Severn Valley Railway Spring Diesel Gala

The Severn Valley Railway Spring diesel festival takes place between 19May and 22nd May 2022. Guest diesel locomotives include BR Class 44 44004 Great Gable (D4), BR Class 46 46045 (D182.) DB Cargo  Class 67, GB Railfreight Class 73 73107 and 73136, Class 33 no.D6515 courtesy of  71A locomotives Society at Swanage and Direct Rail Services Class 66/Class 68.

They will be appearing Alongside EWS class 31 no. 31466, Class 50’s no 50008 and 50035, and the Western Locomotive Association‘s class 52 D1015 Western Champion, and D1062 Western Courier which has been renamed and renumbered D1040 Western Queen In order to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years of service to the nation.

Class 52 No.1015 Western Chapion

Class 17 Clayton No.8568

EWS Class 31 No.31466

Broadway Tower

The latest painting I have done using Ibis Paint X is of Broadway Tower, a folly on Broadway Hill, near the village of Broadway, in Worcestershire. Broadway Tower stands 65 feet (20 metres) high and  was the brainchild of Capability Brown and designed by James Wyatt and built for Barbara, Countess of Coventry in 1798–1799 on a beacon hill, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry wondered whether a beacon on this hill could be seen from her house in Worcester — about 22 miles (35 km) away — and financed the construction of the folly. The tower became home to the printing press of Sir Thomas Phillipps. By the mid-1870s, it was being rented by C J Stone and Cormell Price, the headmaster of the United Services College at Westward Ho!, and a close friend and confidant of artists William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Near the tower is a memorial to the crew of an A.W.38 Whitley bomber that crashed there during a training mission in June 1943. In the late 1950s, Broadway Tower monitored nuclear fallout in England; an underground Royal Observer Corps bunker was built 50 yards (46 m) from the Tower. Staffed continuously from 1961 and designated as a master post, the bunker was one of the last such Cold War bunkers constructed and, although officially stood down in 1991, the bunker is now one of the few remaining fully equipped facilities in England.

T.E.Lawrence CB DSO

Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO tragically died 19 May 1935 six days after being fatally injured in an accident while riding his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset, close to the cottage where he lived, Clouds Hill, near Wareham. The spot is marked by a small memorial at the side of the road.

He was born 16th August 1888. known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, he was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18. The breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as Lawrence of Arabia, a title which was used for the 1962 film based on his World War I activities. From 1907 to 1910 Lawrence studied history at Jesus College, Oxford. He became a practising archaeologist in the Middle East, working at various excavations. In 1908 he joined the OUOTC (Oxford University Officer Training Corps), undergoing a two-year training course. Before the outbreak of World War I, Lawrence was co-opted by the British Army to undertake a military survey of the Negev Desert while doing archaeological research. In the summer of 1909 Lawrence set out alone on a three-month walking tour of crusader castles in Ottoman Syria. Lawrence graduated with First Class Honours after submitting a thesis entitled The influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture — to the end of the 12th century, based on his field research in France, notably in Châlus, and in the Middle East.

On completing his degree in 1910, Lawrence commenced postgraduate research in mediaeval pottery with a Senior Demy, a scholarship, at Magdalen College, Oxford, which he abandoned after he was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist in the Middle East. In December 1910 he sailed for Beirut, and went to Jbail (Byblos), and then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, in northern Syria, where he worked for the British Museum. As the site lay near an important crossing on the Baghdad Railway, knowledge gathered there was of considerable importance to the military. From November 1911 he spent a second season at Carchemish and continued making trips to the Middle East as a field archaeologist until the outbreak of the First World War.

