Hi John,
A very warm welcome to the CR list - and good to see that you have joined us in this venture. You may remember that we chatted a few year's back about my '49 Carpenter frameset which has been looked after for me by Doug Smith until now. I am happy to say that after much time it is now with Mario Vaz in London undergoing a repaint. I will send pics when done. I will also be in the market for bits and bobs to hang on it.
There are a select few of us with Carpenters on the CR list.
This is a wonderful forum and a great place to hang out for a while. But, don't forget your address (Monmouth, Wales or UK) under you name in the sign-out, as our beloved listmeister gets cranky about such things and we would hate to lose you.
Cheers,
Paul.
Paul B. Williams, MPhil (Wales), PhD (Queen's) 70 Viscount Ave., Ottawa, On, K1Z 7M9 ph: 613-761-3867 e-mail: castell5@sympatico.ca
> Hi All,
> As a new member I thought I should provide a little profile of my
> background and interests in cycling.
> I grew up in Yorkshire a long long time ago and in the 1950s used to
> press my nose against the Whittaker & Maplebeck ( Pennine ) cycle shop
> window every Saturday morning wishing I could afford a new bike.My early
> cycling was around the Yorkshire Dales and at the age of 15 used to cycle
> from my home in Bradford to Baildon and then over the top to Ilkley and
> across to Otley for lunch.This was a ride of about 30 miles but parts of
> it were almost vertical ! At that time I rode a Dawes with 5-speed
> Benelux .In my late teens ,I joined the Shipley Road Club and then started
> riding in some of the local road races .Time trialling was never of much
> interest to me ( wrong shape and lack of concentration ).I acquired a
> Bates B.A.R. which I broke on the Girlington Kermesse some years later
> when I hit a pothole at some speed.I threw the frame away in a moment of
> stupidity and anger and remember how Johnny ( Maplebeck) gave me an
> 'earful for wasting such a super frame which he
> proceeded to explain could have easily been repaired.It took me a
> considerable time to save up enough money to buy a seconhand Merlin which
> I purchased from Ellis Briggs in Shipley.Inevitably, my first car ( Morgan
> three-wheeler ) came along followed quickly by the discovery of the
> opposite sex and cycling lost it's attraction.However ,I have never been
> without a bike and rode occaisionally just for fun.Marriage and children
> followed and this gave me the chance to return to the cycling fold
> .Attending the annual CTC York Rally rekindled my interest and I joined
> the Veteran Cycle Club. A chance purchase of a Carpenter frame led to an
> interest in the marque and Hilary stone persuaded me to take on the role
> of marqe enthusiast for this frame maker.I maintain a register and have
> copies of some of the catalogues covering their business during the period
> 1925 - 1970.If any membes of the register need help dating or providing
> other information on a Carpenter I can probably help.I
> would also be grateful for any memories of the marque that any member has
> which may help to build up a history of this frame maker.
> I am currently completing a "potted history " of the marque for The V.C.C
> and Peter Browns Classic bike website which I hope will be of interest to
> those who remember Harry and Frank Carpenters products.A few years ago my
> knees finally succumbed to the stress of hauling my not insubstantial bulk
> about and prevented me from riding a bike (or walking very far) .
> Fortunately ,the damage was not permanent and they have now healed and I
> have been out for a few short rides of late and am looking frward to some
> dry weather so That I can get back on my bikes again.
>
> With Kind Regards to all and thanks to the webmaster for providing this
> most interesting site,
>
> John Gill