A flag-bearer among the unsung heroes

Ian Rotherham pays tribute to a Yorkshire wildlife champion whose record deserves wider currency.

Our county has a small army of often unsung heroes and champions working tirelessly for wildlife and the community.

It is on these people that so much of our knowledge and regional conservation action depend. It is sad when we lose such flag-bearers for Yorkshire's natural history; but then is also the time to acknowledge and celebrate, albeit in a small way, some of the older and not so old generations of such enthusiasts.

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In the summer we did lose one of these unsung heroes of local history and natural history – Bob Warburton. I asked my colleague Professor Melvyn Jones to share some memories. The two of them collaborated on books and articles over many years and Mel writes: "Bob Warbuton, who made an outstanding contribution to studies in local natural history, died on July 8. Sixty-seven years old, Bob was raised in West Yorkshire but lived in Sheffield for over 40 years.

"Starting his working life as a policeman, he soon gave that up in favour of teaching and for most of his career taught at Sharrow Junior School in Sheffield.

"A superb photographer, on his regular trips to the New Forest he would stalk an insect all morning until he got 'the' photograph.

"After much hesitation, in more recent years he converted from taking 35mm slides to digital photography and embraced this with an all-consuming enthusiasm.

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"His insect and plant photography and another passion, his love of steam trains, had an outlet in the illustrated talks he gave to societies across the county with such wonderful titles as 'Spineless' and 'Chuffing About'.

"An enthusiastic teacher and communicator, he also led numerous pond-dipping and other environmental expeditions with children and adults all over the region.

"Bob was also a consummate artist, although he always eschewed this accolade and modestly thought of himself as merely an 'illustrator' not an artist. But what an illustrator! He produced outstanding interpretative drawings in Sheffield for the Mayfield Environmental Studies Centre, Whirlow Hall Farm, Graves Park Rare Breeds Centre and Heeley City Farm."

Bob's collaboration with Professor Jones lasted 25 years. He illustrated the best-selling Sheffield's Woodland Heritage with nearly 40 maps, diagrams and line drawings; Rotherham's Woodland Heritage with more than 60 illustrations, and The Making of the South Yorkshire Landscape with over 40 illustrations.

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In an altogether different style, he illustrated a book for the children's literacy hour for seven to eight year olds called Sheffield Woodland Detectives. This included some wonderful coloured sketches of "Grandad Ogden" escorting his two grandchildren and their friend through Woolley Wood in search of answers to historical questions about Sheffield's woodland past.

He also illustrated more than 20 leaflets written by Mel and Joan Jones, not only with maps, diagrams and line drawings, but also with some delightful watercolours.

These were as varied as, on the one hand, a medieval farmer knocking down acorns for his pigs in a wood during the "pannaging" season, and a male yellowhammer perched on a spray of gorse singing its characteristic "little bit of bread and no… cheese" song.

Recently another friend, David Gash, had contact with Bob when setting up a new friends group for Gillfield Wood in Totley. One of Bob's local stamping grounds, despite his illness Bob was able to attend the start-up meetings and to encourage the group to develop.

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I recall as conservation officer for Sheffield's Sorby Natural History Society back in the early 1980s, Bob recording the rare white-letter hairstreak butterfly here. I recognised then that such local "amateur" natural history records were the stuff that gave substance to the science of nature conservation.

Professor Ian D. Rotherham is a researcher, writer and broadcaster on wildlife and environmental issues.

CW 23/10/10