John Phillips Obituary

JOHN PHILLIPS - Obituary

Farmer, biologist, country sportsman, moorland manager and founder of The Heather Trust

John Phillips, who died on 2^nd December, aged 82, was a countryman born and bred, who sought to reconcile the various uses to which uplands were put. He was prompted to do this because in the late 1960s and 1970s, the long-held concept of integrated land use was breaking down. Decisions on land potential and use were being made on an "either/or" basis fuelled by high levels of agricultural and forestry grants and subsidies. This was having a disastrous effect on biodiversity, landscape and sport-shooting; he devoted the next 40 years to doing something about it.

John Douglas Parnham Phillips was born at Largs in Ayrshire on 3^rd May 1934, the fourth child and only son of Douglas Phillips, shipbuilder and Sheila Wilkinson, his second wife. Home was on his half-sisters' estate, which was a well-established sheep-walk, where such game as there was, had to be worked for with diligence and field-craft. By the time the war ended in 1945, his school holidays were dominated by country sports and were also associated with "helping" the tenant farmer to carry out seasonal farm work.

He was educated at Harrow, where he spent almost all his recreational time on the school farm. He did a gap year as a "mud student" on the Cally Estate in Galloway before reading an ordinary degree in Agriculture at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Spells as a cattleman and hill shepherd, and then as a farm manager in Perthshire followed, before he bought a small sandy farm in Fife with the inheritance he received when his father died in 1958. Under-capitalised from the start, that came to an end in 1964 and, at the first Scottish Game Fair (held at Blair Drummond in July that year), he was head-hunted by the Eley Game Advisory Station (EGAS) at Fordingbridge to train as their field advisor in Scotland — a post he took up in 1968.

EGAS was the undisputed expert body on matters to do with low-ground game. In 1957, the Scottish Landowners' Federation had instigated a grouse research programme with Aberdeen University, which was located in Glenesk in Angus and later at Banchory where the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) took it on and funded a specialist upland unit. In the early 1970s, moor owners in parts of Scotland, notably the Spey and Findhorn valleys and central Perthshire, were experiencing catastrophic declines in grouse caused allegedly by sheep ticks. With initial funding coming from Slater Walker Securities (the firm led by the late Jim Slater had bought Tulchan Estate from the Seafield Estates in 1972) and many other landowners, sufficient money was forthcoming to initiate research into the problem. This led to a fruitful link between a now self-employed Phillips, the ITE grouse unit and the Moredun Veterinary Research Institute in Edinburgh. It resulted in the publication of two definitive scientific papers on tick-borne disease in 1978.

Research into grazing effects on heather attracted further support, notably in 1989 from The Joseph Nickerson Heather Improvement Foundation. This led to the formation of The Heather Trust in 1994 and to substantial contracts with public and private bodies during the subsequent decade.

The prime motivation of the Trust was always to encourage traditional best practice and it became the brand leader in the provision, innovation, application and demonstration of sound field advice on heather conservation. It always saw itself as providing a link between the many and varied parties that had an interest in the way the heather moors of the British Isles were managed.

Under his direction, the Trust won the Exhibitors' Prize (out of 303) at the Gosford Game Fair in 1993 — the last CLA Scottish Game Fair - and joint 2^nd place in the Laurent Perrier Conservation Award in 1996. On his farm in Perthshire in 2004, he won the Alastair Lilburn of Coull's forestry award for best farm woodland in Scotland in the "below 150 acres category" - administered by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.

In 2012, 101 years after Lovat's "The Grouse in Health and in Disease" was published, Phillips's "Moorland Management —for Agriculture, Conservation and Field Sports" came out, verifying many points of management current a century before but in danger of being forgotten in the 21^5t century.

A keen fisher, useful shot, competent gardener and enthusiast of English setters, flatcoats and Lakeland terriers, he married first Diana Stratton (divorced 1981) — with whom he had two sons. He married second —Jennifer Braasch (neé Knight) who died in 2008. He is survived by his companion, Claire Rackham.

The Golden Plover Returns!

The Golden Plover returns! (David Mason)

After four successful years, the Golden Plover Award for Moorland Management is now looking for applicants to make 2017 the biggest and best award to date. Run by The Heather Trust and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust Scotland (GWCT Scotland) with support from Lindsays solicitors, the Golden Plover Award highlights the very best of progressive, forward-thinking moorland management across the country. Open to any group, farm, estate or individual with a proven track record of balanced management, the award is becoming well established as a celebration of balanced diversity in Scotland’s uplands.

Having explored a range of themes from farming to peatland in previous years, 2017 will be geared towards the north west of Scotland; west of the Great Glen, including Argyllshire and the Isles. Anyone can apply to enter the Golden Plover Award provided they can show a dedicated level of commitment to multiple land uses. The size of landholding is immaterial; the award welcomes everyone from the smallest croft to the largest estate.

Over the past few years, the Golden Plover Award has travelled from prestigious estates on Royal Deeside to tiny apportionments in the Outer Isles, seeking out the most progressive and imaginative management. Above all other factors, the judges will be looking for passion, pride and a devotion to the best outcomes for the western Highlands and Islands. The unique blend of land uses in the north west will take the award into new and exciting terrain, embracing diverse issues such as upland fisheries, rural employment, conservation, peatland, deer and crofting.  

Speaking about the launch of the 2017 award, Heather Trust Director Simon Thorp said “there are so many exciting and progressive management projects in the north west of Scotland. Upland farms and estates are balancing traditional enterprises like deer stalking and crofting with contemporary ventures like tourism and renewables, and that kind of integration is exactly what the Golden Plover Award is all about”.

Michael Yellowlees, Partner at Lindsays and Head of Rural Services, said: “We are delighted to continue supporting the Golden Plover Award which celebrates the dedication and enthusiasm involved in the effective management of Scotland’s uplands.

