Issue 34
July 2016
NEWSL ETTER O F THE BRITISH MO TORCYCLE CHARITABLE TRUST
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The eagerly awaited exhibition of our collection of British motor scooters has finally opened at the Haynes International Motor Museum. As longer-standing BMCT members will recall, the collection was the work of Robin Spalding, who set out to own one example of every make of British scooter built between 1946 and 1970. Having achieved his aim, Robin, with the help of the BMCT, put his complete collection on show at Coventry Transport Museum for three months, where it attracted a lot of interest. When Robin decided to dispose of the collection soon afterwards, the BMCT trustees recognized its significance to the nation and decided to acquire it and provide for its permanent exhibition in the public domain. Finding a home for 40+ motor scooters was always going to be a big task, and we were delighted when
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Haynes agreed to develop an area of their newly revamped museum to house the machines. Many months of hard work by Curator Mike Penn and his team, assisted by Robin Spalding, has resulted in a superb interpretation of not just British scooters, but the entire scooter-driven culture that was enjoyed by the youth of Britain in the nineteen sixties. To complete the exhibition, we have acquired an example of the 1919 ABC Skootamota, an ancestor of the modern scooter, and the Museum have included their own 1956 Harper Scootamobile in the display. If you haven’t ventured down to the Haynes Museum since their redevelopment, you should really make the effort, the new museum is stunning. It’s open every day except 24th – 26th December and January 1st.
Front cover picture: The interesting Barr & Stroud sleeve valve engine of Sammy Miller’s Grindlay Peerless, seen at the Banbury Run. The whole bike can be admired at the Sammy Miller Museum in the New Forest.
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Pete Marshall and his team of motorcycle volunteers put on a tremendous event at Dover Transport Museum in early May. The Dover Classic Motorcycle Show was blessed with beautiful weather, which no doubt helped swell the turnout. Special guest on the day was Brian Norman, one of the Norman brothers who owned the eponymous motor cycle and cycle manufacturer in nearby Ashford until it was sold to Tube Investments (Raleigh) and moved to Nottingham in the nineteen sixties. Brian was on great form as he opened a BMCTfunded display area (right) within the museum dedicated to Norman. Some really outstanding machines turned out, with makes of all eras and nationalities represented. Pete even had the museum’s prize raffle bike, a 1972 Honda CB500 Four on its wheels (below) as it nears the end of a winter restoration. Tickets to enter the raffle are still available – contact the museum on 01304 822409.
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I N S I D E S T O R Y H E A D L I N E P I O N E E R R U N Two New Milton legends competed in the London to Brighton Run on Sunday 20th March, Don Rickman on his 1902 Ariel and Sammy Miller MBE on his 1913 Alldays Matchless. Pioneer Run machines are only eligible if they had been made before 1914, just before the first world war. Competitors were there from all over Europe and the total entry was 339. Most competitors made it all the way to Brighton. The weather was bitterly cold but at least there was no rain and everybody enjoyed the camaraderie at the Finish and Assembly Area on Madeira Drive in Brighton. The Mayor of Epsom & Ewell and the Mayor of the City of Brighton & Hove were there to welcome the riders and present the trophies in front of the vast crowd gathered in the Presentation Area.
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Recent changes at the top of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club mean that in the Club’s 70th Anniversary year both President and Chairman of the club are BMCT members, and both also hail from Dorset. Club President for 2016 is Rodney Hann (near right) from Sherborne, who has been a BMCT member since 2013. Rodney has restored many machines over the years, and one of his recently finished projects was on show at Stafford (see below).
Peter Miller (far right) takes over as Chairman of the Club to continue the work started by retiring Chairman Pat Robotham as it attempts to recover from its well-documented difficulties. We wish him and his team success in getting the VMCC back on an even keel. Peter lives in Blandford Forum.
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Two machines in particular caught the eye on the Vintage Motor Cycle Club’s stand at the recent Carole Nash Classic MotorCycle Show, both of them owned by BMCT members. VMCC President Rodney Hann’s 1921 680 cc Rover Imperial v twin was bought from a friend’s widow, and after 50 years in boxes it has been restored to as-new condition and returned to the road. Richard Duffin’s splendidly preserved v-twin Burney has featured in these pages before. It is the actual bike ridden by Cecil Burney to the meeting at the Hog’s Back in Surrey where C E (Titch) Allen and a group of 37 other enthusiasts formed the VMCC on 28th April 1946.
