Stan and Peggy Scott — The People Behind the Bench at Marshside
2 March 2026
There's a wooden bench on the reserve path at Marshside with a small metal plaque screwed to it. In Memory of Stan and Peggy Scott — Founder Members of North Cheshire Group RSPB 1976–1999. Donated by Family and Friends. Most people walk past it. It's worth stopping for.
Who were Stan and Peggy Scott?
Stan and Peggy Scott were founder members of the North Cheshire Group RSPB — a local group that ran from 1976 to 1999. Local RSPB groups in the 1970s and 1980s were the grassroots infrastructure of British birdwatching: the people who organised the walks, ran the surveys, did the membership drives, turned up to the parish council meetings to object to drainage proposals, and generally kept the conservation machine running at a local level.
Being a founder member in 1976 means they were in at the start — building something from nothing in an era before the internet, before Bird Forum, before anyone could check a patch list on their phone. The group ran for 23 years. That's not a hobby; that's a vocation.
The bench
The bench sits on the reserve path with a view across the fields and marsh — a good spot. Not the most dramatic viewpoint on the path, but a solid place to sit and watch. On a clear day in autumn you can hear the Pink-footed Geese before you see them from that bench.
The plaque is modest. It doesn't tell you what Stan and Peggy looked like, what birds they most liked to see, or why they gave 23 years of their lives to protecting this coastline. It just says they were here, they cared, and someone loved them enough to buy a bench.
Why it matters
Marshside RSPB exists because of people like Stan and Peggy Scott. The reserves on the Sefton Coast — the managed lagoons, the scrapes that hold 80,000 geese and breeding Avocets — are the product of decades of local advocacy, fundraising, and the unglamorous work of keeping conservation groups functioning year after year.
The RSPB is a national charity with 1.2 million members. But its power at a local level has always depended on local groups, local knowledge, and local people who showed up consistently. The North Cheshire Group was one of those. Stan and Peggy Scott were part of building it.
Next time you're at Marshside and the hide is quiet and the geese are coming in overhead, it's worth knowing that the reserve you're standing in was partly made possible by people whose names are now on a bench by the path.
About the author
Ed
Ed has been walking the Sefton Coast since the 1980s. He keeps a yearly bird tally, owns more waterproof jackets than he'd care to admit, and has strong opinions about which hide has the best light in the morning. Retired geography teacher. Still gets up at five.