An English country house, dating back to the 15th century and set in the Hertfordshire countryside, seems an unlikely setting for a rock music event. Fifty years ago, however, that would all change as the owner threw open the grounds to host the 1974 Knebworth Festival - the first of what would become one of the most popular and successful open-air rock and pop concerts in the country.
In 1974, music promoter Freddy Bannister was keen to host a single-stage one-day festival. He found the perfect ally in Lord David Cobbold, owner of the Knebworth estate and keen to encourage events for public visitors. With the aim of keeping prices low and giving value for money, Bannister set about booking a strong line-up in the ambitious hope of attracting a big crowd. He would not be disappointed.
On Saturday 20 July, an estimated 60,000 people, described in one account as a mix of hard rockers and hippies, descended upon Knebworth's grounds. Some had camped overnight in an adjoining 12 field and were now waiting expectantly in the tree-fringed natural amphitheatre for the acts to start. With alcohol and various other substances freely available, the crowd's mood in the warm weather was relaxed and good humoured.
Titled "The Bucolic Frolic", the festival's stage line-up appeared good value for the £2.75 entry fee. First up was American singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, mixing folk and jazz with rock in front of an audience that still had a few late arrivals drifting in. Poignantly, this would be Buckley's last UK performance - within a year he had died of a heroin overdose. In a complete change of mood, the flamboyant Sensational Alex Harvey Band were next up. Dressed colourfully and indulging in theatrical choreography, the band's inventive rock soon livened up the crowd.
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Forties Post – Plastic Fantastic – Andrew Wilson shines the spotlight on a pioneering plastic surgeon
A hero in many people's books and even a war hero to others - John was recognised in his lifetime by his contemporaries, his patients and in letters that made their way into the local newspaper, the Staffordshire Sentinel. Over time that gradually fell away, to the point where, if asked, few people would ever have heard of John Grocott - apart from his former patients, for whom the universal question appears to have been: "How do you say thank you to someone who has made my life worth living?"
POSTCARD FROM HERTFORDSHIRE
Bob Barton makes plenty of connections to the film world as he returns to the county of his birth but still finds time for a vintage bus ride
Still Walking the Streets of London
Peter Robertson chats to Ralph McTell 50 years after his classic single became a hit
The Tears of a Clown
Chris Hallam remembers Bob Grant, a troubled star of On the Buses
David Wilkie
Peter Robertson pays tribute to one of Britain's most successful athletes
A Century of Smiles, Ceremonies and Celebrations
Claire Saul visits a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace's King's Gallery that reveals life on both sides of the lens of royal photography
A HARD DAY NIGHT
Greg Morse celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' first film
Terrific Tucktonia
Susan Brewer remembers the UK mainland's first theme park
A Chip Off the Old Block
Colin Allan looks back on the tennis career of Stanley Matthews Jr
The Bucolic Frolic
Martin Claytor celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Knebworth Festival
