Our region has no shortage of beautiful green spaces. No one knows more about this than Richie. He's celebrating 50 years of promoting the environment on Merseyside. Richie began his career working for Liverpool parks and gardens in 1973. Even though he’s retired, he hasn’t lost his love for Liverpool’s green spaces.
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00:00 Richie Baker, or Richie the Ranger as he's known, is celebrating 50 years of promoting
00:07 the environment on Merseyside. We met up with him in Sefton Park.
00:12 Out of all the parks, this is my favourite park. I was the park ranger here for many,
00:18 many years and what a joy it was to do as well. We used to do all the guizers walks
00:22 in the park, all the big events we'd be involved in. We'd also organise all the environmental
00:29 education. Just a great asset and I'm proud to be associated with it for all the years
00:33 that I've spent here. Even now, it still gives me great joy just to come here and enjoy the
00:39 beauty of our great Sefton Park. Richie says his love for the natural world
00:43 started at a young age. I was actually born down Scotland Road and
00:48 in the 50s there wasn't a single blade of grass down Scotland Road, nothing at all.
00:53 But then eventually we moved up to Walton and lo and behold we had a garden. Now my
00:57 dad sadly, he was in a wheelchair and I can remember the day when we were sort of sitting
01:01 in the back garden, it was all overgrown and my dad said to me, "Now with my brain son
01:06 and your brawn, we're going to transform this garden." And I was only 12 at the time and
01:11 he started to teach me little things about plants and how to garden and how to dig and
01:16 things like this, you know. And I got a bit of a love for nature then.
01:20 His career began at working for Liverpool Parks and Gardens in 1973.
01:25 Now that very year that I started, they had a theme in the city and it was plant a tree
01:30 in '73 and there was no trees in the city centre, it was all very concretey then. So
01:35 we went in that winter, we went round everywhere planting trees here, there and everywhere
01:39 and now with my years in there, I can see all these trees being fully mature and I look
01:44 at them and think, "I planted that." And it only seems like yesterday, you know.
01:49 As well as working at St John's Garden, he was involved in many projects such as the
01:53 1984 Garden Festival and for more than 20 years he's also worked on a programme for
01:58 local radio.
02:00 Even now I consider myself so blessed, you know, because I used to say to people that
02:03 people come to the park for rest and recreation, but I was paid to come to the park every day.
02:10 Richie retired from working for Liverpool City Council more than a decade ago after
02:15 40 years of service. Setting up his own small venture to carry on promoting the environment
02:21 on Merseyside and this involves education, giving talks to local groups and guided walks.
02:27 It's great because people just love getting out in our great parks and learning what's
02:31 on your doorstep. Also, when I'm doing these walks, I always learn a little bit of people
02:36 who've got their own little smattering of knowledge and their own memories of the park.
02:40 So, you know, I can say truthfully, it's been a fabulous 50 years promoting the environment
02:45 on Merseyside and I'm looking forward to the next 50.
02:49 Richie's enthusiasm has certainly rubbed off on his own family, with his son now working
02:54 in the parks himself. And when he's not putting on his own walks, he still enjoys days out
02:59 in nature with his daughter and granddaughter.