How a Wolverhampton Music Hall could hold the key to part of Coventry's cycling heritage

Coventry Transport Museum Curator Damien Kimberley is currently working on his third book about the Coventry transport industry - having already published titles on the motorcycle manufacturers of Coventry, and more recently the city's motorcar companies, it is now time for him to tackle the biggest and most complex project of all – the cycle manufacturers. 

Rowley B. Turner on a Michaux-type velocipede

For his latest book, which Damien hopes will be completed and published during 2014, he has taken on the mammoth task of trying to give an account of every cycle manufacturer that has ever existed in Coventry.  Damien has been researching these companies 'on and off' for about eight years, but work on this book has really ramped up over the past few months. 

As Damien describes below, this ambitious project is already leading him down surprising (and often frustrating) avenues of research:

The production of bicycles in Coventry is where it all began; the motor industry developing off the back of it, and eventually, displacing it altogether.

Bicycle manufacture began in the city in late 1868, when Rowley B. Turner brought a Michaux-type velocipede from Paris to the works of the Coventry Sewing Machine Company (CSMC) at King Street. Rowley was the CSMC agent in France, and nephew of Josiah Turner, one of the CSMC managing directors. After much deliberation, he convinced his uncle and fellow directors to accept a large order to manufacture copies of the Michaux machine, to sell back in France. The CSMC then had to change their articles of association, and changed the title of the business to the Coventry Machinists Company (CMC), and the manufacture of bicycles ensued. The CMC have been widely acknowledged as the first company in Britain to mass produce bicycles.

The Coventry Machinists Company

Prior to this, Coventry had been famous for making ribbons and watches, amongst other things, yet these trades had been in steep decline over several years and many citizens were on the poverty line. The production of bicycles was fantastic in terms of creating employment, yet it did not develop as quickly as some may assume.

Many men who were engaged at the CSMC at the time of the introduction of Turner's French velocipede, gained experience and knowledge of this new trade, and left to establish their own cycle manufacturing businesses. However, this was not instantaneous, and many maintained the manufacture of sewing machines also – a product with which they were far more familiar.

James Starley was one of the first to leave the services of the CMC, soon joined by William Hillman, and at St. John’s Street in 1870 they created the ‘Ariel’ bicycle – a machine that drew many improvements on the Michaux model.

Other ‘machinists’ found interest, and steadily, over the next few years, other businesses were founded in Coventry for the purposes of making bicycles. By 1877, there were a reported ‘nine’ companies in the city engaged in bicycle manufacture. By 1884 there were eighteen companies, and at the industry’s peak during the 1890s...well, I haven’t quite made my mind up yet.

Basically the industry boomed, not just in Coventry which was the capital centre of cycle production, but in other towns and cities too. The reason for this explosion was the ‘safety’ cycle, perfected by John Kemp Starley in Coventry with his ‘Rover’ machine – a design which made the bicycle far more accessible. As a result, all existing manufacturers copied the Rover principle, and many new firms were established to do the same. Activity in Coventry was rife, with orders for thousands of machines made weekly.

So, by this point, I’ve yet to confirm just how many cycle manufactures existed in the city, and in terms of how many existed overall from 1868 onwards, you may be surprised to learn that I’ve been narrowing down a list of some 500 or so possibilities.

The research into these manufacturers, and potential manufacturers, has been extremely complex. Many companies were linked by individuals, whereby a partnership was once formed, yet someone may have then left the partnership and was replaced by another, therefore changing the company name.

For example, John Icely Warman, another of the original CMC school, first began a cycle business in 1876 as Warman, Laxon & Co. Then followed:
Warman, Laxon & Aslatt
Warman, Laxon & Youett
Warman Laxon, Youett & Co.
Warman & Co.
Warman & Hazlewood

Discovering exactly who some of these individuals were has also often proved to be difficult. Some were, as one would expect, experienced machinists, but many others had no knowledge of cycle manufacture, yet had the means to invest.


To date, the most frustrating company that I have had to research has been the Lion Bicycle Company, which were seen to have been in existence in Coventry in 1879. I know this because I found a reference in the 1879 Bicyclist Handbook with the company at Leicester Place, Leicester Street with the supporting text:

‘This company are working in the same premises that Singer first occupied and are building on the lines of the Humber’ and offering the ‘Lion no. 1, 2, and 3 ordinary machines.’

Fantastic, but there are suggestions that they made other, more novel machines also. In 1890, Harry Hewitt Griffin wrote:

‘These dandy-horse type machines were built by a cycle maker in Coventry in 1879 (trading as the Lion Bicycle Company, and afterwards proprietor of the chief music hall in Wolverhampton) publishing, on the back of his price list, a description of the machine’.

