John Barrett (conservationist)


John Henry Barrett was a pioneering conservationist, author and broadcaster, who was the first Warden at Dale Fort Field Centre in Pembrokeshire.

Early life and education

Barrett was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk. He read Economics and Geography at Cambridge University.

Second World War

In the 1930s, Barrett joined the RAF and served with Bomber Command, reaching the rank of Wing Commander. During the early part of the Second World War he was shot down and became a prisoner-of-war. The next years were spent in a succession of prisoner-of-war camps across Germany and Poland: Oflag VI-B, Oflag XXI-B, Stalag Luft III and Stalag III-A. It was in Oflag VI-B that he met John Buxton, Peter Conder and George Waterston. In their company he developed his lifelong interest in birds, which he later turned to good use in Wales. These four recorded migration patterns and the minutiae of tree sparrow and chaffinch nesting behaviour.

Post-war

Barrett subsequently lived in Pembrokeshire for 50 years. In 1947 he became the first Warden of Dale Fort Field Centre, established as a centre for the study of marine biology, but which also included the Skokholm Bird Observatory on the island of Skokholm. He was appointed Minister's Nominee to the fledgling Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, initiated a series of guided walks, fought for the establishment of a coastal path, and served on the Park Committee for twenty-five years. He established the Pembrokeshire Countryside Unit in Broad Haven in 1968.
When leading walks along the coastal footpath he was accompanied by a dog called "dog".

Books