37 years of service at Trinity Hall

Ged, 66, was brought up in Romsey Town, Cambridge and went to Coleridge Community College. He joined Trinity Hall as an electrician and progressed to become Clerk of the Works.

For the last three decades he has led a team of up to 12 people, some of whom have worked for him for more than 20 years.

Over the years Ged has been responsible for overseeing a series of major projects at Trinity Hall. They include the building of Bishop Bateman Court on Thompsons Lane, the construction of the Jerwood Library, and the recent refurbishment of the porter's lodge.

“Always the big challenge has been to get projects finished on time. We have one slot to do major work and that's the summer vacation,” he says. He has had to deal with dozens of crises – from leaking pipes to broken boilers – often out of hours and at weekends.

Although officially retiring, Ged is to stay on for an extra year on a consultancy contract which will allow him to pass on his intricate knowledge of the College, complete with the many idiosyncrasies that accompany the upkeep of buildings that span more than six centuries.

His successor as Clerk of the Works at Trinity Hall is Russell Waller, who joined the College in April.

Famed for his reluctance to throw anything away – at work or home – Ged has squirreled away untold stocks of materials in the subterranean world of the Trinity Hall workshops. “I keep every brick and piece of wood for recycling,” he says grinning, “They always come in useful.”

Ged is hugely proud of Trinity Hall. “The staff, students and fellows are a real community, it's a bit like a big family,” he says, “For me, there's no other college but this one.”

He leaves with a fund of amusing memories – especially of student pranks. A favourite moment was delivering a coffin for an undergraduate drama production. “It was carried through the front court by two of our painters, dressed in white overalls, and caused several foreign tourists to make respectful gestures,” he recalls.

Ged, who is proficient in all the building trades and never tires of DIY, has no intention of hanging up his saw, drill or plumber's wrench. He can now turn his full attention to his own house in Cherry Hinton and those of his daughters nearby.

“As my wife will tell you, my shed is so full you can't get into it – and the garage too is almost up to the top with stuff. There's enough in there to keep me busy!”