Schweisos and a very special AJS
May I add my tuppence worth to the interesting stories that have been printed about the Schweiso Brothers’ shop at Dartford recently. Les Schweiso was a very successful grass track rider before and after the Second World War and this photograph shows him on his AJS model M7 346cc in the paddock at a Brands Hatch meeting in 1946. The paddock at that time was situated on the inside of the circuit at the bottom of Paddock Hill – the Druids extension was not built until later in the 1950s.
Les also raced the Ajay on road circuits at that time, such as North Weald and Stapleford Tawney. At one meeting he gave Fergus Anderson, riding a Guzzi, a good run, both fighting for the lead. Towards the end of the 1946 season it was announced that the brothers would be opening a shop in Dartford. The big attraction was that there would be the AJS500 supercharged V4 racer on display. I could hardly contain myself waiting for the opening day to arrive, to see for the first time this fabulous AJS, and there it was, right in the middle of the shop front. It was stunning, I was more than pleased, I was extremely happy. Jock West had ridden it in a few races on the continent during the year, in one of which he had to retire due to a stone flying up and piercing the oil tank which was placed alongside the rear wheel.
Richard Rosenthal’s article on Memories of Brian Woolley in February’s OBM mentioned Herman Meier. I got to know Herman when he worked at Harold Daniels’ shop in the early 1950s when I would go there to buy bits for my 500T. He would try to explain to me the art of two-stroke tuning; at this I would try and look intelligent but frankly it went over my head. I think Herman just took pity on me (these English are so dumb!).
Then there was Jack Blackwell, exmember of the Norton trials team. He told me about the works 500T bikes which were somewhat different to the over-thecounter bikes. They had electron crank and gearbox cases. The works bikes were a bit lower to the ground, it seems that they gave a bit more stability. Jack Varlow who raced a Norton outfit on the grass and Johnnie Holder were also employed there, although not all at the same time.
Richard also mentions John Catchpole; the last time that I saw John was about 1971 or ’72. My wife Sylvia and I were standing in Parliament Square, Ramsey, one evening, watching practice at the
TT. For some reason, I turned around to look over my shoulder at the crowd of people behind and there was John, standing right behind me. He had moved to the Isle of Man and was living in Ramsey, telling me that his main interest now was sailing and that his boat was moored in the harbour. Previously he had a garage in Days Lane in Sidcup where, among other work, he would perform works of art on Scotts. To hear those engines working hard pulling a chair outfit with two men on board up a greasy muddy climb was music. The last trials outfit he built using a Scott engine was later sold to Jack Witham, who had a motorcycle shop on the one-way system at Greenwich.
Anthony Hull in OBM428 also asked about Boyers of Bromley. They were also Ariel main agents besides Triumph. Arthur Straccey was their workshop foreman and rode a Norton sidecar outfit in trials. (This was the Norton trials bike produced between 1946-47 before the 500T.) Boyers were on the corner of London Road and Hammelton Road and a few yards away Jack Surtees, father of John, had his garage business. This was on the corner of London Road and Farwig Lane. Opposite, in London Road, stood James Young, coachbuilders to Rolls Royce, Bentley and Alfa Romeo. Premier Inn and Kwik Fit now stand on the site.
Oh happy memories, long may I have them.
Fred Baker, Forest Hill, London
What a wealth of fantastic information Mr Baker has sent in. We would particularly like to know if anyone recalls racing at Stapleford Tawney in Essex as our editor used to live in this tiny village – let us know!
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