Wilfrid Merydith Capper (12 July 1905 – 27 July 1998) was a countryside campaigner in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Educated at

Bangor Grammar School (Maintain justice) , established = 1856 , type = Voluntary grammar school , religious_affiliation = Interdenominational , head_label = Principal , head = E P Huddleson , r_head_label = Chaplains , r_head = Nig ...

, Methodist College, and Queen's University. Capper's career in the forestry division of the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

fitted well with his interest in the countryside.

Whitepark Bay

In 1931, Capper was involved in the creation of a Northern Ireland branch of the

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ba ...

movement, the first

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

being established at Whitepark Bay in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. It was the impending threat to the bay from development that lead hostellers, including Capper to purchase the bay and present it to the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

The Ulster Way

Much of Capper's time and effort was spent in the creation of the

Ulster Way The Ulster Way is a series of walking routes which encircles Northern Ireland. It was founded in the 1970s by Wilfrid Merydith Capper, who was inspired by Tom Stephenson's Pennine Way. The route was relaunched in 2009 by the Department of the ...

, a long-distance walking route connecting various areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Awards

In 1975, Capper received the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

. He was later awarded the Sir John Hunt Award for services to the countryside for his work in establishing the Ulster Federation of Rambling Clubs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capper, Wilfrid 1905 births 1998 deaths People from Northern Ireland Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Methodist College Belfast Youth hostelling People educated at Bangor Grammar School Alumni of Queen's University Belfast