As a teenager, after his mother’s death, Oliver Rackham was a regular weekend visitor to our house. (My father was EA “Ted” Ellis, the Norfolk naturalist.) We children were in awe of Oliver’s talent for rapidly working out the quickest way to win at board and card games, in the evening, by the light of an ill-regulated Tilley lamp.
Ted recognised Oliver’s remarkable mental abilities and encouraged his passionate interest in natural history from a very young age. We were merely amazed at what he could achieve without cheating.
