Carlton Marsh

Shattered to hear of the passing of P.B. Wordsworth. As it turns out he must have died almost exactly one year before D.J. Standring. 

For me Phil was Mr. Birds (of Barnsley). He inspired a whole generation to watch and record birds. He was a leading light in setting up the recording system and running BBSG along with others. He liked his cheese and wine parties too.

Phil has played an immense part in my life and Keith Bannister's. He encouraged us to make Carlton Marsh a nature reserve in 1976 and was Chairman of the first committee of 18 members.

He started ringing here in 1975 and then he trained Keith and I to be ringers along with Geoff Carr and others. I will never forget 1977/78 when he used to bring his camper van onto the disused railway bank so that we had a base for processing hundreds of Swallows and Sand Martins as they came into the reedbeds to roost. We joined by Pete Smith, Ed Blunt, Martin Wells and Mike Pysden.

My second child was due in April 1977, so Phil said it might be a good idea to call it Sylvia if its a girl or John Dartford if its a boy. He said this after the Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata) turned up. He was over the moon to have caught it for ringing. In the end we called our daughter, Claire!

Now qualified as C ringer in the late 1970's, I assisted Phil a couple of times at Wath Ings catching Corn Buntings and then he helped me to catch them at New Monckton, which is now known as Rabbit Ings. He continued to visit us at Carlton Marsh and to see how the ringing was going, but we didn't see him a great deal after he started taxi driving and then got married, to a lovely lady I might add. 

We shall be forever grateful to a great man, who  guided us the right way. R.I.P. Phil.

Keith just recalled to me the time when he and Phil went on a winter trip to Chew Valley Lake. While they were there they were told about a Wallcreeper in the Cheddar Gorge. Phil was never a 'tick hunter', as he called it, but he and Keith and young Peter Senior did go and see it. Apparently it spent two winters there. Keith also went on other trips, to Wales and the Solway Firth, with Phil in the Bedford van. 

Not much change on the reserve today. 37 Canada Geese flew west this evening. This is one of the reasons why.

Photograph by Richard Laverack