Trevor Fishlock

Trevor Fishlock
Born(1941-02-21)21 February 1941
Hereford, Herefordshire, England
Died3 July 2026(2026-07-03) (aged 85)
Llandough, Penarth, Wales
Occupations
  • Writer
  • broadcaster
Known forNews correspondent; history, biography and travel writing
SpousePenny Fishlock
Children3

Trevor Fishlock (21 February 1941 – 3 July 2026) was a British journalist, author and broadcaster. He worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times and The Daily Telegraph, reporting from more than 70 countries, before moving into television and radio. He also published several books with major publishing houses, including several on Wales. Fishlock was born in Hereford, and later lived in Cardiff. On occasions he broadcast from the National Library of Wales and gave the Machynlleth Festival's Hallstatt Lecture in 1999.

Foreign correspondent

Fishlock worked as a foreign correspondent for The Times in numerous countries for 17 years, reporting from more than 60 countries including Wales (1969–77), India (1980–83) and the USA (1983–86), later becoming Moscow correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, and writing a travel column. At The Press Awards he won Foreign Reporter of the Year in 1982 and International Reporter of the Year in 1986.

Author

Fishlock wrote books about the people and places he encountered while working abroad and at home, covering politics, history, biography and society. He was inspired to write Senedd (2011) after seeing early sketches of the planned Welsh Assembly building and watching them evolve into the completed Senedd. His book India File (1987) was in The Daily Telegraph's Michael Kerr's list of his top ten travel books in 2011 and about which he said that while it was first published …"in 1983, and could hardly be said to be up to the minute, but its 200 pages still make for a great primer in what can initially be an overwhelming country.” A Gift of Sunlight tells the story of the Davies sisters who collected paintings and bequeathed them to the Welsh nation. Fishlock presented a BBC documentary about the sisters, broadcast in May 2014, and gave a talk about the book at Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum in 2015.

Broadcaster

Fishlock is probably best known for his long-running HTV Wales television series Fishlock's Wild Tracks, which ran for over 14 years, accompanied by a series of tie-in books and videos. He presented over 150 TV and radio programs. In 2012 he presented an ITV documentary about the Pembrokeshire island of Skokholm and in 2013 revisited “his” Wales in Fishlock’s Wales: Forty Years On for ITV.

Personal life and death

Fishlock was born in Hereford in 1941 but later moved to Cardiff. He had three children and seven grandchildren by his first marriage and was later married to Penny Fishlock. In 2021, he was diagnosed with dementia.

Fishlock died at University Hospital Llandough, near Penarth, on 3 July 2026, aged 85.

Publications

References

  1. ↑ "Gomer Press: Trevor Fishlock". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "The National Library of Wales Newsletter, Winter 2006" (PDF). Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Geraint Talfan Davies, ed. (2009). English is a Welsh Language – Televisions's Crisis in Wales. Institute of Welsh Affairs. ISBN 9781904773429. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Trevor Fishlock (24 December 2010). "Author's notes: Trevor Fishlock". Wales Online. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Michael Kerr (4 November 2011). "Michael Kerr's top ten travel books". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Bringing art to Wales: The story of the Davies sisters". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Trevor Fishlock - A Gift of Sunlight". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Faber & Faber: Trevor Fishlock". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "The Friends of Skokholm and Skomer". Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Fishlock's Wales". ITV Wales. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Wightwick, Abbie (3 July 2026). "Renowned journalist and broadcaster who adopted his home in Wales dies". Wales Online. Retrieved 3 July 2026.