Steve England left school with no qualifications
06:00, 31 Jul 2026Updated 16:07, 01 Aug 2026
Steve England, wildlife expert and educator, was awarded an honorary doctorate of science at the University of the West of England, July 2026, in recognition of his work championing Stoke Park in Bristol(Image: UWE)
A man who grew up on a Bristol council estate and left school with no qualifications at all after being called ‘The Plank’ by teachers and children alike has been awarded an Honorary Master of Science.
In an emotional ceremony at the University of the West of England, Steve England swapped the traditional mortar board and put on his trademark outdoor trekking hat to give a seven-page speech telling his remarkable story.
Fellow graduates and university staff heard how the 60-year-old struggled badly at school, was kept away from any kind of academic work and consigned to ‘making pairs of pliers in metalwork’ most days, after he was labelled ‘thick’.
But Steve grew up with a passion for nature, plants, bugs and animals, fostered in hours spent roaming around Stoke Park and Wallscourt Farm, the open space between his home on the Lockleaze council estate and the M32.
He left school without passing any exams at all, and went into a series of physical jobs, including painting white lines in the road up and down the country, before finding his calling as a landscape gardener.
But it was when housing developers handed the Stoke Park estate and Wallscourt Farm to Bristol City Council in 2011 that Steve’s life took a different path. He realised the council was taking on a protected landscape and environment they knew little about – and he was the self-taught expert on all the ponds, nooks, crannies, bugs, birds and wildlife on the vast rambling grounds.
Over the years, despite early resistance, he forged a unique role as the go-to expert on Stoke Park, and is now a freelance advisor to the council, working with them on a number of projects over the years as the council invests in maintaining and improving the estate for the people of Bristol.
Ten years ago, he was hired by the University of the West of England to be its guide to Stoke Park, giving students of everything from applied sciences to geography the tours, sharing his decades of knowledge of the habitats, environment and flora and fauna there.
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A UWE spokesperson said it was an honour to award Steve, who they described as a ‘wildlife conservationist, outdoor educator and local historian’. They said he was receiving an honorary master of science in recognition of his services to protecting the local environment and championing the Wallscourt Farm heritage, and its connection to the UWE Bristol Frenchay campus.
Steve told Bristol Live he was overwhelmed when he was told he would be receiving the honorary doctorate.
“I had to read the email five times,” he said. “I welled up with emotion, because my education was pretty much non-existent as a child, and for someone like me to get this is just amazing – a kid from a council estate who left school with no qualifications at all,” he added.
“I was categorised as ‘thick’ – my nickname was ‘The Plank’ as in ‘thick as two short planks’. It was harsh. I was segregated away, I never got given a chance. I was away making a pair of pliers in metalwork,” he added.
“I used to get in trouble. I was constantly getting the cane, and the ruler across the hands. I think it was because I was frustrated, I remember thinking ‘I know I’m not thick’. When I think back on it, it was because I wanted and wanted to learn. I wanted to stay on for sixth form but they wouldn’t let me. So I left school when I turned 16 and had no qualifications at all,” he added.
Steve England, wildlife expert and educator, was awarded an honorary doctorate of science at the University of the West of England, July 2026, in recognition of his work championing Stoke Park in Bristol(Image: UWE)
An escape from academia came on his doorstep. “I grew up in Lockleaze. My dad used to take me out into Stoke Park from when I was three. I was in there every minute I could,” he added.
A passion for nature, plants and wildlife meant that he found his calling as a landscape gardener and raised three children with his partner Mandy, in Lockleaze.
When the council were handed Stoke Park, he saw his chance. “I went on a mission to get myself known,” he said. “In the early days it was really frustrating, because they didn’t take me seriously, but I hope I proved myself and I never gave up.”
Now, Steve is the go-to expert on Stoke Park and one of Bristol’s best known wildlife conservationists and outdoor educators, with a social media following of thousands across Bristol who love his posts about the changing seasons and what can be found at Stoke Park and other locations around Bristol.
He’s recently written and recorded an audio trail for the council which people who go to Stoke Park and Wallscourt Farm can listen to as they walk around, and worked with the council to develop a circular route with all the history of the park.
Bristol-based conservationist Steve England
The graduation ceremony saw thousands attend, and Steve was a bit out of his comfort zone. He had to make a speech. “I was really nervous before, sitting there dressed like a horseshoe bat with a seven page speech in my pocket.
“But I took the mortar board hat off and I put my own green woolly hat on and I was in the zone. I spoke from the heart about how this kid from a council estate with no education has now gained an RHS qualification in horticulture, and now a doctorate of science,” he added.