Dorothy Hardy
A national park volunteer has been appointed an MBE for her services to conservation.
Dorothy Hardy gained the award in the New Year’s Honours after a lifetime as a Northumberland national park ranger and conservation worker.
Ms Hardy joined the Northumberland National Park Voluntary Ranger Service in the spring of 1960 with her husband, Trevor and both have served for 51 years.
A spokesperson for Northumberland National Park Authority said: “The husband and wife team enthusiastically involved themselves in a wide area of voluntary activity in the national park from practical conservation tasks to engaging with visitors and local people.
“Summer and winter, the Hardys have been familiar figures out in the wild, rugged landscape of Northumberland national park, volunteering in all weathers.
“Their greatest contribution has been to use their detailed knowledge of the Northumberland countryside, alongside their extensive and complementary skills in geology and botany, to collect data on flora and fauna, greatly aiding the national park authority and other organisations in expanding the recorded data of wildlife for this remote and distinctive area of the country, and in the conservation and enhancement of its special habitats.
“These include whin grasslands, ancient woodlands, haymeadows, heather moorlands and extensive blanket bogs.
“Dorothy has put her extensive knowledge of botany to good use by surveying the flora of Northumberland for the Botanical Society of the British Isles as well as surveying Kidland, Harwood Shield and Tone Hall for the Botanical Atlas of the British Isles.
“Her enthusiasm and dedication has never waned.”
Dorothy Hardy, who was appointed an MBE in the 2012 New Year's Honours, with her husband Trevor
Ms Hardy has also been a member of Northumberland Wildlife Trust since 1970 where she has been involved in organising and supervising coaching, and she is a member of the Northumberland Natural History Society. She also served as a magistrate on the bench for Newcastle-upon-Tyne for 13 years.
The couple, now in their 80s, have retired from the voluntary ranger service but continue to do voluntary work in the national park and were recently given the Curlew Award by the national park authority for their outstanding contribution.
National park authority chief executive Tony Gates said: “We are really pleased that one of Northumberland national park’s volunteers has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours List for a service to conservation that has been given freely, quietly and passionately for over half a century.
“Both Dorothy and Trevor deserve our thanks, and it is heartwarming that Dorothy has also been acknowledged by the nation.”
