One Man and His Dog star dies

Raised in the Black Country, he made his name on the show which brought sheepdog trials to a mass audience. But he also became a favourite in the Express & Star, in which he wrote a column for several years from his Staffordshire home.

Mr Drabble, who was awarded an OBE for his services to broadcasting, described himself as an English countryman, author and television presenter.

He fronted One Man and His Dog on BBC2 from 1976 until 1993.

He was brought up in the Black Country but later moved to Abbots Bromley, near Rugeley, where he created a nature reserve.

Mr Drabble was an only child, whose mother died when he was young. His father was a GP and they lived in a terraced house in Bloxwich.

He began work as a factory-lad and rose to the board of Salters and membership of the management board of the Midland Engineering Employers Association.

In 1947, he made his first radio broadcast, and in 1952 his first television appearance.

At the age of 47 he became a full-time writer. He and his late wife Jess purchased a derelict cottage and 90 acres of neglected ancient woodland, a remnant of the Forest of Needwood, and preceded to turn the latter into the Goat Lodge Reserve. Mr Drabble, who was declared Midlander of the Year in 1992 and made OBE in 1993, died yesterday morning.

Family friend Ruth Froggatt said: "Phil retired from One Man And His Dog but he didn't retire altogether. He still did his writing.

"He was writing well into his 80s and it was only in the last few years that he hadn't been so well."