After leaving Sierra Leone Charles was responsible for my first natural history position in the UK, when he was employed to update, expand and enhance the Booth Museum of Natural History in Brighton. Thank you, Charles, for all your help and guidance. We (the Booth and its staff) owe a lot to him – back in the mid-1970s he rescued the museum from the doldrums and decay and set it on a path which led to it being recognised as a nationally important collection, the second largest provincial natural history museum in the UK and spread its influence far and wide by employing expert staff. He had a keen interest in sailing and his exploits with his yacht were even felt by us. We had a marine trip collecting plankton with him and on our return to Brighton Marina his tiller snapped which meant steering was ‘most interesting’ especially under full sail! We made it safely back.