Now, I love being able to unravel a person behind a company, but so far this one has eluded me. In many ways I wish that Griffin hadn’t written this, or as he did anyway, why not give me a name? What if Griffin was wrong? What if it was Wigan, and not Wolverhampton?

Anyway, aside from the fact that I have now become a world authority of Wolverhampton music hall proprietors from 1879-1890, I cannot yet directly connect a single one to making bicycles in Coventry.

I’m not one to give up easily though, and should I ever discover who this man was, I’ll be sure to let you know. 

Damien often tweets updates about his latest discoveries - follow him on Twitter @DamienK73.

1960 Hillman Minx Rescue

On a sunny Sunday at the end of February 2012, Coventry Transport Museum staff Andrew Thomas and Christiaan van Schaardenburgh went to collect this 1960 Hillman Minx from a house in Coventry.

The owner, Irene Taylor, had used the car as her daily car until an engine problem stopped her in 1994, and the car has been stored in a garage in her garden ever since. Now she is moving house and the car had to be removed from the garage, otherwise it would have been scrapped. We are delighted to have been able to save the car from the scrapyard, because the Minx is a very significant car for Coventry, it was really the Ford Focus or VW Golf of its day, and many people would have owned one. This particular Minx is rather rare because it has the ‘Easidrive’ automatic gearbox system. We have five other Minx cars in our collection: the number one Minx from 1931, a 1934 Minx (which is now part of the running collection), a 1935 Aero Minx with special streamlined body, a 1952 Minx mark V and a 1967 Super Minx Estate.


Initially we hope to display the car ‘as found’ and then subsequently we will give it the necessary conservation treatment. Irene’s Minx will be joining her late husband’s 1967 Hillman Super Minx Estate which was donated to the museum by the Taylor family in 1991.

Introduction to the 1916 Maudslay Subsidy Chassis Restoration Project

One of the major projects currently being undertaken by the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum alongside Museum staff, is the restoration of a 1916 Maudslay Subsidy Chassis.

The Friends of the Museum are recording their work on this project on a separate Maudslay Project Blog, but we asked Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van Schaardenburgh to give an overview of the project so far, for readers of this main Museum blog:

In the period before the First World War, the government set out specifications for lorries for military use. Several commercial vehicle manufacturers actually built these vehicles, including: Daimler, Thorneycroft, AEC and Maudslay. Although they were all different, they were built to the same requirements such as weight, horsepower, dimensions, etc. Different body styles were fitted to these vehicles, depending on their use. Large numbers of these military lorries were sold as surplus at auctions after the Great War.

This particular chassis would have been built by Maudslay at Parkside for the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. The vehicle is believed to have been used by the War Department on an airfield in the Angus region of Scotland. Four identical Maudslay chassis were purchased by Coventry Corporation Tramways after the war in 1921 for conversion to buses.

The Museum’s 1916 Maudslay Subsidy chassis was acquired by the Museum in August 2000 from a farm in Dundee, for £10,000. The vehicle was mostly complete, but in a totally unrestored condition. The Great War, Model B three-tonner, was last used in the mid 1970s as a holiday home at Crathy on Deeside, and before that it had been a showman’s living van until 1932. It was stored for many years until being sold to the museum.

Ever since the purchase of the Maudslay chassis, the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum have been raising funds for the restoration of the Maudslay. Restoration of the chassis started in July 2007, every Friday a dedicated team of Friends work with the museum’s collections care team on restoring the lorry to its former glory.

Although the chassis is largely complete, because of its long life as a showman’s vehicle and subsequently as a holiday home, almost every component has a significant amount of wear and tear. It is our goal to rescue as much of the original items as possible - rather than just replacing components with newly made examples, we try to repair the original items, this always adds to the authenticity and gives it ‘the right look’ when inspected closely.

The restoration started with making a detailed photographic record, which has already proven invaluable when the re-assembly started. Once a complete condition survey had been written, the Maudslay was completely disassembled into its main components.

Due to the impending centenary remembering the start of the First World War in 2014, we are aiming to complete the Maudslay during that year. Should we fail to do so, and it is always a difficulty to put a completion date on a restoration project, then we aim to finish the project during 2016 - the 100^th anniversary of the chassis.

Follow our progress on the Maudslay Project blog.

The following companies have provided us with their services so far, often with a favourable rate:

Lenoch Engineering, Ramsay Precision Engineers, Matrix Lasers, CMR Engineering, Clifton Rubber.

Work on 1934 Hillman Minx

We employ two full time historic vehicle technicians here at the Museum, who in conjunction with our Curator of Vehicles are tasked with the mammoth job of maintaining the hundreds of vehicles in the collection. As part of this work, from time to time certain vehicles are taken into the Museum's workshop to be paid some special attention - one such vehicle is our 1934 Hillman Minx, which, although it was running, recently needed a thorough 'going over' to get it ready for its MOT.



