ERIC EDWARDS, HOW HILL, NORFOLK BROADS, JASON BYE, 31/05/07

Eric Edwards MBE.. .Eric, 67, who began working at the reserve in 1967, has kept the Broads traditions alive with his trademark smock, hat and neckerchief and is one of only two reedcutters in the Broads to still use a scythe.. .Awarded an MBE three years ago for services to the Broads, he has given thousands of talks and demonstrations to schoolchildren who stay at the How Hill Environmental Study Centre, captivating his audience with his enthusiasm and his personal collection of Victorian marsh tools and traps.. .Although he was reportedly “very quiet” when he first came to How Hill, Eric, a former Norfolk County footballer from Ludham, has become a media celebrity. He has appeared in the Generation Game with Bruce Forsyth and Jim Davidson three times, was interviewed by Sir Harry Secombe in Highway, appeared last month in The New Paul O’Grady Show, and is a regular in television documentaries about the Broads.. .He has given Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles lessons in stacking and dressing reed – famously telling Lady Thatcher she was “doing it wrong”. Pictures of Eric can also be found on cards, postcards and paintings depicting the romance of the Broads. ....Photograph by Jason Bye.Credit Mandatory.