A PIONEERING nature lover from Dodford has been remembered at a special ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of Worcestershire's largest conservation charity - which he co-founded.

Fred Fincher MBE, who lived in Bromsgrove for nearly 60 years, was one of Worcestershire Wildlife Trust's founding fathers when the charity was established in 1968.

Town volunteers marked the milestone by organising a memorial plaque at Mr Fincher's former home in Randon Wood, which he donated to the trust when it was established.

Committee member Harry Green, who has volunteered for the trust since its formation, said: "Fred was quite an extraordinary man.

"He kept journals of his natural history observations almost until he died and what he didn’t know about Worcestershire’s natural world wasn’t worth knowing.

"He was initially interested in birds but this soon expanded and he had a working knowledge of plants, fungi and dragonflies.

"He wrote the county’s first account on crickets and grasshoppers.

"Fred used to cycle everywhere but in his later years there were so many people who wanted to learn from him that he was never short of a lift to discover the county’s more far-flung places."

Born in the Black country in 1901, Mr Fincher moved to Dodford in 1934, where he built a bungalow and ran a small chicken farm with his mother.

He wrote the 'In Field, Wood and Hedgerow' column in the Bromsgrove Advertiser, then Messenger, for more than 30 years.

Harry added: "Fred was the greatest all-round naturalist that Worcestershire has ever produced and he has been sorely missed.

"Modern wildlife conservation in the county has been built from the foundation of his knowledge.

“As the Trust celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it is entirely fitting that our local supporter groups in the area have organised a plaque in his honour – to celebrate a wonderful man and 50 years of wildlife conservation in the county starting from this one small woodland.”

In 1984, Mr Fincher was awarded an MBE in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the conservation and study of Worcestershire's wildlife.

He died at the age of 94 on July 30, 1995, leaving his journals and natural history library to the trust in his will.

Randan Wood, a semi-natural ancient woodland, is part of the larger Chaddesley Woods complex, and can only be visited with a trust-issued permit.

For more information about Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, visit worcswildlifetrust.co.uk.