I read in Total Guitar magazine (best guitar rag in the world) an interview with a Brit guitarist who said that the reason England produces so many great guitarists is that the weather is so lousy, people just stay inside a lot and practice for hour upon hour.
That is VERY true .
That makes sense.For some reason I always have this image(back in the era of all those legends in the making,like Rick Wakeman and the rest),that they just had more musical education in general.
After WW2 a whole generation grew up influenced by American blues. And, for me, many of the great guitarists from there are/were solidly blues infuenced. Kim Simmonds, Alvin Lee, Clapton (he lost me when he abandoned the blues and got "laid back").