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There were several BMCT members among the 500 entrants who assembled at the British Motor Museum for the start of “The Banbury”
Alan Yeomans (1930 BSA Sloper)
Christopher Brown (1926 Ner-a-Car), winner of the Bill Moore and Ken Cobbing Trophies
Glenn Del Medico (1914 Sun)
Gold Award winner Malcolm Griffin (1922 Coventry Eagle) also won Best Early Vintage Performance
Ivan Rhodes on a 1927 AJS H6 he acquired for £20 some years ago!
Rod Phillips’s 1912 FN was judged Most Original Veteran
Ben Walker (1923 DOT)
Nevil Barham (1923 Duzmo )
John Summers (1903 Kerry)
Tony Pashley (1929 Sunbeam 90)
BMCT trustee Nick Jeffery leaves Gaydon on his awardwinning 1928 Brough Superior SS80
The 1927 Morgan-JAP 1220 cc Super Aero
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Your "BMCT Man in France" has been wandering and found himself at a wonderful Museum in Cataluña, Northern Spain. The Museu Moto is a group of 3 Museums, one in Barcelona, one in Andorra and the main Museum at Bassella (Spanish Post Code 25289). The Bassella Museum is in a modern building on the main C-14 road to Andorra, where it shares a Car Park with a Service Station. It also incorporates a Restaurant aimed at passing traffic but very useful for the Museum visitor. The Museum has an extensive inventory - nearly 200 machines spread over 2 floors. The upper level is home to a large selection of road bikes from a range of manufacturing countries with a particularly strong showing of British bikes. The lower level has a range of competition machines with particular emphasis on the off-road success of Bultaco and Montesa. The Museum is very well laid out and well lit. The bikes are displayed in such a way as to make photography easy and the
spacing of the bikes lends itself to a logical circuit of the exhibits. The Museum also aims at education and has an involvement in a range of programmes to interest and educate the young. As mentioned, British interest is high with a particularly good selection of Norton's finest on display.
Find the museum’s English language website at www.museumoto.com/en
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We’re sorry to announce the retirement of Steve Bagley from the BMCT Board of Trustees. Steve, former Head of Collections at Coventry Transport Museum, joined the Board in 2007. His expertise in the museum world has been of great benefit to the BMCT, especially when we have been assisting affiliated museums with their interpretation of British motorcycles. Recent reorganisation at Culture Coventry means Steve has moved on to another challenge elsewhere and no longer feels he has the time to commit to the BMCT. We wish him well in his new venture.
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Haynes International Motor Museum hosted a lunch for nearly 200 guests to celebrate the retirement, after 31 years' service, of Founding Curator Micheal Penn. Mike was the very first member of staff when the museum opened in 1985. In the early days his duties were wide ranging, including: general manager, curator, caterer, bookshop assistant and receptionist. As the museum grew he was able to focus on his passion for curatorial work and building the collection. His numerous visits across the globe to source an eclectic mix of vehicles, from the rare and precious to the more easily recognised, has ensured that the museum now has a vehicle collection second to none.
Mike Penn (left) with Haynes Museum CEO Chris Haynes
Museum CEO, Christopher Haynes, said: "The Chairman, Trustees and staff would like to thank Mike for all his efforts over the past thirty one years. His legacy is clear to see: today the museum boasts well over 100,000 visitors annually, as well as hosting a large and ever increasing number of conferences and all types of events.”
