Date:
4th March 2008Contact:
Sarah EgertonOrganisation:
The Civic Trust
Ray Poole is a Green Flag Award judge with oodles of experience - before retiring from the City of London at the end of January, he’d clocked up a staggering accumulative total of 32 Green Flags!
Retiring on his 57th birthday on 31st January, Ray took a look back over his prolific career which drove him to become a highly esteemed winner and (eventual) judge in the Green Flag Award scheme.
Ray finished his working life as conservation and arboricultural manager at Highgate Wood in London – a working life which had been dominated by his love of trees, leading to his eventual nickname of ‘The Tree Freak.’ Although this would have all been different had he listened to the advice of his careers advisor: “I wanted to work with trees from a very early age. At school my careers teacher advised against it saying that I probably would not be able to ‘earn a living at that.”
His involvement in the Green Flag Award was back in 1996 when the scheme was launched. He said: “I learnt that it was to be created and as manager of Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park I wanted to get involved.”
Both sites achieved the award that year - two of only nine. Both have also achieved the award every year since that time, two of only five to have done so. Highgate Wood was also awarded Green Heritage Site Accreditation when it became a feature of the scheme.
He sees the scheme as beneficial in several ways: “The awards give you something tangible to aim for. It makes you think of making improvements, not resting on your laurels. It also gives the staff something tangible in recognition of their hard work & achievements. It is a team effort that goes into the application for a Green Flag Award and it is the team’s hard work that is reflected in the awards. I have also gained knowledge from the visiting judges feedback. You learn from other opinions & experience.”
His advice to others thinking of entering the scheme would be to go for it. He said: “I would strongly recommend that they apply. I would advise them to aim for the award as a tangible reflection of their and their team’s hard work. However, I would also advise them not to be deterred should they not achieve it. Anything worth achieving is worth working for. Learn from the judges comments & try again. While you work towards achieving the award you will learn new ideas and practices and will make the required changes. It’s an award worth having and its high standards reflect that fact.”
“I have learnt so much from meeting with other participants in the scheme For example giving over sections of a park to sporting activities & accepting that it will not have a manicured appearance. So much pleasure is gained when there is an informal sports area and it costs so little to provide it. Wildflower areas also provide an attractive feature and provide good wildlife habitat. Good signage is another thing - visitors would rather be educated or informed rather than instructed or ordered. Positive signage is much more effective.”
Ray’s time with the City of London has had many eventful occasions - some funny, some sad and some startling. Hampstead Heath has been a source of odd incidents, as Ray explains: “I must mention the writer, the table and chair sculpture that was on display during the summer several years ago. During its time on the Heath, the arboricultural team were called out on a number of occasions to remove certain items from the table that had mysteriously ‘appeared’ during the night. These included a cup and saucer, a dinner setting including a ‘reserved’ notice and wine bottle and glass, giant books & writing implements. All of them were beautifully crafted & were, in their own right, works of art. Apparently a large sum of money offered by a ‘Lads’ magazine for the first couple who could prove they had made love on the table was claimed within 3 days.
“I was duty manager one weekend when an illegal rave was occurring on the Heath. We finally persuaded around 250 ravers to stop and leave when I explained the damage that was being caused to the trees. Up to that point they were not responding in a positive manner, but when I gave an impassioned speech regarding the trees, they stopped the music, packed up their things & even helped the staff to clear all the rubbish off the site. Perhaps I am too much of a tree man, but all my colleagues know of my passion for them, hence my nickname ‘The Tree Freak”
Ray’s main achievements in his career are numerous but he is particularly pleased with the increase in children’s involvement with the trees and open spaces. He says: “In Highgate Wood in 1992, we did not have a single school making an organised visit to the wood. It was such a waste, so we went out to the local schools & gave talks, asked the teachers what they wanted, noted details from the curriculum, and persuaded them to use the playing field for their sports activity.”
Now many hundreds of school children visit the wood on an organised basis from many local authorities. They plant trees (and are given a certificate for doing so), write their projects on their visit, see the wildlife, are given talks tailored to their GCSE, hold their sports days on the field, arrange for cricket and football coaching on the sports pitches, organise picnics and students are able to include the woods in their studies.
He said: “We now have the wood visited by nursery age children, A Level students, & university students studying up to PhD level. However, I think that it is particularly good to involve younger children as it creates a respect & love for nature. Several have returned to advise us that they have gone on to college to study arboriculture, wildlife management and other related subjects after becoming interested due to their visits to the wood. We have introduced similar achemes in Queen’s Park and on the Heath with equal success.”
Ray has now left London to return to his roots in the North West (his first job was in the forestry department of Lord Derby’s estate in Knowsley in Lancashire – he will live not far away from there.) As well as continuing to be a Green Flag Award judge in his retirement, Ray plans to continue his involvement with trees. He will join the local volunteer group at a local nature reserve close to his home and will be working part time with a private company. He is also excited about seeing his grand-children more often: “It will be nice to get back to them.”
Work history lowdown (prior to the City of London)
1968 to 1971 in the forestry department of Lord Derby’s estate, Knowsley, Lancashire
1971 to 1974 I was a student of Forestry in Penrith, Cumbria
1974 to 1977 Forest Manager with the Forestry Commission
1977 to 1979 arboriculturalist with the University of Manchester
1979 to 1992 with the Recreation Department of the City of Salford, Operations Manager (including the arboricultural and woodland sections) on leaving
1992 Joined the Corporation of London as Highgate Wood Manager
Green Flag Award prowess:
In Ray’s 14 years at the City of London he has amassed:
• 11 Green Flags for Highgate Wood, London (under his personal management)
• 11 Green Flags for Queen’s Park, London (under his personal management)
• 10 Green Flags for Hampstead Heath (Head of the Conservation Team and responsible for the applications)
• 2 Green Heritage Accreditation (2006 and 2007) for Highgate Wood.
East Midlands (56)Eastern (55)Greater London (151)North East (42)North West (196)South East (75)South West (52)West Midlands (42)Yorkshire & Humberside (45)Wales (19)Scotland (5)Northern Ireland (3)Republic of Ireland (1)Netherlands (2)Green Heritage Site Winners (42)Green Pennant Award Winners (73)Special Awards for Innovation Winners (7)
