Rosie Edwards, my beloved wife and renowned teacher of outdoor education, has passed away suddenly due to complications from colitis. She was 62 years old. Throughout her professional life, Rosie was dedicated to instilling a love and appreciation for nature in children.
Raised by farmworkers Leslie and Dorothy Williams in Shrewton, Wiltshire, Rosie attended Salisbury’s South Wilts grammar school for girls before going on to study geography at Leeds University. She later became the head of geography at Bretton Woods community school in Peterborough during the late 1970s. In 1984, Rosie’s dual passions for environmental education and working with children converged when she was appointed first as the deputy and later as the head of the Stibbington field studies centre in Cambridgeshire.
Despite inheriting a run-down Victorian school and dilapidated prefabricated buildings, Rosie transformed the centre into a hub of excellence over the course of 32 years. Her inspiring leadership resulted in a natural learning environment where primary school children could immerse themselves in the world of nature, free from the usual confines of the classroom. Schools from all over the eastern region and beyond flocked to the centre for day and residential courses. Exciting activities like pond-dipping, investigating renewable energy sources, and learning how to read maps allowed young students to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the natural world. Rosie even used an old-fashioned classroom to recreate a classroom experience similar to what Victorian pupils would have experienced.
As both teachers, Rosie and I met at the Geographical Association’s annual conference in Sheffield in 1993. I moved from Northern Ireland to be with Rosie in Castor, Peterborough, and we later married in 1999. For almost a decade, Rosie chaired the National Association of Field Studies Officers, which helped produce teachers’ guides on ways to integrate environmental education with mainstream academics. Rosie also edited a local community magazine and sang in her church and the Peterborough Choral Society.
Countless children who attended the Stibbington centre are sure to remember Rosie’s influence on their lives. Her legacy will continue through the next generations of young people who will learn to care for the world around them as she had taught.
Rosie is survived by myself and her brother, Chas.
