Il successivo The Polite Force (Deram, 1971) era ancor piu` ambizioso, vantando una Contrasong con Mike Davis alla tromba e Bob Downes alle tastiere, e tre pezzi estesi: Long Piece No.3, la loro Valentyne Suite (venti minuti di scorrevole jamming classico, jazz e rock), il collage dadaista e cacofonico di Boilk (nove minuti), e A Visit To Newport Hospital (otto minuti).

Ancor meglio orchestrato, The Civil Surface (Caroline, 1974) usci` quando il gruppo si era ormai sciolto, ma contiene due delle loro composizioni piu` ambiziose: l'incalzante e fantasiosa Germ Patrol di otto minuti e la cupa e cerebrale Enneagram di nove minuti.

Seven Is A Jolly Good Time (Miles, 1985) e` un'antologia della carriera degli Egg.

Nel frattempo (1966) il pianista Steve Miller e suo fratello Phil Miller (chitarra) avevano formato un gruppo di jazz-rock, i Delivery, che arrivarono all'album con Fools Meeting (B&C, 1970 - Cuneiform, 1999), sul quale canta Carol Grimes e suonano il sassofonista Lol Coxhill, il bassista Roy Babbington e il batterista Pip Pyle. Pyle passo` poi ai Gong.

Nel 1973 il bassista Richard Sinclair, che aveva iniziato collaborando ai capolavori di Kevin Ayers e di Lol Coxhill, lascio` i Caravan e formo` gli Hatfield and the North proprio con Phil Miller alla chitarra, Pip Pyle alla batteria e Dave Stewart alle tastiere. Il super-gruppo registro` Hatfield And The North (Virgin, 1974), con cui intraprese un dignitoso revival del jazz-rock surreale dei Matching Mole, sfoggiando una grande maestria strumentale. A brillare sono soprattutto la musica per banda jazz alla Frank Zappa di There's No Place Like Homerton (composta da Stewart) e la jam di dada-jazz dissonante alla Soft Machine Shaving Is Boring (composta da Pyle).

Il secondo album, Rotter's Club (1975), affondo` invece in "ballads" anemiche e stralunate assai meno avvincenti (migliore Fitter Stoke Has a Bath). Meta` del disco e` occupato dalla suite Mumps di Stewart. Afters (Virgin, 1980) e` un'antologia degli Hatfield. Hatwise Choice (Burning Shed, 2005) collects rarities and unreleased material.

Dalle ceneri di questo complesso, abbandonato da pubblico e discografici, naquero nel 1977 i National Health, ovvero Jimmy Hastings (flauto), Phil Miller (chitarra), Pip Pyle (batteria), Dave Stewart (tastiere), e il tastierista Alan Gowen dei Gilgamesh, mentre Sinclair migrava nei Camel.

National Health (1978) contiene quattro lunghi brani di jazz-rock soffice ed etereo strutturati come suite. Tenemos Road fa leva sugli effetti surreali dell'organo strozzato di Stewart e su eterei vocalizzi. Elephants (14 minuti) sfodera un'ouverture di dissonanze e jazzati gorgheggi di sintetizzatore. Brujo e` invece un brano rilassato, quasi da cocktail lounge. Alla convulsa improvvisazione dei Matching Mole si alternano atmosferici passaggi strumentali, solfeggi spaziali, astrattismi fauve. Dominano le tastiere di Stewart e Gowen, e il canto spaziale di Amanda Parsons, ospite d'onore.

Of Queues And Cures (Charly, 1978), con John Greaves al posto di Hastings al basso e senza Gowen, e` il loro capolavoro. Con elastiche jam di jazz-rock di Stewart (Bryden 2-step, un ibrido di bandismo zappiano e di flash-rock melodico) convivono esotismi cacofonici (il Collapso) ed esperimenti di musica totale, come Squarer For Maud (di Greaves) che incorpora dissonanze e minimalismo in una piece densa e frenetica per piccolo ensemble (violoncello, oboe, clarinetto). Pyle e Greaves compongono una delle sezioni ritmiche piu` creative dell'epoca, mentre Stewart e Miller sono due fantasisti di gran classe (come dimostrano l'attacco sfrenato d'organo e il funky sgangherato di Dreams Wide Awake).

Nel 1981 Gowen muore di leucemia poco dopo aver terminato la registrazione Two Rainbows Daily (Red, 1980), una collaborazione con Hugh Hopper, e di Before A Word Is Said (Europa, 1982), con l'aiuto di Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair e Trevor Tomkins (batteria). Before A Word Is Said e` di Gowen, ma le altre composizioni sono in gran parte di Miller (Above & Below, Fourfold, A Fleeting Glance).

