Professor Townsend tells us about lessons to be drawn from the history of immunology in Oxford, from 1979 onwards, until his current research on active and passive immunity to influenza. All these developments happened in Oxford because the atmosphere was right, open, researchers were encouraged to explore, and there was an enthusiasm in a great environment. Experiments and discoveries were made possible by the very open attitude of the supervisors at the time, telling their team that they they could do anything they wanted.