Dr McLoughlin’s talk looked at the emotional, economic and political links between Concorde and Bristol. The Bristol aircraft industry had always been at the forefont of the development of aeroplanes and engines. The Brabazon had led the way after the war. Its cancellation did not stop the company moving into the development of jet airliners. Concorde was prime minister Harold MacMillan’s way of showing that Britain was serious about Europe. The links between Filton and Toulouse led to some interesting cultural exchanges with engineers using imperial and metric measurements and Bristol workers trying to understand why you would have wine with your lunch. The 1974 Labour government were worried about the soaring costs of Concorde and of course it was Tony Benn (a Bristol MP) who fought to ensure it was not cancelled. There were some fabulous interviews with the workers (men and women) who, whilst they were passionate about Concorde, realised that they could never afford to fly in it. There was the story of Brian Trubshaw’s maiden flight with Concorde 002 in 1969 when there were several taxi runs before he decided to take off.

1969 saw the birth of the Boeing 747. Along with the 1973 oil crisis this led many airlines to cancel their orders. Ultimately 20 Concordes were built in Bristol and Toulouse. Seven flew for British Airways and seven flew with Air France. Four were used as development aircraft. In 2003 a Concorde flew back to Bristol and the story seemed to come to an end. In 2006, Concorde was announced the winner of the Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum. A total of 212,000 votes were cast with Concorde beating other British design icons such as the Mini, mini skirt, Jaguar E-Type, Tube map, the World Wide Web, K2 telephone box and the Supermarine Spitfire

Dr McLoughlin would like to talk to anyone with memories of Concorde. There are many older Bristolians who may have worked at Filton or who witnessed the early flights. Please contact the Bristol Historical Association and we will pass on your contact details to Keith.