POT-POURRI OF NATURE

Press, 19 August 1978, Page 17

POT-POURRI OF NATURE

Orielton. By Ronald Lockley. Andre Deutsch. 332 pp. $l4. (Reviewed by Meriel Farnsworth)

For the very reasons that the layman would enjoy this book the purist might be irritated. It is a potpourri of personal reminiscence, archaeology, history and scientific observation, none treated in any depth, but providing a rambling and entertaining variety. Almost by chance Ronald Lockley acquired the Orielton estate in Pembrokeshire, a walled park of 26Q acres with woodland, lakes, farm and cottages and a spacious mansion, all sadly neglected, but nevertheless a naturalist’s paradise. The original manor was founded by Norman followers of William the Conqueror and had remained in the same family for 700 years before it fell on evil days.

With determined idealism and the encouraging help of many naturalist friends, the author hoped to restore and maintain as much of its former glory as his limited means would allow, and preserve it for all time as a wild-life sanctuary.

For 10 years he worked hard and with the setting up of the Pembrokeshire National Park it seemed hiS dream would be realised. But once more conservation fell victim to political and economic expediency. According to the author, in violation of the National Parks Act, BP, Esso and other oil companies were permitted to buy land at Milford Haven, four miles from Orielton, for oil depots and refineries. Albeit reluctantly Lockley decided to leave. It is some consolation that Orielton is now run by the Field Studies Council as a research and training centre for BO young naturalists, but always on the skyline are the stark new oil installations, the symbols of progress. With the estate Lockley inherited a wide and varying family: birds, badgers, hares, ants, bats, rabbits and spiders. His account of their life cycles, though brief, makes fascinating reading for the novice. It was here, too, that he carried out the research for his much acclaimed “Private Life of the Rabbit.” Ronald Lockley now lives in New Zealand.