LOSE YOURSELF IN 1975

MOURNING HILL’S DEATH

British F1 champion, Graham Hill, died in November when the plane he was piloting crashed on a foggy night approach to Elstree Airfield; he had retired from racing earlier in the year. Five of his Embassy Hill team also died in the accident.

NO ESCAPE FROM REALITY

A record that seemed to top the charts for three decades, in reality Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody reached number one on 23 November and remained there until 24 January 1976, when it was displaced by ABBA’S Mamma Mia. There was considerable cynicism in the music industry about the commercial prospects of a single that lasted nearly six minutes, but sales were assisted by DJ Kenny Everett promoting the disc on Capital Radio, tantalising listeners by playing only excerpts of the song.

SWAPPING COMBUSTION FOR STEAM

Old British brands were in

trouble, and it was especially bad for the Black Country. Jensen Motors of West Bromwich made two-thirds of its workforce – 700 people – redundant and Norton Villiers closed down after bankruptcy, making a further 1600 redundant in Wolverhampton. Times were happier in York, where an altogether different museum – dealing with trains rather than motors – welcomed visitors. The National Railway Museum was opened in a ceremony led by Prince Philip,

Duke of Edinburgh, which coincided with the 150th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Today, the Museum showcases around 100 fascinating rail vehicles from its comprehensive collection of around 280.