essentialARB pays tribute to a long-standing and prolific contributor.

GRAHAM Mole, a regular contributor to essentialARB and Forestry Journal for over 15 years, has died.

Best known to essentialARB readers for his insightful profile pieces on arb contractors across the south of England, Graham sadly passed away at his home in Bishopstoke on 27 February, following a short illness. He was 84.

A journalist with a long and distinguished career, Graham got his start in the traditional way, as a junior reporter on a local weekly paper, before moving into national TV and eventually ending up as a producer on investigative programmes for ITV.

He then switched to covering the South of England, freelancing for national papers and magazines, and running a local TV station. He also directed films for the BBC’s Countryfile, putting his first foot into the world of forestry journalism.

In 2005 he approached Forest Machine Journal (as it was then known) and began contributing occasional pieces. In August 2008 he cemented his position as a core contributor when he began his monthly Global Log round-up, gathering interesting and diverse stories on forestry, trees and timber from around the world.

Latterly he specialised in profiles for contractors for essentialARB. Based out of his ‘shedquarters’ in Hampshire, next to a Forestry Commission wood, he was ideally placed to cover a broad regional patch, interviewing professional arborists from Sussex to Somerset.

His final submission for essentialARB was a feature on Arborfield Tree Care in Reading, published in the February 2021 issue.

READ MORE OF GRAHAM'S ARTICLES HERE

Beyond the world of forestry and arb he was most passionate about angling, contributing a regular column for Trout and Salmon magazine about the famous chalk streams of Wessex. When looking for estates to visit for Forestry Journal and essentialARB, he was most keen on ones where fishing took place.

Graham’s writings on the subject were collected into a book, A Multitude of Fins: A Recent History of Fly Fishing for Trout, published in 2014. He was also a novelist, penning the sci-fi eco-thriller Paper Chain, which envisaged a world in which a bug from outer space destroys all of the USA’s forests, turning it into an impoverished nation almost overnight. The chilling fiction was described by acclaimed actor and campaigner Robert Redford as “an important environmental concept”.

Both books are currently available on Amazon.

Forestry Journal:

John McNee, managing editor of essentialARB and Forestry Journal, said: “Graham was well liked and respected by all our editorial team (past and present). Naturally, we were very saddened to learn of his passing.

“I never had the pleasure of meeting Graham in person, but over the phone and emails he was an ebullient personality, full of ideas and fiendishly interested in whichever subject he happened to be investigating. All at essentialARB and Forestry Journal who worked with Graham will remember him with gratitude and affection. He was a tremendous asset to the publications and will be much missed.”

Adored by all his family, Graham was laid to rest at a private funeral. Donations in his memory can be made to the Angling Trust at www.graham-mole.muchloved.com.

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Thanks – and stay safe.