My husband, Alan Hill, who has died aged 81, had a long career teaching mathematics and subsequently worked tirelessly to improve the local environment in Fletcher Moss Park, Didsbury, Manchester. He established a nature reserve there, led weekly walks and natural history groups, and acted as a leader of the garden volunteers.
The son of Connie (nee Payne) and Frank Hill, Alan was born in Madras, India, where his father was a textile chemist. In 1951, Alan’s parents sent him and his younger brother to boarding school in Buxton, before moving back to the UK themselves four years later.
He attended Lancaster Royal grammar school and after leaving was awarded a student apprenticeship with the aero engine manufacturer Bristol Siddeley in Coventry, which involved taking a three-year degree course in mechanical engineering at Manchester University. During his first year Alan decided that he wanted a career that involved supporting others, so after graduation he took a teaching diploma and became a maths teacher.
Alan began his working life at Broughton high school in Salford. He was a natural teacher and this was the start of a career that he found truly rewarding. In 1967 he moved to Burnage high school, where he would go from teacher and union leader to headteacher by the time of his retirement in 2000.
Alan married Joan Waywell in 1968 and they had two sons, Tom and Pete. The couple divorced, and later Alan found new happiness with Teresa Wallace, his partner for a decade; they shared a love of walking and an interest in social justice. Their life together was cut short by her early death not long after their marriage in 1997.
Alan and I met at the Manchester Field Club, a natural history club that he ran for nearly 20 years, and we were married in 2011. We enjoyed a mutual love of botany and birdwatching and spent happy hours searching for flowers on trips in the UK.
Alan was chair of the friends of Fletcher Moss Park and Parsonage Gardens from 2006 till his death. He organised volunteer gardeners to care for the park, liaised with the city council, helped to organise park events, led health walks and promoted nature-friendly policies. His passion for nature proved an inspiration to others, and he was thoughtful and community-minded.
He remained a caring stepfather to Teresa’s children, Maria and Martin, and to my children, Cathy, Nick and Tim. He especially loved spending time with his grandchildren, Maria and Daniel. He is survived by his children, stepchildren and grandchildren, and by two stepgrandchildren.
