The Breezer - the joyride for a curious mind: A weekly newsletter from me, Steve Winduss, at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me discovering historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. Add to that updates relating to the podcast, a touch of humour and a dash of "lots more". - 9th March 2025.

Happy Sunday!
​
Having just returned in the car from Christchurch, dodging the ubiquitous British pot-holes and, on one occasion, landing a bullseye, which cannot have done the car's suspension much good, I'm thinking cars.
​
The first motor car appeared on UK roads in 1895. Mr E. Ellis drove a Panhard et Levassor from France across to Southampton and then to Malvern, some 120 miles away.
​
The first motor car fatality occurred a year later in 1896 when Bridget Driscoll was hit by a car being driven ‘wrecklessly’ at four miles per hour at Crystal Palace in London.
​
For the next 40 years, the number of cars on the road steadily grew to two million. Drivers were not required to pass any sort of competency test.
​
By 1935, the speed limit in built-up areas had risen from 2 miles per hour (with a flag bearer walking in front of the car) to 30 miles per hour. On the open road, speed limits had increased from 4 miles per hour to unlimited.
​
Road accidents were now commonplace and rising fast. In 1934 alone, over 7,000 people were killed on UK roads, representing three and a half deaths per 1,000 cars.
​
Today, with 42 million cars in use, road deaths stand at just 10% of that rate.
​
The Road Traffic Act followed in 1934, introducing several safety initiatives. The most prominent of these was the implementation of a driving test.
​
The government introduced voluntary driving tests 90 years ago next Sunday, 16 March 1935. Congratulations to Mr R. Beere from Kensington, the first person in the UK to take and pass a driving test. Compulsory tests followed in June.
​
The cars of the day were Morris Eights, Austin 7s, Ford Model Ys and the good old Hillman Minxes. The ‘sevens’ and ‘eights’ referred to the horsepower of the engines.

​

​

Because certain vehicles were treated as motorcycles for tax purposes, it was also quite common to see an alternative style of vehicle gracing the streets - the three-wheeler.
​
Three-wheelers tended to have the third wheel at the back. However, the single wheel had to be at the front to take advantage of the lower tax.
​
Enter the Raleigh Safety Seven which was superseded by a range of three-wheelers from the Reliant Engineering Company in 1936.
​
The classic British three-wheeler made famous by the sitcom Only Fools and Horses and the neurotic - and, let’s be honest, slightly irritating - Mr Bean, was the Reliant Robin, launched in 1973.
​
In the early eighties, I visited the Reliant factory in Tamworth, Birmingham and watched Robins lovingly hand-assembled by a very committed team.
​
I wouldn’t have been seen dead in a Robin. More to the point, I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into one. Nonetheless, it was still sad to acknowledge the last three-wheeler off the Reliant production line in 2001.
​

Another great British three-wheeling icon existed thanks to Oscar Bertram Greeves, a British engineer, whose cousin, Derry Preston-Cobb, was paralysed from the waist down.
​
Motivated to improve his cousin’s situation and seeing a growing need for mobility independence for ex-servicemen returning injured from World War II, Greeves founded Invacar Ltd in 1948.
​
With support from the Ministries of Health & Pensions, Invacars were distributed free of charge and remained on UK Roads for over 50 years.
​
Invacars*, the poor man’s Reliant Robin, were three-wheelers but could only accommodate the driver. They were all identically coloured - Ministry Blue.

​

​

If you ever see an Invacar up close, either in a museum or an enthusiast’s back garden, you will be flabbergasted to hear that they had a quoted top speed of 80 miles per hour.
​
Despite their lack of style, Invacars succeeded in providing independence for thousands of individuals with disabilities. On the downside, the Invacar had a reputation for instability, discomfort and poor handling.
​
More concerning, they were dangerous. The ‘blue bean machines’ had a tendency to catch fire, tip over when cornering too quickly or be blown on their sides in a storm.
​
The lightweight fibreglass shell offered little to no resistance on impact. The car was the crumple zone.
​
These ‘Noddy cars’ were eventually banned from UK roads on safety grounds in March 2003.
​
Thankfully today, the Motability charity, originally founded in 1977, provides drivers with disabilities a generous choice of mainstream cars with appropriate adaptations. Long may they continue.
​
​*’Invacar’ was the rather inelegant term derived from the shortening of ‘invalid carriages’.

