When we moved to the Blackie Boy in the 80s there was a change just lurking around the corner. A young chap Called Anto Baird bumped into us on the top of Biddleston with a sack on his back! He seemed like a nice chap and told us all about this new fangled parapente as it was known. We listened and beat our chests thinking this will never take off (Metaphorically speaking) in a million years. What we didn't know at the time that this man was the "Infiltrator" The man who was to start the demise of hang gliding in the NHPC...Surely not...Yes it was true. He used to turn up at the Blackie Boy and sit in the corner saying very little while we all beat our chests talking about daring do on our stiffies. What we failed to notice each meeting there were more and more of these non chest beating airbourne vermin attending the meetings but worse than that they found themselves a school and an instructor in the shape of Malcolm Tully. Malcom started to teach and more of them arrived at each meeting.....But Malcom soon learned that the Cheviots weren't the best place in the world and moved to the Lakes. There were schools starting to pop up all over the place, Eagle Quest and Jocky Sanderson was one of the first (I think) On my second ever league meet in Wales Michel Carnet and Andy Napolitan ?? Took off Rhiw Gam then swung upside down and flew their wings....Nah this will never catch on they're so slow.
In the mid 90s I left Hang Gliding and had a sabbatical flying aeroplanes for about five years. When I came back there was only a handful of chest beating pilots that I remembered and there was loads of these new type of pilot NOW called paraglider pilots. Anto the infiltrator had done his home work well and the fruit was there to see. I wasn't sure about this new lot they would talk about collapses, cascades, cravats, a lines b lines etc it was all foreign speak to me. They would and still do talk in meters...Eh? Not feet alti and feet climb they must be gay....even the women what was going on.
Slowly the meetings were being taken over the committee members were all paraglider pilots Anto's plan was complete....Domination of the NHPC soon to be the NPGC.
They worked their magic on Maltby and Miskin and I tried hard to resist but they got me too. I was invited to a social gathering at the head paraglider mans house in Stocksfield they gave me potions to drink...several actually and the next thing I knew I had sold all my hang gliding equipment and that was the spell complete the head wizard had cast the spell and I was one of them...................
and.......................................
It's great................................
Thanks Anto
P.S. I only wanted to say the PG club comp might be on again this weekend and got carried away
and as long as I don't turn my back on hanggliding and continue to teach it ! there will alway be hanggliding in them thar hills 
