Tim Lomas made his first appearance in BALH as a member of the then Education Committee. Shrouded partly in the midst of time, Tim believes that was before 1990. In those days, the Association was under the watchful gaze of Michael Cowan but somehow he survived this scrutiny and has rarely been off either the Advisory Committees or Board of Trustees since. For many years he chaired the Education and later Outreach Committees. He also served a term as Deputy Chair and later a 6-year spell as Chair, the longest possible allowed by the Constitution.
Tim’s interests have been widespread but his contact with schools, first as a teacher and examiner and later as an adviser, inspector, trainer and educational manager have always led to his advocacy of BALH including teaching and learning as a key part of its role. In recent times, it involved playing a leading role in the Teacher Fellowship scheme, a joint project with the Historical Association, to develop teacher expertise and resources Whilst his initial specialism was medieval history including a doctorate in later medieval social and economic history, his interests have subsequently ranged widely including educational and transport history. His management interest also was used in helping produce key BALH management systems and strategies such as the current constitution and the outsourcing of various services to KSAM.
Whilst retired from full time work, Tim remains active in many aspects of history. He previously served on national advisory committees and acted as a consultant in a number of countries. Currently, he serves a a trustee and vice president of the Historical Association as well as the deputy chair and honorary secretary of the Devon History Society. His career has given him a taste of many areas of the country – Hampshire, the north east, Shropshire, Lincolnshire included but he has now returned much closer to his roots in Cornwall – well almost at least. He worked out that South Devon was as far west as he could go if he wanted to get to London for meetings and return the same day.
