As for so many others, Richard was both my friend and mentor. He once wrote of one of his Cambridge professors that “he worked hard and played hard”. I can think of no more fitting epithet for Richard himself. 

Always engaging and supportive, and never short of opinion and advice, Richard encouraged and enabled me to forge a wonderfully enjoyable career of over forty years in the chemical industry. I have to thank him for that. 

He taught me so much, not least the value of adhering to the advice in Fowler’s ‘Modern English Usage’! Part II Thesis nights were legendary, and to this day the back bar of the King’s Arms remains my all-time favourite drinking establishment. Great science and great friendships in the Wayne group, and what can better that?