SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
Conservation groups and Sanctuary,
the husband and wife who started it all
their mammoth task with no financial
support and limited resources.
Norman had been an amateur
naturalist throughout his military
life; with a keen interest in birds he
ran the Army Bird Watching Society
for 20 years. Although he was well
suited for the role of Conservation
Offcer and spoke ‘the language’
regarding birds and certain other
wildlife, he spent a great deal of time
researching areas where he was less
knowledgeable, such as grassland
ecology, entomology and even slugs
as Jean recalled.
Longmoor Training Area © Jean Clayden
Like a lot of things, the importance of
conservation in the MOD started from
small acorns. After the Nugent report
was published in 1973, it became
necessary for the MOD to formally
recognise its obligations to the
environment and this mantle fell to Lt
Col Christopher Norman Clayden, the
MOD’s first Conservation Offcer.
Earlier this year the Sanctuary Team
were privileged enough to interview
Jean Clayden, the wife of Lt Colonel
Norman Clayden. Jean kindly invited
the team to her home to share in her
memories of that time, what it was
like supporting her husband in his
new role and how she contributed to
Sanctuary Magazine.
day he came to her and said with
excitement, “I’ve got it!” He retired
from his post at the Headquar ters
United Kingdom Land Forces in
Wilton on Friday 30th June 1973 and
star ted his job as Conser vation Offcer
the following Monday.
From his small offce in the Tolworth
Tower in Surbiton, Norman and his
one assistant, a chief clerk, set about
This was a quick learning curve, not
only in the areas of British flora and
fauna and its importance but the
personalities of individual characters
that made up the UK’s Conservation
lobby, naturalists, species specialists
and archaeologists (both amateur and
professional). These new recruits were
certainly a breed he was unfamiliar
with, wearing more relaxed uniforms
of sandals and shorts, sporting long
hair and beards (men only) and less
receptive to taking orders; Norman had
to find another way to win them over.
Af ter many years of active dut y in
the Army, working at home and
abroad, Norman and Jean thought
it was the right time to settle down
as they wanted to give their son a
more stable upbringing. That is when
the job of MOD Conservation Offcer
came up and Norman decided to
apply. Jean explained that Norman
did not think he would get the job
and forgot all about it, and then one
A beautifully illustrated swallowtail butterfly © Jean Clayden
16
Sanctuary 44 • 2015