Factory people

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alan wright

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Old Bill said:
Many thanks for the picture trev, l actually have the top box that it is adorned with club stickers from rally's around europe, main reason for the interest is that Allan was the previous recorded keeper of my Rapide ( 1950 C ), which when l opened it up l found the principal parts polished, high comp pistons and beautifully flowed heads. That was when l started to research who this man was and l am fascinated by the replies here and from other personal recollections from individuals. Any further pictures or background insight would be most welcome, seems this group of workers came from a wide and diverse part of the united kingdom and not just the immediate area surrounding Stevenage, once again, thank you, Bill.
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Bonjour Bill, regarding photos of Allan Rennie he is on 3 of these, being second left at the front of the group, standing next to Norman Peach, taken at the Series A Rally, Walkern in 91 or 92.
He is on 2 of the other photos, taken in the yard of the old Great North Road factory in July 94. The occasion was a road test of my B Rapide by Norman, who first road tested it in June 1948 before it was sent to Cimic, Beunos Aires. Norman and Ted Davis, also in the picture, were offering to test members bikes and issue a copy of the original reports. Being as my engine was built by Allan in 48 he turned up as well.
The other people in the photos are Peter Watson from Classic Motorcycle and his photographer.
The large white house in the background was Philip Vincents house which, Ted said, also housed Phil Irvings office.
The low white building was the testers shed, dispatch bay and parts dept for customers if I remember correctly, perhaps David will put me right.
A great day in the company of 3 "legends"!! Best regards, Alan
 

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dave1949

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Does anyone have any information about Norman Brewster, the factory Service Foreman? He was the first registered owner of my Rapide. There is some archive material about him on the club website, but any more information would be welcome.
 
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david bowen

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Alan your details are correct, Norman Peach lived 500 yards up the road north on the no1 Vincent factory, until his death, Burymead Estate Terry Wade also lived there.
 
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david bowen

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Norman Brewster lived in the of Village Pirton Nr. Hitchin .8 miles from the factory. he and Ted Hampshire worked in the 1930s at Vincents and were of a small group that PCV use to talk to, Norman worked through the war at Vincent he was very hard of hearing, so was not called up, during the war Vincent service dept. was still open run by Norman, his mother a widow lived just up the road from our home in Walsworth, he use to visit his mother some days road testing a bike so at the age of 7/8 I heard the sounds of a Vincents series A. he had great talent he use to rebuild and test Mags and Dynamos on a rigg, he built that was in the service Dept even up to 1955, he built the Cadwell special that George Brown raced ? Vincents had a dance band Norman played in it I think blow the trumpet, the next time I meet Norman 1972 he was working in a Motor cycle shop in Hitchin ( Jimmy Lanes)
 
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Old Bill

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What a great thread this is, especially to a 62 year old youngster! As a youth l lived in Edgware north london and my prefered areas for riding were around the hertfordshire countryside where it was not uncommon to be blown off by a Vincent being given some beans! Many thanks to Alan for the pictures they help to put a face to a name, in fact a name that crops up in many books but rarely any pictures. Bob Culver has also given me some info on allan as did Jack Furness but that was some time ago. At the moment l am refurbishing a Black Shadow that was assembled by Jack Furness and Alf Searle back in the early seventies which despite being well worn the quality of their workmanship still shines through especially considering the lack of spares availability at the time. Thank goodness for the VOC spares company! Can't help but think there's a book to be written about the factory people which would make fascinating reading ( perhaps one exists?). Please david and everyone else keep the tales coming, great stuff, thank you!
 
Len Matthews

Len Matthews

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Old Bill said:
What a great thread this is, especially to a 62 year old youngster! As a youth l lived in Edgware north london and my prefered areas for riding were around the hertfordshire countryside where it was not uncommon to be blown off by a Vincent being given some beans! Many thanks to Alan for the pictures they help to put a face to a name, in fact a name that crops up in many books but rarely any pictures. Bob Culver has also given me some info on allan as did Jack Furness but that was some time ago. At the moment l am refurbishing a Black Shadow that was assembled by Jack Furness and Alf Searle back in the early seventies which despite being well worn the quality of their workmanship still shines through especially considering the lack of spares availability at the time. Thank goodness for the VOC spares company! Can't help but think there's a book to be written about the factory people which would make fascinating reading ( perhaps one exists?). Please david and everyone else keep the tales coming, great stuff, thank you!
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Old Bill said:
What a great thread this is, especially to a 62 year old youngster! As a youth l lived in Edgware north london and my prefered areas for riding were around the hertfordshire countryside where it was not uncommon to be blown off by a Vincent being given some beans! Many thanks to Alan for the pictures they help to put a face to a name, in fact a name that crops up in many books but rarely any pictures. Bob Culver has also given me some info on allan as did Jack Furness but that was some time ago. At the moment l am refurbishing a Black Shadow that was assembled by Jack Furness and Alf Searle back in the early seventies which despite being well worn the quality of their workmanship still shines through especially considering the lack of spares availability at the time. Thank goodness for the VOC spares company! Can't help but think there's a book to be written about the factory people which would make fascinating reading ( perhaps one exists?). Please david and everyone else keep the tales coming, great stuff, thank you!
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Worth getting a copy of the booklet "Vincent-HRD made in Stevenage" published by Stevenage Museum in 1999. I bought a copy fairly recently from the museum and for a modest £3.50 and it's full of archive photos of the Works and it's personnel. Might still be in stock-museum@stevenage.gov.uk
 
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Old Bill

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Many thanks Len, l will make every effort to get a copy. The racing achievements of Vincent "names" are well documented but info on factory personnel is somewhat patchy to say the least. David Bowen please could you give us some background on Ted Davis, l know he worked and rode for Vincents in various capacities but what was his background and do you know what employment he took after the factory closure? Something tells me he and Paul Richardson worked for Borg Warner (automatic gearbox specialists) in Letchworth in the early to mid seventies when at the time l was working for the metropolitan police engineering department at the time and spent time liaising with BW technical staff whilst modifying the gearboxes to withstand the rough treatment the Police drivers were giving the gearboxes and l seem to recall there names cropping up, mind you it could be the dementia kicking in! Thank you all in anticipation. Bill.
 
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