Harpenden 9th March and Yorkie

[Robert Darwent]

The Award arrived from Mike Barker yesterday, and as Gary says, it's a rather splendid glass engraved jobbie! It is in fact the Geoffrey Dixon-Nuttall Award - not the Pat Leggatt Award. Not sure how the two awards differ, but it's nice to be on the receiving end - It wouldn't surprise me if at least four other members of this forum have won one or the other award for their excellent Bulletin articles, and of course, as recognition of the work that went into the actual restorations themselves.

The Geoffrey Dixon-Nuttall Award is selected and given by the BVWS Committee for what they consider to be the best restoration article to have appeared in The Bulletin in any given year.

The Pat Leggatt Award is again given for the best restoration article to have appeared in The Bulletin in any given year, but selected by the BVWS membership via the voting slip that is included with the Winter issue.

I believe there is a third award too, not having gone to any AGM's I'm not sure, having only glimpsed slight references to it in The Bulletin before. Unfortunately the magazine doesn't print a complete list of winners only the occasional photograph of awards being collected. If you're not in attendance at the AGM you don't seem to get a mention in the magazine - which seems rather odd to me that the society doesn't make the yearly recipients better known to the wider membership. After all, only a fraction are able to attend Harpenden for the AGM.

I was lucky enough to win one of the awards (Geoffrey Dixon-Nuttall Award for 2011) and can vouch for the "buzz" they give when they are unexpectedly given seemingly "out-of-the-blue".

Hope you enjoy yours David as much I do mine - Congratulations again, it is well deserved!

Kind regards