A WOODSMAN who moulded country parks across Essex so well that he was compared to landscaping legend Capability Brown has died, aged 86.
Nature-lover Vic Fisher started his career as a woodsman and keeper at Weald Country Park in Brentwood in 1953, earning £6 a week.
The father of four, who attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, ended up as parks manager for Essex County Council, retiring in 1977 before relocating to Norfolk.
Reflecting on her father's career, his youngest daughter, Anne Fisher, 53, said: "He moulded the parks across the county and was described as like Capability Brown."
Mr Fisher, a former Merchant Navy seaman, died in the company of his family on May 3 at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford after suffering a stroke on April 29.
His legacy can be seen in country parks across Essex but, according to Miss Fisher, Weald Country Park held a special place in his heart.
When he started out at the park in 1953, he brandished his billhook and scythe and began the task of clearing the area and thinning the forests with some gusto.
"There were no chainsaws back then," said Miss Fisher, who was born in the keeper's lodge at Weald Country Park.
"Everything was done by hand and with backbreaking hard work."
The retired care home manager added: "He loved nature and was incredibly knowledgeable on all things outdoors.
"He could talk for hours on the subject."
Miss Fisher said she will remember her father as a person who could strike up a conversation with anybody.
She said: "Wherever he went he would find someone to talk about nature with."
Mr Fisher's love of the countryside filtered down through the family – indeed his daughter Valerie married his deputy John Wells.
His eldest daughter Angie Radley, 65, a retired horticulturalist, said: "The parks were his life. Our whole family is only happy when we are outdoors."
It was only a change in the nature of his job that prompted Mr Fisher to leave and become a nurseryman up in Norfolk, living in Briston until his death.
Mrs Radley explained: "He left because of the increasing paperwork.
"He loved being outdoors and it just kept him inside.
Mrs Fisher added: "All the parks in the county, from his favourites at Thorndon and Weald, through to those on the borders of Suffolk bear his mark.
"He touched so many people, including those who had the misfortune to be caught poaching rabbits in the park.
"At over six foot, the sight of him and his Labradors would send any poacher running."
Mr Fisher was born and raised on a farm near Writtle and, according to Miss Fisher, he considered himself "a proper Essex boy".
She added: "He despised the TV's recent view of Essex and would have broken the telly if he had to endure The Only Way Is Essex."
When it came to sport he was said to be anti-football and would often refer to the stars of today as "overpaid idiots who just fall over".
Mrs Radley added: "He was a boxing man – he used to box when he was in the navy."
His family thanked Broomfield Stroke Unit for caring for Mr Fisher.
Those wishing to make donation in his memory should give to the unit.
He leaves behind widow Doris, four children, nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
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