It is our sad duty to advise everyone of the passing of Moragh Stirling, after a short illness. For those who did not know her, Moragh was our second catchment co-ordinator for the Loddon Catchment Partnership, between 2017 and 2020. Moragh was active in the catchment even before taking on her role with the catchment partnership. She assisted with initial excavations on the Arborfield By-pass channel, helping to manually dig under some of the willow boughs that the machinery couldn't reach, creating many of the features that typify the nature of this fish pass. Her ability to 'muck-in' was much appreciated by all present.
During her time at the South East Rivers Trust as the lead for the catchment partnership she helped to consolidate its role around the Loddonworking closely not only with the local statutory bodies and authorities but also liaising with riparian landowners at the individual level. She was instrumental in pushing forward the Charvil Backwater creation, whilst conducting much of the background planning for the Emmbrook project at Woosehill, which will hopefully come too fruition in the next year or two. She wasshowing a continued interest in this scheme very recently.
The partnership work also maintained her past links with the University of Reading, closely supporting the late Professor Joanna Clark with the Landwise Natural Flood Management initiative, and the Loddon Observatory. This latter platform helped to introduce student teams to collaborative engagement with local
issues. Some of these teams benefited from Moraghs drive, on rare occasions even encountering an alternative to the more diplomatic approach.
Moragh went on to work on the Watercress and Winterbourne project in Hampshire and finally joined the Environment Agency two years ago. Her drive, wisdom, enthusiasm and humour will be missed by all who encountered her.