In January 1914, he was co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert in order to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the “Wilderness of Zin”; along the way, they undertook an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert. The Negev was of strategic importance, as it would have to be crossed by any Ottoman army attacking Egypt in the event of war, Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Petra. Upon the outbreak of World War One in 1914 Lawrence was working as a university post-graduate researcher and had travelled extensively within the Ottoman Empire provinces of the Levant (Transjordan and Palestine) and Mesopotamia (Syria and Iraq) under his own name. As such he became known to the Turkish Interior Ministry authorities and their German technical advisors. Lawrence came into contact with the Ottoman–German technical advisers, travelling over the German-designed, -built, and -financed railways during the course of his researches. Due to his first-hand knowledge of Syria, the Levant, and Mesopotamia, He was posted to Cairo on the Intelligence Staff of the GOC Middle East. The British government in Egypt sent Lawrence to work with the Hashemite forces in the Hejaz in October 1916

During the war, Lawrence fought with Arab irregular troops under the command of Emir Faisal, a son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca, in extended guerrilla operations against the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence obtained assistance from the Royal Navy to turn back an Ottoman attack on Yenbu in December 1916.Lawrence’s major contribution to the revolt was convincing the Arab leaders (Faisal and Abdullah) to co-ordinate their actions in support of British strategy. He persuaded the Arabs not to make a frontal assault on the Ottoman stronghold in Medina but allowed the Turkish army to tie up troops in the city garrison. The Arabs were then free to direct most of their attention to the Turks’ weak point, the Hejaz railway that supplied the garrison. This vastly expanded the battlefield and tied up even more Ottoman troops, who were then forced to protect the railway and repair the constant damage. Lawrence developed a close relationship with Faisal. In 1917, Lawrence arranged a joint action against the strategically located but lightly defended town of Aqaba. On 6 July, Aqaba fell to Lawrence and the Arab forces. After Aqaba, Lawrence was promoted to major. In January 1918, the battle of Tafileh, an important region southeast of the Dead Sea, was fought using Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari which was described as a “brilliant feat of arms” and Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh, and was also promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and described as a very inspiring gentleman adventurer.

Lawrence was also involved in the build up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, the newly liberated Damascus had been envisaged by Lawrence as the capital of an Arab state and he was was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal. Faisal’s rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun, when the French Forces of General Gouraud, under the command of General Mariano Goybet, entered Damascus, destroying Lawrence’s dream of an independent Arabia. Immediately after the war, Lawrence worked for the Foreign Office, and also as as an advisor to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office. In 1919 his flight to Egypt crashed at the airport of Roma-Centocelle. The pilot and co-pilot were killed; Lawrence came off with a broken shoulder blade and two broken ribs. He continued serving in the RAF based at Bridlington, specialising in high-speed boats. Lawrence was also a keen motorcyclist, and, at different times, had owned seven Brough Superior motorcycles. His seventh motorcycle is on display at the Imperial War Museum. Sadly In May 1935, At the age of 46, Lawrence was fatally injured in an accident on his Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle in Dorset, close to his cottage, Clouds Hill, near Wareham. A dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on their bicycles; he swerved to avoid them, lost control and was thrown over the handlebars. He died six days later on 19 May 1935. The spot is marked by a small memorial at the side of the road.

Stuart Cable (Stereophonics)

Stuart Cable ex-drummer with the Stereophonics was born 19 May 1970. He formed the band Stereophonics alongside Kelly Jones and Richard Jones with Jones becaming the lead singer. The Stereophonics’ debut album, Word Gets Around was released in 1997 , the lyrics written by Jones, feature a strong autobiographical thread including an account of his teenage years working on a market stall on, “More Life in a Tramps Vest”. In 1996, after several years on the south Wales live circuit, Stereophonics were the first band to be signed to Richard Branson’s new Virgin Records label V2. Their debut EP Looks Like Chaplin was not pressed in enough numbers to qualify for the charts, and their next single Local Boy in the Photograph peaked one place shy of the UK Top 50. However, their debut LP Word Gets Around, helped by a busy touring schedule that included a support slot on fellow Welsh band Manic Street Preachers’ 1996–97 tour, made it to number 6 on the UK Albums Chart

In 1998, Stereophonics received a Brit Award for Best New Group a re-issue of Local Boy in the Photograph also made number 14 in the charts and their first album went gold in the UK,the band toured in Europe, Australia and the US, the highlight of which was a concert on 12 June 1998 at Cardiff Castle that was filmed for release. They performed a cover of the Randy Newman song Mama Told Me Not to Come with Tom Jones for his album Reload.

