Margaret, along with her husband John had been volunteers at WTSWW's Parc Slip nature reserve for around 20 years. They helped with educational groups, wildlife surveys and recording and were a familiar sight around the visitor centre and staff were very grateful for all their work. As previously reported in our enewsletter John passed away in 2018. Staff and volunteers at the Trust will miss them both.
Margaret’s family shared some details of her life...
Margaret was born in 1945 in Woodford Essex, the third child to Beatrice and Bert and a bit of a surprise with her siblings being 18 and 20. Growing up as a much younger sibling she was close to her cousins. Margaret moved to Weymouth with her family and fell in love with birdwatching at radipole lake. She joined the Weymouth photographic society as a teenager and loved to photograph birds and landscapes. As a young adult she had a number of jobs including working as an estate agent where her colleague and lifelong friend Brenda introduced her to a cheeky sailor named John. Margaret's big loves were John, their two girls and six grandchildren, nature, crafts and travelling.
Margaret and John met in 1972, it was obviously love at first sight as they were engaged within 6 weeks and married by the end of the same year. John and Margaret spent their whole lives together and anyone who met them could see the love they had for each other, they were married for 46 years and were rarely apart until John passed away in 2018.
During her life she spent much time travelling the UK and Europe initially and then the world, always with a pair of binoculars and a camera for birdwatching. Margaret and John were both avid members of the bird club, wildlife photography group and loved volunteering at park slip which they did for many years. The nature extended into the house, which was filled with all sorts of animals.
Margaret made lifelong friends through her love of crafts, lacemaking, painting, sewing and gardening and had a job teaching crafts in adult education classes and on holiday retreats. Margaret loved nothing more than passing on any skill she learned to others.
Margaret was a keen learner and always wanted to learn more, even towards the end of her life she never left the house without a set of binoculars and a camera for her bird watching and would always chat to people and tell them names of birds, or flowers whilst on her walks.
