Tuesday 14 October 2008

2. Paul Kidger writes about the Ricardo works


Paul Kidger
the Ricardo 
'I went to North Lancing school then Worthing Technical High School until 1963 when I went off to University and then to various jobs in the UK and elsewhere finally settling in Suffolk. My mother moved from Ring Road after my father died in 1990.'
Paul goes on to say...
'my father was an amateur painter and painted several local scenes, some from real life and some from postcards etc. There may well be a few around in private hands.
My own interest is engineering and we should not forget that one of the 20th century's foremost engineers lived in Lancing namely Sir Harry Ricardo who lived in Penstone Place The site is now the library.

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 Sir Harry was slightly later but almost can be considered as a contemporary of Dr Rudolph Diesel.
Sir Harry is credited as being responsible for the development of the modern diesel engine into the form we benefit from today. The significance of the Ricardo Works by the toll bridge is well known as an engine development organisation.
Also, there was the work in aviation undertaken by FG Miles at Shoreham. FG Miles almost had the first supersonic aircraft had the government not ordered a halt to the work and the files handed to the Americans who went on with an almost identical design to achieve that target. When I was a child, there were several FG Miles development aircraft flying around. Living in Ring Road provided an almost a grandstand view. '
If you would like to contact Paul Kidger write to: paulkidger(at)aol.com

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