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MADE IN BIRMINGHAM.org Birmingham's Industrial History Website HERCULES CYCLE & MOTOR COMPANY LTD. BRITANNIA WORKS ROCKY LANE ASTON BIRMINGHAM 6. Cables and Telegrams: CYMO BIRMINGHAM Telephone ASTON CROSS 3040 (12 lines) |
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The text below is note form and part of a larger project to be
published later Jack Crane came from a middle class family in Birmingham, he had lost his father when he was very young but was fortunate to have a well-to-do uncle. After Jack left the Blue Coat School his uncle found him a job in a nail making factory as a clerk. Later the uncle bought Jack a small business called, The Petros Cycle Company. Jack married and eventually produced eight children, two being still born. The first born in 1886 was named Edmund but was always referred to as Ted. The second born was Harry. Harry and Ted Crane would later become the largest manufacturers of bicycles in the world! The boys were both educated at Handsworth Grammar School and left at age 14 to start in their father business assembling and selling bicycles. Around the turn of the century there was a downturn in the interest in cycling due to the advent of motor vehicles and this was not helped by the problem that there was just too many manufactures who had joined the cycling revolution bandwagon. In 1906 Jack Crane was declared bankrupt and the family were forced to move to a downmarket house in Lightwoods Hill. They were down but not out and they devised a scheme to sell brand new bikes at auctions all over the country. As Jack was a declared bankrupt the cycles were bought in the mothers name and then sold to the sons. This was extremely successful and allowed them to eventually move to a bigger house. Unfortunately their business activities were judged as being illegal and all of the family were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud at the Birmingham Assizes in March 1911. Fortunately a successful appeal was later heard and they all escaped prison on a legal technicality! Harry and Ted had saved £25 between them and they decided to rent a derelict old house in Coventry Street to set up a cycle assembly business. Ted chose to trade under the name 'Hercules' because it represented strength and durability. The boys had set up a limited company (The Hercules Cycle & Motor Company Ltd) before the trial on the 9th September 1910 (limited company number 00111679). It is not known exactly why they had set up the company at this stage but it was probably on the advice of a solicitor, as they would have been expecting to receive criminal records. The official commencing date of the company has always been 1911 and indeed after the appeal finished in March 1911 they must have started production. Harry assembled the bicycles while Ted pedalled around Birmingham searching for parts, large parts such as frames and forks were delivered by hand carts. It is known that the brothers bought lamps from a Mr Bullock in Balsall Heath and they used Reynolds tubing frames and Dunlop tyres. However early catalogues do not show Dunlop tyres being used! The brothers both worked 16-hour days. Ted initially had problems selling the bicycles because of the conspiracy case but when dealers found the cycles were cheaper than competitors and of better quality the business soon began to make rapid progress. It was this simple formula of low price and high quality that would lead the Crane brothers to world success. The brothers started by producing 25 bicycles a week but production grew very quickly and within 6 months output was 70 units per week so larger premises were found at a converted house with a covered yard and a very small garden in Conybere Street The brothers called it the Britannia works. They also took on 10 workers. (Joan Vickers says it was 70 a week) An invoice shows they were at Conybere Street in 1913. The compamy very soon outgrew this site and were having to pack bikes on the pavement. A new site was found at the former Dunlop factory in Catherine Street in Aston which could accommodate 250 workers. (date of move to Catherine Street?) By 1914 they were producing 10,000 bicycles per year. On August 14th the war stated and the company were ordered to make armament shells. In 1921 the company produced just less than 20,000 cycles. By 1920/21 Hercules Bicycles were the cheapest cycles on the market selling for £3 19 9d. The company used bright yellow delivery vans with the slogan on the side,' The best that money can buy'. In 1924 Hercules bought the rest of the Dunlop factory and its main entrance changed to Rocky Lane, the company now occupied the complete former 13-acre Dunlop site. In 1931 Ted Crane was described as,' The Henry Ford of the cycle industry,' by The Daily Herald newspaper. Crane had in fact read Henry Ford's autobiography and used some of Ford's methods to set up his factory. Crane, just like Ford, would not tolerate unions and paid workers on piecework. Crane claimed he paid more than unionised companies, 10% above the federation rate but if workers could not produce 15% above the federation assembly rate they were sacked. Crane was a very firm boss not