John Franklin

December 17th 2020

No year should end with sad news but this year continues to take more than it gives.

Our friend John Franklin has passed away due to covid complications.

John wasn’t just a volunteer, he was a shoulder anyone could lean on. You didn’t even need to ask, he’d just be there ready to listen to any problem you had. He’d encourage and support, and not judge. You couldn’t know John and not like him, John found many friends in BCV.

He volunteered not only with BCV but also The Wildlife Trust, and the Trust’s Men in Sheds group, a group that helps isolated men find a place and a purpose in the community. John’s ability to connect with people helped these lost individuals open up and find themselves, he probably saved many men from lives of misery and despair with just a few simple words.

John was someone whose friendship and humanity should be aspired to by everyone. His loss is a tragedy for his family, friends, the community and all who knew him. Love and condolences to John’s family, we are all thinking of you.

John’s funeral was on 7th January, at 12:00 noon at the west chapel, Overdale Cemetery. Only a limited number of people was allowed to attend, 10 family and 9 from the volunteer groups John was part of.

The family has asked for donations to be made to the British Lung Foundation in John’s memory, if that is something you would like to do.

11/04/21 – Planting John’s Orchard
As a mark of remembrance the Wildlife Trust decided to dedicate part of Seven Acres Country Park to John Franklin. The site was one of one’s favourite parts of the Country Park and he would often visit it with his wife, Evelyn.

Eighty trees, including hornbeam and birch, and various fruit trees, were planted across 2 days by members of John’s family and members of the various groups John was a part of, including BCV. There are also plans to install a bench at a later date. Photos have been added below along with photos of John working with BCV.

Many thanks to everyone who has left comments below.

Halloween Hall of Horrors


‘Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood
And do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on.

-Hamlet-


For the last few years BCV has held Halloween themed tasks to celebrate the season of the witch, but with this year’s real global horror story limiting our undead lives, our ghoul fest has had to be chopped down in size. So, to remind us all how zombies danced and werewolves howled here’s a few creepy pics from previous years. Here’s to raising spirits.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Parker

Congratulations to BCV Chairman, co-ordinator, newt wrangler, and hedge jedi, Rick Parker on reaching the age of 70 on 9th September. Richard Parker, not to be confused with the the tiger of the same name in The Life of Pi, although just as impressive, was born at a young age and immediately started to grow to an outlandish height. After graduating with a useful qualification he found work at the NHS where it wasn’t much use to him at all. But, he also joined the fledgling Bolton Conservation Volunteers and in 1986 took over the operation and whipped a disparate team of misfits into a credible force for conservation.

Rick, took BCV to new heights of success winning multiple awards along the way such as, BMBC’s The Golden Elephant Award, Bolton News Green Hero Award (twice), The Cabinet Office’s Points of Light Award, to name a few, and more free meals than anyone has ever seen.

Rick is an acknowledge expert on amphibians and dragonflies and not only has given lectures to the great and learned he has also appeared in full colour on the radio, written stuff for books, and on occasion has hob nobbed with royalty.. or so he says. Rick’s conservation expertise and ability to talk to anyone non-stop has been key to his success at what he does.

Since ‘retiring’ from the depths of the the hospital he has carved out a career as a freelance hedge jedi, and was the first National Hedgelaying Society Accredited hedge layer in Greater Manchester. He also spends time teaching Bolton’s younglings the way of the newt at various schools around the borough… AND continues to co-ordinate BCV activities. That’s 70 years well spent.

Rick’s Rickisms are legendary and we pull his leg and dig his ribs, but BCV is BCV because of Rick and we wouldn’t have Rick any other way. Happy 70th Birthday from everyone, Rick, may the sun always shine on your pond.

Welcome to the New Website

The BCV website has changed. Our previous site ran for 14 years but over time became harder and harder to maintain, so now we have something new. Unlike the old site this one is fully compatible across all devices, regular visitors will also notice some other changes. At the moment there are no photo galleries and many of the other pages are also missing, hopefully this will change over the coming months as we decide what to keep and what to compost. In the meantime task photos will appear on the Norman Newt’s blog along with write ups of each task and also other news items as they arise. There is also no contact form although contact details are listed on the sidebar, and finally the task page doesn’t have many tasks on it, this is due to the covid-19 pandemic, tasks are still being planned. Please see the Joining Tasks page and/or contact Rick for more info. This is also the last outing of Norman the Newt as our new logo is now in use. Norman will return for special occasions though.
As things are a bit bare I’ll be including some retrospective stories as I get better acquainted with the editing tools.