MEET TIM KINGHAM: Tim & his family came to Bath in the 1980’s when he secured a new position with consulting firm Halcrow at Wroughton near Swindon. The secondary schools in Swindon were being rationalised at the time and so a search along the M4 corridor brought the family to Bath where they have been able to take advantage of the many opportunities our city has to offer. Tim was a player and then ran the Bloomfield Tennis Club for a number of years. Son Harry attended Beechen Cliff School & Hayesfield, where he was the first boy admitted to the sixth form, and then on to Aberdeen University. His ”English” A levels placed him a year ahead of those entering with “Scottish Highers” so he had time on his hands for other activities including underwater hockey and juggling! He now lives in Bradford, Yorkshire where, among other things, he puts on juggling shows & makes live size puppets. Daughter Eva was at Hayesfield then attended Beechen Cliff sixth form in order to study Science & Mathematics; she went on to Nottingham University & now works as an Accountant for voluntary organisations.. Daughter Alice also attended Hayesfield before going on to study at the Royal College of Music in London and post graduate studies in Greenwich, before returning to Bath where she lives with her family in Oldfield Park. Tim was not considered an exceptional academic student at school. His final exam results were not brilliant; he did not receive any useful guidance on potential career paths. But, in his final year, the school offered leavers the chance to apply for a travel scholarship which he, together with a friend, won in 1961. They proposed to visit the Near East/Palestine & study issues around the sharing and use of water resources in each of the countries that make up the area that formerly fell within the British & French Mandates for Palestine. These included Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Trans Jordan and Israel. They travelled round the region using local transport visiting many towns and water projects particularly in the Jordan Rift Valley where water still flowed down from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. Tim was immediately hooked on watery matters. He returned home from the 8 week trip determined to retake his exams and apply for a graduate university course in Civil Engineering with a final year focus on water systems. On graduating his Professor suggested, if he really wanted to continue in water, he needed to go on to postgraduate studies in the Netherlands; a country known for its expertise in water management. Two years later he did just that after first gaining some serious working experience. For this he signed up for a two year stint with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in Nigeria to teach engineering at a new technical college north of Benin City. Shortly after arriving the Biafran war broke out. Due to civil unrest Tim & his colleagues were placed under house arrest for 10 days. Eventually, with the help of the British Council, they were evacuated to the Niger Delta where they boarded an overcrowded timber logging boat and were ferried along the coast to Lagos then onward home. Tim was redeployed to Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the West Indies where he and another engineer managed the Public Works Department including the water service. During his time on the island Tim met his wife Janet who was teaching at the secondary school. Tim has happy memories of his time on the island exploring the lava field of the “dormant” volcano and enjoying the lively music scene. In 1995 Montserrat’s Soufriere Hills volcano erupted killing 19 people & forcing two thirds of the population to flee as the island became 80% uninhabitable. Following his return to the UK Tim applied & was accepted at Delft Technical University for post graduate work in Water Studies. He met up again with Janet and completed a 3 year training course with the Port of Tyne Authority becoming a Chartered Civil Engineer. His career took him around the world with many overseas postings including Ethiopia, Sarawak (Malaysia), Sumatra (Indonesia), & later Cyprus where he helped with the Southern Conveyor Project bringing water from the Troodos mountains to the coastal south & east of the divided island. Designed to serve agriculture & drinking water for the main towns this project now keeps tourists clean & hydrated! Later, while working for Halcrow Tim took his expertise to Eastern Europe, Africa & South America. Once retired from Halcrow Tim continued self-employed working for a number of international funding agencies & charities. In 2010 he responded to an advertisement in a civil engineering journal seeking technical volunteers to join “Just a Drop”; a charity with a focus on Water, Sanitation & Health (WASH). Following a successful interview with the charity’s president, Sir John Blashford Snell, Tim’s major project was responding to the 2010 Haitian earthquake where he worked with architects rebuilding school roofs and using these for rainwater collection systems with gutters and storage tanks together the construction of pit latrines. Just a Drop has a history of developing water projects in Central & South America though raising funds for this region has always been difficult. Despite this the Charity has a policy of aiming for projects in the western hemisphere as well as Africa & Asian. So, when the Haiti commitments were finished Tim accepted the role of Project Officer for Nicaragua. He identified a partner in country, and the charity has been working there since 2016. Tim’s role is to review & technically approve project applications and, up until recently, he made regular trips to Central America on behalf of the charity. Tim is one of several volunteer Project Managers working for Just a Drop. For more information about the charity or to donate please go to https://wwwjustadrop.org. Tim is also a Community SpeedWatch volunteer; a Charter member of the Bloomfield team. He & Janet enjoy singing weekly with the Clarity Acapella Choir at St. Swithin’s Church on The Paragon. The choir leader, Clara Atkins is, like many other community choir leaders, a member of the Natural Voices Network. If you happen to meet Tim while out walking on Bloomfield Road please say “Hello” to One Amazing Neighbour!