Great thread Nasher. Sadly, there are no pics of my Dad's Norton and Velocette history in our archives. But he had some good stories and I do still have his old goggles. The one about towing his brother's broken down bike back from Grimsby to Market Rasen with a stolen washing line was entertaining and he had good tale of a demo ride on the back of a bike that he was thinking of buying, which turned interesting when the shop owner showed him the full extent of its capabilities. Whether my Dad needed to change his trousers when they got back to Freddie Frith's shop is not recorded.
My Dad and his bikes in chronological order as a best guess. Pre-war probably somewhere in the East End. Haven’t a clue what the bike is. Maybe a 1931 350cc BSA ohv. OEC probably somewhere in Devon Ditto with his mate on a Norton or BSA? Before the war he was a district messenger in the city so when war broke out rather than wait to be called up he volunteered on the basis that he would then have a choice, albeit limited, especially as he was 26 at the time. He opted for the Royal Corps of Signals and got his wish to continue riding bikes as a Don R or dispatch rider. He only rode bikes while in the UK. Not always easy going as these two brief extracts from his jottings that we found after he died will show. ‘Now we are moving up to the 15th September 1940 and Jerry decided he would attack London. I was on the Chatham run that afternoon. I never saw so many of the enemy in my life coming back from Chatham. Along the A2 they were dropping bombs on either side of the road. Cabbages and mud flying about all over the place.“ “I entered Victoria Street from the Westminster end (London area run) just as a bomb blew the front out of the building on the right. I was covered in glass and other muck but managed to stay upright so got back home OK.” Having gone over to France on D Day + 6 he then swopped two wheels for four. Not sure whether it was because of the quantity of dispatches or road conditions but I do remember him saying that he was driving on snow and ice for 6 months. On 4 wheels it was either a 15cwt Bedford as the photo or a Jeep. In both cases with his armed guard. A mean looking pair of hombres. When I was a lad I can remember him still riding bikes, the last while I was still at home was a 500cc single AJS. In his late sixties he became a member of TOMCC and used to be paddock marshal at Snetterton for the BEMSEE races. Unbeknown to Mum he used to ride there on the machine below. Seated on which is my youngest son, now in his thirties and riding a Triumph Thruxton.
Almost certainly as he didn’t stop until he was 76 which was in 89. You would have known him as Jim or Jimmy.
