Owen also organised and run ManLUG meetings back then

True! I was in Manchester for work for a couple weeks in the early 2000's and went out of my way to attend a ManLUG meeting -- two talks, snacks, great fellowship and a trip to the pub for curry afterwards. Learned about Squid internals and use of Linux thin clients, but most memorable was chatting with Owen over currywurst obvi. IIRC his academic background is philosophy and he was still active, publishing and teaching in it, while organizing ManLUG, keeping those hundreds of desktops in Kilburn hall up to date, and taking time out to talk to a weirdo like me vising from the other side of the world. Not all superheros wear capes.