Farewell to John Smith
Mon, 2010-10-18 14:42 | wsbw
I was really sorry to hear that Beachwarden stalwart John Smith died earlier this year.
John and his wife Barbara had been closely involved in protecting West Beach at Littlehampton even before the Beach Wardens came into being, carrying out monthly beach cleans along with other volunteers.
The Smiths have been such a great strength, organising the twice yearly Beach Watch beach cleans,carrying out plant surveys, rallying other volunteers and offering the hand of friendship to everyone with an interest in conservation.
As a newcomer to Littlehampton in 2004 I was given such a lot of support and encouragement from John and Barbara and I'd like to record here all the gratitude I feel for everything that John did for West Beach and for the kind friendship that Barbara and John extended.
Totally dependable and deeply committed, John would be down on West Beach striding along assessing hazards and marking it out for the Beach Watch cleans at least an hour before anyone else showed up. Armed with all the tools for the job: bags, gloves, pickers, rubber rings to keep the bags open, scales to weigh the results, recording sheets, pencils and his own inimitable sense of humour, no one could have been better prepared.
John's work was really greatly appreciated and he is sorely missed.
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