always liked by his entire workforce and certainly not liked by the unions! He was however generally treated with a mix of admiration, fear and respect. In those days the cycle trade was seasonal and Hercules would employ an extra 1000 people in January and lay them off at the end of June. Crane also would not hesitate to reduce wages at a moments notice, if conditions dictated. The union cautioned workers to make a note of Hercules, calling them, 'a notorious firm with notorious rates of pay'! T A Yapp started as an assembler with Hercules but being ambidextrous and an excellent worker he soon rose up the ranks to become first, a foreman, then a supervisor and later the works manager. He was later put in charge of the last factory. Crane liked to promote from within. Hercules was later known for their high rates of pay but demanded high output and standards. .Eric Broherton was the general manager. Richard Clasper was in charge of accounts Albert Fidkin was the firms buyer. HARRY CRANE Ted’s brother, Harry, was always in the shadow of Ted and of contrasting character. He was kind and considerate and always promoted a strong team spirit Harry was a great technical innovator and designed a machine for drawing gold lines on bike frames and he also made improvements in polishing. Harry lived close to Ted in Lapworth. Sadly Harry died prematurely after a heart attack while playing tennis with his son at Alvechurch. Frank Southall Frank Southall was a Hercules area sales representative and racing cyclist. Having also held the 12-hour record at one time riding from Marble Arch to Gateshead. broke 12 record to 460 miles? Frank was also responsible for the design of the first lightweight Hercules cycles in the mid 20s. In 1922 Hercules made 20,000 cycles. In 1927 Hercules made 250,000 cycles. Ted Crane made an enormous contribution to the countries export drive; in fact it is widely believed that Crane pioneered exporting. In 1928 Hercules was exporting 26% of all British cycles and by 1935 this figure had increased to nearly 40%. Crane invented what was called 'knockdown' where a cycle was supplied unassembled and tightly packed, 25 at a time into a case, this was known as completely knocked down (CKD). Interesting differences between North and South England existed, in the North they preferred calliper brakes and in the South roller blade brakesI The company grew very quickly and in 1923 they moved into the rest of the former Dunlop factory at the back of Catherine Street. (Para Mills) The main entrance was now changed to Rocky Lane. Hercules re-named this factory, 'The Britannia Works'. In 1929 Hercules took over another Dunlop factory called Manor Mills in Nechells. (Note some photographs shew the Rocky Lane factory as Manor Mills, this is incorrect) The company grew very quickly in the thirties and claimed to be the largest cycle manufacturer in the world producing their six millionth bicycle in February 1939. One third of their production was exported. Hercules made most of their own parts except rims, brake blocks, saddles, tyres, tubes, chains & ball bearings. By the 50s they had three factories in Birmingham, two in Nechells and the main factory and offices in Rocky Lane, Aston that occupied 13 acres. The additional factory was in Plume Street. In 1947/1946 Sir Edmund Crane sold the company to its main supplier, Tube Investments, for three and a quarter million pounds. TI later took over Raleigh to form Raleigh Industries. By its very name Hercules would seem to have started out as motorcycle and bicycle manufacturers but after a few years concentrated solely on cycle and cycle accessory manufacture. In 1914 their catalogue was shewing two motorcycles for sale which look very much like models built by Sun motorcycles in Aston. Sun was known to have produced machines for other manufacturers and of course were only a stones throw away from Hercules in Aston Brook Street. Like many other manufacturers of the period they may have ceased motorcycle sales/manufacture at the start of the Great War not to return to it afterwards. They did however return to light motorcycle production in the fifties with the manufacture of two mopeds, the Grey Wolf that was latterly re-named and became the Hercumotor and the Corvette.The 2 speed Grey Wolf Mo-Ped was launched at the Earls Court Show in November 1955 costing £61 15s. Unlike many of its competitors the Grey Wolf was a completely British made machine with a 49cc JAP two-stroke engine. Unusually the crankshaft ran fore & aft with a pair of bevel gears turning the drive through 90° and then via a chain to the rear wheel. The Aston company of Miller Electrical supplied a flywheel magneto, lights and horn. The Grey Wolf had an unusual front suspension, which was a bottom leading link type. The suspension units were made of bonded rubber completely enclosed. The "Grey Wolf" was later re-named the "Her-cu-motor" which was also abbreviated to HCM. Notice the Wolf's head in the centre of the tank badge. Later models had a different shaped toolbox, as does the model above. The 1961 cycle range composed of 13 models; JEEEP SPORTS JEEP RANGER RANGER SPORTS VISCOUNT SPORTS FLYING FIFTEEN MIRABELLE POPULAR POPULAR LIGHT TOURIST