David Blackford

David Blackford was born and brought up in the north Wiltshire market town of Malmesbury. Both his mother and father were born in the town, his mother's family having lived there since the time of the Athelstan and his father's family for many generations. His father began growing vegetables to feed the family and sold the surplus to supplement the family income. The enterprise prospered and later became a market garden business, selling flowers as well as vegetables.

David attended a local primary school in Malmesbury and then went to the town's Grammar School, leaving at the age of fifteen to help his father in the family business. The family moved to Foxham in the early 1950s where they bought a smallholding which David farmed, at first with pigs and then with a small herd of Ayrshire cows. He never married and, apart from his move from Malmesbury to Foxham, his whole life was spent within his native Wiltshire, initially with his parents, and then alone.

David was a keen wildlife conservationist and naturalist being especially enthusiastic about the preservation of wild flowers, but his knowledge of all aspects of wildlife was impressive. He had particular skills in hedging and ditching and instructed others in these crafts at the appropriate time of year. He was involved with a team in recording the whereabout of all Wiltshire's wild flowers, studying the area of Foxham and the surrounding countryside as far as Calne. This work resulted in the publication of the "Wiltshire Flora" which was edited by his close friend, Beatrice Gillam. David was always anxious to point out that he was not a clever man and had had a limited amount of schooling, but he was a great reader and his many talents were hidden behind his shy modesty. He also had a rich source of information on dialect words and was as keen to remember and record these as he was on the preservation of the local flora and fauna.

Wild flowers and wildlife in general can often be disregarded but, in his own quiet way, like the wildlife he loved, David Blackford made an invaluable contribution to Foxham and to Wiltshire.