Landmark 2016

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1950s
Richard Widdowson
1950 NDA
MRAC (Ducie Gold Medalist)
In September 1948 I obtained a class B release from
the RAF so that I could become a student at the first
post war course at the RAC. When I had finished
my course I became a Field Adviser for BOCM (now
ForFarmers), the animal feed stuff company; later
being transferred to their pig research division.
The main difficulty in trying to assess a pig’s
carcass quality was the thickness of its back fat.
The Americans speared the pig with a scalpel
and then measured the distance from the skin
to muscle – a method totally unacceptable to
UK welfare standards. In 1954, together with
colleagues, we used ultrasound to determine the
thickness of the back fat in the pig, and in 1955,
published our results in the first refereed scientific
paper on the use of ultrasound in living tissue.
Later, my team researched pig blood groups and
I gave a paper on the subject at an International
Congress in Prague. At the end of my paper I
suggested that a method we were developing
using starch gel electrophoresis would enable
scientists to read the DNA of living creatures.
I was mocked out of the hall, but I continued
the work and the method we developed is the
standard practice in the field of DNA mapping.
Due to health problems I took early retirement.
I now spend my time studying what I choose
to call Holism, the relationship between
soil, plant, animal, man, and God.
1960s
Derek Bell
1962 One Year Farming
British racing driver Derek Bell MBE has enjoyed
a successful and diverse racing career, spanning
over 40 years, and is considered the greatest
Englishman ever to compete in endurance racing.
Derek began racing as an amateur in a Lotus
7 at Goodwood, winning his first ever race in
March 1964. He quickly progressed to Formula
3 and then Formula 2, with the backing of his
stepfather’s Church Farm racing team, turning
professional within three years. Between 1968 and
1974 he competed in 16 Formula 1 Grand Prix,
racing for Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees, and Tecno.
Derek’s real talent, however, lay in endurance
racing – where he became a true legend. He won
back-to-back World Sports Car Championship titles
in 1985 and 1986, three 24 Hours of Daytona
in 1986, 1987, and 1989, and five Le Mans
victories in 1975, 1981, 1982, 1986, and 1987.
In 1970, Derek filmed the cult movie ‘Le Mans’
with Hollywood legend Steve McQueen. During the
course of filming, Derek showed that motorsport
can be a dangerous business, suffering burns to
his face when the Ferrari he was driving caught fire
following a racing sequence on the Le Mans circuit.
Derek was at his prime during the 1980s and
early 1990s, and was awarded the MBE for
services to motorsport in 1986. At the peak of
his career, Derek was one of the top sports car
and endurance race car drivers in the world. He
achieved 16 victories in the World Endurance
Championship, and 19 in the IMSA Camel GT
Championship, a total of 35 wins in seven years.
Derek has never officially stopped racing
professionally, and still enjoys driving at historic races.
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Richard Widdowson
LANDMARK 2016
Derek Bell
Derek Bell