https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/places-to-live/history-of-rspb-minsmere-7017822
This is a brief article published in 2018 about Minsmere in a countryside magazine in 2018 and does include the great Bert Axcell one of the great pioneers during the 1960’s and 1970’s in paticular as Bert Axell was the first full time warden at Minsmere and it was Bert Axell who’s idea about creating the scrape at Minsmere in the early 1960’s he actually received the MBE for his work in conservation. I can remember the days when Minsmere was just open 4 days a week and you had to apply months ahead for a permit and the deadline for applying for a permit wa siix months ahead and you weren’t guaranteed a permit even applying that far ahead as I found when applying well in advance for a permit at a reserve in Wales much more than 6 months ahead as all the permits had been taken up and so I had to try for another day of which I had success at Ynys-Hir in Wales.
https://youtu.be/B8genX-Fu4M
This is a talk by a talk by an internee who was working at Minsmere in 2020 called Tom Williams and this hour long talk is all about Minsmere which was released on YouTube on the 12th December and is just over 1 hour long.
Again another thing i can remember about visiting Minsmere in the 1970’s. When you arrived after parking your car. Everyone had to queue up in what looked like a big sized type of hut, of which when you reached that hut and sitting of whom i suppose was the head warden and then you had your permit stamped. Also when applying for a permit to visit Minsmere, you had the choice to apply for either a full day permit or a half day permit. The cost of a half day permit cost less of course for both RSPB members and non-members. When i had my permit stamped on my full day permit, the warden wrote with his pen all routes. Which suggested if you only had a half day permit you where only allowed to go on a certain route, of which i don’t know what that was. Also when i went into some of the hides at Minsmere there where volunteer wardens, who asked me straight away can i see your permit please of which they checked that my permit had the correct date, day and of course the month along with the year to make sure i was entitled to visit Minsmere on that day and date. Also there where no toilets at any RSPB reserves either as well as no visitor centres at any RSBP reserves with shop or cafe. As i mentioned in another post that Leighton Moss was the first RSPB reserve to have a shop and cafe along with toilets in the early 1980’s. I keep forgetting all of this as it was many decades ago.
Sadly no! It was long before mobile phone’s let alone iPhone’s appeared and i don't think computers where available to buy at that time although computers where used long before been available to the public such as on space missions, but certainly not available to the public to buy at that time and i didn't have a camera at that time. No doubt the RSPB will have records going that far back. But often the book by Herbert Axell as i mentioned is available to buy second hand on Amazon and Ebay. I know that the book i have with Bert Axell and Eric Hoskings signatures in that book was only available if you bought that book direct from the RSPB. If you bought that book at the many book shops during that era that book didn't have those signatures.. I didn't even know that the book i ordered direct from the RSPB had Bert Axell’s and Eric Hoskins signatures until it arrived by post which was a nice surprise., Also at that time Minsmere had a small Heronry. The unusual thing about that at Minsmere was that the Heron’s nested in the Reedbeds which is not common, but it's not unheard of and Bert Axell does mention that in that book and indeed when i visited Minsmere in the 1970’s, Minsmere did indeed have a small Heronry at that time with the Heron nesting in the reedbeds. But not now sadly. No doubt the records of that Heronry at Minsmere will be kept somewhere within the RSPB,.
The above does indeed mention about the small Heronry from 1971 at Minsmere of which i saw during the 1970’s on my visit to Minsmere. It was unusual that the Heron’s did indeed nest in Minsmere’s reedbeds. Sadly not anymore.