A driving instructor once told me an anecdote about the infamous blue Invacars.
​
As we have discovered, there was only room for one person in an Invacar. So, to take a driving test, an Invacar driver would be asked to drive around the block.
​
This meant that, on a busy day, there may be several Invacars on test at any one time.
​
The instructor would stand by the side of the road, observe the vehicle driving off to the left and, a few minutes later, see it reappearing from the right.
​
On this particular day, an examinee was instructed to execute a lap of the block, as per the norm. The instructor then advised the driver that he would step out in front of the car as the lap was completed.
​
The driver would be able to demonstrate an emergency stop; that is, he should bring his vehicle to a controlled, and rapid, halt.
​
Off went the driver. The examiner waited for him to reappear a few moments later. At the estimated time, as the examiner spotted the Ministry Blue Invacar wobbling towards him, he stepped out into the road.
​
A forewarned driver would have a reasonable time to come to a stop.
​
As it turned out, the Invacar didn’t stop. The examiner ended up on its bonnet and remained there for a further 25 yards. He was shaken, but not stirred. I’m guessing that the Invacar came off worse.
​
It turned out that, because all Invacars were identical, the examiner had stepped out in front of the wrong one.

Dates with History

Saturday…
Florence Chadwick, from San Diego, California, was a prolific long-distance swimmer. In her lifetime, she achieved many ‘firsts’.
​
In 1950 she swam the English Channel from France to England, approximately 21 miles.
​
A year later, Florence became the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways, completing the England-to-France leg in 16 hours and 22 minutes.
​
Florence Chadwick passed away thirty years ago this Saturday, 15 March 1995. She is remembered as one of history’s iconic figures in open-water swimming.

Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis died 50 years ago this Saturday, 15 March 1975. Onassis is most remembered for his incredible wealth and for marrying Jackie, former wife of the assassinated United States President John F. Kennedy.

​

​
Onassis also maintained a beautiful superyacht, the Christina O. In later life, Onassis and Sir Winston Churchill became close friends, spending much time together on the Christina O.
​
In 2023, I spoke with Bill Murray, son of Winston Churchill’s last bodyguard, Edmund Murray. Bill shared some great stories about Edmund’s time on the Christina O with Churchill and Onassis. If you get a quiet moment, check out the episode Edmund, Churchill and Onassis.

Out of curiosity...​
Florence Chadwick and Aristotle Onassis died on the Ides of March, the 15th of the month.
​
The ‘Ides’ refer to Roman dates that fell in the middle of the months March, May, July and October. They were dates associated with tax debt payments and religious observations.
​
Julius Caesar, general and brutal dictator of the Roman Republic, died on the Ides of March, 44 BCE.
​
According to Shakespeare, a soothsayer had warned Julius Caesar not to attend the Capitol on 15 March.
​
On two occasions, Caesar encountered the soothsayer in the midst of a crowd. On both occasions the soothsayer called out to Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March”.
​
On their third encounter, Caesar looked at him defiantly and said, “The Ides of March have come”, to which the soothsayer replied, “Ay, Caesar, but not gone.”
​
Later that day, 15 March, 44 BCE, Caesar was stabbed 23 times by a group of senators. In his death throes, he realised the betrayal of his close friend, Brutus.
​
Julius Caesar sank to the floor, uttering the immortal line (again, according to Shakespeare), “Et tu Brute”.

On this Day…

12 March 1930

William George Barker was a Canadian World War I fighter pilot, destined to become one of the most decorated war heroes of the 20th century.
​
William started the war in the harrowing trenches of Belgium, fighting with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles. He spotted an opportunity to escape the inhumane conditions and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps with whom he excelled.
​
Barker’s weapon of choice was the Sopwith Camel, with which he claimed 46 enemy aircraft, a record in RAF history.
​
He received numerous awards including the Croix de Guerre, Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Military Cross (MC).
​
Most notably, Barker received the Victoria Cross for valour in 1918, in recognition of his resistance to the enemy over the Forêt de Mormal in France.
​
William George Barker received a Canadian state funeral after he was killed in a flying accident at Rockcliffe Airport, near Ottawa, 95 years ago this Wednesday, 12 March 1930.
​

