Last week, I was honoured to be asked to participate in the funeral of a former colleague, Doug Ireland.
I first met Doug about 25 years ago when I joined the RSPB staff, and our paths crossed again when I moved to Minsmere three years later. By then Doug was the RSPB's Health and Safety Advisor. He lived at Minsmere, and one of his interests was the weather. It was in this capacity that I got to know Doug.
Doug maintained Minsmere's weather station, taking daily readings of rainfall, temperature, wind and cloud cover and sending the data to the Met Office. Obviously, Doug wasn't able to take these readings every day, so he asked the visitor team to help out. As I also love the weather, I was only too happy to assist.
We carried on with these readings for several years until maintaining the weather station became more tricky. It was situated above the Sand Martin bank, and was getting closer to the cliff edge each year due to natural erosion and bank steepening. Even now, though, I'm reminded of Doug every time I look at the Stephenson Screen that remains (photo below).
Doug retired from the RSPB in 2005, but he still lived locally and popped into the cafe from time to time, and I remember seeing him only last year. Although I didn't know him well, he had been a helpful mentor in my early RSPB career, so when I heard of his passing I contacted his family with my condolences, and they asked if I'd read out some of the memories from other colleagues at his funeral. You'll be able to read a few of these comments at the end of this article, but first, with thanks to Doug's family, I'd like to celebrate his life in full.
Doug was born in Dorset in 1942 and trained as an engineer. He married Sue in 1965 and they later had five children.
Doug's love of the outdoors - he was a scout leader for many years - led to research into Dorset's Sika Deer, before he decided to apply for a job with the RSPB. His RSPB career began at Hornsea Mere in East Yorkshire (then an RSPB nature reserve) in February 1971 before moving to Lancashire in 1974 and back to his home county of Dorset in 1976.
Just a few weeks after moving back to Dorset, he was horrified to find RSPB Radipole Lake nature reserve was on fire, but thanks to his team's hard work this fabulous reserve in the heart of Weymouth quickly recovered and became a stronghold for Bearded Tits and the newly arrived Cetti's Warbler. The latter was slowly colonising the UK through the 1980s, and Doug's diligent research helped conservationists to gain a much greater understanding of this shy bird's life cycle. In 1989 he was also chosen to meet The Queen at Kensington Palace as part of celebrations for the RSPB centenary.
Cetti's Warbler - the subject of Doug's research. Photo by Les Cater
Inspired by an episode on BBC Radio Four's The Archers, Doug trained as a Health and Safety Advisor, and moved to Minsmere in that role in 1990, where he and the family lived at Scott's Hall Cottage. Doug remained in this role until retirement in 2005, after which he moved to the nearby village of Kelsale.
Apart from wildlife and Scouting, Doug's interests were many and varied, including aircraft, jigsaws, history and music. He carried out research for the War Graves Commission, led wildlife holidays to Crete, and sang in the church choirs in Southwold and Aldeburgh.
Doug sadly died on 14 January and leaves behind his five children, six grandchildren and two great grand-daughters (his wife Sue having sadly died in 2018).
Among the messages that I read out at Doug's funeral, two themes were recurring: Doug was one of the old school wardens who shared his own experiences with others, and many colleagues had crossed him but admitted that he was often right. A couple of more interesting reminiscences are worth quoting in full.
One ex colleagues recalls: "Whilst Doug was hanging out the washing, a bullet was shot into his garden. I vividly remember the health and safety report."
And our Suffolk Manager, Adam Rowlands, recalls: "A rumour circulated a few years back that Doug had passed away. He heard about the rumour and delighted in hiding from view for a period before walking into the Westleton Village Shop [where Sue had worked] and causing quite a stir!"
Rest in Peace Doug, you'll be missed by many.
[With thanks to Doug's family for most of this information, and for the photos of him.]