Keith Mason

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Summary

Based on the interview recorded on 18 January 2006. It reflects the interviewee’s life and memories at that time.

Keith Mason’s memories offer a wonderful glimpse into the rich wildlife and quiet pleasures of life around Fownhope’s Common Hill. Born in Hereford in 1930, Keith and his wife moved to Fownhope in 1966, settling at a cottage they renamed “The Sett.” Surrounded by four and a half acres of meadow and orchard, it proved the perfect place for someone whose lifelong passion was birds and the natural world.

Keith’s fascination with wildlife began in childhood. Like many boys of his generation, he started by collecting birds’ eggs, but that early curiosity soon grew into a deep and lasting love of nature. Living on Common Hill gave him endless opportunities to observe wildlife at close quarters. Deer frequently wandered through the lanes at night, sometimes even pausing on his lawn as he drove home. On summer evenings he would sometimes sleep outside in the meadow, accompanied by one of the family dogs and the sounds of the countryside around him.

The area was rich with birds and wildflowers. Keith recalls seeing hawfinches, redpolls feeding in the birch trees, and grasshopper warblers “reeling” in rough grass nearby. The orchard produced cowslips, orchids such as twayblade, and even the unusual adder’s-tongue fern. Glow worms once shone along the bank below the Folly, while marbled white butterflies drifted across the nearby nature reserve.

Keith also played a long and active role in local natural history groups. He joined the Herefordshire Ornithological Club when it was founded in the early 1950s and remained involved for decades, helping organise speakers and events. One memorable highlight was persuading the well-known naturalist Bill Oddie to give a talk that filled the theatre and raised funds for the club.

Although Keith describes himself as more interested in the countryside than village affairs, his observations have helped capture the natural history of the area for future generations. Through his keen eyes and enthusiasm, the fields, woods and river around Fownhope come alive with birdsong, butterflies and the quiet wonders of the local landscape.