Come on, Mike ! What's all this about... expecting a Yorkshireman to know about Barry Chick ?
Knowing that I was going through the throws of swapping over to Broadband again and needing to reregister with the List I replid to Rob William's initial query about Barry off-List, but now that I'm back on the approves List again I will try to fill in a littleon whta others have already sent..at the risk of being deselected from the List.. due to a slight overlap of the time periods.
Barry was.... I think he hung up his torch like many other UK builders quite recently due to getting older and losing trade to the ubiquitous aluminium and carbon frames flooding the market..an excellent builder. Working from a base just north of London he was better known in the "trade" as a jobbing builder of "OE" transfer frames for other shops. Alan Shorter certainly had a lot of his best frames built by Barry, and I had heard, but have no proof, that he worked for Condor at times.
Barry had quite a good spell of building during the 70/80s and early 90s when his bronze-welded lugless construction frames were in demand by time-trialists in search of low-profile machines, with more severe angles than a lugged frame ie. except with an awful lot of manipulation of lugs - would permit. In the 80s he built frames for the Shorter-Rochford-sponsored team, Leo Road Club, which was one of the finest team of time-trialists in the country, including in its ranks Stuart Dangerfield, who was later to ride Needham's ARGOS frames to many National Championship wins.
I last had dealings with Barry - never actually met him - in the early 90s when he wanted some carbon wheels. At events, when drooling over a beautiful plunging T-T frame, the magic words "It's a Barry Chick" were often heard through the 06.00 early morning mists
There is/ was a number of "Barry Chick" type frame builders in the UK, supplying riders very much on a regional basis ie for the local road racers or time-trialists. Whereas Barry was best known in the south, Pongo Braithewaite built AENDE frames in the Midlands (Nottingham area), Barry Whitcomb ( no relation to the London-based company) was prominent around Liverpool, as was Terry Dolan with his Cougars,Argos in the SW.. Bristol,, and I built many of the same type of frames in the NE Lancashire/Yorkshire area, under the Bespoke brand. I dont think Pongo did much building for other shops.. and all my frames were in the Bespoke name.
In terms of the very current K-O-F theme, I doubt now whether there are more than a small handful of UK builders keeping this particualr flame alive now.. perhaps Steve Goff, Richard Kent (Caygill), and the odd one here and there from Mercian, Bob Jackson.. and of course Argos.
Norris Lockley..reflecting on better days gone by.. Settle UK