Mike Clinch

Kas Vice President, Trustee and active Council Member.  Secretary Of Historic Buildings & Industrial Archaeology Special Interests Groups..

Particular interests mining archaeology and underground features. Wrote my dissertation on the settlement of the Darenth Valley.  Whilst engaged on this project I met Peter Tester and John Caiger and was involved on several digs with them and later on the Cobham Villa dig.

I was a primary teacher, went into special education and became head of a school for autistic children.  I became an advisor for Educational Technology and was very involved with the introduction of computers in education.  At this time I was also responsible for gifted children in the ILEA.  My final post in the ILEA was Director of support services for Teacher In-service training.  When I was early retired by Mrs Thatcher in 1990 I worked for the government statistics organisation for a while and then a hearing charity for a number of years.

Within the society I have organised several conferences.

For several years I was secretary of the Kent Underground Research Group and still give talks on Underground Kent.  I’m no longer an active caver as I feel that at 88 I could well be a risk to my companions.

In my final years in the society which I joined in 1954 I would like to help foster closer links with the affiliated societies