A couple of years ago I bought, by accident, a very rare Hobbs frame, complete with original air-brush finish and fancy lugwork. Built i or around 1936/37 it is a HOBBS, not a Hobbs of Barbicon, a name that came later.
The lugwork is very reminiscent of some of Bill Hurlows work, so I contacted him and we spent a couple of very long conversaions discussing this frame, and very many others. He had not built my frame - he would have been about fifteen at the time, and was working for Grubbs. He did not rule out Hobbs entirely because he did build some frames for them from time to time, but maiantained that, as good as my frame is, the lugwork is not as good as if he had acually made it.
Unashamedly Bill knows that he built good quality frames, but the quality he best admired in himself was that he could build so quickly, without the frames suffering in any way. He reckons he could build twice as quickly as most other builders of his era, but suggested that most builders did not have that incentive.
Bill, although he built for quite a lot of firms, was never actually employed by any of them - he was ways self employed. Being self employed simply meant that the quicker he worked, the more frames he built and the more money he earned. The other aspect that made him popular was that at times in the 50s when there was not always a lot of work around, and some firms had either put their bulders on short-time working to save money or laid them off altogether., he was often available to turn out th surprise order or two.Consequently when orders did come in, quite a lot of shops just called on Bill, and he would turn the order out in double quick time.
He did roll out a long list of firms who had benefitted from his skills, while acknowledging that he is best known, probably for his work at Condors and Mal Rees. He is fully aware of the current demand for his frames on the second-hand market, and the high prices that they often fetch, and without showing or voicing much resentment that others have profited from his skills - he just suggests that he should have been born a couple of decades later.
Norris Lockley
Settle UK