Welcome to the official web-site of the National Modena Club of Great

Britain the principal objective of which is the promotion and

development of the Modena pigeon and the interests of Modena fanciers.

The Club was founded in 1910 as the ‘Modena Club’ and held its first Championship Show soon afterwards the first recorded winner being W.H. Holmes.

Later following the absorption of the Northern and Scottish Modena Clubs the name was changed to the present style reflecting as it does the wider representation.

The most important initial task of the founders of the Club was to

establish a Standard of Excellence for the Modena Pigeon because this

enabled the enthusiastic members to concentrate their breeding

programmes on ideal specimens of the Breed and thus eliminate the

imperfections. The Club was greatly assisted in this regard by having

among its members some of the most outstanding breeders of pigeons at

the time such as W.H. Holmes and W. Watmough both of whom contributed

publications on pigeon keeping which remain keenly sought after to

this day. The result was the production of high quality stock

illustrating what became known as the ‘bird of curves’ which was much

in demand among the fancy pigeon fraternity.

Although the Modena pigeon originated in Italy and was common in the town of Modena from which it took its name and was exported from there

to Germany England France and later to America and beyond it is the so

called ‘English Modena’ conforming to the Standard of Excellence of

this Club which has been adopted by fanciers worldwide.

The National Modena Club became the ‘Premier’ fancy pigeon club in

Great Britain because it’s members have always been prepared to

release good stock to newcomers to the breed and assist them by

offering advice on colour breeding. The development of the Modena

guided by the Club gathered pace so that in time it became the most

popular of all exhibition pigeons and has remained so. This is because

it has the greatest variety of colours and markings which now number

seventy-five officially approved. There are now two separate types of

Modena – the Gazzi, or pied, and the Schietti, or self coloured.

The National Modena Club of Great Britain continues to promote and

enhance the quality of the Breed

By holding annual shows for all classes of Modena both adult and young

and supporting classes for modenas at most of the pigeon shows

throughout the United Kingdom. The Club also maintains contacts with

other Modena clubs worldwide so that the members can be kept abreast

of developments and benefit from shared experience and there are

particularly close links with European breeders of the English Modena.

The Club through the Management Committee and the various office

holders continues to represent the interests of the Modena in the

vigorous application of the rules ensures that the integrity of the

Modena Pigeon is maintained.