Richsponge

Missiles and athletics

Hi Rich, thanks for your addition there to Blue Streak. It's an interesting story and not one I'd heard before, despite being an anorak of British missiles.

For WP though, it's going to need references. Is there anything, particularly from the school's side, that gives a history of the team's name? I took a look at the school website but couldn't see one. Andy Dingley (talk) 11:42, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments. Do you know what the designer's name was? If we can get that far, the rest might be traceable through the Blue Streak history. Andy Dingley (talk) 23:37, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

I could ask around the historical societys in our area, although his name was probably lost through retelling of the mascot's origin. The only reason I believed the story's truth was because someone told me the school mascot was really a Russian bomb, not a lightning bolt. When I looked it up, lo and behold the Blue Streak was really a missile which was created during the Cold War. When I read that the United States helped develop it, I was convinced the rumor was at least somewhat true. The fact that he told me it was a Russian bomb and not a British missile proves he didn't look up the wikipage on a whim and spread the rumor as a joke. The Blue Streak's origin must have changed with its association with the Cold War, as the U.S. public generally forgets about Great Britain whenever it's mentioned. But to be sure, I'll ask him about it to find the facts.

As for the designer, I'm sure a lot of assumptions took place over the years and he wasn't the sole creator of the Blue Streak, but it does make sense to assume a person who took part in it's development lived in our area, however small it may have been. His name is either lost, or in a filing cabinet. I'm going to need some time to find a trace of him. I'll ask around and get back to you about it.--Richsponge (talk) 00:09, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. One of the reasons I'm interested is that Blue Streak is hardly known in the UK and was never well known in the USA. Any link between it and the USA is unusual and thus interesting. Andy Dingley (talk) 00:34, 26 January 2011 (UTC)