Meet the NYMR’s conservation officer
■ Heritage Railway (HR): What attracted you to the role?
■ Kerry Fieldhouse (KF): There were several things. I know the area reasonably well as my in-laws have lived there for more than 10 years.
I have visited frequently – the railway has always been a feature of that, especially once I had children. Standing on the platform watching the trains depart was hugely exciting for little Thomas fans!
My passions and my work have tended to flip-flop between the ecology and engaging people with the outdoors. This job is the perfect combination of those two things.
It’s very much about managing the lineside effectively for the railway, but also enhancing it for biodiversity and wildlife. Equally, it’s about engaging our visitors, all our stakeholders,partners,
neighbours and other heritage lines in understanding and appreciating what the landscape is, what the wildlife is and how we work to conserve it. It’s not just about getting on with managing our habitats well. It’s really about teaching people about that process and helping them to appreciate it.
I doubt many visitors really understand the diversity of the habitats they move through when they’re on the train. That’s our primary focus – once you’re on the train, you’ve actually got quite a long wildlife corridor through the window. It would be nice to understand what it is you’re staring at.
The project is a lovely mix of that. It’s about wildlife and conservation, and it’s about community and people. I really like that, so that drove me to it.
Also, I like the fact it’s brand new. Together, as a team, we can forge where we’re going – I find that exciting!
■ HR: When did you start in the post?
■ KF: The end of November 2019. I was just beginning to work out what it was all about in terms of walking the lineside, looking at maps, figuring out how a railway works and what the key needs of a lineside are from a health and safety perspective, as well as the key concerns – then Covid-19 struck.
While the pandemic has paused elements of the project, we’ve still managed to make progress. In terms of getting to understand the lineside and the people that work the line, it’s really starting to blossom.
■ HR: What’s been the highlight of you role so far?
■ KF: Two things spring to mind. One is how incredibly receptive everyone has been to the project. That’s been really lovely. I expected there to be some resistance along the line of ‘we’ve happily done it this way for 50 years – why do we need to do it differently now?!’ It hasn’t happened yet.
The extent of the habitats and diversity of the species is even more varied than I imagined. From the lichens and the ferns to the rare butterflies and the adders, slow worms and lizards, and the gorgeous birds, such as the buzzards... it’s just beautiful!
Being on a railway is also exciting – it feels quite naughty. For someone who’s not used to railways, you’re told never to walk off the end of a platform, yet now with my my Personal Track Safety competency certification and orange jacket I get to walk along it as part of my job.
Because the wildlife at the lineside is not very used to seeing people, it’s quite calm around you.
■ HR: Tell us briefly about your career to date. I believe your experiences shape your attitudes and beliefs.
■ KF: When I was younger, I loved being outside. My parents took us out all the time. We were always visiting places or playing outside somewhere. We all had a natural draw to the outdoors. I knew from a young age that that’s where I wanted to be – sitting an office full-time would not be for me.
I think I was aged 11 when my mum told me about nature conservation. I was hooked – I wanted to be a conservationist.
I’ve had many different jobs, but they’ve tended to vary between either conservation, being out in the countryside monitoring and observing things, or engaging people and taking part in conservation. Any job that blends both of those is my favourite.
I enjoyed working for Leeds City Council for many years as its species conservation officer. That involved surveying and understanding where the protected or rare species were and then advising my colleagues if there were any works planned in how to do it in the least disturbing way.
I spent the last five years teaching schoolchildren about seabirds for the RSPB. It involved engaging children and their teachers in the wildlife around the coast.
I guess what I really wanted was – back to my kick – ecology, getting back close to nature. This role involved ecology, surveying, wildlife-focused work, and also engagement with people.