40s and 50s Memories
physicist, an Indian world authority on rural
energy, a Japanese from the IEA, and an
American energy academic from Princeton. I
was the fossil fuel and business entity.
Oil industry contacts induced me to continue
at arm's length as a non-executive director for
some years which provided a soft landing from
that highly addictive way of life.
I was also introduced to the stressful world of
higher education governance as a lay member
of council at UEA (University of East Anglia)
for nine years. This was an eye-opening
experience, since when I have great sympathy
for any Vice-Chancellor caught between the
rock of Academia and the hard place, HEFCE
(the Higher Education Funding Council for
England).
Sue has been a vital partner and co-pilot in our
life journey. As a geologist/botanist herself we
have enjoyed much of the natural world together.
It has not been without tragic elements, two of
our three children losing their lives in different
traffic accidents in their twenties. Our surviving
daughter Nuala and her two boys now aged 16
and 18 live near us in west Wales and are a
continual blessing.
Retirement for any geologist is somewhat of a
misnomer, for our feet are always on it, which
adds an extra dimension wherever we find
ourselves.
We have continued travelling since 1993,
to Bhutan, Ethiopia, Antarctica, Greenland,
Namibia, Brazil and Costa Rica. Having
neglected Europe for most of our lives, we now
spend more of our time here.
In retrospect, I have no doubt that my years at
King's College prepared me in both obvious
and subtle ways to be able to take advantage
of opportunities and to face darker times as
they arose. The need to conform was kept
within reasonable bounds, while the scope for
imaginative development was encouraged by
certain staff good at paying attention to growing
minds. I think also the school's adult approach
to religious, philosophical and political matters
played its part. Sport was important but not
overwhelmingly so, and the exploratory spirit
was certainly developed through expeditions,
and mentally through clubs and societies.
J.B.C. BROWN
Meynell 1956
Barry Brown left King's in 1956 as School
Captain and House Captain of Meynell in
1956. He followed the sciences to 'A' Level,
a grounding that directed him into a scientific
career. His house master and physics teacher,
Howard Padfield made a lasting impression,
and he remembers also Julian Pytches who
quickened in him an interest in history which
has proved life-long. Wally (Sarge) Gooderham,
and "Boris" Wilson also feature strongly in
retrospect. He retains also a lasting respect
for the Headmaster, Randall Unmack, whom
he remembers as guiding the school through
difficult times.
Of his later life he writes:
I left King's in 1956 and studied for a degree
in Natural Sciences (Part two Physics) at
Cambridge and thereafter at Birmingham for a
PhD in nuclear reactor science and technology.
After this fairly lengthy stint of university
education, my first gainful employment was
with the then Central Electricity Generating
Board's research laboratories at Berkeley in
Gloucestershire. This facility lay close to one
of the early civil nuclear power stations, now
decommissioned. The research that I became
engaged with could be most simply described
as "trouble-shooting on nuclear power station
commissioning." This work did include an
interesting study on the possible increase in
thyroid cancers in the surrounding population
in the event of a major nuclear incident
involving release of radioactive material into
the atmosphere. Such a possibility was not
an inconceivable event, such as, for example,
a plane crashing on a nuclear power station.
It was comforting to be able to conclude that
any increase in thyroid cancers over the normal
levels in the population would be negligible.
Then, in a major change from a career as a
practicing scientist - I joined the British Council,
initially as a Science Officer, and thereafter
as an observer and promoter of scientific
collaboration between the United Kingdom and
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