Over her lifetime, Beryl Hartley from Narromine has made significant contributions to the gliding industry.

Fittingly she was recently awarded with the highly-prized Nancy-Bird Walton Memorial Trophy from the Australian Women’s Pilot’s Association.

This award is the Association’s most prestigious award and is given in recognition of the most noteworthy contribution to aviation by a woman in Australasia and is sponsored by the family of the late aviation pioneer.

Ms Hartley has been involved in recreational gliding since 1965, has undertaken years of volunteer work and was pivotal in organising the World Gliding Championships at Narromine in 2015 and 2023. She also spends countless volunteer hours at the Narromine Aviation Museum.

 It has been a great year for Ms Hartley who was also named as Narromine Shire's Citizen of the Year in January's Australia Day Awards, but she remains modest about her achievements.

"The reality is that the credit goes to all those volunteers who have jumped up and helped me run the two gliding championships. We had 57 volunteers at the last event, including some people who came over from Europe," Ms Hartley said. "We have had two very successful championships here in Narromine, which is fantastic.

IMAGE: Gliding Australia

Ms Hartley said she had no idea who nominated her for the award

"I just got a phone call from the Australian Women's Pilots Association and they invited me to their yearly gathering at Mildura," she said. "They have a weekend where they do a lot of flying activities, and then they have a presentation dinner."

It wasn’t until Ms Hartley arrived in Mildura that she found out she would be the recipient of the Nancy-Bird Walton Memorial Trophy.

"By Saturday night I knew and the award is a beautiful. It is a silver tray in a big display box with all the all the details engraved on it," she said. "It's special that it's come to Narromine as Nancy Bird-Walton is extremely special to this area.

"There is a whole lot of history about her in the Aviation Museum and she actually turned the first sod, prior to it being built, and she was also here to open it. I will be making sure this award eventually goes into the museum as well."

Beryl Hartley and Barbara Trappett AWPA President Photo: AWPA by Kathy Mexted

Dugald Saunders, Member for Dubbo also acknowledged Ms Hartley's achievement.

"Beryl’s recognition as a deserving recipient of this prestigious award speaks volumes about her significant contributions and expertise in the gliding industry. Her impact and authority within the field are widely acknowledged and celebrated.

"The success of the World Gliding Championships that were held in Narromine last December, was largely due to Beryl’s instrumental role in securing and coordinating the event," Mr Saunders said.

"Congratulations Beryl on your receipt of this award and all you do as a champion of gliding and Narromine!"

Ms Hartley said she was 'training up' some new volunteers to take over some of her volunteer work but she is still heavily involved in the flying world, holding roles as President of the Narromine Gliding Club, treasurer of NSW Gliding Club, and is a board member for the Gliding Federation of Australia.

"I think if you stay busy you don't feel your age," Ms Hartley, who is in her seventies, said. "When people stop keeping their minds busy and stop doing things that's when problems start. I don't feel my age. Sometimes my body says to me, you're an old lady but I'm still as active as I was in my 50's."