​
On the day that William Barker passed away, trouble was brewing 7,500 miles away in India.
​
The British Empire, ever keen to extract cash from the colonies, had introduced the British Salt Act to India in 1882. The act effectively stated that salt could only be bought from the British.
​
This restriction amounted to a tax on salt, particularly insidious as it was a culinary necessity for the poorest of Indian citizens.
​
Early in March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy Lord Irwin demanding concessions from the British, including the abolition of the salt tax.
​
Lord Irwin ignored the plea. Protest was in the air.
​
Ninety-five years ago this Wednesday, 12 March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and 78 followers set off from his home, the Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, heading towards the village of Dandi, 175 miles north of Bombay (now, Mumbai) on the west coast.
​
Their objective was to peacefully protest against the heavy taxes levied by the British on salt production.
​
The 240-mile march would have plenty of time to gather momentum and stir up interest. On arriving, Gandhi could symbolically evaporate sea water to produce a modest quantity of salt.
​

​
This defiant act provoked civil disobedience against the British. By the time the 79 starters reached Dandi 24 days later, their numbers had swelled to over 50,000.
​
Hundreds of thousands of supporters turned out along the way to express support. Sixty thousand people were arrested.
​
While the protest's immediate impact was limited, the Salt March is credited with creating the groundswell of support for the Indian independence movement, which ultimately forced the British out of India 17 years later, in 1947.

Question of the Week

The Savoy Theatre, set back from The Strand in London, was built in 1881 on the site of the old Savoy Palace. The palace was the home of John of Gaunt, son of Edward III and father of Henry IV, in the late 14th century.
​
I have visited the Savoy Theatre several times, once a classic example of a Victorian London theatre but rebuilt in 1929 in the Art Deco style.
​
Unfortunately, the owners didn’t see this rebuild as an opportunity to increase the leg room for vertically challenged patrons like me. That aside, it is a splendid theatre.

​
The Savoy theatre was the first public building anywhere in the world to be completely powered by electricity. It was built and managed by the D'Oyly Carte family with a view to showcase British comic operas.
​
One hundred and forty years ago this Friday, 14 March 1885, The Mikado premiered at the Savoy Theatre.
​
What were the names of the famous duo who wrote and composed The Mikado and 13 other comic operas?

And Finally…

Percy Shaw was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, in 1890. Having initially followed a career in engineering, he transitioned to managing a business specialising in road repairs in the early 1930s.
​
As we discovered earlier, two million cars were on UK roads by then and road building know-how was in its infancy - there was no shortage of repair work.
​
One night in 1933, Percy was driving home in the fog. Visibility was poor and he noticed his headlights reflecting off a cat’s eyes by the side of the road.
​
This observation inspired Shaw to invent the ‘reflecting road stud'. These road studs were designed to be embedded along the middle line of roads at intervals.
​
Drivers could identify the centre line of a road from the reflection of the car's headlights, without causing additional light pollution or wasting energy when there was no traffic.
​
Shaw patented the Catseye in 1934.
​

​
The inventor founded a new company to manufacture the Catseyes, Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd, 90 years ago this Saturday, 15 March 1935. This was two days after the UK driving test was introduced.
​
The glass bead reflectors were encased in a rubber housing. When a car ran over the unit, the Catseye would be depressed into the casing below the ground, while a static brush ran over the glass bead to clean it. Thus, a Catseye was well protected and self-cleaning.
​
​Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd currently sells over one million Catseyes worldwide each year.
​
Percy Shaw received an OBE in 1965 in recognition of his invention. Despite his new-found wealth, Shaw lived in the same house from the age of two until his death in 1976.

Out of Curiosity…
The day after Percy Shaw founded Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd, Adolf Hitler reintroduced conscription in Germany with a view to increase the size of the German Army to 500,000 men, 16 March 1935.
​
This declaration formed part of Hitler’s prelude to World War II. Ironically, Reflecting Roadstuds’ sales would accelerate dramatically as the impending war blackouts reinforced the benefits of the Catseye.

Spread the word...

If you've enjoyed this newsletter, please help me spread the word by forwarding it to a friend.
​
If you have received this newsletter from a friend and would like to receive your own weekly copy of The Breezer, then feel free to sign up here.

Thank you for joining me. Have a great week!

Steve

HOST & CHIEF STORY HUNTER

​

P:S: Incidentally, I am always keen to receive your feedback to help me continuously improve this newsletter and the podcast. Just hit reply to this email and...... let it rip! I respond to every email that I receive.

Question of the week… Answer

William Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan wrote and composed The Mikado, one of the most frequently performed works in musical theatre history.