Among my collection of aviation papers and souvenirs, a favourite item is the Art souvenir and programme of the 1909 Blackpool Meeting. There, as a young schoolboy, I saw for the first time an aeroplane flying in a strong, almost gale force, wind. Bleriot's successful Channel crossing and the great Aviation Week held at Rheims had stimulated organisation of the first aviation meetings to be held in England, at Blackpool and Doncaster. It was a great treat, and an exciting experience to be taken to this meeting by my father, to see the new heavier-than-air flying machines. When we arrived at the flying ground, it had turned out a wet morning, with a strong wind.