Ted Ellis
- his great passion was Wheatfen Broad at Surlingham |
A
look at the life of the Norfolk naturalist
Recently
chosen by viewers as all-time best regional TV personality at
the Royal Television Society Awards, Ted Ellis became known
as "the people's naturalist".
Ted Ellis
was fascinated from early childhood by what he described as
the "rich adventures" of discovering the natural world.
From 1928
to 1956, he was Keeper of Natural History at the Castle Museum
in Norwich.
Ted wrote
a daily column for the Eastern Daily Press, and regularly contributed
to the Guardian. He was the author of the standard work on the
natural history of Broadland, "The Broads".
From the
1960s he found a new audience, becoming a popular radio and
television broadcaster. He was awarded an honorary doctorate
in Science by the University of East Anglia in 1970, and his
scientific work includes the discovery of many new British micro-fungi
- which became his particular interest.
Wheatfen
Broad
But the
great passion of his life was Wheatfen Broad at Surlingham,
where he lived in a remote cottage for 40 years. It contains
100 acres of reed beds, tidal channels with a unique diversity
of flora and fauna, four miles of pathways and the small broads
of Wheatfen and Deepwaters. It is a place of peace.
Long before
environmental issues were popular, Ted vividly described the
world of Norfolk's fens and waterways, explaining the complex
ways in which one life form depends on another, and emphasising
the need to protect the area's richness.
Since his
death in 1986, Wheatfen Broad has been turned into a permanent
nature reserve, through the Ted Ellis Trust. The fen is closed
at the moment as a precaution against foot-and-mouth disease.
His widow,
Phyllis, continues his work of preserving this special landscape
for future generations.
See also:
B:
Bring me sunshine
C:
Conservation
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