i taught at Imani School, near Thika, Kenya, where Gareth was deputy head. He ran a snake club for interested secondary pupils, keeping live specimens in glass tanks in the biology lab. I donated a small Cape Wolf (a mildly venimous viper) I had caught which Gareth was pleased to give  a home. One of the pupils made the less welcome offer of a cobra he'd caught on the hockey pitch.  Gareth, unflappable as ever, quietly took it away for a dose of chloroform. When Sarah, a member of the Kenyan ancillary staff was temporarily blinded by a spitting cobra, Gareth calmly rinsed her eyes with milk before driving her to hospital. He had saved her sight. Gareth was a great teacher, colleague, family man, friend, best man, a warm, wonderful human being. The world is a sadder place without him. David Ellis