When I was researching my Stefan Zweig feature in Bath, I paid a visit to my old primary school, just down the hill from the villa that became his home at the beginning of WW2. It’s 40-odd years since I took my 11-plus. Now the school is an architectural model workshop. I had a great time mooching around the VIPs and historic buildings. Brunel was part of  our childhood, in a way. The SS Great Britain was being restored down the road in Bristol. And the prototype Concorde that broke the sound barrier as it flew overhead on test flights from Filton somehow seemed to be one of his creations too.