18-01 2021 20:06
wrote:
I first met Hugh when I did a short consultancy for FAO in Bangladesh in 1981. I soon realised that Hugh knew everything that needed to be known about the project, and my task was more or less to act as scribe. Indeed, even doing that I had my work cut out not to make a mess of it. Hugh was an excellent project leader and great host – he turned out to be an enthusiastic birdwatcher, and generous with his books.
I never had the chance to go back to Bangladesh, but it was very good to be back in touch with Hugh again when he was working on his Bangladesh maps project in Cambridge. His idea of ‘retirement’ seemed to involve more work than most people achieve in a working career, and his output of books was astonishing (and, as a full-time academic, daunting!).
Hugh’s support for research on Arsenic in groundwater brought him back into contact with Downing College. Hugh took a real interesting the Geography undergraduates - he enjoyed meeting them, and encouraging them to get into the field. When they set up a Geography Society a few years back, they named it the Brammer Society. He spoke at their first dinner, and was able to attend other meetings. Hugh was wonderfully generous to Downing, first supporting the geography students, and then endowing a Fellowship in Geography. I am proud to have been the first holder of that Fellowship before I retired. Hugh was a frequent lunch guest in Downing, his wry humour and sharp intelligence always to the fore.
Hugh loved Bangladesh, and his undergraduate discipline of Geography. He did not love sloppy thinking, and his quickness in correcting false or misleading statements about flooding and climate in Bangladesh made for frequent emails. I shall miss them, and greatly miss him. He was truly remarkable man.
18-01 2021 20:06
wrote:
I first met Hugh when I did a short consultancy for FAO in Bangladesh in 1981. I soon realised that Hugh knew everything that needed to be known about the project, and my task was more or less to act as scribe. Indeed, even doing that I had my work cut out not to make a mess of it. Hugh was an excellent project leader and great host – he turned out to be an enthusiastic birdwatcher, and generous with his books.
I never had the chance to go back to Bangladesh, but it was very good to be back in touch with Hugh again when he was working on his Bangladesh maps project in Cambridge. His idea of ‘retirement’ seemed to involve more work than most people achieve in a working career, and his output of books was astonishing (and, as a full-time academic, daunting!).
Hugh’s support for research on Arsenic in groundwater brought him back into contact with Downing College. Hugh took a real interesting the Geography undergraduates - he enjoyed meeting them, and encouraging them to get into the field. When they set up a Geography Society a few years back, they named it the Brammer Society. He spoke at their first dinner, and was able to attend other meetings. Hugh was wonderfully generous to Downing, first supporting the geography students, and then endowing a Fellowship in Geography. I am proud to have been the first holder of that Fellowship before I retired. Hugh was a frequent lunch guest in Downing, his wry humour and sharp intelligence always to the fore.
Hugh loved Bangladesh, and his undergraduate discipline of Geography. He did not love sloppy thinking, and his quickness in correcting false or misleading statements about flooding and climate in Bangladesh made for frequent emails. I shall miss them, and greatly miss him. He was truly remarkable man.
