WAY WE WERE
Tales of testing a B31 on an old airfield and other magnificent memories
Here are a couple of pictures of my dad, Jack Woodward, on his BSA B31. They would have been taken on or around Down Ampney airfield in Gloucestershire in the early 1950s. This is the place where dad and his mates would go to ‘test’ their machines!
The photo on the right shows, from left to right: Dennis Comley, BSA C11; Les Lindsey; Jack Woodward, BSA B31; Ray Marshall, Vincent Comet; Johnny Williams; Geoff Browning, Matchless 500. When dad met mum, the pillion pad was replaced with a proper dual seat, but eventually when they got married the BSA had to go, replaced with a more practical Lambretta! Searching the DVLA website, it seems HKT 379 is now long gone or lurking in someone’s shed! Sadly, dad passed away last year, but his love of bikes and other things mechanical has passed on to me. I’ve just bought a similar 1947 BSA B31 to join my 1979 Guzzi Le Mans and Ducati ST4S. PAUL WOODWARD,
My father has asked me to contact you regarding the identity of the bike in this photograph. It’s from a friend of his – a postcard with this picture of their grandfather on a mystery bike, and he’d like to know what the bike is. Being the friend who ‘knows about old bikes’, dad was asked, but because he can’t do technology he asked me to scan it and send it to you. Are you able to recognise the bike?
JASON BEAN I’d say that’s a 500cc side-valve James V-twin of about 1930, registered in Sheffield. Although after WWII James only made lightweight two-strokes, they made some high-quality larger bikes in their earlier days and the V-twins – which, unusually for a small manufacturer, were fitted with their own engines and gearboxes – were at the top of the range. Rick P This is a photo of my dad, Francis, who is sat on the back of a 500cc single AJS. He was only 14 at the time and went to Wales on it! His brother in law Ron (who did the riding) informs me that the chain broke on the way back. This must have been the early stirrings of my dad’s passion for bikes – and especially single-cylinder ones! He told me bikes of that time were a cheap way of getting around and often dumped and scrapped due to their low cost. He painfully recalls having an old Indian which, due to a piston issue, he pushed into a quarry near his home town of Christow in Devon! Before you ask, he can’t remember which one. The magazine is great and my dad often says he reads the full stops!
CARL WILLS, EXETER This picture of my sister Beryl, sat on my dad’s James Captain, was recently rediscovered. It was taken circa 1959 – we believe the bike was a 1956. My dad, William, has unfortunately been very ill this year, but he has just bought me a 1956 Captain to restore. I would love to know any information on what became of 681 HRE, and whether it still exists.
BILL WHITTAKER
This is a photo of me in 1966 on my 1938 Triumph Tiger 80 (HPA 811) when I was 18. The bike had been previously owned by Albert Edward King, who was a blacksmith and farrier at Craven Arms – he had crashed it and was had by the police. According to onlookers, he came down the Grove straight and, without shutting off, rode straight through the Arms at over the ton, then fell off turning into his own gateway. I liked the T80’s speed, style, handling and quality. It had Triumph-made ‘George Dance’type knee grips and a drilled alloy conrod and HC piston. JOE PRIESTLEY Here are two pictures of my grandparents, taken in the early 1950s somewhere in Norway. My grandfather was a blacksmith working as a motorcycle mechanic on the island of Bornholm and the Nimbus shown here had been through a major engine overhaul and therefore needed ‘running in’, which my grandfather selflessly offered to do by taking his girlfriend and future wife on a 1200-mile road trip to Norway and back. I should mention that Bornholm is a small island south of Sweden, but still part of Denmark. The only way to get to it with a motorcycle or car is by ferry, which in my opinion makes their trip even more cool and adventurous. MIKKEL IJOHANSEN, COPENHAGEN