A PIONEERING Bromsgrove naturalist has been honoured during a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.
Fred Fincher MBE, who lived in Dodford for almost 60 years, was one of the trust’s founding fathers in 1968.
The committees of the trust’s Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest volunteer supporter groups organised a plaque at Mr Fincher’s former home, Randan Wood.
He donated the woodland to the trust in 1968 and it became the first of almost 100 parcels of land the trust now manages.
Harry Green, who has been involved as a WWT volunteer and trustee since its formation, said: “Fred was quite an extraordinary man.
“He kept journals of his natural history observations almost until he died and what he didn’t know about Worcestershire’s natural world wasn’t worth knowing.”
Fred was initially interested in birds but this soon expanded and had a working knowledge of plants, fungi and dragonflies, writing the county’s first account on crickets and grasshoppers. He also wrote a local newspaper column entitled ‘In Field, Wood and Hedgerow’ for more than 30 years.
Fred, who was born in the Black Country on June 23, 1901, moved to Dodford in 1934, building a bungalow at Randan Wood and running a small chicken farm with his mum.
Fred used to cycle everywhere but in his later years there were so many people who wanted to learn from him that he was never short of a lift to discover the county’s more far-flung places.
Fred was credited with discovering Eades Meadow and Fosters Green Farm near Hanbury, noticing a field full of wildflowers as he cycled by. This series of fields where one farmer had resisted the wartime push for ploughing hay meadows and pastures, is now a national nature reserve and a jewel in Worcestershire’s grasslands crown.
“Fred was the greatest all-round naturalist that Worcestershire has ever produced and he has been sorely missed.
“Modern wildlife conservation in the county has been built from the foundation of his knowledge,” added Harry.
He said it was fitting, as the trust celebrated its 50th anniversary, that a plaque was put up to celebrate a wonderful man.
In 1984 Fred was awarded an MBE in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the conservation and study of Worcestershire’s wildlife.
He died at the age of 94 on 30th July 1995, leaving everything including his journals and natural history library to the trust in his will.
Randan Wood, a semi-natural ancient woodland, is part of the larger Chaddesley Woods and can only be visited with a permit issued by the trust.
