The Yorkshire Meetings started with a request from the North West Group of the British Falconers Club for a venue for a field meeting in the early 1970’s.
I was friendly with farming landowners in Yorkshire and asked if it would be possible to hold a field meeting on their ground. The first meeting was attended by a few members of the North West Group flying just falcons. From these early beginnings it developed into what could only be described as a monstrous meeting! At one stage there were more people in attendance than the Woodhall Spa International Meeting. If I can recall, at one of the meetings there were at least 90 people sat down for dinner on the Saturday evening.
Its size really became unmanageable with me living in Scotland it was not fair to ask other people to organise and be responsible for such a volume of people. In those days it was not just confined to longwings we had everything from Sparrowhawks to Golden Eagles!
Over the last few years it has been run primarily for longwings. Peter Wall and myself being the only two from the original meeting. We have now with us some younger falconers whose birds can be flown with the best.
I would like to say a big “thank you” to the landowners who have been more than generous and patient over the years, sadly some of them are no longer with us.
Barry Holiday
Running time approx 30mins
Price: £12.50 sterling including UK post
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