The Gillmor Discovery Hide has been created as part of a wider project helping the Cley Marshes nature reserve and its wildlife adapt to the impacts of climate change.   

It replaces a popular wildlife hide previously found along the shingle beach that was destroyed in a storm in 2013.  

The new hide has been installed on wheels to protect it from the same fate and allows Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) staff to tow it to safety when bad weather is forecasted.   

Stamp designer Robert Gillmor (Image: Newsquest)

In tribute to Mr Gillmor, the hide features a series of his best-known artworks.  

For the last 25 years of his life, he lived and worked in Cley, exploring and celebrating the wildlife that made a home on the north Norfolk coast through his well-known linocut prints.   

In 2011, he completed lino-cuts for four sets of postage stamps for Royal Mail, with a further three sets in 2012.

He died in May 2022 aged 85, following a lengthy period of ill-health.

Stamp designer Robert Gillmor (Image: Newsquest)

Daughter Emily Gillmor said: “We are really delighted to see the completion of this imaginative and innovative reintroduction of the north hide on Cley Marshes.   

“It is a great honour that the NWT has chosen to name it after Robert Gillmor. Cley Marshes was his favourite birding ground and there couldn’t be a more fitting memorial.  

“He would have been thrilled to think of the benefit and enjoyment this wonderful addition will bring to visitors to the nature reserve.” 

Stamp designer Robert Gillmor (Image: Newsquest)

The new wildlife hide has been installed with support from Cley Bird Club.   

Dulcie Humphrey, NWT legacies officer, added: “We are thrilled to celebrate Robert Gillmor’s passion for Cley’s wildlife through the installation of a new wildlife hide. Our deepest thanks to the Gillmor family for their ongoing support.  

 “We look forward to inviting you to enjoy some of Robert’s work adorning the inside of the wildlife hide and if you take a look from the windows, you might just catch sight of one of his favourite subjects.” 

Back L-R – Rachel Savage (NWT) Bernard Bishop (NWT) George Baldock (NWT) / Front L-R – Richard Porter, Angus (grandson) Emily Gillmor (daughter), Prof Andrew Clarke (NWT Trustee) Tom Gil (Image: George Baldock)

A VERY SPECIAL PLACE 

Cley and Salthouse Marshes is one of the best-known nature reserves in the UK.  

Visited by birdwatchers, walkers and sightseers from around the country, the site is very special thanks to the unusual variety of habitats it is home to, including salt and freshwater marsh, reedbed and saline lagoons.  

Across the nature reserve, six wildlife hides – including the new Robert Gillmor Discovery Hide – offer views across pools and scrapes that the wildlife charity specially manages to attract breeding and migratory birds.  

Visit norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/CleyMarshes for more information. 

Gillmor Discovery Hide (Image: George Baldock)

Gillmor Discovery Hide (Image: George Baldock)