Ad memoriam viene pubblicato DS Al Coda (1982), accreditato ai National Health ma in realta` raccolta di materiale in gran parte firmato dallo scomparso ed eseguito dai National Health (Portrait Of A Shriking Man, Shining Water, Toad Of Toad Hall). Anni dopo uscira` anche un volume di Improvisations (Voiceprint, 1996) fra Gowen e Hopper.

Complete (East Side Digital, 1990) comprende i tre album dei National Health piu` inediti. Missing Pieces (East Side Digital, 1996) comprende altri inediti. Playtime (Cuneiform, 2001) e` un live.

After National Health disbanded, guitarist Phil Miller founded In Cahoots, comprising saxophonist Elton Dean, keyboardist Peter Lemer, bassist Hugh Hopper and drummer Pip Pyle. They and Dave Stewart appear on Miller's first solo albums, Cutting Both Ways (Impetus, 1988), which contains the landmark compositions/improvisations Green & Purple and Eastern Region. Split Seconds (Reckless, 1989), without Hopper, includes the sophisticated jams And Thus Far and Your Root 2. Miller's third solo album, Digging In (Cuneiform, 1991), includes the three lengthy compositions No Holds Barred, Digging In, Bass Motives and the charming Speaking To Lydia.

Live 86-89 (Mantra, 1991) and Live In Japan (Crescent, 1993) portray the band at its peak.

Miller collaborated with bassist Fred Baker on Double Up (Crescent, 1992), which mostly reprises old Miller compositions.

Baker was absorbed in the In Cahoots line-up, as was trumpeter Jim Dvorak, while Hopper left. Recent Discoveries (Crescent, 1995) was an impressive achievement by any standards. At least Recent Discoveries and Tide join the Miller canon.

Parallel (Crescent, 1996) was the ultimate Miller statement: a set of lengthy, harmonious, cryptic compositions/improvisations: Simmer, Parallel , Ed Or Ian, Half Life , Sitdown , Billow .

Out Of The Blue (Crescent, 2001), a tribute to Steve Miller who had died of cancer, continues in that vein with three more jazz juggernauts: Delta Borderline, Phrygian Blues, Slime Divas. Pyle left to form his own band, Bash, while In Cahoots (Miller, Elton Dean on saxes, Mark Fletcher on drums, Peter Lemer on keyboards, Jim Dvorak on trumpet and Fred Baker on bass) released All That (Cuneiform, 2003), containing two sprightly 13-minute numbers, Black Car and Sleight of Hand, and Belle Illusion (Cuneiform, 2004), that documents a live performance.

Pip Pyle has released only two albums with Equipe Out: Equipe Out (52e Rue, 1987), with Elton Dean on sax, Sophia Domancich on keyboards, Hugh Hopper on bass and Pyle on drums, and Up (Too Much, 1991), with Dean, Domancich and Paul Rogers. The former is a distributed effort, with Pyle's Foetal Fandango, Hopper's Midnight Judo, Dean's Janna and Domancich's Porc-Epic. The latter is mainly taken by Dean's Amba and Thunder, but also includes Pyle's Cauliflower Ears, Domancich's Bimbo. Pyle has then released his first solo album, 7 Year Itch (Voiceprint, 1998). Pip Pyle, Philippe-Marcel Iung, John Greaves have also recorded The Pig Part (Voiceprint, 2001).

Dave Stewart, instead, launched a pop career with vocalist Barbara Gaskin. The early singles, compiled on Up From The Dark (Rykodisc, 1985), revive ditties from the Sixties for the discos of the 1980s: Leslie Gore's It's My Party, Peggy Lee's Siamese Cat Song, Holland/Dozier/Holland's I'm in a Different World, etc. The World Spins So Slow is the closest to a decent song that the duo came up with. Broken Records (1986) collects all the hit singles. Subsequent albums, The Big Idea (Midi, 1990) and Spin (Midi, 1991), continued to recycle covers. The former also boasts the nine-minute New Jerusalem. Overall, Stewart managed to embarrass himself like noone in the history of Canterbury's school.

Richard Sinclair started yet another project with Caravan Of Dreams (HTD, 1992), a collection of elegant and funny pop ditties, soon to become a trio with brother David Sinclair on keyboards and Andy Ward on drums, as captured on An Evening Of Magic (HTD, 1993). On the other hand, R.S.V.P. (Sinclair, 1994), is a Richard Sinclair album with friends, mostly performing mellow pop songs (but it includes the 12-minute Out Of The Shadows and the surreal Outback In Canterbury).

Pip Pyle died in august 2006.

Phil Miller died in 2017.