Photo courtesy of Glyn Lloyd (2016).
I was sent this photo recently by Glyn Lloyd with the question:
I'm trying to establish the origins of a photo I came across which shows young men in army battledress uniform & berets practicing marching during some down time. They are all next to a wall mounted sign of Heddon on the Wall.
I replied saying that I hadn't seen the photo before, We have no photos of soldiers on the website apart from one of the Home Guard and there is no old photos showing that road sign. It looks to have been taken where the former road passed the farmhouse of Town Farm at the east end of the village,
I asked him where he had found the photo as it looked like an old framed copy from someone's mantlepiece (possibly a relative).
His answer was completely unexpected.
I asked him where he had found the photo as it looked like an old framed copy from someone's mantlepiece (possibly a relative).
His answer was completely unexpected.
Photo courtesy of Glyn Lloyd (2016).
He told me the photo appeared on a promotion flier for 'The Eton Rifles' single by The Jam in 1979 (above). A close crop, of just the soldiers without the road sign, was used on the record cover (below). The single made the No. 3 spot of the Top 10 in November 1979.
In May 2008, Conservative leader and Old Etonian, David Cameron, named 'The Eton Rifles' as one of his favourite songs, something that sparked some controversy.
In May 2008, Conservative leader and Old Etonian, David Cameron, named 'The Eton Rifles' as one of his favourite songs, something that sparked some controversy.
'The Eton Rifles by The Jam - original 7" sleeve design, 1979. Photo from Wikipedia (2016).
Glyn also sent me a photo of one of his displays, featuring the same photo of the soldiers, which he is exhibiting at a new exhibition about the band titled, 'About The Young Idea'.The exhibition is being staged in the Cunard Building in Liverpool from Friday 1 July to Sunday 25 September 2016.
This will be the last time it will be on view in the UK.
This will be the last time it will be on view in the UK.
Photo courtesy of Glyn Lloyd (2016).
The old road near Town Farm, Heddon on the Wall, as it is today. Photo A Curtis (2016).
The Eton Rifles was initially released on The Jam's fourth studio album, Setting Sons, (1979). Most of the tracks were written by Paul Weller. The album cover of Setting Sons features a photograph of Benjamin Clemens' bronze sculpture, 'The St John's Ambulance Bearers'. Cast in 1919, this sculpture, currently in the possession of the Imperial War Museum, depicts a wounded soldier being carried by two ambulance workers.
A music blog in The Guardian from 2009, 'Bring the Jam's Setting Sons sculpture back on display' provides the following information.
A music blog in The Guardian from 2009, 'Bring the Jam's Setting Sons sculpture back on display' provides the following information.
The sculpture was photographed by Andrew Douglas, who had been a regular visitor to the IWM when he presented the Clemens image to the art department at Polydor, The Jam's record company, for a potential sleeve image.
Perhaps the Heddon photo had a similar origin.
If anyone knows anything about the photo of soldiers at Heddon on the Wall or how it ended up on the record sleeve and promotional fliers for The Jam's The Eton Rifles please get in touch. It may be a group of young army cadets resting during an exercise with their trainers, probably post-Second World War, and probably having no connection at all with Eton College.
If anyone knows anything about the photo of soldiers at Heddon on the Wall or how it ended up on the record sleeve and promotional fliers for The Jam's The Eton Rifles please get in touch. It may be a group of young army cadets resting during an exercise with their trainers, probably post-Second World War, and probably having no connection at all with Eton College.
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