Robin Grove-White

Last updated

Robin Grove-White (born 1941) is an Anglo-Irish Welsh environmentalist, and academic, Emeritus Professor of Environment and Society at Lancaster University. Grove-White Chairs the board of the Institute for Study of Welsh Estates (ISWE) at Bangor University. He is also involved in local organisations such as Menter Mechell and Cymdeithas Hanes Mechell and is president of the Anglesey Antiquarian Society. [1] In 2018 he was awarded an honorary fellowship for Services to the Community at Bangor University [2]

Contents

Personal life

Grove-White was born in Dublin and raised on Anglesey, Wales, the son of William Grove-White, descended from the Bulkeley family of landowners and residing at Brynddu (rebuilt 1690) near Llanfechell. [3] He attended Worcester College, Oxford.

Robin Grove-White is married to the artist Helen Grove-White (née Smith) and they have three children; Ruth, Simon and Francis. Robin Grove-White has another child, Will Grove-White, a member of George Hinchcliffe's Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, from his first marriage to the writer Virginia Ironside [4]

Career

From 1963-1968 he became a freelance scriptwriter, for the television series TW3 (That Was the Week that Was), a satirical programme hosted by David Frost and featuring Ned Sherrin, Willie Rushton and Lance Percival. Other work was in TV, radio, cabaret, film, and advertising in UK, US and Canada (including 'The Establishment' (London), 'The Frost programme' (ITV), 'Marty' (TV series), This Hour Has Seven Days (CBCTV), The Second City (Chicago), and McCann-Erickson (Toronto & London). [5]

In his late 20s he returned to complete his degree at the University of Oxford in politics, economics and philosophy (Worcester College, Oxford 1971). This led him into rural protection and environmental campaigning with the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (1972-1981, then Director, 1981-1987). He was Chair of the Board of Greenpeace UK until 2004. [6]

After a short spell at Imperial College he moved to Lancaster University in 1989 as a research fellow, eventually becoming Professor of Environment and Society. He established the Centre for the Study of Environmental Change (CSEC) in 1991, to focus on problems of contemporary environmental knowledge and policy development. The centre now resides in the Sociology Department but it was highly active in environmental research, achieving a 5* research rating in the 1990s, with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Health and Safety Executive, and the European Environment Agency. Other important members and collaborators included Prof. Brian Wynne, Prof. Elizabeth Shove, Simon Shackley, Bron Szerszynski, Prof. Claire Waterton and Prof. Phil Macnaghten. [7] He was a member of the Government's Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission.

Grove-White retired in 2006 and moved back to the family farm in Llanfechell, Anglesey, initiating several environmental improvements. He completed a PhD in History in 2011 at Bangor University, with a thesis entitled Welsh, English - or British? Hugh Hughes and late sixteenth-century Anglesey. [8] This was later published by the Anglesey Antiquarian Society. [9]

He served as High Sheriff of Anglesey and Gwynedd in 2011–12. [10] In Llanfechell he helped initiate the community hub venture, Caffi Siop Mechell. [11] He has also received a honorary doctorate from the University of Bath.

Contributions

Grove-White's career is dedicated to the challenge of a viable future in the face of environmental and technological change. As an academic he strove to develop social science-based approaches to 'environmental' research, using 'sociology of knowledge' frameworks linking university centres with wider society. His main contributions there were to the public understanding of science, attitudes towards genetic engineering, local economic development, and spirituality and nature. He continues to agitate.

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos</span> Welsh politician

Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos, was a Welsh Labour Party politician, usually associated with the moderate wing of the party. He was also regarded, particularly in later years, as a non-political figure of stature in Wales having held posts of importance in bodies such as the University of Wales.

Richard Cyril Hughes was a Welsh educator, writer and historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Urry (sociologist)</span> British sociologist (1946–2016)

John Richard Urry was a British sociologist who served as a professor at Lancaster University. He is noted for work in the fields of the sociology of tourism and mobility.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1862 to Wales and its people.

Brian Wynne is Professor Emeritus of Science Studies and a former Research Director of the Centre for the Study of Environmental Change (CSEC) at the Lancaster University. His education includes an MA, PhD, MPhil. His work has covered technology and risk assessment, public risk perceptions, and public understanding of science, focusing on the relations between expert and lay knowledge and policy decision-making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambrian Archaeological Association</span> Welsh historical society

The Cambrian Archaeological Association was founded in 1846 to examine, preserve and illustrate the ancient monuments and remains of the history, language, manners, customs, arts and industries of Wales and the Welsh Marches and to educate the public in such matters. The association's activities include sponsoring lectures, field visits, and study tours; as well as publishing its journal, Archaeologia Cambrensis, and monographs. It also provides grants to support research and publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanfairpwllgwyngyll</span> Village on Anglesey, Wales

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll or Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, often shortened to Llanfairpwll and sometimes to Llanfair PG, is a village and community on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. It is located on the Menai Strait, next to the Britannia Bridge. At the 2011 Census the population was 3,107, of whom 71% could speak Welsh. In 2021, the population decreased to 2,900. It is the sixth largest settlement in the county by population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Owen Stanley</span> British politician

Hon. William Owen Stanley was a British Liberal Party politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Bodewryd</span> Church in Wales

St Mary's Church, Bodewryd is a small medieval church in the hamlet of Bodewryd, in Anglesey, north Wales. The date of construction is unknown, but there was a church on this site in 1254 and the earliest feature to which a date can be given is a doorway in a 15th-century style dating to around 1500. When the church was restored in 1867 after being struck by lightning, stained glass with Islamic-influenced patterns was included in the windows, a requirement of Lord Stanley of Alderley, the church's benefactor, who was a convert to Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Fflewin's Church, Llanfflewin</span> Church in Anglesey, Wales

