The couple, who lived in Aspatria, dedicated a phenomenal amount of time to a variety of organisations including Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Sea Watch Foundation and Marine Conservation Society. They ran Solway Shark Watch and Sea Mammal Survey, a sightings project, which involved hundreds of volunteers dedicating their time to survey for marine wildlife such as basking sharks and porpoises.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust benefited from the pair’s knowledge, Peter Bullard, Director explains: “Norman and Florence were active volunteers with the Trust for over fifteen years. Their passion was recording and when the Trust needed help they would dedicate days at a time to carry out the surveys we needed. When a local bog was threatened with peat extraction they joined the campaign, and surveyed the site meticulously for lichens. They even turned up every day at the public inquiry in Longtown. With their help the bog was saved and was later scheduled as an Site of Special Scientific Interest.”

Charlie Miles a friend of the late couple said: “Norman and Florence were in my opinion the most professional amateurs you will find, they became Mr and Mrs Solway Firth. Norman became my mentor, he taught me what to look for on the seashore and how to look for it.”

An inseparable pair, the Hammonds enthusiasm for nature was even evident in their choice of holiday destination. Charlie explains: “Norman and Florence visited the Falkland Islands several times and even drove around the Arctic Circle together on a velocette motorbike in the fifties. They made hundreds of slides illustrating their travels and the wildlife they encountered.”

Brian Irving, Solway Coast AONB Manager, said: “Norman was one of those special people who give with one hand and give even more with the other. When sharing his expertise on most matters regarding the natural world you were treated to an accurate, compelling and enthusiastic account usually punctuated by laughter and minor adjustments to his woolly hat.

“His passion for the Solway and its natural beauty was only eclipsed by his love for Florence his ever present other half who he affectionately referred to as Herbert, much to the delight of children in his audience.”

The evening will present highlights of the large dataset left behind by the couple. Between them the Hammonds gathered together over 10,000 records of marine life including sightings ranging from bottlenose dolphins to seaweeds.

Norman and Florence not only collected marine data from the field, they also spent many hours searching through local newspapers and library archives for interesting marine articles. They went to visit London, not to take in the sights, but to visit the Natural History Museum to search through old records. Here is a taster of their findings:

‘In November 1829, an unidentified species of turtle live stranded. It was then killed and sent to a hotelkeeper in Dumfries for the purpose of making soup.’

So join us for this informative evening at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, and learn more about Cumbria’s fantastic marine life and why it is so important that people like Norman and Florence volunteer their time.