Hi Alan, I also remember the Wheelwright shop in Cheapside. He was a right character and obviously a very skilled man. I do remember the Bedford van as you say it was a prewar model. Like the photo, especially the Keith Skews! Not really ideal for motorbike riding.

Hi Alan. Great photo of you on your bike! I have a feeling that splendid machine is not all that it seems? The bike carries an erstwhile Brighton registration mark TUF 136 which dates from 1958. However, the bike looks more like a later TR5 Trophy! Also I'm not sure about the frame and motor? (No doubt all will be explained). I recall back in our Endeavour Motor company days we worked with a Peter Banham, I wonder was he any relation to Percy? It's good to see another old EMC stalwart John Champions name on the MyBH site. Regards Chris.

Hi John, no the protective clothing was not up to today's standards; no padding etc, glad I never fell off! The trendy shoes were ex army desert boots at about 30s a pair. Mind you I would like to buy back my bike for the £85 I sold it for to Ron Brownjohn. Now there's another name from the past!

Now then that IS another name from the past. The Brownjohn I knew was another character. He was the first person to buy a new Mark I Capri in Light Orchid from EMC and hated it, did not have it long and sent it back. One of the things I remember about him is his ability to show us lads how to run along side a motorbike, jump aboard side saddle, disappearing under the arches (Beaconsifield Road) and then roar back astride the bike with the engine running. Us lads were impressed by this manourvre! My brother Bob bought a BSA Bantam and a Triumph Tiger Cub from him.

Brownjohn rings a bell,  I think he had a garage by the arches. My dad Ted Newman was often round there,he had a small lockup across the road. He knew all the local garage owners as he used to buy and sell bikes and cars. Most Sunday mornings he would drag me round them, I got really bored. He took me to one on Rose Hill and one by the railway station too.

Hi Anne, you no doubt went to Rose Hill Motors run by a gent called Bill Cohen and his sidekick Alec, also Station car Sales run by the Brothers Bob & Derek Pickett. Across from Brownjohns was a lockup garage with green double doors where Howard the coach trimmer had his premises. Your Dad's was maybe the one nearer the viaduct?

Reply to Chris Wrapson. Very observant Chris regarding the bike; frame, forks and metalwork were all 1958 Triumph Thunderbird, engine was from a 1952 sprung hub Tiger 100 with gears built into a later casing so as to fit the frame. Percy Banham replaced the 19" rear rim with an 18" one so I could run a 400x18 tyre, pipes came from a lad called Charlie, a Caffyns Hove fitter and were from a Triumph Daytona. My Dad put the original 650 motor in a Norton frame and the now very valuable T100 became a Chopper with a Triumph GP engine. If you could find the five bikes involved and reverse the process you would be very rich .

Alan. Was your dad Len, my foreman plumber, back in the 60s? Only the Len Spicer I knew had a vast knowledge of motor bikes and once sold me a 350 Ariel Hunter, what a machine that was!

Hi Geoff , yes you are spot on. Dad was indeed Len , he worked for E R Kelly for many years and drove a Ford Thames van then a green Anglia van. Dad had many bikes over the years and I helped collect many of his purchases , the bike would be put in the firm's van with the front wheel and forks overhanging the rear, doors roped together, my task was to hold the bike upright sitting in the back. Many a Norton Dommi, Triumph, Triton were brought home like this average price about £25 to £40. We bought a 1926 Scott Squirrel for £8 once- it had stood in a garage since it's owner died in 1928 so although rusty had done no mileage .

Interesting you mention the Brownjohns as I lived in Springfield Road adjoing the Brownjohn garage in Beaconsfield Road. In fact my parents bought the house off Ron's dad - Brownjohn senior. We were all close family friends and would buy our cars from Ron including a 1955 Mercedes in light green. I used to go in and sit on the bikes whilst my father would natter to Ron. Sadly Ron is no longer with us after retiring to Newhaven but I still remember the smell of the workshop and the old petrol pump that backed on to our garden.

ALAN and MARTIN. A different tack, my name is connected in the past with (obviously) the name Spicer but also the name Scrace. My mother's mother's name was Scrace who married into the Trott family. Her daughter, (my mum) being a Trott, married into the Spicer family. Now, I know that the Spicers are prominent in Brighton as well as being all over the world but I'd like to know if there really is a stronger connection between the names here?