1952 Vincent Black Lighting

One of my favourite Richard Thompson songs is "1952 Vincent Black Lighting", on the fabulous Rumour and Sigh of 1991.

The motorbikes were hand-made in this building, just off the High Street, in my home town of Stevenage. The company (HDR) operated between 1928 and 1958 according to the blue plaque on the wall. It is all a bit derelict now, and the entrance to the adjoining Alleynes School is also looking a bit run down. What it does not look like is an old factory building.

Stevenage has been in the news a bit over the last couple of weeks:

* Lewis Hamilton ! (he is a Stevenage boy)

* The Joe O'Neill led inquiry into how to deal with antibiotic resistance - GlaxoSmithKline is now the town's biggest employer (and an extraordinary complex of buildings as viewed from the A1(M)). When I was a lad the big employer was British Aerospace.

* Space exploration - Airbus Defence and Space is based here, on the old Hawker Siddely site, and will play the UK leading role in the European Space Agency programme over the coming years.

I have been eating a lot of turkey these last couple of days. Next ...... I had better make a start on Christmas Cards !