He is an inventor who used to devise solutions for monitoring the flight of munitions on a UK artillery range, among other things, but he has since retired and moved to the Philippines.

He says: "Idea one is simply to attach a small paper parachute to the cork which is stowed under the label. I made several prototypes and it was fun to see the corks floating down to earth.

"The second idea is to attach the cork to the label using a lanyard made of ribbon. This is folded in a zigzag style so as it is pulled out, it rubs against itself absorbing energy.

"Then, inspired by the idea of a retrorocket and using a hollow plastic champagne stopper, I managed to install a party popper, so that when the cork flew out, the party popper fired the steamers creating an impressive display that also slowed the cork at the same time."

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