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GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line
Hall Green Station: gwrhg1786
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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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