Meet the Team

My wife’s family have lived on or around the Towans since the 1930s, and we still do. I was delighted when I was asked to join the Friends of the Towans trustees, and very proud to be elected Chair.

My aim is to preserve and maintain the Towans as a nationally important bio-diverse landscape, so that current and future generations can use it for recreation and relaxation by connecting with nature. In a former life I was a teacher, but that seems a long time ago now

I am the director of Paradise Park and the Bird in Hand in Hayle. I run the park with my sister and out team, after taking over from our late parents, who started the park. I am also a trustee of the World Parrot Trust. Having grown up in Hayle, I have spent many hours walking on the Towans.

I am also involved in other activities in the town. I am acting chair of Hayle Carnival – we organise two events a year – and with Hayle Community Defibrillator Group I help to raise funds for Public Access Defibrillators. I am also involved with Hayle in Bloom, producing the portfolio and driving the judges.

I love sharing my passion for nature and the outdoors with other people and I feel very lucky to be working with Friends of the Towans doing just that – helping people to look after and find out more about the amazing wildlife and habitats of the Towans and Gwithian Green.

My background is in environment and conservation and includes working in the Godrevy to St Agnes area as a Ranger for the National Trust and as a Project Officer for BTCV, setting up and running the St Ives Green Gym.

I look forward to meeting you out on the Towans soon!

I was born in Wimbledon, but worked in and around Bristol for most of my career. I’ve been married for nearly 25 years and have 2 children, 4 step children and 7 grandchildren. I retired from the banking industry after 37 years in 2012 and moved to Cornwall in 2016. I’ve always been interested in working as a volunteer for the benefit of the community and the environment.

In addition to working on the Towans I also run a beach cleaning group, Save Our Sand, from March until October. My other interests include volunteering for Hayle in Bloom, primarily looking after the Isis Gardens, a memorial dedicated to the RNLI. Last year my wife and I finished walking the Cornish part of the South West coast path and are now part way through the new Tamara Coast to Coast Way which runs along the border with Devon.

My family have lived in West Cornwall for hundreds of years, and I’ve known the Towans all my life. I’ve been involved in practical conservation work for more than 25 years, initially with West Cornwall Conservation Volunteers, and more recently with Friends of the Towans.

My professional background is in journalism, and during a decade writing for Cornwall Today magazine, I visited more than 100 Cornish gardens and green spaces. With my husband and fellow journalist Darren, I now edit and publish St Ives Local, a community magazine for St Ives Bay and the surrounding area.

I was delighted when I was asked to join the Friends of the Towans team as a trustee, as I’ve always been keenly interested in the local environment.

I’ve lived in Cornwall since the early 80s, when I started working for Cornwall Council social services department, where I stayed until my retirement. I then returned to college to follow a fine art textile pathway, which took me on an amazing journey.

I’ve continued since then with my art practice, and now enjoy being part of the Friends of the Towans Art Club, which is an important part of promoting the importance of our amazing environment.

I am a founding member of Friends of the Towans, an environmental campaigner and member of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. I have been a resident of Hayle for 35 years, and I was elected as MP for the St Ives constituency in 2024, having previously been the MP between 1997 and 2015.

I was born and brought up at Mullion, on the Lizard. I come from a farming and horticulture background, and I was involved in housing, environmental and charity work before becoming an MP. Before returning to Parliament, I was CEO of community-led housing charity Cornwall Community Land Trust, and the Cornwall Councillor for north Penzance, Penwith moors and downs, Zennor and Ludgvan areas.

I’ve taught art since 1980, have been a tutor at St Ives School of Painting since 1995, and run art courses for the Field Studies Council since 1998. When I became a trustee of Friends of the Towans, my dream was to enable people to draw en plein air in our beautiful dunes, and with funding from Dynamic Dunescapes, fellow artist Dominica Williamson and I set up Friends of the Towans Art Club.

Observational drawing is my passion, and I love to draw plants in the natural habitats and landscapes in which they grow. I’m passionate about sharing these joys with others. I am an associate member of the Society of Graphic Fine Art, fellow of the Botanical Society of Artists, and member of St Ives Society of Artists.

My interest in conservation and the environment really began when I secured a job in Cornwall 23 years ago, and found that the cottage we bought gave us commoners’ rights on Gwithian Green. As a result, especially after retirement, I became very involved in recording butterflies and wildflowers, not just on the Green but across the Towans.

I was County Recorder for Cornwall Butterfly Conservation for several years, and I chaired the Towans Partnership for !0 years. I now chair the advisory group which manages the Green on behalf of Gwinear-Gwithian Parish Council and am the co-author of Butterflies of Cornwall: An Atlas for the 21 Century.

I moved to Hayle in 1986 as purchasing manager for J and F Pool metal perforators – sadly no longer in existence and consigned to Hayle’s rich industrial history.

I retired in 2017, and wishing to be involved with outdoor environmental projects joined what was then known as the Towans Rangers, and evolved into Friends of the Towans.

I have always enjoyed walking the Towans and beach, and have spent many a happy hour there with my wife, children and grandchildren. Hopefully, along with a number of hard-working practical volunteers, I can help maintain the Towans for future generations.

I was surprised and pleased to be asked to become a Friends of the Towans Trustee. I was born in Wales, worked in Hertfordshire as a teacher and retired to Cornwall seven years ago. Before I was able to live here, I walked the coastal paths and swam in the beautiful bays, and found Cornwall increasingly hard to leave.

I’m still in awe of its diversity and ever-changing beauty, which I want to help to protect, so that everyone can enjoy it. I enjoy volunteering for the practical conservation sessions, which keep me fit, and give me the chance to be outside, and I have learned so much from the other team members.

My background is in teaching, and I later worked as a countryside ranger in Greater Manchester before travelling to California in 1980, where I was an artist-naturalist, holding exhibitions of my paintings of native plants.

I moved to Portreath in 1990, to set up the Mineral Tramways Project, which conserved mine buildings and sites, and opened up the old tramways as multi-purpose routeways. Now retired, I have returned to my first love – nature – and as a member of Cornwall Wildlife Trust I became a volunteer with the Dynamic Dunescapes project.

Out of this has grown the Towans Recording Group. I also undertake butterfly and plant transects around Portreath. I have always loved painting and sketching in the great outdoors: sketch journaling and native flora are my speciality. I enjoy sharing my passion for nature in our precious dunes.