rhychydwr1
Active member
PETER FOSTER BIRD 1922-1986
It was with shock and dismay that we learned of the death Pete Bird, a man we had been proud to call friend for over 25 years. A kinder and more generous man one could not have wished to meet. I well remember the evenings spent in his flat when there was always a cup of Camp Coffee, with condensed milk and sugar and a plentiful supply of Chocolate digestive biscuits. We still talk of the camping trips to Wales when we would pitch our tents above Porth yr Ogof for the weekend, go down to the pub in the evening, return to a campfire sing-song, and be off the next day down the caves. I can see him now, his lank figure hunched in the back of our van, knees to chin, rolling his own cigarettes, for on short trips to Mendip or when the weather was bad, he would leave his beloved motorbike at home and travel with us.
He was never too busy to write a reference, and there must be many an ageing 40 year old who now has Pete to thank for setting them on the right road to success. Quiet and understanding he always lent a ready ear to the troubles of others and helped wherever he could. How could such a gentleman in the widest sense of the word have come to such a terrible end?
After we moved to Wales we lost touch, and this is one of those sad occasions when we find ourselves saying "If only we had known." To his family we extend our sincere condolences, and hope that time will heal the pain they must be suffering at this sad time.
Peter was the first person to ring cave dwelling bats on Mendip and for many years dug at ?Pete Bird?s Dig? in Burrington Combe now known as Flange Swallet.
It was with shock and dismay that we learned of the death Pete Bird, a man we had been proud to call friend for over 25 years. A kinder and more generous man one could not have wished to meet. I well remember the evenings spent in his flat when there was always a cup of Camp Coffee, with condensed milk and sugar and a plentiful supply of Chocolate digestive biscuits. We still talk of the camping trips to Wales when we would pitch our tents above Porth yr Ogof for the weekend, go down to the pub in the evening, return to a campfire sing-song, and be off the next day down the caves. I can see him now, his lank figure hunched in the back of our van, knees to chin, rolling his own cigarettes, for on short trips to Mendip or when the weather was bad, he would leave his beloved motorbike at home and travel with us.
He was never too busy to write a reference, and there must be many an ageing 40 year old who now has Pete to thank for setting them on the right road to success. Quiet and understanding he always lent a ready ear to the troubles of others and helped wherever he could. How could such a gentleman in the widest sense of the word have come to such a terrible end?
After we moved to Wales we lost touch, and this is one of those sad occasions when we find ourselves saying "If only we had known." To his family we extend our sincere condolences, and hope that time will heal the pain they must be suffering at this sad time.
Peter was the first person to ring cave dwelling bats on Mendip and for many years dug at ?Pete Bird?s Dig? in Burrington Combe now known as Flange Swallet.