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to the Archive indexDear Andrew,
I am writing to inform club members of the sad fate of Mike
Wilsdon's Transport Museum at Kew in Surrey. The premises
that house the collection has been sold to property developers
and Mike has been give 6 months to quit.
The museum is a fascinating place to visit, not only for the many
rare and wonderful exhibits, but it is also a unique educational
facility. Any club members who have not visited the museum
(which includes a cyclemotor section) and wish to do so,
preferably in a party, can contact Mike Wilsdon at 41, Burlington
Avenue, Kew, Surrey to make an appointment before time runs
out. He also has a vast number of transport artefacts that
need a good home: from trade bikes to Trusty tractors and
beyond.
Yours sincerely,
Graham Pike.
Dear Andrew,
Peter Campbell's stirring article in the December magazine,
New Hudson Restoration, has moved me to
put pen to paper.
I acquired a New Hudson, also 1952 model, in pretty good
condition, just lacking a stand and engine covers, which it still
does, and also missing its silencer. My son, then aged
about 17, fitted new coils and got it going quite easily.
Then he cleaned and painted it up. As its brakes were poor
and as we had no practical use for it, we stored it at the back
of the garage. However, I did get the brake shoes
relined.
A chance visit to Carl Squirrell's motor cycle shop resulted in
me joining the NACC and, with great help from Michael Flood, my
New Hudson is now on the road, licensed and insured, albeit with
an oversize Honda silencer. It starts readily and goes
well. I think that I have been lucky in that it has only
done a small mileage.
As Peter says it is a thing of beauty and a joy to behold.
As soon as there is warm weather next year, I intend to use the
New Hudson quite a lot for local runs around here.
May I take the opportunity to say what an excellent magazine
Buzzing is?
Yours sincerely
Keith Ashby
Transport of the Future
Is it a bird, is it a plane, or is it the most comfortable and
practical modern cyclemotor you have seen? Built from a Saracen
Dual Suspension ATB modified to the rider's requirements, powered
by an uprated 50cc Bernardi Buzz. Owned by Leicestershire
member Tony Everard, it's a very smooth and extremely nice
machine to ride.
Yours sincerely,
John W Hook.
7 Maxwell Drive,
Papatoetoe,
New Zealand.
Dear Andrew,
I have a Wall Auto Wheel, which runs very well and I am sometimes
asked to lend it to museums to put on display. It was
originally designed by Mr A W Wall. Who was the Mr Wall,
its inventor? Does anybody out there have any details of his
life? And what was his connection with Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle?
I have an old motor cycle book that shows Arthur Conan Doyle,
complete with deerstalker hat, knickerbockers & motor cycle
costume of the period. He is holding an early motor cycle
of unknown make, possibly a prototype of a Roc motor cycle.
Are there any clues on this? Did he have shares in this? Sherlock
Holmes would know; he would have found in elementary!
I would be interested to hear of any responses relating to Mr
Wall.
I also have a Smith Motor Wheel, made in Milwaukee, USA in
1916. It has a 150cc AIV engine and has been restored at
great expense. It has very similar characteristics to the
Wall but, of the two, I much prefer the Wall. The Smith is
too hard to start; there is an 8-to-1 reduction between the
engine and the road wheel. Once under way, it packs a might
punch and, having no neutral, cam be quite dangerous unless
ridden with caution.
Yours sincerely,
Patrick Wood
Another of Pat's machines: a Victoria
First published - February 2000