Phil Drabble

Philip Percy Cooper Drabble OBE (13 May 1914 – 29 July 2007) was an English countryman, author and television presenter (notably One Man and His Dog).

Brought up in the Black Country, he later lived in – and wrote mostly about – the countryside of north Worcestershire and at Abbots Bromley in East Staffordshire, where he created a nature reserve.

At the age of 47 he became a full-time writer, and he and his wife Jess purchased a derelict folly-styled cottage and 90 acres (36 ha) of neglected ancient woodland in Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, a remnant of the Needwood Forest.

At its peak the BBC programme attracted more than 8 million viewers and even the Queen was a fan, asking Drabble for advice after her liberty budgies were attacked by hawks at Windsor.

Drabble, who also wrote a newspaper column for the Express & Star, took few holidays, travelled abroad only a couple of times, and was proud to have never lived more than 20 miles from his place of birth.