…so there I was happily uploading pics to les melanges when I was presented with a splendid cache of yarns and pics from 1906, including results from the ACC End-to-End trial (“Of the 75 starters from Land’s End on Monday in the long trip from end to end of Great Britain, 35 competitors reached John o’ Groats on Saturday evening in the annual reliability trial promoted by the Auto-Cycle Club…”); an interview with Indian designer Oscar Hedstrom who dropped in to visit The Motor Cycle‘s London HQ; and this rather charming report: “The Birmingham MCC held a very novel competition on Saturday, the 30th ult, viz, a slow hill-climb for motor bicycles with single gears and no clutches, pedalling not allowed. Tho committee had fixed the above date as a ladies’ day, and in order to provide something to amuse the visitors, the above happy idea was hit upon.” You’ll also find lots more ads, including…

Before getting stuck into 1954 I plan to tackle the picture backlog. I’ve made a start by adding a dozen or so images to “ARTWORK/HUMOUR”; here’s a brace of shell ads to whet your appetite.

Blimey that was a slog. All the material I’ve accumulated from 1953, when ERII was crowned and your ‘umble scribe rolled off the production. line, awaits your attention. I (more accurately countwordsfree.com) have just checked, and am mildly surprised to find nigh on 200,000 words as well as oodles of pics. It was a busy year. Before ploughing into 1954 I’ll take some time out to whittle away at the many (many!) hundreds of pics, most from mon ami Francois, in the swollen pending files and will also indulge myself down a number of rabbit holes—starting with letters written in 1927 by Oily Karslaske giving a blow-by-blow history of the Dreadnought. I might even find time to work on at least one of the four Brits that are languishing in the reserve fleet. Meanwhile, here are a couple titbits from that glorious year. As always…enjoy!

Head down, working through the blue ‘un’s monstrously thick 1953 show report, and I realised I hadn’t posted any updates for many weeks. So here’s an update: the timeline’s progressed to autumn on 1953 and I hope to have completed the year within the next couple of weeks. More than 100 pics have been uploaded to Melange 4 and some additions have been made to 1900. My favourite feature of 1953, which I’ve been looking forward to showing you, is Vic Willoughby’s tale of his 150mph run along Pendine Sands aboard the awesome Nero. It really is a treat.

Busy busy…forgot to mention, the updates to 1949-1952 are now completed and there’s oodles of good yarns and pics ready for browsing. And I’m about two thirds of the way through 1953 with, so far, more than 120,000 words with gawd knows how many pics. Roadtests of Triumph, Beeza and Norton twins, the TT, a blazing row over the German GP, heated readers’ letters opposing the threat of a skidlid law 20 years before the anti-helmet law campaign that even got me on the streets, lots of suggested Latin mottos for the ACU, an ACU Rally that left a lots of riders distinctly unimpressed. I’ve also made a tiny reduction in the number of pics aw`aiting includes in Les Melanges; as well as a good assortment in Melange 4 you find some excellent new images from WW2 courtesy of arch archivist Francois. Merci bien, mon ami. Nuff said, back to burn some more midnight oil in 1953…ttfn.

As promised, I’ve been collating stories from 1953. Then a friend came up with a fab stack of old Blue ‘Uns including a 1949 Earls Court Show issue and a random cutting from the Daily Express warning of ‘Hot Rod Jockeys’ blasting round the streets of New York at 125. So now 1949 includes a comprehensive show report (including the debut of the Gold Flash and the Thunderbird) and a report that “one electric light pole still has a rider’s shin bone embedded in it”. Before I move on to 1953 I’ll be extracting lots more yarns for 1950, 1951 and 1952; watch this space for progress reports.

Apart from a handful of pics and a couple of readers’ letter 1952 is ready for your inspection and, I trust, delectation. It was a bad year for Britain’s ISDT teams although a trio of Beezas won golds, and a Maudes Trophy. A Norton one-lunger won the Senior TT by the narrowest of margins from an MV Agusta. In the Junior Nortons, AJSs and a Velocette were the first 10 bikes home (in fact all 51 finishers rode Nortons Ajays and Velos). But in the Lights weight Guzzis scored a hat-trick and in the Ultra-Lightweight an MV led a trio of Mondials home—the first Brit home, a Bantam, was 7th. The Earls Court Show (opened by ACU patron the Duke of Edinburgh) was, of course, all about British iron but the Milan Show was packed with innovation. The times they were showin’ signs of achangin’.

Two-and-a-half hours to go until 2026 and I’ve just uploaded the last material to hand for 1951. As usual I’ll take a break before getting stuck into 1952 and will concentrate on reducing the vast backlog of pics in the pending file courtesy of mi amigo Francois, so feel free to keep an eye on Melange 4. The interweb tells me that over the past week the timeline’s been visited by enthusiasts from 44 countries. To them, indeed to you, best wishes for the new year and remember: motor cycles keep us from thinking about the ultimate futility of existence.

Busy busy busy…to date there are upwards of 90,000 words under the ‘1951’ heading including reports on the French and Dutch Grands Prix; the return of the ACU National following the unpleasantness with Herr Hitler; a smashing interview with Charlie Collier, still busy running AMC 44 years after winning the first TT; a tour to Germany on a 98cc Jimmy and much more (look out for a letter from America from a rider who mentions he has long legs, is a fan of tight, very tight leather jeans and shirts, and is keen on swapping pics of riding gear with British enthusiasts. Innocent times. Also for your delectation are lots, and I do mean, lots more pics dans les Melangescourtesy of mon ami Francois. What’s more my 1936 M100 Panther is on the verge of regaining her long-lost fourth gear. Where would I be without my mates?

Well it was a long time coming but the timeline has entered the 1950s.Amid the 90,000-plus words and oodles of period pics you’ll find a great introduction to the decade by Bob Currie; a comprehensive TT report (spoiler: Norton scored a double hat-trick) a comprehensive ISDT report (spoiler: the Brits scored a Trophy/Vase double); roadtests, including the Black Shadow (spoiler: it was too damned fast for the Blue ‘Un to find its top speed); and…go find out for yourself. and, enjoy.