Roger Miles posted this as a comment to my piece about Newark. I think it’s too good to waste there. So here it is.

Everyone did a great job.

John Reynolds showed what ‘True Grit’ was, turning up and checking us out for safety etc.. and continued instructing even though he was not his usual 110%. Thanks big fella.

Mike Heritage worked all the time teaching and still had a joke for everyone. Now that he doesn’t eat breakfast anymore he turns up even earlier, putting us all to shame.

Jono managed to thrill all the crowd with his one man shows and still found time to help us out with teaching (oh! and beat Mike Heritage in the shootouts LOL). I have known some of the great demonstrators at shows over the years, and I will predict here and now that Jonathan Tomlinson is going to be amongst the best of them.

Alex flew all three flags. Russian British and Polish, what a guy, thanks Alex.you are the ??????? (for you english speaking only that is Russian for Man). Alex did not even get time to buy a coffee, as he was busy teaching.

Mike Marshall did what he does best, make sure it all runs smoothly and was, as usual, the last man standing.

A special welcome to Mark Surtees, he stayed on the field 100% in all weather and taught effortlessly to the newcomers – really put them at ease. What a find Mark is for the BFCC, I hope he joins us full time.

Lastly but not least, I must thank Dr. Vernon Wood for his help on the stand. Vernon was professional, witty and had a very gentle way of persuading potential clients to try us out. More than once or twice the ladies stopped and listened to his charming voice. The only trouble was that he then gave them to MM for lessons, as Jono said earlier. Oh! and he got his 30 yard badge, congratulations you old dog.

What a relief to be casting again. How fantastic is to spend two days doing something you have only been dreaming about for the last four or five months. What a joy it is to work with some truly outstanding guys for two whole days. As you may gather Newark 2010 was another resounding success for the BFCC.

 We are limited to casting in two directions. The direction was ok for right handers but, especially on Saturday, it was a bit of a pain for left handers. Luckily there is plenty of room to cast outside our designated competition area so tuition for left handers wasn’t a problem. Lefty’s casting for their distance badges may have struggled a bit though, sorry about that.

 Nasty cold and biting east wind most of the day on Saturday so the casting comp was virtually across the wind. Although not conducive to huge casts some of the distances were still pretty impressive. Well done Tomo who won both the five and seven events ( said through gritted teeth because I was second in both events!).

 Roger and Dr Vernon Wood provided a steady stream of people to instruct interspersed with the occasional cup of coffee (thank you Roger) to make sure none of the instructors actually suffered acute hypothermia and frost bite.

 This year we had more instructors on the field and it gave us the chance to have the odd break, which was very welcome.

 Now for the difficult bit. All the instructors did a fantastic job but most of us have done this sort of thing for a while now, so we know what to expect. Mark Surtees is a new member and came along for the first time. Mark would be the first to admit he is not a distance freak like most of the rest of us, however he proved to be an outstanding instructor, especially with beginners and improvers. He certainly dug me out of more than one hole. I’m the first to admit I struggle with absolute beginners but he had them casting a nice loop in the allotted time.

 John Reynolds got off his sick bed to be with us and Alex Titov was in shorts and tee shirt because he said it was so warm after Siberia (not really, he was shivering like the rest of us).

 Tomo helped out between other commitments and Mike Marshall only taught pretty women, how much he paid Roger to arrange this I have no idea.

Very well done to all those who achieved their distance badges and a special mention to Chris Walker who tried to wear me out. I expect you to be near the 35yrd mark next year Chris, you don’t want Bigfoot or Richard to beat you.

 Casting again, wonderful

 Mike H

The BFCC successfully completed its second public exhibition and, in spite of the recession, did nearly as well as in 2009. However, it is now clear that the expanded team operates in a very friendly and efficient way, a factor not lost on the angling public. New members Mark Surtees – tuition and Vernon Wood – stand duty, contributed very significantly to the efforts of the existing Members to produce such a good outcome.

It was good to see that our tuition is increasingly popular with the public and our visiting Members, with some from 2009 returning for a ‘refresher’. However, I suspect the Badge attempts are growing in popularity, with people returning to try for a longer distance and, even, some local fun-rivalries being settled!

The weather was generally good, if overcast to start with and very cool throughout. There was a gusty easterly wind which did not help when teaching or when the competition took place.

Competiton Results:

#5F  –  Jonathan Tomlinson 119′ 2″,  Mike Heritage 118′ 5″,  James Evans 101′ 10″,   Andrew Bagshaw 101′ 6″,  Alex Titov 98′ 5″, Mick Bell 97′ 7″, Carl Malpas (jnr) 96′ 7″,  Steven Lindley 89′ 1″,  David Fisher 82′ 5″.

#7F – Jonathan Tomlinson 128′ 5″,  Mike Heritage 125′,  Carl Malpas (jnr) 111′ 9″,  Alex Titov 109’7″,  Mick Bell 108′,  James Evans 106′ 10″,  Andrew Bagshaw 101′, David Fisher 86′ 9″,  Steven Lindley 82′ 4″.

There were some very close results at the top, which added spice to the competition, but special mention must go to Carl Malpas who, as a junior, came third in #7 – in his first casting competition!

Badge Successes:

25 yards – Paul Speed, Christopher Walker (14yrs), Richard Walker (12yrs), Peter Boyle, Simon Kearns, Alan Bath.

30 yards – Vernon  Wood, Chris Tong, David Walker.

35 yards – Terry Mann, Toby Merigan, Karl Humphries.

From a personal point of view it was great to see so many smiling faces following successful tuiton and badge attempts, which is good for the future of the Club. So, please make an entry in your diary for our next scheduled meeting at Reading on Sat. 10th July.

Reporter Mike Marshall