“Our relationships with numerous estates and families across the north west of Scotland extend over generations and this is something we are incredibly proud to recognise.  We have an experienced team who have a sound understanding of the realities of rural life today, as well as the priorities of clients who have has stewardship of their land for hundreds of years.”

If you think you fit the bill for 2017’s award, or if you know someone who does, find out more on the Golden Plover Award’s website at www.goldenploveraward.co.uk.

Heather Beetle

The Heather Trust's heather beetle survey has been running all summer, and we've heard of several serious outbreaks of beetle across the country. Some of the worst damage has been caused in Caithness, but reports of patchy damage has been very widespread, with many little areas of damage  becoming a feature of the summer.

The survey is important because it is the only national effort to gather information on heather beetle outbreaks, and after eight years the information is starting to form patterns and trends which may help us to understand exactly why beetle damage occurs in the way it does.

Thanks to support from landowners and land managers across the country, we have amassed a huge amount of detail on heather beetle outbreaks, but it's always important to hear more and to follow stories from year to year to better understand the nature of the damage. Please fill in a survey form and return it to us if you have seen beetle damage this year.

For example, it was traditionally thought that beetle damage worked on a three or four year cycle, with the worst damage caused in years 2 and 3, but our survey has shown just how variable this can be. Unfortunately, some of the outbreaks we have recorded have been so dramatic in year 1 that the heather is unable to support subsequent beetle outbreaks, and we have just as much evidence to suggest that beetle outbreaks can rumble on at a low level for several years, particularly on wetter ground where beetle numbers might be sustained by damp breeding habitats.

For the last two or three years, concerns have been raised about the link between wet ground and increased beetle numbers, with some land managers raising concerns that moves to "re-wet" moorland for peatland conservation might have the undesired knock-on effect of increasing beetle abundance. Add to this the fact that heather may be stressed by wet conditions and there is a possibility that re-wetting could present some serious problems. We're interested to canvas opinion on this idea, so if you have seen any changes to your moorland involving beetles since re-wetting, we'd be interested to hear from you. No formal research has yet been carried out into this subject, and we would like to find out more.

More on beetle on our Heather Beetle page

Golden Plover Award 2016

The Hopes estate, Golden Plover Award winners 2016

The Heather Trust and GWCT (Scotland) are excited to announce that the Hopes Estate near Gifford has won 2016’s Golden Plover Award for moorland management, sponsored by Lindsays.

The Golden Plover Award celebrates the best of integrated, sustainable upland management, and this year’s theme was sheep farming. These are challenging times for upland farmers, and the judges were looking for businesses, individuals and properties who have been able to knit successful sheep enterprises into other land uses, including sport, conservation and renewable energy.

Applicants came from across Scotland, and the judges narrowed down the field to four properties with a strong farming interest. In the North, Cawdor Estate and Phoines both demonstrated the benefits of sheep to grouse production by means of mopping up ticks and fostering close relationships between farmers and gamekeepers. On Donside, Candacraig Estate introduced sheep to assist with heather management and now run a flock of blackface and cheviots as part of a progressive and successful agricultural enterprise.

Site visits were carried out over the last few weeks, and The Hopes was ultimately announced as the winner of the award after the judges were impressed by the breadth and variety of management on the Lammermuirs estate. Grouse bags have steadily increased over recent years, and sheep have been successfully introduced to compliment existing aims and provide a profitable enterprise in their own right. This can be a difficult balance, but The Hopes has worked carefully to achieve it. As a result, there have also been opportunities to control tick numbers on an area where louping ill is present.

At the same time, significant investment has gone into restoring blanket bog, and the estate’s management strategy also takes into account the needs of a biomass boiler, planting 28,000 trees on the moorland margins to provide fuel and biodiversity.

The Award was presented to the Hopes along with a specially commissioned print by the artist Colin Woolf at a special ceremony held at the Scottish Game Fair on Friday 1^st July. This is now the fourth year of the Golden Plover Award, last year’s winner being Mar Estate near Braemar for their pioneering work into peatland conservation.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Heather Trust chairman Antony Braithwaite explained that “the good management that is taking place in Scotland is easily lost nowadays in the barrage of negative press that surrounds moorland management, and the purpose of this award is to highlight some of the very best work that is taking place across the country”.

Heather Beetle 2016

Heather beetle damage from 2015's outbreak on Brownsea Island (photo C. Hartley)

It has been an oddly quiet start to the year for beetle records. We usually hear stories of beetle dispersal across the U.K. during late March and early April, but the only evidence we have picked up on has been of the damage caused by 2015's major outbreak around Poole and Brownsea Island on the South Coast. Brownsea Island is a National Trust property consisting of around 500 acres of dry heath and woodland, and mass dispersals of heather beetle were noted in April 2015. Judging by recent photographs taken of the property, the beetles have done their worst and much of the heather is now in a very sorry state. It will be interesting to follow this up with the site managers to find out their plans for restoring the damage over the coming months.

As always, we are keen to hear from members and supporters as the beetle season begins, and our Survey Form is still available to download and return with information relating to beetle outbreaks across the U.K. It will be interesting to see how this long, dry period of weather will effect beetle numbers in 2016, since past trends and history suggest that successful "boom" years for beetle reproduction depend on damp, moist conditions during May and June.

In some cases, heather beetles have directly contributed to a startling loss of heather coverage in the Uplands, and without management, it is easy to lose heather to other more competitive and invasive species. The Heather Trust is leading the way in research into heather beetle, and our research projects at Langholm Moor and the Derbyshire Peak District are shedding new light on the best treatments and management options in the aftermath of an outbreak. For more information on heather beetle or our work, why not visit our Heather Beetle page.