Green Heroes – Richard Brook dedicates two decades to providing safe havens for birds

Dec 31 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

All week we’ve been looking at our town’s Green Heroes – the people or groups who go that extra mile to protect the environment and wildlife. Today JOANNE DOUGLAS takes a look at the work of one Almondbury man who provides a haven for birds.

THEY are a part of our community who need a little extra help at this time of year.

But Almondbury man Richard Brook has been helping them for more than two decades.

The retired builder started making nest and bird boxes using scraps of wood more than 20 years ago.

And they’ve been something of a haven for owls, sparrows and blue tits over the years.

A former plumber and electrician, he stumbled upon the idea after seeing birds in the garden of his home.

He built a couple of bird boxes and went to check up on them and discovered the birds were using them.

So he began to build more and donated them to a local farm.

He was then called on to provide bird boxes and dovecotes for a bird sanctuary in Barnsley and Rotherham and for a farm in Derby.

Mr Brook, 71, said: “I have two sources of wood to make them – waste and recycled – so it all comes from the natural environment.

“I just started by putting a few round my home and then gave some to a farm down Lumb Lane in Almondbury.

“There’s a few owl boxes down there and they do use them.”

Research shows the countryside and natural nesting sites for birds are diminishing to make way for housing, roads and industrial development.