2007 Magazine Version 05.indd - Butterfly Conservation Warwickshire

Keith also helped to take some of the burden off Mike by taking over as branch
recorder. Besides Mike, Keith and myself, our first committee consisted of Richard
Lamb (vice branch organiser and joint education officer), Rosemary Plumbley
(meetings secretary and joint education officer), David Brown (moth conservation
officer), and committee members: Neil Thompson, Dave Cole, Phil Parr and Jon
Holmes. Of these, Mike, Keith, Richard, David and Phil are still members. During his
stint on the committee Jon, who works for Warwick District Council, was instrumental
in setting up a number of local nature reserves in the District, helping to conserve
butterflies and moths in the more urban environments. He also instigated the butterfly
garden in Jephson Gardens in Leamington. One of our first conservation projects
involved the Brimstone, and Rosemary took a major part in our donation of buckthorn
bushes to schools.
The new branch needed an identity which was instantly recognised. The committee
decided on our White-letter Hairstreak logo because, to quote from our first newsletter,
“It is a butterfly synonymous with ‘leafy Warwickshire’ and the ancient Forest of Arden.
It is found throughout the county…. The determination of this shy little creature to
overcome its decimation caused by Dutch elm disease is an inspiration to us all, and
last, but by no means least, there is a white W on its wings. What could be more
appropriate to Warwickshire?” Dutch elm disease is still with us, but so, thankfully, are
our White-letter Hairstreaks.
During the early years a feature of the branch was running butterfly trips and holidays
outside the county. Some may remember the Heath Fritillary trip to Devon and our
holidays in The Burren in Ireland and in Jersey. Despite some setbacks, such as almost
continuous rain in Ireland and a minibus that seemed fated to breakdown, we had
fabulous times and found many species. It was a shame that support fell sharply away
and we had to cancel both a day trip and a weekend away, which led to the decision
to abandon such events in future. It is still a puzzle as to why members stopped
supporting these events.
By 1999 our membership had increased to 111, today it is 170. At the AGM in
2000 Rosemary resigned from the committee and Heather Warmington took over
as meetings secretary, a job she still carries out admirably today. Due to his work
commitments Mike had to stand down
as chairman/branch organiser and I took
over. We decided to drop the branch
organiser title as all the committee helped
in the organisation of the branch. Chris
Johnson, a new committee member,
took over as treasurer and, later, coordinator
for transect recording, as
well as organising our spring/summer
programme of butterfly walks.
4
Butterfly Conservation Warwickshire Branch Magazine 2007
The tremendous recording effort for the
national Millennium Atlas had resulted in
a mass of information about Warwickshire