Philip Beckford Clark was head of the department of urology at Leeds and a consultant urological surgeon at the General Infirmary and St James’ Hospital, Leeds. He was born in Chipstead, Surrey on 3 February 1928. His father, Leslie Hermann Septimus Clark, was a hospital physicist, working at the Lambeth and Hammersmith hospitals in the early days of radiotherapy; his mother, Doris Feltham Clark née Thomas, was a chemistry teacher. Quite early on Philip decided to pursue a career in medicine and particularly in surgery. Completing his first MB whilst at Winchester, he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge and from there to the Middlesex Hospital, qualifying in 1951. At Winchester, he and a friend shared a motorcycle and sidecar to go off sailing on the Hamble – one of Philip’s lifelong passions outside of urology. At the Middlesex, Philip, together with Michael Hobsley (later professor of general surgery at the Middlesex), wrote a musical ARABIA, with Michael arranging the music and Philip the lyrics. Philip always said it was probably appropriate that the production never saw the lights of the West End! Unable to obtain a house position at the Middlesex, a situation which sounds not unfamiliar today, Philip took himself off to New York on the *Queen Mary* for a rotating intern position on Staten Island, where his claim to fame was showing the obstetricians how to do a caesarean in under 10 minutes when they would routinely take in excess of half an hour. Returning to the UK, whilst working as an unpaid anatomy demonstrator, Philip met Anne Hiscock, and they married in 1955. After obtaining the primary fellowship, he was called up into the Army for National Service, which entailed working for a field ambulance with the RAMC in Korea and then Japan and subsequently became a medical officer to a gunner regiment, a position which, somewhat to his concern, required him to defend troops at a court martial. During his time in the Far East, Philip kept a kestrel, which lived off the local rodents, as this helped to contain the spread of haemorrhagic fever amongst the troops. After National Service, Philip went to work for William John Ferguson at the West Middlesex Hospital and then to Ashford Hospital to work for Norman Matheson who, for many years, was editor of the *British Journal of Urology*. Whilst in Ashford he also completed his MD thesis on fibrinolysis. In 1959 Philip became a senior registrar in general surgery in Manchester, working for Tommy Moore and Bruce Torrance at Manchester Royal Infirmary. It was during this time that he developed an interest in urology and particularly renal transplantation, having performed one of the first haemodialysis treatments in Manchester. An opportunity arose to go to Leeds, as a research fellow with Frank Parsons, with a view to setting up one of the first kidney donor banks utilising kidney storage at subzero temperatures and it was this work that enabled him to apply for a consultant position at the Leeds General Infirmary. Philip succeeded Leslie Pyrah (the UK’s first formal professor of urology) in 1964, when, at that time there were only four urologists in Yorkshire (two in Bradford and two in Leeds). The department under Philip’s tutelage had a renowned reputation for training urologists, both in the UK and from overseas. The outcome was Philip’s book *Operations in urology* (Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1985), which aimed to help trainees learn the secrets of urological surgery. The book was written with a great deal of constructive input from the trainees and colleagues in the department, and for many of us who were registrars in the 1980s and 1990s, this was the go-to book for operative urology. As a trainee working for Philip was demanding and not everyone took to the Saturday morning teaching sessions, but as long as you recognised that there was only one way of doing things, then most found him very fair and straightforward and he had a significant impact on the careers of many UK urologists at that time. Another success was the development of the South African registrar position at Leeds General Infirmary. Having met Willem Laubscher from Stellenbosch University, they decided to set up an offer for trainees to spend a year at Leeds General Infirmary, giving them the unique experience of training in a different healthcare system, an experience so good that at least three subsequently pursued their own successful urological careers in the UK. As a consultant, Philip also became actively involved with the Société Internationale d’Urologie (SIU), and in 1973 he was asked to become secretary of the rules committee, then in 1976 he was appointed the associate general secretary, a post he held for nine years before becoming vice president in 1985, particularly notable for being the first appointee from outside France. He was also elected president of the section of urology of the Royal Society of Medicine and onto the council of British Association of Urological Surgeons. Philip was also a strong, active supporter of two other urological travel clubs during his career – the Punch Club and the Urological Club of Great Britain and Ireland. Using his international connections, Philip was influential in arranging the various club meetings to different units abroad, both in Europe and the US – on one memorable occasion sailing the members over to Holland for a SIU meeting in Amsterdam with Philip and Martin Claridge as the two skippers for the journey. In the late 1980s, the field of urological stone surgery was undergoing immense change with the introduction of lithotripsy and Philip recognised the importance of such technology and how it could revolutionise the treatment of such patients. He managed to raise the funds in 1988 for one of the first shockwave lithotripters in the country after London and Edinburgh. Although the technology has changed over time, Philip’s extremely forward thinking helped make Leeds one of the main centres for stone surgery in the UK, with referrals from across the north of England and Wales. Family life centred around the family home, the Grove, in Thorner. Anne was a well-known GP in Leeds, and they had three children, Peter, Richard and Sarah. Philip and Anne were renowned hosts at the Grove, generously entertaining urologists from far and wide. Philip was an avid sailor with his own boat, the *Indian Queen*, at St Mawes in Cornwall and in his retirement, never to let his hands grow idle, he had many interests. He took up glass engraving with great success and even branched out to playing the accordion. Philip had high standards and very definite views on patient management, which he expected everyone to follow, including hospital management. Deviation was in his opinion not permissible, but behind this strict professional façade he was very fair and straightforward and underneath lay a very kind person with a strong faith and I often wonder if much of his approach was a reflection of the dominant personalities of the time and the need to protect an emerging specialty. Right up until the end of his life, Philip was able to enjoy recalling urologists and events from throughout his career and during his retirement he loved to hear how the unit in Leeds and urology in general was progressing, often with a quizzical raised eyebrow and wry smile. Philip died on 18 March 2024 at the age of 96. I feel very privileged to have known him both as a colleague and a close friend and to have had his advice, support and friendship over the last 30 years. It was very clear to all who met him that here was an extraordinary man with multiple facets to his talents both professionally and beyond, with qualities that we would love to aspire to today.