PHILIP B WORDSWORTH (PBW)

Today we learned the sad news of the death of an icon of the Barnsley birding scene. Anyone with an interest in the birds of the Barnsley area during the 1970s and 80s will have come across Phil Wordsworth. He was the 'face' of the local birders and the 'first call' for anyone with an interest in birds. Along with Dave Standring he helped formed Barnsley Bird Study Group, co-wrote the first modern checklist and helped establish the local annual bird reports. However, it was public relations that Phil excelled at; he was the bird groups first chairman and secretary and with him at the helm he was usually the first contact for anyone starting birding in the 1970s. His enthusiastic and infectious nature coupled with his mischievous wit and comments, as well as an eye to detail made him a natural 'leader' and a good friend.

He co-ordinated bird ringing in the Barnsley area and all the areas ringers were trained by Phil. His big love was catching Swifts, not an easy task but great fun as it involves quickly lifting a mist net on poles in front of a flying Swift before the bird has time to change direction! Eye - hand co-ordination are everything and most of the young birders of the time were more than keen to give a hand. What could have been a British birding historical moment happened whilst catching Swifts at Wath Ings (now Old Moor) in the early 1970s - he caught a pale sandy Swift, allegedly just after a great Saharan dust storm, thought it looked 'odd' and let it go - potentially Britain's first ever Pallid Swift!

He was instrumental in the setting up of Wath Ings as a nature reserve and without his enthusiastic input it is unlikely the superb Old Moor reserve would be as it is today.

Another lifelong memory to many will be his distinctive mode of transport - a Bedford motor-caravan. He used to fill it with birders and ferry them around the area, or if you were lucky Spurn or the Solway, or especially lucky the Camargue!

And he wasn't named Wordsworth by accident - his poems about the local birding scene such as  'Hewitt's Lament', 'Mick the Tick' and many others always brought a tear to the eye (in a humorous way) and some even made print in the nationwide birding magazines.

For much of his life Phil lived in Kensington Road, Barnsley but after marrying Barbara he moved to Bell Bank View at Worsbrough where he could make daily visits to a site he loved - Worsbrough Res.
He moved to a nursing home in Sheffield in 2012/13 after being diagnosed with dementia, a condition which deteriorated his life rapidly and he passed away on 13th March 2017 aged 83.
After moving to the home all contact was lost with local birders and Phil's family until a bit of detective work by Dave Pearce led him to Sheffield town hall register office and we learned of the belated sad news.

Many will have their own memories of Phil, but one thing is for sure, we all owe him a lot!!!