After another tour, they re-entered the studios and recorded Just Enough Education to Perform, containing the single Mr. Writer and Have a Nice Day, and Step on My Old Size Nines. A cover of Rod Stewart’s version of Mike D’Abo’s song Handbags & Gladrags was added to later editions of the album. They also recorded their biggest audience to date when they played to 80,000 in Slane Castle in Ireland and ending with a Christmas show at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, supported by Feeder and Ocean Colour Scene – who they had supported years before. They released their fourth studio album You Gotta Go There to Come Back with songs like Maybe Tomorrow and Madame Helga and a re-worked song that had not been completed in time, Moviestar. They re-issued the album with this track included.

In 2002, the band was chosen as a support act for Counting Crows and toured on various UK dates with the band. Subsequently, Jones would join the band on stage and perform Mr. Jones and Hanginaround alongside Adam Duritz In 2003, whilst on tour in Germany, drummer Stuart Cable – who by this time had his own television chat show on BBC Wales – was sacked from the band by Jones, citing problems over “commitment”. Cable was replaced temporarily on the remainder of the tour by Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman. Luckily Kelly Jones and Cable patched-up their differences a year after they split, being in regular contact for the 5 years prior to Cable’s death, and even performing on stage with bass player Richard Jones, at a long serving Stereophonics crew member and mutual friend’s wedding

Stereophonics’ fifth studio album Language. Sex. Violence. Other? (LSVO) was released in March 2005. This marked their first recording with new drummer, Javier Weyler the band’s former studio engineer, whom they had made permanent in the band after asking him to fill in on the drums for some early LSVO recordings. The band had their first number 1 hit in the UK singles chart with the album’s first release, the upbeat Dakota, in which Kelly spent much of the video driving in dark sunglasses. The second single from the album, Superman peaked at number 13 in the UK charts. After this release came Devil, which was promoted by a controversial video, reaching number 11 in the charts.

On 2 July 2005, the group took a break from their sold out world tour and appeared at the Live 8 concert, in Hyde Park, London, performing to 240,000 people – their biggest audience yet. Stereophonics sixth studio album Pull The Pin was released on 15 October 2007. Pull The Pin is an album that returns to the band’s classic rock roots evident in the first album and the influence of 1970s rock can be heard in numerous tracks.

Sadly though Cable was found dead at his home in Llwydcoed at 5:30 am on 7 June 2010, aged 40. Both Cable and Jones were due to meet for a drink on the day of Cable’s death. On the evening of Saturday 5 June, Stereophonics played in Cardiff; Cable was said to have been presenting on the radio at the same time that Stereophonics were performing. The following day, he began drinking at Welsh Harp Inn in Trecynon. Cable walked home with friends where he continued drinking and choked to death on his own vomit during his sleep. Cable’s funeral was held at St. Elvan’s Church in Aberdare on 21 June 2010, The cortege, which was attended by black horse driven cabriolet, left the church at approximately 1 p.m. and he was later cremated.

Phil RuddAC/DC

Phil Rudd, the Drummer with Australian Rock Band AC/DC was born on 19th May 1954. AC/DC were formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who have remained the sole constant members. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal and are sometimes classified as such, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply “rock and roll”. To date they are one of the highest grossing bands of all time. AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, on 17 February 1975.Membership subsequently stabilised until bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage. Within months of recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980, after a night of heavy alcohol consumption. The group briefly considered disbanding, but Scott’s parents urged them to continue and hire a new vocalist.

Ultimately ex Geordie singer Brian Johnson was selected to replace Scott. Later that year, the band released their highest selling album, and ultimately the third highest-selling album by any artist, Back in Black.The band’s next album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the United States. AC/DC declined in popularity soon after drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 and was replaced by future Dio drummer Simon Wright, though the band resurged in the early 1990s with the release of The Razors Edge. Phil Rudd returned in 1994 (after Chris Slade, who was with the band from 1989–1994, was asked to leave in favour of him) and contributed to the band’s 1995 album Ballbreaker. Since then, the band’s line-up has remained the same. Stiff Upper Lip was released in 2000 and was well received by critics, and the band’s latest studio album, Black Ice, was released on 20 October 2008. It was their biggest hit on the charts since For Those About to Rock, reaching No.1 on all the charts eventually. Recently there has been some controversy after lead singer Brian Johnson was advised by Doctors to give up singing or risk permanent hearing loss and was replaced as AC/DC’s lead singer by W.Axl Rose from Guns’n’Roses. 

