Our Society celebrates its 40th year

 ​The Tisbury - and district - Natural History Society is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and, with more than a 100 members, is as healthy as ever. This timeline reviews some of the key milestones during its first 40 years, as the present committee has recalled going through past documentation or asking past members.

Click on the timeline picture for a closer look at all the details (and have a look at the lovely hand drawings by Debbie Carter).

​During this time, more than 400 talks and excursions have been organised and successfully undertaken, on many different topics and reaching as far as Lundy Island. Despite our relatively modest ambitions as a local society, support to funding appeals from local, regional, national and international charities have been very numerous over the years, including World Wide Fund for Nature, National Forest (including the Memorial Arboretum), Save the Tiger, Kingcombe Trust, Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Woodland Trust and Froglife.

None of this would have been possible without the knowledge, help and enthusiasm of many individuals, either committee members, members, collaborators or guests, who have given up their time to promote the natural world in and around Tisbury. We are very grateful for their contribution and very sorry we cannot list them all in the timeline! 

​Other past committee members, not in the timeline but to whom the society is extremely indebted: Lizzy Paylan, Ann Wilson, Rosie Buck, Anne Martin, G. Mathews, Ruth Timbrell, Anne Grey, D. Ramsley, Steve Flowerday, Phil Woods, V. Broughton, Steve Palmer, Richard Tambling, Steve Roger, Bill Simcock, Connie Roberts, Mary Osborne, Diana Forbes. 

Do have a read of the inaugural Society meeting notes of 1982.

We apologise if we have missed anybody or any important milestone. Please let us know if you have any suggestions!

​Inés López-Dóriga