One of Farnham’s “true local heroes “ has fled the nest having stepped down from leading an international award-winning nature reserve.

Tice’s Meadow Bird Group (TMBG) hosted their AGM and with deep regret, it was announced their chairman and founder Richard Horton would be retiring following decades of service to the site.

Richard has been involved with Tice's Meadow Nature Reserve since the early 1980s when the site was still farmland and he used to walk his dog through the fields.

Hanson then began quarrying the site for sand and gravel. Once quarrying had begun, as a keen bird watcher he started to recognise the potential of the site as a nature reserve.

Richard was granted a seat on the Quarry Liaison Committee, and later the Site Aftercare and Management Committee, representing the interests of residents and regular users of the site.

He worked hard for the site to be designated a Site of Nature Conservation Interest, along with the neighbouring Tongham Ponds.

Along the way Richard was joined by many people and in 2013 Richard they founded the Tice's Meadow Bird Group formalising the team of volunteers who had grown organically around him.

Under his stewardship, Tice's Meadow has developed into a what is considered one of the friendliest places to watch birds in the south east, and an important hub for community volunteering and biodiversity monitoring.

Richard's dedication to public service was acknowledged by Farnham Town Council in 2018 with a Services to Farnham Award, describing him as a “true local hero”.

To succeed Richard as Chairman of the TMBG, the committee elected current secretary Mark Elsoffer as their new chairman.

Mark said: “I have big shoes to fill - Richard has been my inspiration and it will be an honour to continue in his footsteps.”