Festival of Motoring 2010

It was a good day at Coventry’s Memorial Park last Sunday – lots of people and plenty of cars to be admired. The biggest worry as always was our unpredictable weather – the forecast was good but as luck would have it the heavens opened up just as the cars set of on their runs. It didn’t last all day though fortunately and it turned out nice in the end.

As well as showcasing some of the vehicles in our collection, we also had a tent promoting our archive service – what we do as archivists/curators and what we have to offer as a service. It created quite a bit of interest and we met and spoke to a number of people who had various stories to tell about either themselves or members of their families who had once worked in Coventry’s cycle and motor industries.
One man told of his grandfather who was a Turner at the Singer Company at Canterbury Street, before transferring to the Triumph Cycle Co. in 1898 at Priory Street.

Another recalled his days working at the Humber Company in the 1950s whilst they had departments still at Humber Road – now all gone sadly.

But the best for me was being introduced to a 92-years old gentleman who was formerly Chief Designer at Francis-Barnett at Ford Street in the 1950s. He had prior to that worked as a Designer at Coventry Victor at Cox Street and he had so many interesting things to say. So much so that we decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass up, and have arranged to interview him fully next week as these firsthand accounts are fast disappearing.

We’ll let you know how it went.

Damien
Curator Research and Information

The World's Most Travelled Motorcycle

Peter and Kay Forwood started on a ‘round the world’ trip 14 years ago. This amazing adventure began in Australia on the 3rd of February 1996.

In October 2008, this Harley-Davidson motorcycle, carrying all the
luggage, became the first and only vehicle to have been ridden in every
internationally recognised country of the world. Since then Peter and Kay have continued travelling, visiting places they previously missed or
returning to places they enjoyed.

This motorcycle was purchased new in 1994 and has been ridden over 580,000 kms. By August 2009 the motorcycle's original engine required substantial repair after completing 540,080kms.

It was replaced with a brand new engine so it could continue travelling. The original engine will be rebuilt and placed back into the motorcycle, should any new countries be created.

To date, the motorcycle has visited over 414 countries, states, territories, isolated parcels, atolls and disputed territories as identified in the ‘Most Travelled Persons’ list. This is more than any other vehicle, hence the claim
"The World's Most Travelled Motorcycle"