Kitty Aldridge (born 1962, Bahrain) is a British actress and writer.

After training as an actress at the Drama Centre London, Aldridge worked in film, theatre and television as an actress. Her first novel, Pop, published by Cape (Vintage) in 2001, was longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002 and shortlisted for the Pendleton May First Novel Award 2002. Her second novel, Cryers Hill, was published by Cape (Vintage) on 1 March 2007. Her short story, Arrivederci Les, won the Bridport Short Story Prize 2011. Her third novel, A Trick I Learned from Dead Men, will be published by Cape (Vintage) on 5 July 2012. Aldridge is married to Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler. The couple have two daughters.

Coordinates: 52°36′22″N 1°55′04″W / 52.606°N 1.91787°W / 52.606; -1.91787

Aldridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England. Historically it was part of the county of Staffordshire, but in 1974 it was incorporated into the Walsall borough as well as the West Midlands county.

Aldridge was recorded as a settlement in the Domesday Book of 1086, though the now much larger settlement of Walsall was not. It was valued at 15 shillings under the name of "Alrewic", which may have originated from an abundance of Alder trees in the area.

Aldridge began as a small agricultural settlement, with farming being the most common occupation up until the 19th century.

In the 1800s, Aldridge became an industrial town with coal mines and lime kilns. The coal and clay in the area prompted many to set up collieries and brickworks. Aldridge clay is especially useful in the manufacture of blue bricks. The 1881 census shows that the mines and brick works were major employers. Because the coal and clay beneath the eastern side of Aldridge (towards Stonnall) is located much deeper under the surface, extraction of this coal and clay would not have been economically viable. As a result farms continued to dominate the eastern part, though a sand quarry was set up and still remains on Birch Lane.

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler went on to record and produce six solo albums, including Golden Heart (1996), Sailing to Philadelphia (2000), and Get Lucky (2009). He has composed and produced film scores for eight films, including Local Hero (1983), Cal (1984), and The Princess Bride (1987). In addition to his work with Dire Straits and as a solo artist and composer, Knopfler has recorded and performed with many prominent musical artists, including Phil Lynott, Chet Atkins, The Chieftains, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Jools Holland, Sonny Landreth, and Van Morrison. He has produced albums for Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, and Randy Newman.

Knopfler is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era, and was ranked 27th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Knopfler and Dire Straits have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date. A four-time Grammy Award winner, Knopfler is the recipient of the Edison Award and the Steiger Award, and holds three honorary doctorate degrees in music from universities in the United Kingdom.

Alan Aldridge is an English artist, graphic designer and illustrator.

Born in 1943 in east London, he currently resides in Los Angeles. Among his children are fashion photographer Miles Aldridge and models Saffron Aldridge,Lily Aldridge, and Ruby Aldridge.

Aldridge first worked as an illustrator at "The Sunday Times Magazine.'' After doing some freelance book covers for Penguin Books, he was hired in March 1965 by Penguin's chief editor Tony Godwin to become the art director of Penguin Books. Over the next two years as art director, he especially focused on science fiction book covers and introduced his style which resonated with the mood of the time. In 1968 he moved to his own graphic-design firm, INK, which became closely involved with graphic images for the Beatles and Apple Corps.

During the 1960s and 1970s he was responsible for a great many album covers, and helped create the graphic style of that era. He designed a series of science fiction book covers for Penguin Books. He made a big impression with his illustrations for the Beatles Illustrated Song lyrics. He also provided illustrations for "The Penguin Book of Comics", a history of British and American comic art. His work was characterised by a flowing, cartoony style and soft airbrushing - very much in step with the psychedelic styles of the times. In the theatre, in February 1969 he designed the graphics for controversial Jane Arden play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven at the London Arts Laboratory, Drury Lane.

Dave Cook is an award-winning video game journalist and former PR consultant from Edinburgh, Scotland, now living in Bournemouth, England. He has written game reviews and features for a range of online and print publications, his previous work includes writing for gaming magazine, GamesTM, online magazine The Escapist as well as SquareGo, Ready Up, The List and The Skinny.

From January 2009 to April 2010, Cook was also managing director of video game public relations firm Ink Media.

He writes a weekly gaming column in The Scotsman, one of Scotland's longest-running national newspapers, scooping the author a Games Media Award in 2008, 2010 and 2011 for Best Regional Columnist.

Cook is also, currently writing for gaming 'super site' NowGamer