Brian May in Selsey to unveil Patrick Moore plaque
Queen guitarist and keen astrophysicist, Dr Brian May visited Selsey last Wednesday to unveil a blue plaque for his friend, Sir Patrick Moore.
Sir Patrick Moore died in December 2012, aged 89, after 55 years as the presenter of BBC television series The Sky at Night, having written more than 200 books, and composed a number of works of music, including operas.
Addressing the friends, family and fans who had come to Selsey for the unveiling, Brian May said: “Patrick was a friend to many of us and an inspiration to millions, as it says on the plaque.
“It would be fair to say that a number of generations of astronomers owe their passion to, like me, begging their parents to allow them to stay up and watch Patrick while he was presenting The Sky at Night and, of course, he held the record in the whole world for the number of years presenting one programme with one presenter.”
Christopher Beaumont, Sir Patrick Moore’s musical archivist, called the event ‘superb’ and said: “This place used to be very sad for a very long time but [the plaque] is all credit to the new owners.
“I think it’s the right thing to do, it’s superb.”
Christopher’s musical archive includes Sir Patrick Moore’s famous xylophone and a number of his compositions, which Christopher aims to reproduce in the future.
John Morris, who helped to organise the unveiling, said: “He attracted an incredible number of followers, he just was incredibly enthusiastic about it, everyone who knew him loved him.
“Of all of Selsey’s residents, Patrick is one of the most famous.
“It is because of his incredible contribution to the public understanding of science. He deserves to have a blue plaque.”
John recalled going to Sir Patrick’s home as a youth and helping him carry sacks of fan mail from his car.
He said Sir Patrick would stay up until he had responded to every letter.
Speaking to the Observer, Brian May added: “He was like a benevolent uncle to me and a mentor and a very dear friend.
“Patrick was known for being incredibly generous and he was never too busy to write back to all those kids who wanted advice – but he was generous beyond that – if someone wrote to him and said, ‘I can’t afford a telescope’, he would buy them a telescope.
“He was just incredibly generous to the point where, in his later years, he had given it all away. He was still making a bit of money from the books but not a lot.
“His friends gathered around him and made sure he stayed in this place because we couldn’t imagine him in a home. He was so creative and his body was still giving out.
“To his last days he was creating as he always had done.”
He said he visited Selsey regularly and that, more often than not, the sky would cloud over so they were unable to observe the night sky.
Brian May continued: “I think its good to keep his memory alive. He is alive in the fact that so many astonomers have been inspired by his work.
“It’s nice for Selsey to celebrate one of its great residents.
“He was such a national treasure and I don’t think people realised it until he was gone which is, I suppose, the way but he was the last of his kind and the last of his breed – a gentleman astronomer.”