EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: C5 Sir Clive Sinclair's son invents a £3,000 kids' bike trailer

When Sir Clive Sinclair came up with the Sinclair C5 in the 1980s, the inventor was convinced that the 15mph one-person electric tricycles would revolutionise road transport.

His dreams were shattered when only 5,000 of the 14,000 initial production run were sold amid much public derision.

Happily, his son Crispin Sinclair is undeterred.

He tells me that he has invented a device which he claims will transform how infants travel with adults.

'I just invented the 'Conker' – a new high-speed children's bicycle seat,' he tells me. 'It will change the future of child safety and save lives.'

Invented in Cambridge and manufactured in Yorkshire, the Conker Safety Trailer is a car-style children's safety seat, surrounded by an aluminium protective shell and a roll-bar.

The trailers – tested at up to 71mph according to his website – are being offered at nearly £3,000 and are available for rent within a 20-mile distance of Cambridge.

'I am so convinced it will be the next big thing that I'm even prepared to go on [BBC One television investment show] Dragons' Den and talk about it,' adds Crispin, 59, who runs transport manufacturing company Conker of Cambridge.

Sir Clive, who made his millions by making home computers, as well as the world's first slimline electronic calculator, died in 2021 aged 81. 

He controversially snubbed his three children from his will, as well as his two ex-wives. He left his £2.6 million fortune to his five grandchildren instead.

Sir Clive and Crispin's mother, Ann Trevor-Briscoe, divorced in 1985. He went on to marry former Miss England Angie Bowness, 36 years Sir Clive's junior. They met in Stringfellows nightclub in London's Covent Garden.

 Trump a turn-off for gallery goers 

Top photographer Phil Lewis was left furious after a picture he took of President Donald Trump was downgraded at an exhibition of his work.

'There were a number of people that voiced their displeasure and said that they wouldn't come back to the gallery until the picture was taken down, and then there were a number of people that were just making negative comments, so the gallery moved it in the end, so it wasn't in a prominent place,' he tells me.

The exhibition, From Lens to Reality, is at Click Clock Gallery at Croydon town hall in South London.

 Sam's game for more children  

Having split up with American model Cassie Amato, right, Hunger Games star Sam Claflin's wasted no time in rejoining the dating scene.

The Suffolk-born star, 39, who has two young children with ex-wife, actress Laura Haddock, is getting broody again.

'Having kids has given me my life purpose and I would love to have more. I would love to spread that love because that's what I've been made for,' says Claflin.

 Model Tigerlily's poetic rhapsody

Her father wrote some of Queen's biggest anthems, including Radio Ga Ga, and now Tigerlily Taylor is seeking acclaim for her own lyrical efforts.

'I used to be a poet back in the day and I'm actually now getting back into it,' Queen drummer Roger Taylor's daughter tells me. 

'I have a secret stash of poems that I don't show to anybody except my dad.'

Speaking at a party at the Rosewood Hotel London, the model, 31, adds: 'My poems are quite emo and depressing, but I love that stuff and that's why I like doing poetry.'

 She adds: 'I didn't want to be called a nepo baby and look like I was copying my dad, but I'm not shy about that. It is what it is.'

 How Take That's Gary sparked a 'bomb scare'

Gary Barlow had an explosive departure from Tokyo during Take That's last tour.

At the airport check-in, he was told: 'We just need to swab you.' The singer explains: 'All of a sudden, six policemen round me. They said 'There's gunpowder on you'. And they said, 'It's not just a small bit, it's a lot'. I'm thinking, 'Oh, my God, they've all got guns and all sorts'. And I had to go, 'Wait, wait, wait, wait. I've just been on stage',' with its pyrotechnics finale.

'I got on the internet and showed them the gig and where we'd come from.' Eventually, after swabbing and searching all his belongings, he was allowed through.

 Lord McFall worked for local council

Peers heard yesterday that Lord McFall, who has just retired as Speaker, used to work for his local council. 

To this day, McFall pays visits to a convent in Dunbartonshire. His arrival heralds a certain confusion, because one of the more ancient nuns there still refers to him as 'the wee laddie from the council sent to catch the rats'.

Dominic's wise words

Asked what drama school taught him, Dominic West replies: 'It teaches you how to work with people you don't want to work with.' 

The actor, 56, who played King Charles in The Crown, explains: 'It does teach you how to be patient, how to deal with people who you strongly disagree with, or are having creative differences with.' 

 Don't call Ronan grandpa... 

Ronan Keating became a grandfather at 46 when his elder son Jack's ex-girlfriend, Keely Iqbal, gave birth to a daughter, Maya, in 2023.

But the pop star is still reluctant to be called 'Grandpa', says Jack, 26, whose mother is Ronan's first wife, the model Yvonne Connolly, 51. 

'My mam has fully embraced the 'Granny' title – she absolutely loves it,' Jack tells me. 'My dad loves being a grandad, but he doesn't like being called 'Grandad'.'

Jack, of Love Island fame, says: 'He likes being called 'Pops', or 'Papa'. I think it makes him feel a bit too old.'