St Fflewin's Church, Llanfflewin is a small rural church, situated by a farm in Anglesey, Wales. The first church on the site is said to have been built by St Fflewin in 630, but the present building has no structural features dating from before the 18th century, although the church has a font from the 14th or 15th century and part of an inscribed medieval gravestone has been reused in a window sill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Gallgo's Church, Llanallgo</span> Church in Wales

St Gallgo's Church, Llanallgo is a small church near the village of Llanallgo, on the east coast of Anglesey, north Wales. The chancel and transepts, which are the oldest features of the present building, date from the late 15th century, but there has been a church on the site since the 6th or early 7th century, making it one of the oldest Christian sites in Anglesey. Some restoration and enlargement took place during the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanfechell</span> Village in Anglesey, Wales

Llanfechell is a village in Anglesey, Wales. It is the largest of several small villages and dispersed settlements that make up Mechell Community Council area. It is 11 miles (18 km) east of Holyhead, and 5.6 miles (9 km) west of Amlwch, in the north of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo</span> Church in Anglesey, Wales

The Old Church of St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo is a medieval ruined church near Dulas, in Anglesey, Wales, perhaps built in the 15th century to replace another church from which only the 12th-century font survived. Dedicated to Gwenllwyfo, a 7th-century female saint about whom nothing else is known, it was used as a chapel of ease for the church in Amlwch, about 5 miles (8 km) away. Restored in 1610 and again in the 18th and 19th centuries, it contained an oak screen and pulpit from 1610.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Edern's Church, Bodedern</span> Church in Wales

St Edern's Church, Bodedern is a medieval parish church in the village of Bodedern, in Anglesey, north Wales. Although St Edern established a church in the area in the 6th century, the oldest parts of the present building date from the 14th century. Subsequent alterations include the addition of some windows in the 15th century, and a chancel, transept and porch in the 19th century, when the nave walls were largely rebuilt. Stained glass was also inserted into the windows of the chancel and transept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Beuno's Church, Aberffraw</span> Church in Wales

St Beuno's Church, Aberffraw is a 12th-century parish church in Anglesey, north Wales. A church was established in Aberffraw in the 7th century by St Beuno, who became the abbot of Clynnog Fawr, Gwynedd. St Beuno's may have been used as a royal chapel during the early Middle Ages, as the Princes of Gwynedd had a royal court in Aberffraw, as part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. The oldest parts of the church date from the 12th century, although it was considerably enlarged in the 16th century when a second nave was built alongside the existing structure, with the wall in between replaced by an arcade of four arches. Restoration work in 1840 uncovered a 12th-century arch in the west wall, which may have been the original chancel arch or a doorway to a western tower that has been lost. The church also has a 13th-century font, some memorials from the 18th century, and two 18th-century copper collecting shovels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen</span> Church in Wales

St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen, is a 19th-century parish church near the Menai Strait, in Anglesey, north Wales. The first church was founded here by St. Edwen in 640, but the present structure dates from 1856 and was designed by Henry Kennedy, the architect of the Diocese of Bangor. It contains some memorials from the 17th and 18th centuries and a reading desk that reuses panel work from the 14th and 17th centuries. The 18th-century historian Henry Rowlands was vicar here, and is buried in the churchyard. The church is on land that forms part of the Plas Newydd estate, home of the family of the Marquess of Anglesey since 1812 and owned by the National Trust. Some of the Marquesses of Anglesey, and some of their employees, are also buried in the churchyard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Enghenedl's Church, Llanynghenedl</span> Church in Wales

St Enghenedl's Church, Llanynghenedl, is a former parish church in Anglesey, north Wales, dedicated to the son of a 6th-century King of Powys. According to the 19th-century antiquarian Angharad Llwyd, the first church in Llanynghenedl was erected in about 620. A new church was erected in 1862, replacing a building that the 19th-century clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones noted as dating in part from the late 13th or early 14th century, based on the decorations on the south doorway. The church later fell into disuse as a result of the growth of the nearby village of Valley and the church there. In 1988, St Enghenedl's was dismantled and re-erected as an extension to St Mihangel's, Llanfihangel yn Nhowyn, so that St Mihangel's could serve as the church for RAF Valley. The former churchyard of St Enghenedl's is still visible but is now overgrown.(The churchyard is being cared for and no longer overgrown 2020 update)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechell, Anglesey</span> Community in Anglesey, Wales

Mechell is a community in the north of the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Llanfechell is the largest village within the community area. Tregele, Llanfflewyn, Mynydd Mechell, Bodewryd, Rhosbeirio and Carreglefn have a more dispersed settlement pattern. The antiquity of these settlements is shown by the presence of 6 medieval churches and some 16 more ancient sites dating back into prehistory.

References

  1. "Who Are We". Anglesey Antiquarian Society. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  2. "Bangor University announces new Honorary Fellows".
  3. "Brynddu and the Diaries". www.cymdeithashanesmechell.co.uk.
  4. Who's Who. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U18348.
  5. Post, North Wales Daily (17 January 2008). "Robin Grove-White lives the wild life".
  6. "CSEC, Lancaster University - Robin Grove-White". csec.lancs.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007.
  7. http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/centres/csec/docs/wising_upmacnaghten.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  8. Grove-White, Robin. "Welsh, English or British? Hugh Hughes and late sixteenth-century Anglesey". Bangor University website. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  9. Grove-White, Robin (20 March 2020). A Prism for his times: Late-Tudor Anglesey & Hugh Hughes of Plas Coch. Llangefni, Anglesey: Anglesey Antiquarian Society. ISBN   978-0-9568769-1-1 . Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  10. "High Sheriff calls for support following round-Anglesey walk". Crimebeat North Wales. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  11. "Caffi Siop Mechell".