Shrewsbury and the sixties
It is a strange but undeniable fact that I was at school at Shrewsbury in the 1950s with two boys who later changed their names and who both went on to become very successful disc jockeys.

The first, Simon Dee, (whose real name was Carl Henty-Dodd) was a big shot in the Sixties but subsequently fell from grace and is now a lonely and forgotten figure.

The second was John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, who changed his name to John Peel. He adopted a Liverpool accent, grew a beard and died last week aged 65 to the most glowing and effusive obituaries that anyone could hope for.

Richard Ingrams The Observer 31 October 2004

David Hemmings on Blow-Up
I had a costume fitting that same afternoon, where they threw a pair of white jeans and a green corduroy jacket at me. And for the first time, I was allowed to see the script and was given a copy to take away.

As soon as I was out of the building, I dived into the nearest pub, probably didn't even notice its name, ordered what I've always called a PoG - a pint of Guinness - which I didn't remember drinking, opened the script and buried myself in it. I read it three times from cover to cover before I rang Jane and told her.

"What's it like?" she asked eagerly.

"God knows," I said, shaking my head rather like the Maestro. "I don't understand what the hell it's all about."

David Hemmings Blow-Up and Other Exaggerations (2004)