Another milestone in British invent­ion is being celebrated, and while it might lack the glamour and excitement of other recent anniversaries – the 60th anniversary of the Spitfire, for instance – we thought we’d raise a glass to Sir Christopher Cockerell (1910–1999), inventor of the hovercraft.

It was 50 years ago, on 11 June 1959, that the hovercraft was first seen in public, revealed to an excited press at the Saunders-Roe boatyard (of flying boat fame) on the Isle of Wight. Until then, the development of the bizarre amphibious craft had been a Top Secret affair, as the government explored military uses for the new machine. The first full-size proof-of-concept prototype, the SR-N1, was unveiled, photographed and towed out for a spin in the Solent.

It was a triumphant vindi­cation for Sir Christo­pher Cockerell – an invet­erate tinkerer since childhood, who then went on to help develop WWII radar at Marconi. Just as Barnes Wall­is’s stones skipped across water led to the bouncing bomb (so the story goes), Cockerell’s experiments – involving a vacuum cleaner and an empty cat food tin placed inside a larger coffee tin – inspired the hovercraft; air forced between the tins caused the bodged-together assemblage to float on a tiny cushion of air, and Cockerell’s imagination was fired. More sophisti­cated models followed, and after some difficult­ies – the Navy claimed the new machine was an aircraft, the RAF said it was a boat and the Army weren’t interested – the Ministry of Supply decided to back Cockerell’s research and development of what he had christened the ‘hovercraft’.

The SR-N1 wowed the press and the public; it was an out-of-this-world-looking contraption, and quickly became known to its pilots as the ‘flying saucer’. Looking back, the prototype hovercraft has an Atomic Age, retro-futuristic charm; Dan Dare wouldn’t have looked out of place piloting it across the Channel on 25 July 1959 on its first major voyage, a reverse-course anniversary of Bleriot’s epoch-making flight of 1909.

And while the hovercraft as cross-Channel transport may be a thing of the past, Cockerell’s brainchild still crosses land and water elsewhere in Britain and all over the world, finding a perfect home in the swamps and deltas of countries like India and Indonesia, and fulfilling a variety of roles in the hands of coastguards, oil exploration companies, the RNLI and the Royal Marines.

Anyone who had the pleasure of travelling by hovercraft in its commercial heyday must surely remember the experience – noisy and rather exciting – with a good deal of fondness; and many are still under the spell of the amphibious beast.

Oddly enough, near Fortean Towers stands a small, innocent-looking prefab building, which is home to the Steam Boat Willy project, a defiantly eccentric and delightfully Ealing-esque outfit which aims to develop a human-powered hovercraft. As its founder Chris Roper told us:

“Hovercraft are just as happy hovering over the surface of land as of water. The authorities forbid their use on roads. And when you appreciate that they have no brakes, tend to slither off the camber down into the gutter and are deflected sideways by the slightest breeze, you can see that the authorities have made a wise move for once.

“Their ability to ‘go anywhere’ makes them ideal as rescue craft – but if they themselves break down on a mudflat, only another hovercraft can come and rescue them. Hovercraft make a lot of noise and burn a lot of fuel. Recently, in recognition of this planet’s finite energy resources, a hovercraft has been built which is powered solely by the rider’s legs, just like a bike. Although it has a Mickey Mouse name spelt wrong – it’s called the Steam Boat Willy – it does work.

“You don’t need to be an athlete to hover it. Everyone who has tried has succeeded in becoming airborne under their own leg power in this craft. It’s still at the prototype stage, and the craft is currently being tested, developed and improved. It weighs in at 56lb [25kg] empty, and has carried a 58lb [26kg] girl as a passenger. Is it a boat, a bike, a plane or an ‘air-car’? It is an Unclassifiable Flying Object.”

For more – including video of the Steam Boat Willy in action shot by our very own Etienne Gilfillan – go to www.steamboatwilly.org.