Cochran Nothing short of miraculous

WHEN Eddie Cochran saw Elvis Presley perform live in Dallas in 1955 he immediately fell under the spell of Elvis’s new style of music, and his short but spectacular career has led him to being considered one of the founding fathers of rock ‘n’ roll.

To have achieved all this in the brief space between his 16th birthday and his tragic death in a car crash at the age of only 21 is nothing short of miraculous. His talent was unique and he left footprints in the sands of time. However, it took over 20 years before his pure stereo recordings were released to the public.

You can still purchase a very special three-CD set featuring 56 original recordings by Eddie Cochran (‘Eddie Cochran: The Absolutely Essential Collection’, reference number BT3110.)

There is a very expensive memorial stone and sundial to commemorate him which can be found in the grounds of St Martin’s Hospital in Bath – next to the old chapel and well worth a visit.

It is very remarkable after all these years that his fans and friends still make donations in memory of this star to the Sirona Foundation Trust, St Martin’s Hospital, Clara Cross Lane, Bath BA2 5 RP.

All the money given is spent on older people. This is a very unique project which I hope will be supported by the public here in the West Country.

Kingswood

The Marples Massacre

✒ I SMILED when I read the article about Mr Marples in BT 10th November. I’ve often felt that the “Beeching Cuts” should be renamed “The Marples Massacre of the Railways” as he was in charge at the time!

Don’t miss this talk!

✒ AT our final meeting of 2018, we held our AGM and were then entertained by a card trick specialist, following which we had our annual American Supper.

Our 2019 programme will begin on March 4 with a talk about Famous Men and Women buried in Arnos Vale Cemetery. Surely unmissable!

The Kingswood History Society meets on the first Tuesday of each month (March – December) at 7.30pm, in the Park Centre, Kingswood High Street, (opposite the Civic Centre BS15 9TR, parking in Hollow Road, opposite the Civic

Peter Morgan

Centre). Anyone interested in joining us should visit our website www.kingswoodhistorysociety.org or just come along to our meetings. Cost is £2.50 per visit including refreshments. Annual subscription is only £20.

Back on December 11 our Picture of the Week was a dramatic shot of firemen tackling the blaze which broke out at the Hippodrome on Monday February 17 1948.We were mailed this dramatic photo of the same event by a gent called Bob who collects photos of the fire services in action.He added: “As a matter of interest, following that fire, the Hippodrome night watchman had to ring Bristol fire control every night at some unearthly hour to confirm everything was in order.“He would say ‘Bristol Hippodrome OK.’“If he did not ring, a fire engine had to be sent to check that everything was in fact OK. This was still being done in the 1970s.”The photo, he says, has the Western Daily Press stamp on the back, though we’ve not yet come across the original in the archives.Apologies for the fold in the middle, but you get the idea!