Phil Drabble
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Phil Drabble OBE (born May 13, 1914) was a countryman, author and television presenter. Raised in the Black Country, he later lived in - and mostly wrote about - the countryside of north Worcestershire and at Abbots Bromley in south Staffordshire, making the 90 acre (360,000 m²) Goat Lodge nature reserve, a remnant of the ancient Forest of Needwood on a piece of woodland he purchased at the latter.
He began work as a factory- lad and rose to the board of Salters. At the age of 47, he abandoned that career and became a full- time writer.
He took few holidays, travelled abroad only a couple of times, and was proud to have never lived more than 20 miles form his place of birth.
He also presented the long- running TV series One Man and his Dog, a sheep dog competition, and wrote a local newspaper column for the Birmingham Evening Mail.
He was declared Midlander of the Year in 1992 and made an OBE in 1993.
Bibliography
- Weasel in My Meatsafe (1958)
- Badgers at My Window, Pelham Books, (1969)
- My Beloved Wilderness, Pelham Books, (1971)
- Phil Drabble's Country Scene, Pelham Books, (1974)
- Design for a Wilderness
- Pleasing Pets (1975)
- Country Seasons (with a foreword by Johnny Morris) Michael Joseph (1976)
- One Man and His Dog Michael Joseph (1978)
- Of Pedigree Unknown: Sporting & Working Dogs
- No Badgers in My Wood Michael Joseph (1979)
- Country Wise (1980)
- It's a Dog's Life, Michael Joseph (1983)
- Country Moods, Michael Joseph (1985) - A selection of his columns for The Birmingham Evening Mail.
- What Price the Countryside?, Michael Joseph (1985)
- My Wilderness in Bloom, Michael Joseph (1987)
- A Voice in the Wilderness, Pelham Books, (1991) - Autobiography.