NEW YORKER ASTON TOURIST OLYMPIC ACE TOUR DE FRANCE The range indicated that at this stage Hercules did not really understand the market. For instance its top of the range dropped handlebar pseudo racing bike, the Tour de France, had steel handle bars when what all budding Reg Harris's wanted were alloy bars. It was only available with five gears when 10 were the vogue. It also only had ordinary tubing when it could have easily used the prestigious 531 tubing. Only small points but when it came to a teenager choosing a bike it was these small points that decide a sale and the competition was fierce, until Raleigh swallowed up Hercules and practically all of the small manufacturers except Dawes. The last Hercules cycles were produced in Raleigh's factory in Nottingham. The range indicated that at this stage Hercules did not really understand the market. For instance its top of the range dropped handlebar pseudo racing bike, the Tour de France, had steel handle bars when what all budding Reg Harris's wanted were alloy bars. It was only available with five gears when 10 were the vogue. It also only had ordinary tubing when it could have easily used the prestigious 531 tubing. Only small points but when it came to a teenager choosing a bike it was these small points that decide a sale and the competition was fierce, until Raleigh swallowed up Hercules and practically all of the small manufacturers except Dawes. The last Hercules cycles were produced in Raleigh's factory in Nottingham.The Hercules name still exists and Companies House records show the company was not dissolved until 02/12/2003 and the last filing of accounts was made up to 31st December 2001.The last registered office address was: HERCULES CYCLE AND MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED TRIUMPH ROAD NOTTINGHAM NG7 2DD Company No. 00111679 Surprisingly for such a large company there is currently no dedicated published information on Hercules and any information is very hard to come by. If anyone has information about Hercules or if you worked for Hercules or sold their products please contact the web master on the email address on the bottom of the home page or 01827 383531 EILEEN SHERIDAN The name of Eileen Sheridan was always connected with Hercules. She was one of the of the first lady professional racing and record breaking riders for Hercules. She had been offered a place in the Raleigh team who employed Reg Harris but had been advised by her manager, Hercules sales representative Frank Southall, to await a better offer from Hercules. Between 1952 & 1954 Eileen broke all the UK ladies long distance speed and distance records. In 1954 when she had broken all the records she was presented with a gold medal by Louis Comberley the MD of Cycle Benelux Gears of Aston. All Eileen's Hercules bikes used the Cyclo Derailleur gears although she never received sponsorship from Cyclo, only from Hercules. The records Eileen held were ;London to York in 12 hours1000 miles in 73 hoursLands End to John O Groats in 59 hours 7 minutes. The Hercules Maestro cycle she rode is in the Coventry Transport Museum but the dates on the exhibit are incorrect. tEileen was featured in Hercules advertising. Sid Patterson was another well known track cyclist that rode for Hercules In the 50s. Hercules had an active road racing team composed of Ken Joy, Dave Bedwell, Dennis Talbot, Freddy Krebs & Clive Parke. Mr Mc Lachlan was the head of Hercules advertising. Sir Edmund Crane was one of this countries greatest industrialists, he died on 18th September 1957 and is buried in Jersey. His wife, Naomi Crane, whom he divorced, lived out her life in relative poverty in Herefordshire by the Wye at Ballingham dying prematurely. She is buried in the church at Ballingham next to her second husband, Bill. Sir Edmund never really had anything to do with his wife after her affair with Bill who she later married but before he went to live in South Africa he called to visit the grave on the way to Southampton. They had one daughter, Joan. Joan died in 2003 and is survived by two sons. The former Crane home was at 'The Terets' in Rising Lane, Lapworth, on a 30 acre estate. The house mysteriously burnt down in the late 40s/50s but has sine been rebuilt into a rather unusual modern open plan dwelling. Sir Edmund Crane was one of this countries greatest industrialists and entrepreneurs and it is sad that he and his great cycle empire have largely been forgotten. It is also sad that he never seemingly found the happiness in his personal life that he deserved. Crane’s daughter by his first marriage, Joan Vickers (nee Crane), wrote a book entitled 'Mr Hercules' before she died. The reason for her writing this privately published book is not clear but it is evident from reading it that she knew little about Hercules and may have been just trying to right personal wrongs that she felt needed addressing. I am indebted to Sir Edmund’s grandson for some of the above information. Please contact me on 01827 383531 if you worked at Hercules or have any Hercules memories. Or use the email address on the forum or contact page JP last change February 17/ 2008 Previous July 4th 2007 .
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