Ketton Stained Glass » Radley’s Ghost

Panel details

adminkg — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:24:56 +0000

Details of the stained glass Radley’s Ghost panel.

The nature of stained glass means that different lighting conditions constantly change it’s character and reveal the details and textures in the glass, bringing it to life and creating a unique atmosphere wherever it is placed.

Talk to us about installing one of our large scale stained glass panels. There are many options to install and display including freestanding as well as traditional aperture installation (subject to survey).

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James Radley the man behind the Ghost

adminkg — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:58:13 +0000

James Radley was the son of a wealthy colliery owner in Lancashire and it is believed he was born at Dunnow Hall at Slaidburn in 1884.
Radley was a close friend of Charles Rolls another aviator and who had been the first to complete a double-crossing of the English Channel
James Radley and business partner William Rhodes-Moorhouse, formed a company called the Portholme Aerodrome Limited in 1911 to design and build aircraft at St Johns Street, Huntingdon. The first locally designed and built aircraft flew from Portholme on 27 July 1911. A year later they were to sell the business to Handley Page but not before Portholme had built the body for Radley’s Ghost to his own design.

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The Ghost’s sporting history

adminkg — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:56:47 +0000

James Radley had privately entered a Silver Ghost for the 1912 Austrian Alpenfahrt however on the first day of the seven day Trial they were hampered by its three-speed gearbox and failed to negotiate a very steep sharp hairpin bend on the ascent of the Katschberg. Requiring to use reverse gear and needing help from its three passengers to restart this incurred so many penalty points that the crew retired.
He vowed to return with a modified Silver Ghost for the 1913 event and in fact he was joined by three other cars to form a factory team specially prepared for the event with four-speed gearboxes, an increase in compression ratio and a larger carburettor. The team gained six awards including the Archduke Leopold Cup. Radley’s car chassis 2260E won overall keeping a clean sheet and setting fastest times on each of the stages. This picture shows Radley’s Ghost with him at the wheel at the weigh-in in Vienna the day before the start of the 1913 Alpenfahrt on Saturday 21 June 1913. Rolls Royce man John ‘Tubby’ Ward, in cloth cap, is sitting in the rear who for the event acted as riding mechanic.

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The Rolle Pass summit

adminkg — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:53:57 +0000

During the project I have been fortunate to rely on the support of John Kennedy the owner of the Radley car who supplied period photographs and suggestions on the format of the panel. It was John’s idea that I featured in the background the distinctive Rolle Pass summit with the peak behind called ‘The Cimon della Pala’ – the Matterhorn of the Dolomites – soaring over 1200 metres above the road height.
Here is John pictured in Radley’s Ghost on the Rolle Pass.

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Radley the pioneer aviator

adminkg — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:49:57 +0000

Radley’s background was as a pioneer aviator and on the 19 April 1910 he made the first ever flight from Portholme meadow near Godmanchester flying circuits of the meadow in a Bleriot monoplane.
On 25 October 1910, James Radley won the cross-country aviation race at Belmont Park, New York, as part of a successful “barnstorming” tour across America. The following January 7th he performing at South San Francisco, skimming the ‘West Virginia’, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Barry, and checking the time on San Francisco’s Ferry Tower clock on both sides.

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