As of 2010, AC/DC had sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, including 71 million albums in the United States alone. Back in Black has sold an estimated 49 million units worldwide, making it the third highest-selling album by any artist, and the second highest-selling album by any band, behind Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The album has sold 22 million units in the U.S. alone, where it is the fifth-highest-selling album of all-time. AC/DC ranked fourth on VH1′s list of the “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” and were named the seventh “Greatest Heavy Metal Band of All Time” by MTV. In 2004, AC/DC were ranked number 72 in the Rolling Stone list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. In 2010, AC/DC were ranked number 23 in the VH1 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Sir John Betjeman CBE

English poet, writer and broadcaster Sir John Betjeman, CBE. sadly passed away on 19 May 1984, aged 77. He was Born 28 August 1906, and was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture. He Started his career as a journalist, and ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureates and a much-loved figure on British television. Betjeman’s early schooling was at the local Byron House and Highgate School, where he was taught by the poet T. S. Eliot. After this, he boarded at the Dragon School preparatory school in North Oxford and Marlborough College, a public school in Wiltshire. In his penultimate year, he joined the secret ‘Society of Amici’ in which he was a contemporary of both Louis MacNeice and Graham Shepard. While at school, his exposure to the works of Arthur Machen won him over to High Church Anglicanism, a conversion of importance to his later writing and conception of the arts.

Betjeman studied at the newly created School of English Language and Literature at Magdalen College , Oxford University ,where he dedicated most of his time to cultivating his social life, his interest in English ecclesiastical architecture, and to private literary pursuits.He also had a poem published in Isis, the university magazine and was editor of the Cherwell student newspaper during 1927. His first book of poems was privately printed with the help of fellow-student Edward James. Betjeman left Oxford without a degree but he had made the acquaintance of people who would influence his work. After university, Betjeman worked briefly as a private secretary, school teacher and film critic for the Evening Standard. He was employed by the Architectural Review between 1930 and 1935, as a full time assistant editor, following their publishing of some of his freelance work. At this time, while his prose style matured, he joined the MARS Group, an organisation of young modernist architects and architectural critics in Britain.The Shell Guides, were developed by Betjeman and Jack Beddington, a friend who was publicity manager with Shell-Mex Ltd. The series aimed to guide Britain’s growing number of motorists around the counties of Britain and their historical sites. They were published by the Architectural Press and financed by Shell. By the start of World War II 13 had been published, of which Cornwall (1934) and Devon (1936) had been written by Betjeman. A third, Shropshire, was written with and designed by his good friend John Piper in 1951.

Upon the outbreak of World War II In 1939, Betjeman was rejected for active service but found work with the films division of the Ministry of Information. During his time he wrote a number of poems based on his experiences in “Emergency” World War II Ireland including “The Irish Unionist’s Farewell to Greta Hellstrom in 1922″ (actually written during the war) which contained the refrain “Dungarvan in the rain”. After the war Betjaman published more work and By 1948 he had published more than a dozen books. Five of these were verse collections and The popularity of the book prompted Ken Russell to make a film about him, John Betjeman: A Poet in London which was first shown in England on BBC’s Monitor programme. He continued writing guidebooks and works on architecture during the 1960s and 1970s and started broadcasting. He was also a founder member of The Victorian Society (1958). In 1973 he made a widely acclaimed television documentary for the BBC called Metro-land, directed by Edward Mirzoeff. Betjeman was also fond of the ghost stories of M.R. James and supplied an introduction to Peter Haining’s book M.R. James – Book of the Supernatural. Betjeman also wrote a great many poems which are often humorous and in broadcasting he exploited his bumbling and fogeyish image. His wryly comic verse is accessible and has attracted a great following for its satirical and observant grace. Betjeman s religious beliefs come through in some of his poems .Betjeman became Poet Laureate in 1972, the first Knight Bachelor ever to be appointed (the only other, Sir William Davenant, had been knighted after his appointment). This role, combined with his popularity as a television performer, ensured that his poetry eventually reached an enormous audience.

