I had never seen a frame by this builder until I looked on the WoolJersey site, but I had heard of them for some years.
I had expected to see a wonderful 1940/50 machine..for some reason that I just cannot explain, and so I was more than a little disappointed by the red frame that revealed itself.
I wonder if I was the only viewer who suffered from a strong sense of "deja-vu" when studying those photos? The long-point Prugnat lugs with their windows are quite a common sight..but what about those seat-stay top-eye plates? Ever seen any like those before? Think "Lejeune" ! And who is likely to be one of the sub-contracted builders for Lejeune,,well none other than the builder who, I have it on good authority, built all Jacques Anquetil's frames - Monsieur Bernard Carre.
The seat cluster is IDENTICAL in every way, even to the type-face of the capital letters spelling out "C.DARDENNE", to those on the Carres in my collection. It's just too unlikely to be just a coincidence. Recently I met one of France's top collectors of Paris-built bikes and will try to get him to give an opinion on this matter. Last time I discussed Carre's frames with him he pronounced himself to be a little confused...B. Carre frame she knew well...but recently he had bought in a couple with "H.CARRE" stamped into the top-eye plates Was this a father, a son..some relative. The mystery deepens.
Norris Lockley, Settle UK..where, today, I started tidying up my 30s REYHAND randonneur.