A BENCH in memory of Burley-in-Wharfedale gamekeeper, naturalist and broadcaster, Walter Flesher, has recently been installed by Walkers are Welcome volunteers on one of the most well used paths onto Burley Moor from Burley Woodhead.

David Asher, chairman of Burley in Wharfedale Walkers are Welcome said: "The original bench in memory of Walter had become hidden and forgotten over the years and was past the point of being able to be renovated. Having researched Walter’s remarkable life, it felt important to highlight the major contribution he made locally and nationally as a naturalist. A replacement bench seemed the best way of doing this on a footpath he would have been very familiar with."

Walter Flesher was a founder member and past President of the Wharfedale Naturalist Society. Current President, Peter Riley, said: "The Society was pleased to be able to contribute towards the cost of the replacement bench in recognition of an influential local naturalist. Walter developed his love of nature at a very young age. He eventually became the gamekeeper on Burley Moor, a post he held for 25 years. He had lost his right arm during the Battle of Passchendaele serving as a Colour Sergeant in the West Riding Regiment but he was considered to have the strength of two men in his remaining left arm as he went about his work repairing shooting butts and dry stone walls!

"He was renowned for being wonderful with children and would always do his best to get them to share his love of nature and the countryside. One of these children, Alan Titchmarsh, was greatly encouraged by him and described him as an excellent radio broadcaster with tremendous powers of description. Walter was well known nationally for his appearances on television with naturalists Sir Peter Scott, James Fisher and others in popular nature programmes. On the five o’clock programme ‘Children’s Hour’ on the BBC Home Service, he was Ted Brock the gamekeeper, his unmistakeable quiet Yorkshire voice recognised by millions. He gave talks far and wide and it is apparent now that he was not just a gamekeeper and naturalist but also an early conservationist. His concern was that people should know the value and thrill of observing wildlife at first hand, should understand the dangers of pollution and the importance of conserving Britain’s fauna and flora for the future."

At a Wharfedale Naturalist Society meeting in January 1985, just after Walter’s death, the then President Joan Duncan paid a tribute: "Most people here tonight will remember Walter Flesher with affection, either personally or through his many television and radio broadcasts. He always had a great regard for the Society and in turn members held him in high esteem. He was a modest man. He used to say that the well-known people with whom he broadcast were all ‘-ists’, ornithologists and so on, whereas he described himself as a country man. But I think he was a true naturalist and his influence in the Society will last for many years to come."

David Asher added: "I’m grateful to Wharfedale Naturalists and to a local family for their sponsorship and to the current Burley Moor gamekeeper Michael Smith for his support for the project. We have re-positioned the bench on the popular Ebor Way and Dales Way link footpath so that it has superb views over Wharfedale and Burley Moor and provide a place to rest and reflect on the surrounding natural world in all its glory. I think Walter would have approved!"