It was with great sadness that we learned of Paul Smith's sudden death on the 20th March, 2007 in his eighty eighth year.

He was a great supporter, and a major contributor to the Winsham Web Museum. In what ever he did he brought  great enthusiasm and knowledge to the task, and his lively mind and insatiable curiosity remained with him to the end.

A man is known by his works, and by dedicating this gallery to his memory seems to be the right way for the Winsham Web Museum to remember him.

The robin that sings unendingly is, for me, a piquant reminder of his tireless enthusiasm. All I had to do was suggest that an animated robin might be a nice idea for 'Bugs'n'Bees' and a few days later the sequence of drawings seen above dropped through my letter box.

His support for the Internet was not limited to the Web Museum ,and his contribution to the Parish Web site was equally lively. His regular contributions by way of the 'Bugs'n'Bees' feature, with his wonderful illustrations, often presented on a scrap of paper, sometimes late, were a constant source of delight and information, and they are now reproduced in this Museum

Paul was also a regular contributor ,  in earlier years, to the Joint Parish Magazine, when his 'Winsham Whispers' were a great source of amusement and interest. His 'whispers' were not  always well received ,and Paul told me that he had sometimes been threatened with a solicitor's letter, but the journalist in him ,which was always there, just under the surface, never flinched in the face of a good story . One thing for sure is that while he could be stubborn, there was never any malice in his motivation.

Paul Smith was a man of many talents. His books about his early life delighted many. He was also an enthusiastic flier of light aircraft, a broadcaster, a photographer. In his early seventies he successfully took an Open University degree. He was also a successful farmer in Purtington for some forty years, before coming to live in Winsham in so called retirement.

With his passing Winsham has lost a wonderful character ,a man of high intelligence, strong opinions and an artist with a great talent for representing the wildlife and and flora that he loved so much. He is greatly missed.

John Sullivan (2007)