Colin Savage

Colin was born in Dulwich in 1959. His family moved to Chetwode and, after leaving school, he became a herdsman. He joined MKDC in the Hard Works Section, then became a Ranger.

He was an Area Ranger for the south of the city from day one of the Parks Trust. Many of the parks, like Shenley Wood and Howe Park Wood were surrounded by fields. He did health & safety, public liaison, schools liaison, wildlife management and a bit of contract work. He didn’t like the development plans for the south so moved to the established parks in the north as Landscape Officer (basically contracts). The Trust grew and developed specialisms. It managed parks differently and people visited from across the globe.

In the 1980s he was a Trustee of the Milton Keynes Wildlife Hospital. Then he worked with the breed-and-release programme for Barn Owls and numbers recovered to at least six breeding pairs. He was involved with badgers from the start, including the sett at Manor Farm. New species came in: Great White Egrets, Peregrines and Little Owls. He propagated the native Black Poplar. Climate change affected things: species of moths and butterflies multiplied, but there were also new diseases and pests.

His favourite parks were Howe Park Wood for ancient woodland, Passenham for ‘big sky’ and the flood plain forest for connecting with nature. He was involved with the flood plain forest from the start in 2007 and saw the growth of diversity, including otters and native birds. His proudest achievements were planting so many trees and enthusing so many people. He had learnt on the job.