Posh Pete's legacy

Emyr Evans, Head of Dyfi Projects, explains why longstanding volunteer and friend  ‘Posh Pete’ (Peter Murdoch) chose to leave the Trust a gift in his Will - and what this legacy will mean for the Dyfi Osprey Project

I first met Pete in 2009. He wandered into the Dyfi Osprey Project one day and wanted to know about the project – that was back when we had practically no visitor facilities, just one portacabin – so I told him all about what we were doing there. 

Immediately, Pete was a very engaging, fill-the-room-with-enthusiasm sort of a person, so I thought he’d be great as a people engagement volunteer, and that’s how it all started.

In addition to engaging with members of the public, Pete also carried out many other, really useful jobs while he was here, including researching the history and heritage of the Dyfi Valley. Originally from the Midlands, Pete lived with his parents in Aberdyfi for many decades, so he was fascinated with the local area – but he was also really interested in the Ospreys and people.

Pete knew everybody! He had worked as a travelling salesman with a brewery for many years, so he’d met a lot of people. At the Dyfi Osprey Project we have visitors from all over the UK and overseas, and he would always either know them or someone they knew! Pete liked people and he could get on with anybody.

We didn’t just see Pete now and again. During the many years he volunteered, we saw him at least twice a week. He was a dear friend of mine. I was in The Gambia when he messaged me to let me know he wasn't feeling great; he sadly died a few days later. I was devastated.

Pete never married and didn’t have any children. Before he died, he told me that he was going to leave a substantial amount to the Dyfi Osprey Project. The project meant a lot to him – he loved it. He had a telescope in his house and he used to watch the Ospreys on the river from his living room. On a daily basis, he used his walkie-talkie to inform Alwyn, Janine and I of any ospreys he'd see on "Pete's Post" on the estuary. We miss that. 

Pete’s legacy is so much more than the gift he left us in his Will, but that money has safeguarded the conservation of the Dyfi Ospreys, the running and delivery of the Dyfi Osprey Project and Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve for the next five years and beyond.

• Find out more about the Dyfi Osprey Project and the Dyfi Wildlife Centre: www.dyfiospreyproject.com