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Some years ago, our local paper the Leicester Mercury did an article about holidays and day trips to Skegness in the 1950s and 60s, and invited readers to send in their memories and photos. As the route used to be a favourite bank holiday ride for Leicester’s ‘ton-up’ boys and girls, I put together a…

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Following Pete’s Prattle (April), here’s an old petrol pump photo that might interest readers as riders in the Welsh Two-Day Trial fill up over the pavement at Gough’s Garage in Presteigne, Radnorshire, around 1950. On the left, in white overalls, is Frank Gough, and the man in the striped tie is the Regent rep. The…

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Here’s a picture of an old hand-operated pump still in use in the village of Tongue (then in Sutherland, now Highland, and just about as far north as you can go on mainland Britain) in 1989. That’s me at the ready, but just posing. Keep up the good work. Eric Dale, Email Read more Letters,…

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A few issues ago, you ran an article about the BSA Bantams that went to the Elephant Rally, and it ended with one that didn’t come back. We were all members of the Ashfield Motorcycle Club that met in a disused bakery on the outskirts of Romsey, Hants, so we became known as the Bakery…

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As a lad, I was brought up with bikes by a bike-mad dad and lots of similar uncles, so I was used to all the petrol pumps in Prescot and the surrounding district. In the 1940s and 50s we had two in the town, Saggerson’s and Clegg’s. Clegg’s had a laundry and a garage fronting…

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I loved the article about old garages in April’s OBM, and also enjoyed Bernie Freeman’s memories mentioning the Ace. By courtesy of the Ace Cafe London Archive, I have attached an image of the cafe and garage taken at around the time of the Coronation in 1953, and offer this general history of the site.…

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Pete’s article regarding old petrol pumps reminded me of the annual pilgrimage I made with my late friend David Cattell to watch the pre ’65 Scottish Trial in 2007. During that week we travelled further north, staying in Dornie for a couple of nights, and David insisted that we made a detour to see an…

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After reading the Greeves article in OBM (February), I wonder how readers would classify the Francis-Barnett Overseas Falcon 65? Based on the Falcon 58 road model, it incorporated parts from trials and scrambles machines to cater for markets where a machine was needed for operation under cross-country conditions. I know of only two of these…

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