A champion in our midst
In the summer edition of The Westonbirt Magazine, Richard Townsend, Operations Supervisor on Westonbirt's Tree Team, describes his day job, other loves and an astonishing athletic feat.
Richard’s love of trees was kindled when he was about 22 and his father-in-law asked for a hand cutting branches off a tree. Having enjoyed a taste of tree work, he noticed an advert for a ‘tree feller’ at Westonbirt but they were mostly interested in his mechanical skills! However, Rich explains,
“They trained me up, it’s practical skills that were important.”
“Westonbirt time is like a time warp,”
says Richard, who has worked at the arboretum since 1 September 1988. The style of work has changed a lot in those 24 years; once merely expected to ‘follow orders’, the tree team today take an active role in shaping the arboretum. Decisions about how to maintain the trees within the historic landscape plan are made by those tasked with the actual felling, pruning and planting. Richard cites job satisfaction and the team’s camaraderie as the key reasons he has stayed.
As Operations Supervisor, it is up to Rich to keep the team working well together, so he keeps an open dialogue with everyone and makes sure the best (and worst) jobs are shared around. As a lot of the team are new, they need to be paired up and there’s a lot of juggling to get the balance right. Tree work at Westonbirt is about quality not quantity and the necessary skills take time to develop.
Biking around
As a qualified mechanic, having taken night classes at Stroud College ten years ago, Richard tends to do the servicing and repairs on Westonbirt’s vehicles,
“I love things that are broken, I just want to mend them.”
This proves handy when he competes on his 1964 BSA350 trial bike on four hour courses through woodlands and tracks. His brother encouraged him to try the sport about six years ago and Rich generally finishes somewhere near the top. This competitive streak took Rich to the heady heights of world championship in a different sport altogether…
Pole position
Egged on by friends in the tree team, Rich first tried pole climbing at the Bath and West Show in 1988 and achieved a 28 second climb. For the next few years, Rich trained to reduce his time and reached a personal best of 11.14 seconds – that is climbing an 80ft vertical pole – culminating in being crowned World Champion 2005.
He says it was all about making sure he’d have something to talk about when he’s retired. As if old bikes and ancient trees weren’t enough.
The Westonbirt Magazine is produced by the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum for its membership; to inform Friends about events, to engage Friends in issues that affect the arboretum, and to share enjoyment in and knowledge of this world-renowned tree collection.
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