THE founders of an annual event to remember air crews who lost their lives in Teesdale have been honoured by Barnard Castle Town Council.
Town officials had planned to present Tony Galley and John Yarker with Civic Champion shields at last year’s 25th Teesdale Aviation Day service. However, the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 alert.
The duo, who came up with the idea while working at Deerbolt Young Offenders’ Institution, finally received their commemorative shields last week. The presentation was held at The Manor House, in Barnard Castle, where Mr Yarker is resident, and led by Cllr John Blissett, in the final event of his stint as town mayor.
Cllr Blissett, who worked alongside Mr Yarker and Mr Galley at Deerbolt, described it as a “personal honour” to hand over the shields.
“I have known and worked with Tony and John since my arrival at Deerbolt at the back end of 1981.
“Both have been unwavering in working with and for the community during that time.”
He added: “Between them, they formulated and put into action a way of creating a memorial and dedicating a day to aviation in the Teesdale area.”
Aviation Day came about after Mr Galley was tasked with arranging a summer event that linked Deerbolt and its staff with the people of Barnard Castle and Teesdale by the then governor Peter Atkinson.
A conversation with Mr Yarker about the numbers of air accidents in Teesdale and the western Pennines, of the Teesdale Gap and the dangerous terrain that had caused more than 100 incidents in the last century or so, resulted in the idea of Aviation Day.
Cllr Blissett added: “The first service took place in 1995 in the grounds of Deerbolt and was dedicated by the late Lord Barnard.
“In 2015, the land on which the memorial originally sat was sold off for a housing development and it was then that the town council agreed to relocate the memorial to the Galgate Memorial Garden.”
Cllr Blissett said Covid-19 had scuppered the best laid plans to present the shields last year.
“Nevertheless, we are all here and grateful to The Manor House for giving us this opportunity to say a big thank you. Aviation Day has become part of the calendar for the town council and I am hopeful it will be continued well into the future.”
Mr Galley said it had been an honour to have helped establish Aviation Day. Both he and Mr Yarker had met many interesting people through Aviation Day, he said.
RAF Leeming, which has offered long standing support to Aviation Day, was represented at the presentation by Squadron Leader Neil Taylor, executive officer of 100 Squadron, and SAC Gareth Llewellyn.
It is uncertain whether the Aviation Day service will take place this year.
It is usually held at the start of the 1940s weekend in late June. However, the 1940s event has been cancelled this year and Cllr Blissett said a decision would be made at a later date on whether Aviation Day would be commemorated.
Civic Champion Shields were established by the town council as a way to recognise the efforts of people who have consistently supported and brought recognition to the town. They are awarded at the discretion of the town mayor, deputy mayor and past mayors and purchased out of the civic fund.