Betjeman also had a fondness for Victorian architecture and was a founding member of Victorian Society and also wrote on this subject in First and Last Loves (1952) and more extensively in London’s Historic Railway Stations in 1972, defending the beauty of the twelve London railway stations. He led the campaign to save Holy Trinity, Sloane Street in London when it was threatened with demolition in the early 1970s. He fought a spirited but ultimately unsuccessful campaign to save the Propylaeum, known commonly as the Euston Arch, London. He is considered instrumental in helping to save the famous façade of St Pancras railway station, London and was commemorated when it re-opened as an international and domestic terminus in November 2007. He called the plan to demolish St Pancras a “criminal folly”. ” On the re-opening St Pancras in 2007, a statue of Betjeman was commissioned from curators Futurecity. A proposal by artist Martin Jennings was selected from a shortlist. The finished work was erected in the station at platform level, including a series of slate roundels depicting selections of Betjeman’s writings. Betjeman responded to architecture as the visible manifestation of society’s spiritual life as well as its political and economic structure. He attacked speculators and bureaucrats for what he saw as their rapacity and lack of imagination. He is buried in the churchyard at St Enodoc’s Church.

During his life he recieved many honours including the Queen’s Medal for Poetry, CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), Companion of Literature, the Royal Society of Literature, a Knight Bachelor he was also made an Honorary Member, the American Academy of Arts in 1973 and was made poet Laureate in 1972. To commemorate Betjeman A memorial window, designed by John Piper, is set in All Saints’ Church, Farnborough, Berkshire, where Betjeman lived in the adjoining Rectory and there is also The Betjeman Millennium Park at Wantage in Oxfordshire as well as a statue of John Betjeman at St Pancras station by sculptor Martin Jennings which was unveiled in 2007. In addition The John Betjeman Young People’s Poetry Competition was inaugurated in 2006 to celebrate Betjeman’s centenary. The competition is open to 11–14 year olds living anywhere in the British Isles and the Republic of Ireland. The spirit behind the competition is to encourage young people to understand and appreciate the importance of place.

Joey Ramone

The late great American vocalist and songwriter Joey ramone (Jeffrey Hyman) was born 19th May 1951 in Queens, New York to a Jewish family. His parents are Charlotte (née Mandell) and Noel Hyman. The family lived in Forest Hills, Queens New York where Hyman and his future Ramones bandmates attended Forest Hills High School. Though happy, Hyman was something of an outcast, diagnosed at 18 with obsessive–compulsive disorder. He grew up with his brother Mickey Leigh. His mother, Charlotte Lesher, divorced her first husband, Noel Hyman. She married a second time but was widowed by a car accident while she was on vacation. Hyman was a fan of the Beatles, the Who, David Bowie, and the Stooges among other bands, particularly oldies and the Phil Spector-produced “girl groups”. His idol was Pete Townshend of the Who, with whom he shared a birthday. Hyman took up the drums at 13, and played them throughout his teen years before picking up an acoustic guitar at age 17.

In 1972 Hyman joined the glam punk band Sniper. Sniper played at the Mercer Arts Center, Max’s Kansas City and the Coventry, alongside the New York Dolls, Suicide, and Queen Elizabeth III. Hyman played with Sniper under the name Jeff Starship until early 1974, when he was replaced by Alan Turner, whereupon he co-founded the punk rock band the Ramones with friends John Cummings and Douglas Colvin. Colvin was already using the pseudonym “Dee Dee Ramone” and the others also adopted stage names using “Ramone” as their surname: Cummings became Johnny Ramone and Hyman became Joey Ramone. The name “Ramone” stems from Paul McCartney: he briefly used the stage name “Paul Ramon” during 1960/1961, when the Beatles, still an unknown five-piece band called the Silver Beetles, did a tour of Scotland and all took up pseudonyms; and again on a 1969 Steve Miller album where he played the drums on one song using that name. Joey initially served as the group’s drummer while Dee Dee Ramone was the original vocalist. However, when Dee Dee’s vocal cords proved unable to sustain the demands of consistent live performances, Ramones manager Thomas Erdelyi suggested Joey switch to vocals. After a series of unsuccessful auditions in search of a new drummer, Erdelyi took over on drums, assuming the name Tommy Ramone.

