Pier Review - Tim Hunkin

I did not know Tim Hunkin had revolutionized Southwold pier until I met him at the great PINC.nl ideas festival in the Netherlands a few weeks back. Tim gave a great talk about how he builds crazy slot machines for fun, but also highlighted the fact that to do so you have to think with your hands. In the course of the interview I realized where I had seen him recently. Ive been digitizing some old radio programmes I made. I recalled that Tim had also interviewed the great Gerald Wells of the Vintage Wireless Museum in Dulwich. His encounter was about five years after mine in a series of programmes Tim wrote, drew and presented that aired on Channel 4. These looked at how stuff worked, often involving building something to demonstrate a process or phenomenon. The series has a mad professor feel to it, although I mean that in the nicest possible way. I love anything that makes complex ideas simpler. When you have seen this video, do make the trip over to timhunkin.com where there's a whole catalogue of stuff waiting to be discovered, including the vintage TV series. And if you're ever in Suffolk, head for the pier. Opening times are here southwoldpier.co.uk . I also need to credit Tracy Williams for using some of the pier footage at the start of the interview.