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We welcome the following new members and supporters of the Charity: Andrew Harrop ABINGDON Pam Harrop ABINGDON Mike Kurylowski St ALBANS John Dobbs UXBRIDGE Frank Gollins CHEADLE Wendy Gollins CHEADLE Neil Boag VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA Richard Miller BLANDFORD FORUM S F Giles EPSOM Gary Hammond WOKINGHAM Lee Haskell TIVERTON David Shephard DYMCHURCH Stuart Foster DIDCOT David Silk HOVE Christopher Lawton-Smith HEREFORD David Bowmer CHRISTCHURCH Jack Worner MIDHURST Lucy Rudwick MIDHURST David Chalwin COBHAM Stuart Heath HORSHAM Craig Durrant CHICHESTER Duncan Meek FLEET Bob Kirk WINDSOR Keith Palmer BANWELL John Setterfield WIMBORNE Brian Pearce ANDOVER Jim Newman CORFE MULLEN Leslie Teagle BANWELL Helen Philp BANWELL Dane Hateley TROWBRIDGE Michelle Heeley BURNHAM ON SEA Basil Smith HAMSTREET Joyce Smith HAMSTREET
David Warner CRAWLEY Keith Roberts ALTON Colin Roberts HATFIELD Jannie Mortimer TROWBRIDGE Christopher Hulbert TROWBRIDGE Kacey Clift TROWBRIDGE Paul Bristow BOURNEMOUTH John Rackham CARDIFF Michael Warner STAINES-UPON-THAMES Gary Astill LANTZVILLE, CANADA David Vickers WORTHING Gail Vickers WORTHING Paul Orman SOUTHAMPTON Tessa Orman SOUTHAMPTON Micheal Penn ILCHESTER Robin Churchill STURMINSTER NEWTON George Moggeridge DORCHESTER Barrie Wheeler POOLE Colin Harrison PULBOROUGH Carl Kiff GOSPORT Amanda Kiff GOSPORT Michael Scotten HOUNSLOW James Butler WOKINGHAM Graham Parker FELIXSTOWE Tim Cobb EAST COWES Claire Cobb EAST COWES William Smith CHRISTCHURCH Janice Sivelle ASHFORD Stuart Wrigley STAINES-UPON-THAMES John Selman BEAULIEU Tony Page COBHAM Lorraine Young FAREHAM Tony Fantini BOURNEMOUTH
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Lucy Beattie BRISTOL Sophie Beattie BRISTOL Andy Gear FAWLEY Peter Brooks SOUTHAM Alan Yeomans BANBURY Karen Oram FAREHAM Mark Gordon CHRISTCHURCH Philip Smith FAREHAM Rob Bicknell YEOVIL Dean Stainton YEOVIL Ted Allen NEWPORT, IoW R P Cope CHRISTCHURCH L E Cope CHRISTCHURCH Paul Masterson LEIGH-ON-THE-SOLENT Sandra Lindsey SWINDON Brian Lindsey SWINDON Alan Mitchell YEOVIL M A Jackson CHRISTCHURCH Keith Norman BOURNEMOUTH Russell Tullett CHICHESTER Clifford Mewett BOGNOR REGIS Peter Churchill GOSPORT David Garside FERNDOWN Steve Boom SHEPPERTON David Piatt FAREHAM Marion Mewett BOGNOR REGIS Tracey Chapple SEATON Dennis Patstone SOLIHULL Shaun Robson GILLINGHAM Richard Huckle CAMBERLEY Roland Batchelor THETFORD Leslie Hearn LONDON Kenneth Amos DUDLEY
B I K E S Thanks to new member John Selman and to Lee Gibson for the photos of their bikes.
John is local to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, and works there as a volunteer. He reckons his 1954 AJS Model 16MS is good enough to be a museum exhibit, and on the evidence of the photo we don’t doubt it. Welcome to the BMCT John, we hope you’ll enjoy being a member.
Recently we featured Lee Gibson’s 1960 FrancisBarnett Falcon 87 which he had restored as a showpiece for his own private museum. Well 35 year old Lee, from Doncaster, has sent in the photo on the left of his bike as he acquired it in 2013, and we must congratulate him on rescuing the Fanny B and returning it to its former glory.
If you would like us to publish photos of your own bike (or restoration project) in the newsletter, please get in touch with Andy Bufton, whose contact details you will find on page 8.
