Gong for a naturalist

Having spoken to Trevor Evans within the last fortnight his modesty didn't allow him to let on he'd recently received an MBE - thanks to Chris Hatch for the information. As County Botanical Recorder for as long as I can remember Trevor's lifelong quest for recording all things flowery in vc35 culminated in the weighty tome that is the Flora of Monmouthshire. Everyone interested in the wildlife of Gwent should have a copy!

I remember my first correspondence with Trevor it was a type written letter with a list of plants recorded locally. I had, of course, made a school boy error in assuming the common English name for plants would be sufficient. Trevor's response was courteous but at the same time ticked me off for not using latin and to this day all conversations with him are punctuated with latin species names that send me scrabbling for a field guide to translate.I also had the pleasure of spending some time with him and Colin Titcombe in the field. One such excursion took us to a large field above Forgeside near Blaenavon. An interesting wet flush was visible towards the middle of the field but with no public access there was no way of reaching it, I thought. This didn't stop Trevor, up and over the fence he went without a care in the world spending a good twenty minutes on his hands and knees recording and compiling a list. Oh, and one other thing, although he lives in Chepstow he's never shyed away from botanising in western Gwent! You couldn't meet a nicer , more knowledgeable or determined field botanist. An award so richly deserved.