Meet Pete: Our longest serving member of staff
Each week we are going to tell you about the incredible journey of our staff and volunteers. This week we would like you to meet Pete Bullen, who is currently our longest serving member of staff and he is pictured here with a fashionable moustache, with Curator Janet Kear and Duke of Westminster.
How long have you worked at Martin Mere?
Since October 1976, starting on the Job Creation Programme at £28.50 a week!
What was the first job you did?
Initially I started off doing building and grounds maintenance, along with a lot of other spotty youths on the JCP!
How has your role changed over the years?
After I had finished my 52 weeks on the job creation programme, a member of staff was leaving the centre to go into higher education. I had already shown my interest in waterfowl, and when the job of junior warden came up, I became a permanent member of staff. I worked in aviculture for several years, but found myself doing more and more grounds and building maintenance to ensure enclosures remained duck-proof. I eventually took on my current job as Building Maintenance Manager. I’m also the Health and Safety Officer, which started many years ago when I was told to “Just keep an eye on the lads, make sure they don’t do anything stupid”!
What are your fondest memories from your time here?
Definitely meeting my wife, Ann, who worked in the gift shop here at Martin Mere. Her boss had actually told her “Avoid the lads that work outside, because they turn good girls into bad girls!” Fortunately she didn’t listen to him, and we’ve been married for 34 years.
Tells us something that your average visitor would never know about the Centre.
The pumping station is quite literally the heart of Martin Mere – it provides water for every one of the ponds in the grounds, and allows us to control the water level on the reserve so we can have higher levels in the winter for the swans and geese, and lower in the summer for the breeding wading birds. 24 hours a day, the 25 horsepower pump is running, pumping water from Langley’s brook through 9 inch pipes into the grounds and onto the reserve. The water circulates around the grounds and is discharged back into the brook.
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever found yourself doing for Martin Mere?
Lots of strange occurrences seem to involve the turf roof of the visitor centre – lying on the roof with Bill Oddie to identify the different plants up there was quite a strange experience, and of course we also had sheep up there for a publicity event in the early days of the centre!
What do you think Martin Mere will be like 40 years from now?
Hopefully it’ll continue to go from strength to strength, though there are lots of plans afoot to develop new, more interactive areas. I think there will probably be more free flying birds in aviaries, and possibly fewer birds, displayed in a better way.
