Mr Neil Robinson (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Mr Neil Robinson

9:33am Friday 17th October 2008

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NEIL Robinson, of Natland, who died on October 7, was born in 1935 in Gosforth, Northumberland.

He lived in Newcastle but from an early age, spent as much time as possible in the countryside, observing the natural world and developing a special interest in solitary bees. In his holidays, he made adventurous cycling tours around still war-torn France and Scandinavia.

He attended Newcastle Royal Grammar School and then read natural sciences at Kings College, Cambridge. In 1956 he took part with other Cambridge students in an expedition to study mountain botany in Macedonia but were diverted by the political situation to Kosovo, where they managed to enter an area normally closed to foreigners.

After studying at the Institute of Education, in London, Neil taught biology at Lancaster Royal Grammar School for eight years and then made a career change, joining the Nature Conservancy Council as warden naturalist at Ainsdale National Nature Reserve, near Southport. Later he moved to the regional office, becoming assistant regional officer with responsibility for Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester and was deeply involved in the Government purchase of the Ribble Estuary and the fight to save Gaitbarrows, near Silverdale. The success of the National Nature Reserves in North West England owes a lot to Neil’s work. His love of sharing knowledge and enthusing others about wildlife extended to the young people in Kendal Wildlife Watch Group, to all his friends, and to complete strangers who might come across him chasing an elusive bee or examining an ants’ nest.

After retirement, Neil returned to his studies of insects, making significant contributions to the scientific knowledge of bees, wasps and ants in the North West of England and writing articles and papers about them.

In recent years, Neil held the positions of secretary of Kendal Natural History Society, honorary warden of Enid Maples Nature Reserve, editor of the annual publication Birds and Wildlife in Cumbria, and co-ordinator for Neighbourhood Watch in Natland. He wrote monthly wildlife notes for the Natland website and had recently completed reordering the Tullie House museum collection of specimens of bees and wasps.

In 1976, Neil married Judith Atkinson, of Kendal and the couple had three daughters - Astri, Elva and Iona.

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