|
Mrs Durrell spoke about Gerald, her late husband, a naturalist and well-known writer, whose passion for conservation led him to found the trust in 1959. Today, the trust has gown into an organization that continues to support a huge range of creatures in various environments around the world.
Mrs Durrell mentioned Gerald's particular fondness for the less photogenic creatures whose preservation might otherwise be overlooked, affectionately referrring to these as the 'little brown jobs' or 'LBJs'.
She mentioned a couple of links between the Durrells and Ludgrove: the site of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey has connections to Mrs Barber's family and Ralph Thompson, an artist who illustrated several of Durrell's books, was the Reilly brothers' great-grandfather.
Hannah Gordon, a great friend of the Durrells, accompanied Lee to Ludgrove and we were treated to her reading an excerpt from My Family and Other Animals, in which a scorpion and her young were accidentally released from a matchbox after a family lunch, causing havoc in the household.
The fascinating talk prompted many questions from the boys about the various animals mentioned, as well as wider questions on the subject of conservation and the preservation of wildlife.
We are tremendously grateful to both Lee Durrell and Hannah Gordon for taking the time to come to Ludgrove: further information about the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is here.
|
|