Tim the ‘Lord’ of ‘rock ‘n’ roll cricket’ dies
THE colourful ‘Lord’ Tim Hudson who starred in the Jungle Book and brought ‘rock ‘n’ roll cricket’ to Macclesfield has died, it has been reported.
Mr Hudson, who was born in Prestbury and lived a glamorous jet-set lifestyle, passed away aged 79 according to the Daily Mail.
He had been dubbed the ‘hippy millionaire’ and moved to North America in the 1960 - firstly to Canada then the USA.
Over there he became a man of many talents that included DJ, rock star, manager and actor - landing the voice-over role for a vulture in Disney’s Jungle Book.
Then he moved back to Macclesfield in the 1980s and created the Birtles Bowl cricket ground, in a ten-acre site he purchased in the village of Birtles, near Henbury.
Here he put on celebrity cricket matches starring England legend Ian Botham, who he also managed for a while.
Others to appear there were Imran Khan, Viv Richards and Gary Sobers as well as bands such as Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen at music events.
The dad-of-five moved his family into a rainbow pavilion on site.
In interviews with the Macclesfield Express about those days he was quoted as saying: “It was a great place to be in the Eighties, with the matches and the music, and I won’t forget the good times we had there.
“Birtles was a fun time. “We wanted to bring young people and women to cricket, to bring some colour to cricket.”
But Mr Hudson moved back to the USA in 1990, where he threw himself into an art career and settled in Palm Springs.
He also continued his radio work and did not forget his Macclesfield roots, returning in 2008 to broadcast a show on Bollington’s Canalside Community Radio.
It was simultaneously broadcast in California.
Mr Hudson, who it is understood passed away last month, said at the time: “I wanted my own station here years ago.
“I was going to call it Magic Macclesfield and I had the money ready, but was told it couldn’t happen.”
A biography on his website tells of an eventful life.
It lists discovering the group the Moody Blues, interviewing the Beatles, coining the phrase ‘flower power’ and also starring as Hip Cat in Disney’s the Aristocats as among his achievements.