Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

232THE BOTANISTSDavid Bevan (1940-), David's interest in botany started at the age of eight when his father showed him Wahlenbergia nearHorsted Keynes, where it still grows. He lives in London where he is Conservation Officer for the Borough of Haringey, apast President of the London Natural History Society, on the Council of the London Wildlife Trust, a Branch Secretary forthe Wild Flower Society, runs Railway Fields Nature Reserve and lectures on natural history and conservation. He shares acottage at Twyford, and finds botanizing on Ashdown Forest the perfect antidote to the stresses of urban life,C. Patrick J. Coulcher (1937·). Patrick was educated at Eastbourne College where his interest in botany and generalnatural history developed. He became a fighter pilot, having graduated from the RAF College at Cranwell in 1957 where hewon the United Services Institute award for his thesis 'The Breeding of British Birds'. Botanical interests took secondplace until he retired to Eastbourne in 1992, and was then able to devote most of his time to natural history. He is amember of the BSBI and the SBRS, and gives illustrated talks on various aspects of natural history to raise money forcharity. He has attended many recording meetings for the flora.Patricia Donovan (1928-}. Pat was born and brought up in Sanderstead, Surrey. She went to Wimbledon Art School, andafter a spell working in an architect's drawing office she married and has lived in Buxted for 40 years. Since then she hascombined a talent for drawing with a special interest in plants, and has illustrated a number of books including this flora.She recorded for the Sussex Plant Atlas and was first christened into the Ashdown Forest flora in 1968 when departingfrom a field meeting of the Sussex Flora Committee she leapt over a stream, missed her footing and fell backwards into it.She especially enjoys going to new places, the flora of churchyards and hunting for particular missing species such asLeontodon. She is Field Meetings convenor for East Sussex for the SBRS.Paul A. Harmes (1952-). Paul was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, and spent his early years on the move as hisfather was in the Royal Sussex Regiment. As a child he explored the Downs, gradually becoming interested in wildflowers. He went to Knoll Secondary School in Hove, then joined Seeboard as a cartographic draughtsman, moving 16years later to his current post of Engineering Services Officer with the National Grid Company. Botany became anobsession and in 1992 he succeeded Breda Burt as BSBI Vice-county Recorder for East Sussex. His main contribution hasbeen to answer very patiently numerous queries about records, to store mountains of specimens and the record cards, andto do some recording but not as much as he would have liked as the rest of East Sussex also needs some attention!Alan G. Knapp (1947-). Alan was born and brought up in south-east London, but his father's family came from theTicehurst area in East Sussex. He became interested in natural history when he joined Phillips Research Laboratories in1973, moved to Crawley, and found plants easier to photograph than birds and butterflies. He met Arthur Hoare throughthe Sussex Wildlife Trust and was introduced to the SBRS. His main contribution to the flora has been recording,especially on the west side most easily reached in an evening from Crawley, and helping with the computing and analysisof the data. The most enjoyable part of the project (apart from contributing to the almost impossible task of keeping Timbusy!) has been the unexpected discoveries and visits to new parts of the Forest.Chris Marrable (1953-}. Chris was born in Manchester but was soon moved to rural Cheshire. He studied agriculture inShropshire and then worked for ICI counting red spider mites in East Anglian orchards, mildew infections on barley inWiltshire, and measuring grass heights on RAF Senson in Oxfordshire. He escaped to become a ranger on a lowland heathadjacent to the Dee Estuary on the Wirral, and moved south again to become an Ashdown Forest Ranger in 1983. Hebelieves the flora has two great benefits - the joy of rediscovering lost plants and drawing together all the diverse bits ofknowledge to get them safely recorded forever. In 1996 he married Nicky Muggeridge.Malcolm McFarlane (1935-). Malcolm was born and brought up in Tunbridge Wells. He has had a lifelong interest in wildflowers having had 'Flower Fairy' books as a small child, and enjoyed botanizing on Ashdown Forest. This led to a degreein Botany at Cambridge, then teaching in southern England and Nigeria, finally working for the Education Department ofEast Sussex County Council until retiring in 1989. He lived at Buxted from 1983, and moved to Blackboys in 1994. Hehas been especially involved with recording for the flora and is seldom happier than when listing plants, but also enjoyedthe research into historical records. He is good at falling in bogs on Ashdown Forest, and is also interested in bryophytes.Nicola J. Muggeridge (1968-). Nicky has lived around Ashdown Forest since the age of 13 at Forest Row and morerecently Maresfield. Whilst a schoolgirl, she spent all her spare time out on the Forest on foot or horseback ("revising" asshe called it then). She studied natural sciences at Cambridge specialising in zoology. During the holidays and afterleaving University she worked as a voluntary assistant to the Rangers on the Forest, developing an interest in all aspects ofnatural history and environmental education; she surveyed chalk grassland for English Nature, then mapped the Forest andset up the Forest database. Now a professional ecologist, Nicky still walks the Forest every day, is a member of theAshdown Forest Riding Association and the Conservation Group, as well as being an Information volunteer. Besidesassisting with recording and data input, her knowledge of the Forest has been most helpful. She feels the best thing aboutdoing the flora is the opportunity to learn from real botanists.