Ralph Whitlock was a Wiltshire farmer, broadcaster, conservationist, journalist and author of over 100 books.
16 Facts About Ralph Whitlock
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Ralph Whitlock was the son of a tenant farmer, the eldest of three children.
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Ralph Whitlock was later to chronicle the history of his native village in The Lost Village, which noted the changes in Pitton from the 1920s to the 1980s.
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Ralph Whitlock began writing for local newspapers in 1930 when he spotted a gap in the market, as the local press did not include coverage of his home village.
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In 1944, Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald, editor of The Field, invited Ralph Whitlock to submit a series of articles on farming.
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Ralph Whitlock occasionally wrote under the pseudonyms of Edwin Mould and Madge Reynolds.
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Ralph Whitlock's most lasting legacy is his prodigious output of books.
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Ralph Whitlock's first book, Peasant's Heritage, charted his father's experience at farming; much of the book is a narrative devoted to his father's life as a farm labourer.
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In each episode Ralph Whitlock would take young listeners on a tour through the farm, accompanied by his dog Towser.
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From 1947 to 1949 Ralph Whitlock presented a series on the Third Programme and Home Service, titled Bird Song of the Month, a forerunner of Tweet of the Day.
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Ralph Whitlock began working in farming after leaving school in 1930, working with his father Edwin 'Ted'.
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All the income Ralph Whitlock earned from writing was ploughed into the farm yet the overdraft grew and, when his father died in 1963, he left nothing.
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Four years after his father's death, Ralph Whitlock lost in a court battle with Wiltshire County Council and was evicted from the 50 acres he had farmed for 23 years.
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Ralph Whitlock was a founder trustee and honorary warden of the Bentley Wood Charitable Trust near West Dean, Wiltshire, a nature reserve which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
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In 1988 Ralph Whitlock was awarded a certificate of merit from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for his conservation work.
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On returning to the UK in 1973, Ralph Whitlock retired to Somerset but returned to Wiltshire ten years later, settling in Winterslow, a few miles from Pitton.