David Bellamy

[Lancashire Lad]

David Bellamy was one of the first people to introduce me to the delights of British wild flowers.

This larger than life characature of a man seemed to have an almost explosively energetic means ofputting across even the simplest of descriptions, but his mannerisms were such that you just couldn't stop watching.

I understand that David is still very much alive and well, but is seldom seen on TV these days. (I recall that he had some sort of political ambitions which might have had something to do with this).

David - I salute you. Come back to TV - We need some characters (who know all about their subjects) to get the next generation turned on to nature.

Regards
Mike.

[Dan Salter]

I mentioned much the same in a thread about wildlife presenters elsewhere on here. I loved him as a kid and even met him in my twenties when his chauffer driven car pulled up next to me...the tinted window went down and this big beardy face asked me " Excuse me...we are looking for Bearsted village green pond"...which was a stroke of luck as my mother lived facing the pond!.

Last thing i have seen/ watched him on is the excellent 'Bellamy's Wild England...or wild britain or something....which is a three dvd boxset where he covers some of the national parks etc...North Pennines AONB, Peak District and Scottish Highlands i think it is?...its superb though and available via the usual sources...but even some of this is pretty dated and must have been a good few years back.

On a different note....(it must be the beard!)...i was thinking the other day what ever happened to Willy Rushton? ha ha....or did he die?

[Jim Ford]

He earned my respect when there was a programme that showed him talking in close-up. The camera tracked back to show him standing in a lake with just swimming trunks on, clutching to his chest a block of ice about a foot cubed!

Jim

[svenrufus]

I used to think he was great - as a kid.

But then as an adult, and an environmental activist and ecologist I became increasingly disenchanted with him due to his actions such as proposing more mineral extraction, even in environemntally sensitive areas as that would create pits that can be 'restored' for the benefits of wildlife; or working for and promoting the absurd and ecologically damaging Cardiff Bay Barrage; or effectively denying anthropogenic climate change as recently as 2004; or campaigning against wind energy while supporting nuclear; or promoting products of an environmentally damaging nature in TV ads for multinationals that cause so much of the damage in the first place; or..... I could go on.

While I won't deny for a second that he works tirelessly in support of groups that are trying to do the right thing for the natural world, he then undermines it all by doing some particuarly crass and damaging things himself. A cynic might suggest that by maintaining his green credentials to the public he maintains a high market value for his endorsements for damaging projects at the hands of others - businesses are canny in knowing that the real value of his endorsement is not so much that people like him, as that his support adds a green veneer, a greenwash, to the things he is paid to support. A cynic might suggest that, but I couldn't possibly comment.

To my way of thinking the beardy buffoon speaks with forked tongue, but fortunately for him, the facial hair hides the tongue from view, so he gets away with it. I'm glad he is out of the public eye, and have no time for him any more since I became aware of the real nature of the man.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

On a different note....(it must be the beard!)...i was thinking the other day what ever happened to Willy Rushton? ha ha....or did he die?

Willy Rushton died in 1996.

Jim

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by svenrufus

...or campaigning against wind energy while supporting nuclear... ...I'm glad he is out of the public eye, and have no time for him any more since I became aware of the real nature of the man.

I understood him to be vehemently against wind farms in unspoilt / undeveloped areas, but not so much so in urban context. (I personally agree with him regarding nuclear energy. If anyone seriously thinks that this country can provide a viable electrical energy grid with wind farms / wave barrages as a major element, they are sadly mistaken. - Do we want to live on an island forested by windmills? - However, I don't want to take this thread off track - that's a subject for separate debate).

I haven't followed Bellamy's career or personal opinions closely enough to be able to dispute most of what you say, and you may well be correct. But you cannot deny that the man brought the natural world, and particularly the botanical part of the natural world to an audience of millions, in a manner that few have been able to surpass.

Regards
Mike.

[ChrisJB]

David Bellamy led a protest walk up on to a local moor that had the cloud of wind turbines hanging over it a few years ago. He struck me as a decent bloke, very friendly towards the throngs of folk who wanted to chat.
Sadly it didn't make a difference, the turbines are there and the once moorland is now a rubbly wasteland.
Dan, I wasn't aware of the series you talk of, 'Bellamy's Wild Britain', or whatever, but I'm going to hunt that down. It sounds right up my street.

Regards, Chris

[Wild-Woman]

He did a series of programmes years ago (sorry can't remember the name), one of which sticks in my mind where he visited the Devil's Punch Bowl -Hampshire ( I think) and found some exciting and rare flowers and animals. I'd like to see that again.

[RobSutton]

He lost my respect I'm afraid when he advertised a certain brand of toilet cleaner on TV and more latterly because of some of his pronouncements on climate change.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by RobSutton

He lost my respect I'm afraid when he advertised a certain brand of toilet cleaner on TV and more latterly because of some of his pronouncements on climate change.

Yes I think he had to resign (or persuaded to) from boards of societies such as Plantlife because he didn't believe in human-assisted climate change.

Met him once when he was doing a book signing in Harrods in the 70s when I worked there as a student.

Somewhere I've got 2 of his books from TV series he was doing. One line I always remember is the corny one that nettle, Urtica, isn't called that because it ':urts!!