A MAN made an MBE for his services to conservation in south Oxfordshire has died, aged 87.

Hugh Hunt, who worked at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, died at his home in Goring on September 10 after a short illness.

Along with his wife Beryl, he was made an MBE in 2005 for conservation work, including his instrumental role in efforts to save the Ewelme watercress beds.

Born in 1922, in Hornsey, Middlesex, Mr Hunt grew up in Chingford, Essex. After school, he passed Civil Service entrance exams and joined the Air Ministry in 1939.

In the early days of the Second World War, he was twice evacuated with the ministry from London to Harrogate.

In 1940, he joined the RAF as a radar mechanic and became an instructor.

He joined the Ministry of Supply after the war. In 1950, following promotion to regional supply transport officer for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Dorset, Mr Hunt and his mother moved to Caversham.

The following year he bought his first boat, pursuing an interest which began on his father’s boat and continued when he and his eldest son built a Mirror dinghy.

The move to Caversham, and a shared love of boats, brought Mr Hunt and his wife-to-be together. They married in 1952 in Wokingham and built a house in Mapledurham.

In 1954, Mr Hunt transferred from the Ministry of Supply to the United Kingdom Energy Authority at Aldermaston.

In 1957, he was posted to Washington DC to represent the authority in the US. It was here in 1958 that his first son, Nicholas, was born.

In 1959, the family returned to Mapledurham and Mr Hunt joined AERE at Harwell. The couple’s second son Christopher was born in 1960 with Julian following in 1965, just before they moved to Goring.

Mr Hunt was seconded to the Ministry of Technology for a time before he returned to Harwell to work in the programmes analysis unit.

He wrote the UKAEA’s first finance branch programmes for a personal computer before moving to Culham, where he retired in 1988.

In 1992, he supported Mrs Hunt’s interest in the Chiltern Society and in 2000 the couple helped the society purchase and then restore Ewelme watercress beds.

Until last year, Mr Hunt was a regular member of a computer club and continued to serve the Chiltern Society and the Ewelme cress beds project until his death.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years and their sons, Nicholas, Christopher and Julian.