📍Ripley, Surrey GU23, UK
1945 – 1962“Eric Patrick Clapton was born in March 1945 in Ripley, a pretty village of old cottages, pubs and a long village green in the Surrey countryside, south-west of London. His mother, Patricia Clapton, was sixteen, and his father, Edward Fryer, was a Canadian soldier stationed in England, who returned to Canada before Eric was born. Pat's mother and stepfather, Rose and Jack Clapp, raised Eric as their own, and he grew up believing that Rose and Jack were his parents and Pat his older sister. When he was nine, Pat came back to Ripley with her new husband and children, and Eric learned the truth. It was a painful shock; he went from a good, well-liked pupil to a sullen, withdrawn boy who lost interest in school. He found comfort in music, listening to the blues on the radio and the records of Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. For his thirteenth birthday he was given a German Hoyer acoustic guitar, which was so hard to play that he nearly gave up, but at fifteen he picked it up again and practised obsessively, copying blues records note for note. He went to Hollyfield School in Surbiton, and in 1961 to Kingston College of Art, but his focus was on music, and he left after a year. He began busking and playing in pubs around Kingston and Richmond, then joined the Yardbirds in 1963, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and Cream. He became one of the greatest guitarists in rock history, the only person inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times. He still lives near Ripley, where he has supported the village and its cricket club.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today