Nature woman

I spent a delightful afternoon at College Lake, the Buckinghamshire headquarters of the Wildlife Trust, where there was a gathering to re-dedicate the new Susan Cowdy Centre as a memorial to the woman who helped to found the trust and acted as mentor to many current leading naturalists. Members of Susan's family and a number of us who knew and were influenced by Susan saw the refurbished centre and the wonderful childrens' wildlife discovery wonderland it now contains. Susan, who sadly died after a car accident in 1996, would have been thrilled to see the fossils, skulls, seeds, birds nests and other nature artifacts, all of which children can handle and investigate. She was a remarkable woman, who would have been 100 later this year. As the speeches were being made, commenting on her great expertise and influence, and I was gazing over the lakes dotted with ducks, geese and grebes, I recalled an interview she gave in 1993 to a young reporter from the local paper. "Mrs Cowdy, I learnt, has strong views on certain species of birds, not least on the mallard. 'Very nice cold in an orange salad', she told me simply." Susan was a massive figure in wildlife conservation, but she was certainly never soppy and sentimental about the animals she loved to observe and conserve.