The Ramones were a major influence on the punk rock movement in the United States, though they achieved only minor commercial success. Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania. Recognition of the band’s importance built over the years, and they are now regularly represented in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone lists of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time and 25 Greatest Live Albums of All Time, VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, and Mojo’s 100 Greatest Albums. In 2002, the Ramones were voted the second greatest rock and roll band ever in Spin, trailing only the Beatles. In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played their final show and then disbanded.

Sadly Little more than eight years after the breakup, the band’s three founding members—lead singer Joey Ramone, guitarist Johnny Ramone, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone—had died. Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania. However, recognition of the band’s importance built over the years, and they are now cited in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone list of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time and VH1′s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2002, the Ramones were ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin magazine, trailing only The Beatles. On March 18, 2002, the Ramones—including the three founders and drummers Tommy and Marky Ramone—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2011, the group was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dusty Hill (ZZTop)

Dusty Hill the splendidly hirsute bass player with ZZ Top was born 19th May 1949. Formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas , the group consists of Billy Gibbons (guitar and vocals), Dusty Hill (bass and vocals), and Frank Beard (drums and percussion). ZZ Top’s early sound was rooted in blues but eventually grew to exhibit contemporary influences. Throughout their career they have maintained a sound based on Hill’s and Beard’s rhythm section support, accentuated by Gibbons’ guitar and vocal style. Their lyrics often gave evidence of band’s humor and thematically focus on personal experiences and sexual innuendos.

ZZ Top formed its initial lineup in 1969, consisting of Anthony Barajas (bass and keyboards) and Peter Perez (drums and percussion). After several incarnations, Hill and Beard joined. Moulded into a professional act by manager Bill Ham, they were subsequently signed to London Records and released their debut album. They were successful as live performers, becoming known to fans as “that little ol’ band from Texas”, and their 1973 album Tres Hombres, according to Allmusic, propelled the band to national attention and “made them stars”.

In 1979, after returning from a one-and-a-half year break of touring, the group reinvented themselves with their 1983 hit album Eliminator and the accompanying tour. ZZ Top incorporated New Wave and punk influences into their sound and performances, and embraced a more iconic image, with Gibbons and Hill sporting chest-length beards and sunglasses. Similar experimentation continued for the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s with varying levels of success. On ZZ Top’s 2003 album Mescalero, they adopted a more contemporary sound while maintaining their influences from their earlier musical pursuits.Maintaining the same members for over forty years, ZZ Top has released 14 studio albums and are among the most popular rock groups, having sold more than 25 million albums in the United States. They have won three VMAs and in 2004, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. VH1 ranked ZZ Top at number 44 in its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock”. They have performed at many charity events and raised $1 million for the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Pete Townshend (The Who)

Pete Townshend, guitarist, keyboard player and vocalist with The Who was born 19th May 1945. They were formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey (lead vocals, harmonica and guitar), Pete Townshend, John Entwistle (bass guitar, brass and vocals) and Keith Moon (drums and percussion). They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction. The Who have sold about 100 million records, and have charted 27 top forty singles in the United Kingdom and United States, as well as 17 top ten albums, with 18 Gold, 12 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone.

The Who rose to fame in the UK with a series of top ten hit singles, boosted in part by pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, beginning in January 1965 with “I Can’t Explain”. The albums My Generation, A Quick One and The Who Sell Out followed, with the first two reaching the UK top five. They first hit the US Top 40 in 1967 with “Happy Jack” and hit the top ten later that year with “I Can See for Miles”.Their fame grew with memorable performances at the Monterey Pop, Woodstock and Isle of Wight music festivals.

In 1969 the album Tommy was released becoming the first in a series of top ten albums in the US, Followed by Live at Leeds, Who’s Next, Quadrophenia, The Who by Numbers, Who Are You, and The Kids Are Alright. Sadly though Moon died at the age of 32 in 1978, after which the band released two further studio albums, Face Dances and It’s Hard, with drummer kenney Jones, before disbanding in 1983. However They re-formed at events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour and the Quadrophenia tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members discussed recording an album of new material, however their plans temporarily stalled upon Entwistle’s death at the age of 57 in 2002. They also played Glastonbury Festival.

