James Alford was educated at a Catholic grammar school in Kent, England, and after service in Cyprus in British Army Intelligence he completed his degree in aeronautical engineering at Imperial College. He worked for Blackburn Aircraft and then Bristol Aircraft at Filton where he married and settled with his family. After Concorde went into service, work at Filton was more mundane, so he took up civil engineering with Wiltshire County and was elected MICE, moving to Avon County and retiring early when Avon was dismantled, in order to run a small-holding while also volunteering at aviation muse...