David Bellamy first went to school at Chatsworth Road Primary School, close to Nonsuch Park, and on his 10 min walk from home picked flowers and looked at butterflies fluttering about, the early stirrings of a great naturalist. At Cheam Road Junior School David remembers preferring to look at the surrounding countryside and the tadpoles in the pond rather than focus on catching flying balls when fielding in the outfield in a cricket match.

At Sutton Grammar School he loved literature & history, but that changed in the 6th form when his inspirational science teacher Mr Hutchings showed science could be fun, and David took to Botany & Zoology like a duck to water. If it hadn't been for that one teacher at Sutton Grammar David may not have blazed the trail that unexpectedly made him the influential much impersonated TV superstar botanist.

Before going up to university, David also worked locally for his first job as a lab technician at Ewell Technical College (now North East Surrey College of Technology), increasing his understanding of science.

In the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Year David is returning to see his old haunts in Nonsuch Park, grounds of the former Nonsuch Palace, and will be encouraging others to join him for a wildlife ramble down 'memory lane' at 10.30am on 14th July. Book now for this all day adventure exploring with David, joining a Spider Safari with BNA's Spiderman Tom Thomas and more with the British Naturalists' Association at www.bna-naturalists.org.

Based on information supplied by mo norrington.