John Rodda (1934 - 2024)

                                                               (From The Villager February/March 2025)

 

One of our village’s proudest boasts is the number of distinguished scientists who live amongst us. Sadly, in December we lost John Rodda, renowned in his academic field and revered in his community. 

Dr John Rodda was a global leader in water, meteorology and environmental research, a pivotal combination of sciences for our age. It was our good luck that he was also a committed member of the village, using his expertise and enthusiasm to enhance our lives as residents. 

John’s vision was to establish an area in the village where different sports could be played all year. An opportunity arose when Kings Meadow became available for development in the late 1970s. He led an ambitious campaign to persuade the doubters to agree to a ‘hard standing’ sports ground (‘Kings Meadow or Kings Tarmac?’ the grumblers wrote to The Villager at the time). 

To coordinate funding for the hard standing, John set up our first Community Association (the organisation that still runs the Fete, Quiz, and many other events that make village life such a pleasure). Later he launched a tennis club to play on the site, and countless village youngsters (and oldsters) have wielded a racquet there for the first time.  

On to the 1990s and John was instrumental in forming our Environment Group, responding to the famous Rio Conference on Environment and Development and its appeal for local initiatives. 

This group went on to create the Millenium Wood, Swan Allotments Wild Area and many other pioneering projects to preserve and develop our environment. It’s issued scores of authoritative surveys and reports on the village’s natural health, and authored one of the first village conservation plans of its type. 

John and Annabel Rodda came to the village in 1964. They had met as Geography undergraduates at Aberystwyth University and married in 1961. John was a proud Welshman. Annabel was English, though it amused her that her maiden name of Edwards was more authentically Welsh than John’s Rodda surname with its origins in Cornwall! 

John completed his PhD in the early 1960s with a ground-breaking statistically designed experiment using rain gauges. This was a significant time in Hydrology studies in the UK. Commercially grown forests were a popular commercial investment, and there was mounting concern about water wastage caused by ‘evapotranspiration’ if forests were planted in reservoir valleys. 

John’s research into monitoring water resources was recognised by the Hydraulics Research Station in Wallingford (now known as the UK Centre for Hydrology and Ecology) and he was recruited as a research fellow. 

Soon after moving south John and Annabel responded to an advert in the Wallingford Herald offering ‘choice building plots for sale’ in Brightwell cum Sotwell. They chose their site and built Ynyslas in 1964, naming their home after a beautiful seaside resort near Aberystwyth.  

Annabel taught Geography at Didcot Girls Grammar School before their children were born. Both sons went to the village school and on to Wallingford School. Today, Matthew is Labour MP for Reading Central. His brother, Dr Harvey Rodda has built a thriving career as a hydrologist. 

John quickly made his mark in Wallingford, developing a measurement gauge that showed standard instruments underestimating rainfall by 8% and more. After spells working for UK Government, in 1988 John joined the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva, the UN agency studying atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. He was later appointed the WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Water Resources. 

It’s a measure of John’s modesty that few of us (other than former colleagues) have much idea of his eminence in his field. Maybe two events hint at the importance of his work. 

In 1992 he played a major role in preparing for the Rio Earth Summit that paved the way for many of today’s climate initiatives. John chaired the Organising Committee which established the Dublin Principles, setting standards for managing freshwater resources at Rio and thereafter. 

And in 2004, his 70th year, John was awarded the prestigious International Hydrology Prize by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), supported by WMO and UNESCO, for outstanding contribution to the science. 

Throughout John’s illustrious career, he and Annabel were keen to support their village. They would return from Geneva regularly to attend events and celebrations. 

After his official ‘retirement’, John became a regular choir member at St Agatha’s. He was also a Parish Councillor for many years, and a member of the Village Hall Committee. As a committed environmentalist, he was naturally a keen gardener. 

Nothing seemed likely to slow John down, until peripheral neuropathy seriously affected his mobility in later years. At his 

90th birthday party in Summer 2024, however, John’s mind was still sharp as a tack. We will miss him greatly.