An Englishman's Castle

I can't believe he is actually younger than me. For some unaccountable reason he has always seemed like someone of an older generation - a sort of retro figure, I suppose. He came into my consciousness ages ago when people started talking about the 'Clarkson effect' on the sales of blue jeans; that is, they were no longer trendy because they were being worn in rather generous waist sizes by people who had to decide whether to buckle their belt above or below their belly.