Generations of researchers in chemistry at Sussex will remember Tim Wood, who ran the chemistry workshop with an iron (but gentlemanly) fist for many years, and who died on 28 September 2018, aged 92, after a short illness.

Tim’s name always appeared on official documents and the workshop door as Mr M Wood but his Christian name was a closely guarded secret, and he was always known as Tim.

Born in 1926, he ran away from home and joined the Royal Scottish regiment before he was 16, lying about his age. He was discovered and punished, but later joined the Royal Sussex regiment and served through the Second World War, including a period in the SAS.

After the war, Tim joined Allen West Ltd, then a large Brighton-based company making electrical switchgear on the Lewes Road site now occupied by the University of Brighton. He trained there as a toolroom engineer, developing a wide range of skills.

Tim was an early recruit to the University of Sussex, joining what was then the only workshop in the University, based in what is now the Pevensey building and run by Frank Schofield, with whom he developed a friendly rivalry which lasted until retirement.

When the then Chemical Laboratory was built in 1965, it was decided that chemistry needed a workshop of its own and Tim moved into the ground floor of what is now the Chichester building, where he was responsible for setting up and equipping the new workshop and helping to recruit its first staff.

He reported to the then Laboratory Superintendent Peter Gilliver and the Laboratory Director, Eric Peeling, with both of whom he enjoyed amicable, though not always frictionless, relations.

Under Tim’s management the chemistry workshop became an indispensable part of the research activities of the laboratory, especially for those of us involved in physical chemistry. Although some equipment could be bought in, at the leading edge of research we were heavily dependent on specialist kit, designed and produced in collaboration with the workshops. Physics and engineering students were taught technical drawing skills but chemists weren’t and Tim’s outstanding ability to work from “the back of a fag packet” to develop new instrumentation was crucial to much research, as was his ability to work in all sorts of difficult materials.

His favourite equipment was the nitrogen liquefaction plant, especially as it became older; stripping and rebuilding it occupied increasing amounts of his time (and produced some interesting language), though it was a sad day for him when it was finally decommissioned.  He also had a place reserved in his own particular hell for the gamma radiation source, which had a nasty habit of breaking lift springs, which were challenging to replace.

Tim was not one to tolerate disrespect and many people were wary of visiting the workshop, but he was a real gentleman and gave a warm welcome to those whom he himself respected; if you got on his wrong side, jobs might take a little longer to complete. Although it was a long time ago and before the modern attitudes to health and safety, I still treasure the time I asked him to do a job and got told to “go in the workshop and do it yourself – you are half engineer anyway”.

The workshop crew felt that early Christmas parties were a bit tame and set up their own, and the organisation of some very successful School events was eventually handed to Tim’s team on the grounds that everyone wanted to go to the workshop party anyway.

Although his views were often small-c conservative, Tim was a lifelong socialist and a very active trades-unionist, much involved in representation of the technical staff in negotiations with management, in which he was very effective.

Outside the University his social conscience led him to be much involved in community activities. In retirement he was actively involved with Seaford Kurlers, a club to enable disabled people to enjoy a sport on equal terms with able-bodied people.

Tim’s first marriage ended in divorce. His second wife, June, was also a member of the technical staff, in biology; they were married for 36 years. 

Norman Billingham, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry