Welsh Journals

Dillwyn Miles Photograph: Malcolm Richards His membership of the Prince of Wales Committee and formerly of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Committee, of the CPRW Executive Committee and the Nature Conservancy's Committee for Wales indicate his considerable interest in environmental matters. It can be no surprise therefore that Dillwyn should have become Honorary General Secretary of the West Wales Field Society in 1958. In this latter capacity he worked with Ronald Lockley in the setting up and management of Skomer Island as a National Nature Reserve. In 1961 WWFS became the West Wales Naturalists' Trust through dissolution and reconstitution a painless process masterminded substantially by Dillwyn. For 18 years Dillwyn Miles continued as Hon. Gen. Secretary of the WWNT. During this period it was in no small measure due to his own efforts that the Trust functioned, expanded and secured many nature reserves including such gems as Cardigan Island, Dowrog Common and Goodwick Moor. Gam Tume also came to the Trust through Dillwyn's particular interest in archaeology. It was not only office situations that occupied Dillwyn in Trust matters and many will recollect most nostalgically the sunshine-blessed site meetings of management committees and others almost invariably involving the attendance of the Hon. Gen. Secretary complete with modest picnic and ample (inevitable) bottle of wine. I think that Dillwyn was particularly pleased with founding the Welsh Naturalists' Trusts Liaison Committee in 1967 currently the Association of Trusts for Nature Conservation in Wales. The united voice from this forum has proved of great value in a Wales context. It was no mean feat that Dillwyn, after his appointment as Managing Editor of Nature in Wales in 1970, was able to keep the journal going so admirably. This work meant a great deal of personal effort and, when seeking him out in the evening to discuss Trust matters, I often found him sat in his favourite chair at his Haverfordwest home assembling copy, checking proofs, and dealing with the multitudinous duties of such a post working mostly what are now considered to be unsocial hours.