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GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Hall Green Station: gwrhg1786

A photograph from the Great Western Railway magazine of May 1926 showing new cycles being stored on Hall Green station

A photograph from the Great Western Railway magazine of May 1926. The original caption read ‘New cycles for the Easter Holidays. The scene at Hall Green Station, near Birmingham, on Good Friday.’ Birmingham had a thriving cycle industry dating back to 1869 and subsequently this developed, first into motorcycle production and then finally into motor vehicle manufacture. Partners in the cycle parts trade, Ernie Humphries and Charles Dawes started manufacturing OK bicycles and motorcycles in Hall Green in 1899. In 1914 the OK Junior model motorcycle was introduced with a 2hp engine and two speed gearbox. With the end of the First World War demand increased and in 1919 a 293cc model was introduced, which was an immediate success. In 1920, 2,000 motorcycles were being manufactured every week at their works in Hall Green. In 1926, a new OK Junior model with a three speed gearbox was advertised for £37, but the Humphries and Dawes partnership dissolved that year and the company ceased to exist. In 1927 the Hall Green works were purchased by Veloce, who manufactured Velocette motorcycles there, after transferring production from their smaller Victoria works in Aston. The Easter holidays were the time when the cycle and motor cycle industry would expect a boost in sales and would want to advertise their products. Hall Green Station had a large goods yard and no doubt it was used regularly by Humphries and Dawes for the distribution of their products, but the exact reason for positioning large quantities of bicycles and motorcycles on the passenger platform is not known.

Robert Ferris

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