Douglas Whyte - OT 926 - West

Douglas died on 18 December 2017 aged 64. He studied Geology and Chemistry at college and Birmingham University and worked for a number of companies involved in oil exploration in the North Sea, Pakistan, Borneo, and briefly in Japan. In the mid-eighties he left the oil industry and joined the National Trust where ultimately he became the Warden at The Vyne at Sherborne St John. Allan Dodds saw his name as the licensee there and made a point of meeting him. He and Misako had three daughters, Mariko, Canna and Shuna. In the late nineties he was appointed Administrator for the Corfe Castle area and later became responsible for the entire Studland area. During his time at Corfe he started to develop what was a precursor to leukaemia. He resigned from the National Trust and, having developed an interest in ecology, he carried out field work for organisations such as Footprint Ecology based in Dorset. His hobbies were many and varied, beekeeping being one he enjoyed most. He became a major figure in bee keeping in the Wareham district, lecturing on the Kingston Maurward College beekeeping courses. Funeral arrangements not known at the time of writing.

Further information about Douglas and his life will appear in the next edition of The Gazette.