Members — The Hawk Board

Specialist Members

Mark Upton

Chairman

Coming from a falconry family, Mark has practiced the art since childhood. He is a long standing member of the British Falconers' Club Council, Hawk Board and the International Association of Falconry, where he is currently Vicepresident covering Europe. Mark is also responsible for the establishment of the British Archives of Falconry.

Helen Nakielny

Specialist Member

PhD researcher, University of Roehampton, investigating the impact of technology on falconry and Postgraduate Diploma in Law: BPP Law School, London History MA, Cambridge University.

Helen keen supporter of country sports and a practicing falconer. As a freelance writer she has had features in BBC Countryfile; The Countryman; The Field; Shooting Times; Countryman's Weekly; NFU Countryside and wrote The Working Whippet.

Martyn Standley

Specialist Member

Martyn is Director of the British Falconers' Club and is in his third term as a Specialist Member of the Hawk Board, and before that was the BFC representative on HB. Over the years he has gained a lot of experience working alongside hard working and committed colleagues in both HB and the BFC that has enabled him to constructively contribute and assist the board in the many challenges that HB has to deal with.

Gary Biddiss

Vice-chair

Gary has been a Falconer for over 50 years and is Chairman and President of the South East Falconry Group, being a founder member when the Group formed in 1981.

A long standing attendee at Hawk Board meetings for over 20 years, Gary has represented the S.E.F.G and has been a keen contributor at Hawk Board meetings and events.

Gary now hopes to assist his Hawk Board colleagues and the Falconry Community still further in their many challenges and endeavours.

Gordon Mellor

Specialist Member

A lifelong falconer and a member and former President of the British Falconers' Club. Gordon has presented on our sport at national and international conferences, to representatives of the UK Government, civil servants, conservation bodies and other field sports organisations. This is Gordon's third term as Chairman of Hawk Board.

Rachelle Upton

Appointed Co-ordinator/Treasurer

Rachelle became Co-ordinator of the Hawk Board in 2014 when Jim Chick was still Chairman. She has served under the Dr Gordon Mellor and now her husband Mark Upton.

She comes from a country and farming background and later worked in IT and compliance merchant banking, which gives her a good grounding for her role in Hawk Board.

Rachelle is not a falconer, but has been involved in falconry for many years, and often joins her husband on hawking trips and has visited many parts of the world meeting falconers.