THINGS TO COME?
In 1951, in celebration of the ending of the Second World War and the new world to come in the future, this country held the 'Festival of Britain'.
As a centerpiece SKYLON was created; a soaring needle pointing towards the skies.
Over half a century on and the site and the contents of the Festival of Britain are long gone, but the SKYLON name lives on in an unique REUSABLE space plane.
The man behind this notion is ALAN BOND, British rocket engineer who worked with the late Val Cleaver, one of Britain's foremost rocket pioneers.
SKYLON
Alan Bond and his creation - SKYLON
Work on the development of SKYLON - and its predecessor HOTOL - has been going on for many years.
Battersea, South London, for a model of SKYLON to hang in the showrooms. Odd
perhaps as the company specialises in very select tiles - WORLD'S END TILES.
However on reflection the connection is perhaps not that peculiar. Spacecraft use the science and technology of ceramics for heat shields and - with certain specific modifications - the tiles that decorate the walls of your bathroom,and not that far removed from the tiles that protect the NASA Space Shuttle Orbiters on re-entry.
