Famous Coventrians

Listed in the telephone directories as 22 East Street

Here's an interesting article about a chap called John Miller-Kirkpatrick who ran an electronics company in the seventies selling home computer kits to enthusiasts, and also writing articles for magazines and lecturing about microprocessors. He was born in Coventry. Unfortunately, he died when he in his early 30s, but he's actually one of the pioneers of home computing in the UK, and probably way ahead of the likes of Sinclair and Acorn. He died in 1978 of Leukemia, which he'd also had as a child. Very interesting story.

Most interesting find, flapdoodle - I have added him to our list

One of our Famous Coventrians appears in the Queen's Birthday Honours List today Laura Davies becomes a Dame

More excellent news for our city - our "famous Coventrian" list has now been duly updated. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Congratulations to Ian Bell on the achievement of his 100th test appearance for England Well done, Belly

One of our "Famous Coventrians" is Sir Frederick Gibberd, an old boy of King Henry VIII Grammar School and the architect who designed, amongst others, Liverpool's Metropolitan (RC) Cathedral and Didcot A Power Station It has recently been announced that demolition of Didcot A will take place on the morning of Sunday 27 July 2014 - it would be quite a sight to behold but for the fact that it is scheduled to take place between 3am and 5am There is a campaign to move the timing back into daylight so that those who wish to witness the event may do so I called in at Didcot this afternoon whilst I was out and about with t'camera, and took this photograph from the enormous Great Western Park housing development which is being built on the outskirts of the town Didcot B Power Station (the natural gas plant) is to the left and Didcot A (combined coal and oil power plant) to the right If the timing is not changed, I doubt I will be there to witness the demolition, but I will endeavour to post another photo from the same position after Didcot A has gone (I wonder if NormK is going to be involved - I bet he wishes he could be )

A workshop where the inventor of the jet engine began his early work has been saved from demolition. Sir Frank Whittle's workshop, in Leamington Spa, in Warwickshire, had stood empty since 2006. It was bought by a building firm which planned to knock it down and redevelop the site for refuse storage. However, history professor Richard Beacham stepped in to buy it. Warwick District Council confirmed the building had been saved. Professor Beacham, professor emeritus at King's College London, lives next door to the workshop on Clinton Street, and said he felt "dismayed" when he heard last year permission had been granted for the building to be demolished. "It's very likely it would have been lost," he said. "I went to the developers and asked if they would be interested in selling it to me. "It could no longer be used as a workshop - because it is now in the middle of a residential area and there are noise restrictions - so I asked the council for permission to restore it and convert it into a house." Professor Beacham said the workshop was bought by Sir Frank's father, Moses, in 1916 when the family moved to Leamington Spa. "Frank, then aged nine, both lived and worked in it," he said. "It was a tool-making shop, known as the Leamington Valve and Piston Ring Company. "Frank worked alongside his father and there acquired the beginnings of a technical expertise that later would lead to his invention of the jet engine." He described Sir Frank as, "the greatest aero-engineer of the 20th Century" and said historical groups in Leamington Spa were now leading tours to the workshop. Sir Frank's son, Ian, has also visited the property. Sir Frank Whittle was born in Coventry, the son of a mechanic. He joined the Royal Air Force as an apprentice in 1923. While still a cadet, he began looking at ways planes could fly at higher altitudes, where air resistance is much lower, in order to achieve long ranges and high speeds. Piston engines, which were used in aircraft at the time, were unsuitable for this, so Sir Frank decided to use a gas turbine. In 1935, he secured financial backing for his plans and the first test flight was made in 1941. Professor Beacham, who spent about £270,000 buying and converting the property, plans to let it to tenants.

Rodger McPhail When I was at school at Ullathorne in the 1960s, he was a few years above me. He had a reputation as the best artist the school had ever had. He went on to become a well known wildlife artist. The best known commercial example of his work is the pheasant that appears on grouse whiskey bottles.