Who is Stuart Vallantine?

Stuart Vallantine is a performance poet and visual artist. Born in 1979, Stuart’s drawings and poetry offers its readers and viewers unique perspective. Most of his drawings are a marriage of the mathematical and artistic form, heavily influenced by post 1945 architecture, hellish town planning and the architectural styles of Womersley and Wilson, G. Noel Hill and Lord Foster.

Regarded as “autistic” and “hyperactive” in his very early years, Stuart was diagnosed in 1986 with Semantic Pragmatic Language Disorder. Within that period, he gained an interest in public transport, which persists to this today. His specialist areas are ‘Greater Manchester Transport’ 1974 – 86, post deregulation bus operators and post Beeching era British Rail.

January 2006 saw the opening of the Stuart Vallantine web experience. This website, in the 1974 – 80 Greater Manchester Transport livery is a showcase for his poetry, drawings and longer articles.

He has also contributed to ‘Asperger Syndrome and Employment: Adults Speak Out About Asperger Syndrome’, released in March 2008 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

The Stuart Vallantine web experience address is http://www.stuartvallantine.co.uk

Favourite song (all time): ‘The Logical Song’, Supertramp (1979);

Likes:

• Post-1945 architecture;
• Real ale and real pubs with character;
• Anything with Peter Kay in;
• Greater Manchester Transport, its predecessors and forerunners;
• Stalybridge Celtic A.F.C.;
• The Guardian and the Daily Mirror newspapers;
• Maps, especially Ordnance Survey ones and Goad plans;
• A good mug of Yorkshire Tea.

Dislikes:

• Delayed public transport services;
• All forms of privatisation and unnecessary contraction of the public sector;
• The Trafford Centre;
• The Daily Mail or any other right-wing newspaper;
• The X Factor;
• Merseytravel PTE specification Class 142 Pacer units (also known as ‘Merseyfailers’ due to poor legroom and hard ergonomically challenged seats);
• Plastic pubs serving only keg lagers;
• The M6 motorway on a bad day (especially between Knutsford and Keele services).

First record: ‘The Holiday Tape’ (a cheesy compilation album from 1987);

Last record: ‘The Voice of America’ by Cabaret Voltaire;

My favourite lesser known 1980s songs:

• The River, King Trigger (1982);
• Dickie Davies Eyes, Half Man Half Biscuit (1986);
• Snap Out the Light, Tools You Can Trust (1984);
• Dance Like A Star, The Human League (1980);
• Twist (Round and Round), Chill Fac-Torr (1983);
• The Upstroke, Agents Aren’t Aeroplanes (1984);
• Rawhide, The Chaps (1982);
• Ghost of American Astronauts, The Mekons (1988);
• Bad Day, Carmel (1983);
• Me and Mister Absolutely, Blyth Power (1988).

Favourite colour: orange (Greater Manchester Transport of course);

Favourite quote: ‘You know where you are with a Hi-Viz jacket’;

Worst quote: ‘Megarider…’ (when uttered on slow running peak-hour Stagecoach Manchester buses);

Worst nightmare: Secret plans to build a nuclear power station on Buckton Castle being made true under the aegis of a Tory-led Coalition Government on the day when Swagger Jagger becomes the UK’s National Anthem.

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