Townshend and Daltrey continue to perform as The Who, and in 2006 they released the studio album Endless Wire, which reached the top ten in the UK and US. The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility; the display describes them as “Prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World’s Greatest Rock Band.” Time magazine wrote in 1979 that “No other group has ever pushed rock so far, or asked so much from it.” Rolling Stone magazine wrote: “Along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Who complete the holy trinity of British rock.” They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001, for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. In 2008 surviving members Townshend and Daltrey were honoured at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honours. That same year VH1 Rock Honours paid tribute to The Who and Jack Black of Tenacious D called them “the greatest band of all time.

Colin Chapman CBE

Influential English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman CBE, was Born 19 May 1928. Chapman studied structural engineering at University College London, joined the University Air Squadron and learned to fly. Chapman left UCL without a degree in 1948, resitting his final Mathematics paper in 1949 and obtaining his degree a year late. He briefly joined the Royal Air Force in 1948, being offered a permanent commission but turning this down in favour of a swift return to civilian life. After a couple of false starts Chapman joined the British Aluminium company, using his civil engineering skills to attempt to sell aluminium as a viable structural material for buildings.

In 1948 Chapman started building the Mk1, a modified Austin 7, which he entered privately into local racing events. He named the car “Lotus”. With prize money he developed the Lotus Mk2. With continuing success on through the Lotus 6, he began to sell kits of these cars. Over 100 were sold through 1956. It was with the Lotus 7 in 1957 that things really took off. In the 1950s, Chapman progressed through the motor racing formulae, designing and building a series of racing cars, sometimes to the point of maintaining limited production as they were so successful and highly sought after, until he arrived in Formula One. Besides his engineering work, he also piloted a Vanwall F1-car in 1956 but crashed into his teammate Mike Hawthorn during practice for the French Grand Prix at Reims, ending his career as a race driver and focusing him on the technical side. Along with John Cooper, he revolutionised the premier motor sport. Their small, lightweight mid-engined vehicles gave away much in terms of power, but superior handling meant their competing cars often beat the all-conquering front engined Ferraris and Maseratis. Eventually, with legendary driver Jim Clark at the wheel of his race cars, Team Lotus appeared as though they could win whenever they pleased. With Clark driving the legendary Lotus 25, Team Lotus won its first F1 World Championship in 1963. It was Clark, driving a Lotus 38 at the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, who drove the first ever mid-engined car to victory at the fabled “Brickyard.” Clark and Chapman had become particularly close and Clark’s death devastated Chapman, who publicly stated that he had lost his best friend. Among a number of legendary automotive figures who have been Lotus employees over the years were Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, founders of Cosworth. Graham Hill worked at Lotus as a mechanic as a means of earning drives.

In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman initially ran Lotus in his spare time, assisted by a group of enthusiasts. His knowledge of the latest aeronautical engineering techniques would prove vital towards achieving the major automotive technical advances he is remembered for. He was famous for saying “Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”, as his design philosophy focused on cars with light weight and fine handling instead of bulking up on horsepower and spring rates. Under his direction, Team Lotus won seven Formula One Constructors’ titles, six Drivers’ Championships, and the Indianapolis 500 in the United States, between 1962 and 1978. The production side of Lotus Cars has built tens of thousands of relatively affordable, cutting edge sports cars. Lotus is one of but a handful of English performance car builders still in business after the industrial decline of the 1970s.

Chapman sadly passed away on 16th December 1982, aged 54 after suffering a fatal heart attack and Although Lotus is now owned by the Malaysian Automotive Company “Proton”, Chapman pioneered many innovations and Many of Which can still be seen in Formula One and other top-level motor sport (such as IndyCars) today. Such as struts as a rear suspension device. Even today, struts used in the rear of a vehicle are known as Chapman struts, while virtually identical suspension struts for the front are known as MacPherson struts, monocoque chassis construction, the tube-frame chassis, positive aerodynamic downforce, through the addition of wings, moving radiators away from the front of the car to the sides, to decrease frontal area (lowering aerodynamic drag). He also designed a Formula One car that generated all of its downforce through ground effect, eliminating the need for wings, which also had active suspension and a dual-chassis And eventually made its début with the Lotus 99T in 1987. Caterham Cars also still manufacture the Caterham 7 based on the Lotus 7, and there have been over 90 different Lotus 7 clones, replicas and derivatives offered to the public by a variety of makers.