It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Charlie Winn. Charlie was the first RSPB warden for Fairburn Ings when it was taken on by the organisation more than 40 years ago, he is one of the locals who made this beautiful reserve and helped turned it into the wildlife haven it is today.
One of our volunteers who knew Charlie and learned a great deal from him has written a tribute to share on these pages:
Village Bay from Cut Lane
Charlie and a close knit band of local birders took the Cut lane bridge at Fairburn to almost mythical status in the 60’s and 70’s Yorkshire birding scene. It was quite simply the place to be.
I was close to the Cut on Thursday morning when my mobile rang, the display said Charlie Winn but it was Linda’s fragile voice coming down the line. She passed on the sad news that Charlie had passed away the previous evening.
As I wandered back down the Cut later that day it was appropriate that no-one was stood on the bridge apart from a Grey Heron perched on the handrail. No-one was there. No-one was there; looking, listening and waiting. When people walked up to us and asked what we were looking at, Charlie always said that we were waiting...and we just waited for a lot of the time and nothing much happened, but for me and many others it was happening, we were learning. We were learning from Charlie, bird id, bird calls and songs and fieldcraft.
So when I was on the bridge all alone, I suddenly realised how much I was going to miss him. Of course, I’m not alone as Fairburn mourns the loss of one of its founding fathers, as three generations have benefited from his knowledge and inspiration.
If you did happen to beat Charlie, and his treasured dog, onto the bridge on a morning he’d greet with “is there ow’t about?”
We’ll all miss you Charlie. Fairburn will never be the same. RIP Charlie.