So farewell then Rick.

It was very sad to hear the other day about the death of Richard(Rick) Wright, the long time quiet keyboard player of Pink Floyd. He was always there producing some of the most harmonic and beautiful chords that set Pink Floyd apart from other bands. Listen to the Great Gig In The Sky from Dark Side Of The Moon to understand the true impact his playing and singing had on the essential and individual sound of the Floyd.

Therer are many people out there who for one reason or another never quite "got" what the Floyd were about and certainly some of their earlier stuff was quite pretentious but in the latter years with Dave Gilmour's strong and soulful guitar influence the band developed into a solid rock outfit but never losing the essential magic that made their music the soundtrack of so many early lives.

To many people under the age of 45 the Floyd are often regarded now as obsolete. Perhaps they are but their wonderfully soulful and evocative music will always be part of my time when I was starting out and for that I'm extremely grateful. So goodbye then Rick. You truly were a gentle man and a fine musician. We will miss you.

(Rick was aged 65 and died of cancer early this week. He was one of the founder members of the band .The Pink Floyd Pulse tour in 1995 filled Earls Court every night for 12 nights)

Confidential's Travels

During the summer break Confidential Rick eventually stopped sobbing over events at the Valley and took himself off with his lady-friend to explore some of the more wierd and wonderful traits of this country including an antique motor-bike rally and a steam fair with traction engines and our friend in the picture, Mr Hudspith, who has invented the steam bicycle.

He's seen here riding the machine in full steam. He originally had the extraordinary and unlikely vision of a steam bicycle back in the 1970s but then spent the next ten years learning about engineering, welding and brazing etc. because he had no formal training. Eventually in the 1980s the bike started to take shape and after years of development and continual changes and improvements he now has the only Hudspith Steam Bicycle in existence and rides it at steam rallies all over Europe. Apparently he's very big in Germany and Denmark so draw your own conclusions.....

Mr Hudspith is British to the core. This traditional, slightly eccentric British inventor of yesteryear has made an intricate,beautifully designed and built machine - even if Health & Safety would no doubt have a seizure with it's calibrated fuel mixtures of petrol and paraffin - and while the rest of us sit in our sat-naved motorised euro-boxes , he's out there steaming and whistling along with his own personal achievement. He's also invented a Steam Gramophone ! (not sure if it takes CDs though).