for himself, so we've got together, expressed our feelings and I'm here to support him" he explains "We can't let the Council just do what it wants..."
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