Meet our members - John Webber

Emma Chaplin
, 09 December 2020
Meet our members - John Webber
John Webber by Zoe Webber

John and his wife Clare live in Lewes. They’ve been Joint Members of Sussex Wildlife Trust for five years.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you first became interested in wildlife

I grew up on the edge of Southampton within easy reach of the countryside and I loved it.

I was adopted, but nonetheless ‘inherited’ my mother’s love of the natural world and her lifelong habit of feeding wild birds.  We spent a lot of time in the New Forest. I loved seeing the semi-wild ponies and learning to identify trees and birds with her.

In my 20s, I started to volunteer with the British Trust for Ornithology, doing field surveys. And when I was working with Oxford University, I got a permit to study badgers in Wytham Wood. I became very interested in conservation, and my friends and I set up Oxford Conservation Volunteers, which became affiliated with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers.

What are your favourite wild places?

We love Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Southerham Farm and Malling Down Nature Reserves in Lewes, and the informed care that’s been taken here. And it’s a real privilege to have an allotment in Coombe Valley. Every season is so glorious. We must have walked there 5,000 times during the 35 years that we have lived in Lewes.

Southerham snow6

Southerham Farm Nature Reserve in the snow

What’s lifted your spirits this year?

The natural world. Lockdown meaning it was quieter, with fewer cars, planes and trucks.

It lifted my spirits to see so many other people respond in the same way.

I created a website to capture some of the dawn chorus and various other natural wonders during this year's extraordinary spring. It had a slightly wider geographical range than Michael Blencowe’s amazingly rich exploration of his garden, but almost all of it is based either in the Pells in Lewes or the neighbouring abandoned wetlands at the end of our road about a hundred yards from our house. 

That said, as spring melted into summer, I even allowed myself to cross the Ouse to capture a sunrise in the delightful wild flower meadows of the South Malling churchyard. 

The site is called simply Noticing (link below) which was all I was doing really.

It has a number of short video clips with the dawn as a sound track during each month of the year, but also several photographic sequences. I became in awe of the simple unfurling of different species of tree leaves. 

Tell us what you’re looking forward to in 2021

Another spring! Watching how it will be similar and different. I’m studying the reedbeds in the Pells and plan to talk with the Trust about what might be of interest there. I believe the 10 acres of untouched wetland are likely to include some valuable habitat. 

We will meet friends and family outdoors through the winter. Our grandchildren have got used to being outdoors in all weathers.

We’d like to visit more of the Trust’s nature reserves too.

Our daughter now lives in Keswick in the Lake District and our son and family live in Norfolk, so we have reasons for also exploring both of those lovely areas, but Sussex is our home and we are very grateful for the Trust’s work to protect key parts of it.

John's blog - johnsweb.org

 

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783124313.47920 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783124313.50520.026Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783124313.50530.0001Server address: 216.73.217.177
1783124313.50530Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783124313.50530Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/meet-our-members-john-webber
    [s] => meet-our-members-john-webber
    [1] => meet-our-members-john-webber
)
1783124313.50560.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783124313.50630.0007 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783124313.50770.0014 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783124313.50810.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783124313.51010.0019 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22590685
1783124313.51060.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22590685
1783124313.51110.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-04 00:18:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-04 00:18:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783124313.51220.0011 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='meet-our-members-john-webber')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 00:18:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783124313.51470.0024 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783124313.51510.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2398 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 00:18:00'
1783124313.51580.0007 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783124313.51630.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783124313.51690.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=195 LIMIT 1
1783124313.51740.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=227 LIMIT 1
1783124313.51790.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783124313.51810.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783124313.51910.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 00:18:00' AND postSlug='meet-our-members-john-webber'
1783124313.53960.0205Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783124313.54010.0005 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783124313.54120.0011Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783124313.54140.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783124313.54210.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783124313.54350.0014 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783124313.54640.0029 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783124313.54690.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783124313.54880.0019Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783124313.54880 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783124313.54960.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783124313.55010.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783124313.55270.0026 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783124313.55360.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783124313.55440.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783124313.55710.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783124313.55780.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783124313.560.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783124313.56040.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783124313.56070.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783124313.56130.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783124313.56170.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='meet-our-members-john-webber')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 00:18:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783124313.56360.0019 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783124313.5640.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783124313.56640.0024Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783124313.56730.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2398 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783124313.62030.053 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783124313.62040.0001Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783124313.62060.0001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783124313.62130.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783124313.62190.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783124313.62240.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783124313.62430.0019 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783124313.62480.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783124313.62650.0017 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783124313.62740.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783124313.62790.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783124313.62820.0003 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783124313.63050.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783124313.6310.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783124313.63290.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783124313.6370.004 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783124313.63760.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783124313.6380.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783124313.64010.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783124313.64050.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783124313.64220.0017 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783124313.6440.0018 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783124313.64460.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783124313.6450.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783124313.64690.002 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783124313.64740.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783124313.64920.0017 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783124313.65010.001Request time: 0.1731
1783124313.65020Process time: 0.173
1783124313.65020Memory: 1.6279