Despite his disabilities, he would always turn up to the Working Parties in his electric scooter as we gathered by the commemorative stones. Until recently he was accompanied by Murphy, his much loved german shepherd, who died back in March. Martin didn't seem to be himself after that, and his health deteriorated.. Nether-the-less he was often, perhaps daily, to be seen in Biss Meadows and was always positive when you spoke to him, especially about the environment, nature, and the potential for Biss Meadows.
In mid life Martin switched careers, first gaining a degree in agroforestry at Bangor university and then went on to spend 35 years working professionally in this area. His degree specialisation was in ectomycorrhizal [fungi that are associated with trees] and how soil ecology was enhanced by these fungi. He had ideas for growing Shiitake mushrooms in Biss Meadows and submitted a paper written by Highland Birchwoods: Growing Shitake Mushrooms in the Highlands.
His other passion was trees, in particular the now rare black poplars and also the idea of a creating a tree nursery. He was instrumental with creating a A Wild Orchard in Queens Park (6MB) in Caterham, Surrey [Tree List], derived from the idea of Common Ground and a peoples' orchard. The orchard created an educational scheme involving youths, and Martin could see the potential to replicate that in Trowbridge.
Martin gladly offered his knowledge and experience to the Committee during its formative years. He was our most prolific contributor to the Friends Discussion Forum [link to his posts] with over 62 posts, mostly as you can guess, on on trees and fungi. But he would also have posts (and his emails) on other environmental subjects with long reference lists of links to other relevant web sites. These posts will remain as a valuable resource for the Friends and remind us of the time he was with us.
