102
Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 51
Walter George Thurlow 1924–2015 George was the youngest of three children born in Ipswich and brought up in Suffolk. Aged six George moved with the family to Stonham Aspal and then to Stowmarket where in 1947 he met his wife Pat. They married in 1948 and in 1952 he converted a disused Ipswich Corporation trolley bus to a four roomed dwelling which was sited at the Brick Kiln, Needham Market. George described himself as a ‘naturalist, and with a pioneering spirit’ and said he found living in the ‘Suffolk bush’ enjoyable and rewarding. George showed an interest in wildlife from a very young age by keeping imaginary lions in the garden and always took an interest in natural history. He was a fellow of the Zoological Society and joined the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society in 1947. His notes and observations (mainly in George collecting butterflies c. 1947 TSNS Vols. 7 & 8) show a wide range of interests with a particular focus on Lepidoptera. His collection of Butterflies and Moths is now at Ipswich Museum. He worked at ICI in Stowmarket, practiced archery, became a District Councillor and sang regularly. Whilst stationed in Norfolk during the war, George bought a book about Dartmoor and, having moved to Devon with Pat and their young family in 1960, found himself only a short distance away. Before long he was exploring Dartmoor which George recorded through photography and pen and ink drawings. His obsession grew and gradually the idea for a book evolved and took shape. George moved with his wife back to Suffolk in 1977 to live at the Brick Kiln taking over the caravan park there, but returned to Devon once more in 1985. Dartmoor was calling and his book was unfinished! In 1993 the first edition of Thurlow’s Dartmoor Companion was published and a second revised and updated edition in 2001. In 2004 George and Pat returned to Suffolk buying a house in the High Street at Needham Market and together spent their days exploring and reacquainting themselves with the county of their birth. George’s health slowly deteriorated and for the final months of his life lived with Pat at their daughter’s home in Onehouse where he passed away peacefully with family at his side. Jean Thurlow Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 51 (2015)