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T H E B R I T I S H M OTO R C Y C L E C H A R I TA B L E T RU S T Registered in England No. 01445196 Registered Charity No. 509420 Registerered Office: Holly Cottage Main Street Bishampton Pershore WR10 2NH UK Trustees: I N Walden OBE (Chairman) P J Wellings T P V Barnes J F R Handley M Jackson J N Jeffery J E Kidson Secretary: Andy Bufton Tel: 01386 462524 Mob: 07754 880116 Email: info@bmct.org
The British Motorcycle Charitable Trust (BMCT) was originally formed in 1979 to facilitate the building of the National Motorcycle Museum at Bickenhill, near Solihull in the West Midlands, but since 1995 the BMCT has been an entirely separate organisation, a grant - making Charity dedicated to the promotion of British motor cycle engineering heritage through a network of affiliated transport museums throughout the country. Membership is open to all, and allows free entry to all the museums in our affiliation scheme. Our funding comes from membership fees, bequests, donations and income from our investments. Please direct any enquiries to the secretary, Andy Bufton, at the address on the left.
Our affiliated museums are: Black Country Living Museum, Dudley British Motor Museum, Gaydon Brooklands Museum, Weybridge Coventry Transport Museum Dover Transport Museum Gloucester Life Museum Haynes International Motor Museum Jet Age Museum, Gloucester London Motorcycle Museum Manx Museum, Isle of Man National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Sammy Miller Museum, New Milton Stroud Museum in the Park The Tank Museum, Bovington
www.bmct.org
Preserving the past...for the future D A T E S
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10th July SIMPLY BIKES AT THE NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM, BEAULIEU. All Motorcyclists are invited to ride into Beaulieu and park up within the museum complex for what promises to be a superb day out for both motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Enjoy a ride through the beautiful New Forest, voted by keepbritainbiking.com as one of "Britain's Top 10 Biking Spots", to join bikers on cruisers, vintage, sports bikes and others straight from the showroom floor. All participants have the opportunity to be chosen as the winner of the People’s Choice Award, selected by public vote. The winner will receive the Beaulieu Simply Bikes trophy. 17th July VMCC TAVERNERS SECTION FOUNDERS DAY, STANFORD HALL, LUTTERWORTH LE17 6DH Synonymous with the Taverners Section is Founders Day. Set in the scenic Stanford Hall grounds, it has become one of the major UK events in the ‘old bike’ calendar. From humble beginnings almost fifty years ago with just a hundred or so visitors and ha lf a dozen people selling surplus bike bits out of their car boot, the event has grown in to a large, very professionally run affa ir. 24th July FESTIVAL OF BLACK COUNTRY VEHICLES AT THE BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM, DUDLEY. Wheeling into its 14th year, this annual gathering of cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles all built in the Black Country will see over one hundred models on display across the Museum, and several of them will take to the museum roads in a series of parades The festival celebrates the Black Country’s historical reputation as a major centre for vehicle manufacturing and all vehicles have been built right in the Black Country from 1913 up until the present day. 20th August NORTHANTS VINTAGE & CLASSIC BIKE SHOW, THE LILACS INN, CHURCH STREET, ISHAM, KETTERING NN14 1HD Now in its third year, this lovely little show, run in aid of the BMCT, finds a new home in the rolling Northamptonshire countryside, surrounded by roads that were made for motorcycling. Stuart MacDowell and his team will no doubt assemble their usual eclectic mix of bikes ancient and modern, along with trade stands, hog roast, real ale and live music. Entry costs just £3, limited camping is available, and the start time is 12 noon. 27th-28th August AUTOJUMBLE AND THE SAMMY MILLER RUN AT THE SAMMY MILLER MUSEUM, NEW MILTON. A busy August Bank Holiday weekend is in prospect in Sammy’s corner of the New Forest. On Saturday there’s an Autojumble, and on Sunday 28th the Sammy Miller Run departs the Museum for a leisurely bimble around the local lanes. Various classes of bikes are catered for, with a separate 30 mile route for the lower powered veterans. Finishers’ brasses are again sponsored by the BMCT. 4th September WHEELS OF STEEL MOTORCYCLE RIDE-IN AT THE TANK MUSEUM, BOVINGTON For the second time The Tank Museum is hosting the Wheels of Steel ride-in event to end the season. This fundraising ride-in provides a great social atmosphere with proceeds going to The Tank Museum and other local charities. There’s a children’s motorcycle display team to watch, trade stands to buy from, and tanks will be in spectacular action in the Arena. Oh, and there’s a really big museum to look round too!
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