Just to let you all know that Ernie Clements, 1940's racing cyclist and founder of the Falcon marque died in Malvern, Worcs, on 2nd February. He leaves a widow, Rosemary, and son, Edward, who runs a bike shop in Ledbury, Shropshire and is an importer of Simonici bikes from Italy. Edward is the third generation of Clements to be involved in the trade. Ernie had been in decline with Parkinson's for a number of years, but was able to fill in some details of his time as boss of Falcon when I last saw him a couple of years ago. Ernie also sponsored the Falcon race team for many years and was the first to see the potential of Majorca for early season training camps. Jim Leach, a member of the V-CC is putting the finishing touches to the story of Ernie's earlier career and I will include the later years in my Elswick-Hopper/Falcon history.
Nigel Land
Barton on Humber
England