Technician Chris Strawbridge was given the job - and here's what he did:

The entire cooling system was cleaned out and the hoses replaced. All other engine fluids have been replaced. A new battery was installed and all four tyres have been replaced. All moving parts were cleaned and lubricated with copper-grease, reassembled and adjusted. All the brakes were inspected and adjusted where needed. The centre cross-member was removed from the chassis because it had serious corrosion damage. A decision was made to fabricate a new item from scratch, starting with a channel section folded to the correct dimensions using the correct thickness of steel sheet. An exact copy was then produced by accurately cutting and welding using the old one as a pattern. Stabilising of the chassis and running boards was also carried out at the same time to treat areas of surface corrosion.












The exhaust was repaired by replacing part of rear section (welded in) and silencer was altered and moved to give better chassis clearance. The wiring harness was falling to pieces, and after careful examination it was confirmed that replacement of the entire wiring harness was the only possible solution. After many enquiries the decision was made to entrust the work of remanufacturing a replacement harness to Autosparks (Notts). The harness was removed and sent as a pattern and for electrical analysis. The harness was installed throughout to the original method using 'p' clips and using protective covers where it passes through holes in the chassis.

We are now waiting for a few axle straps before the car can be tested for MOT.

Billy Baxter’s Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R

We have recently acquired another record holder to add to the long list of other record breaking vehicles to have been displayed at the Museum over the years.

This latest acquisition though comes in the form of a 2002 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R motorcycle, one of the fastest ever production motorcycles to be produced by the Japanese company since 1954.

So what’s so special about this particular bike? Well in August 2003, Billy Baxter, an ex-soldier who is completely blind, smashed the then current blind solo motorcycle Land Speed Record of 78.4mph, with an incredible speed of164.8mph.

This was achieved using a special autocom communication system, with the aid of outriders from the Flying Gunners – the British army’s display team.

See Billy breaking the record.

Billy also appeared on BBCs Top Gear, and drove one of their ‘reasonably priced cars’ around the circuit in 2.02 minutes.

On display at the Museum for a period of six months, this Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R is sure to excite those fortunate enough to view it whilst becoming yet another scoop for Coventry Transport Museum.

Talbot Ledgers Archive Work

Staff in the archive section of the Museum have been working their way steadily through the piles of books, photographs, invoices and drawings. Occasionally something out of the ordinary turns up, and such a find was made recently. Four large ledgers were discovered in a pile of paperwork and although they were thought to be from the old Hillman factory, there were no obvious clues to their origin. However, a bit of detective work in checking the model types listed revealed them to be records of production from the Talbot Motor Company which was taken over by the Rootes Group in 1935.

Talbot started by importing French-built Clément-Bayard cars into Britain in 1902. In late 1904 the factory at Barlby Road, North Kensington, was finished and the company assembled cars from French made components. The first all-British Talbot appeared in 1906, and by 1910 the factory employed 600 men and could turn out between 50 and 60 cars per month. The fortunes of the company varied over the next thirty years, culminating in receivership in 1935 and subsequent takeover by Rootes.

The ledgers are a record of every car produced by Talbot between 1905 and 1938, and list each car in chassis number order together with brief details. These include engine number, wheelbase, wheel size, type of body, coachbuilder, date delivered and purchaser. Each of the entries (over 30,000) is handwritten and by only a small number of individuals – in fact the 7,000 plus entries in the fourth volume have been written by the same person.

Even more interesting are the histories behind some of the cars. Chassis number 5000 is one of the few cars to have no details listed, but in the notes column there is the pencilled comment “Competition Brooklands Racer”, and the date of building given as 7th November 1912. Could this be the 4½ litre Talbot in which Percy Lambert was the first person ever to cover a distance of 100 miles in an hour at Brooklands on 15th February 1913? And chassis numbers 31051 to 31054 are the famous cars raced so successfully by the Fox & Nicholl team in the early 1930s.

No less interesting is the social history. In the early days of production many cars were sold direct to individual customers, many of whom were titled, but even before 1914 most cars were being sold to dealers for onward sale. These dealers include names familiar a hundred years later, such as Mann Egerton and Caffyns, but also more exotic sounding names such as the Bombay Cycle Agency, the Oriental Motor Company and the Madras Stable Company. A number of chassis were exported to Australia. And although some customers were optimistically taking delivery of their new cars as late as 1915, production had been turned over to the war effort by that time. Whole production runs are shown as being delivered to the War Office or the Admiralty, many chassis being delivered for fitting with ambulance bodies. A large number of vehicles were destined for Russia, some fitted with the mysterious sounding “Hot Air Attachment”.

Unfortunately over a hundred years of use have taken their toll on the ledgers and they are too fragile to allow access for research purposes. But they are a significant addition to the Museum’s resources and work will continue to identify and catalogue more such information.