Century-old British motorcycle gets on-loan home return thanks to former engineer
A 1920s British motorcycle has been returned to the town in which it was built thanks to a former engineer and bike enthusiast.
103 years after it was built a British motorcycle has been returned to its home town – on a temporary basis.
Grindley Motor Company operated as a motorcycle manufacturer in the mid-20th century, building bikes in the Shropshire town of Prees between 1922 and 1939.
The bikes were built for founder Bill Grindley’s passion for trials. Grindley even entered the International Six Days Trial in 1922, the first year his company was building bikes, on a motorcycle bearing his name fitted with a 250cc JAP motor.
Between 25 and 30 bikes were built at the Grindley garage during its time in operation, but the bike that has been returned to Prees this month was finished in 1923, the BBC reports.
Harry Copnall is the person responsible for the bike being brought back to the town of its birth. Copnall is a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast and worked as an engineer at Grocontinental (which had tried but failed to buy the Grindley for him as a retirement gift), but it was the Grindley garage where he found his love for bikes as a child.
“It was down to the time I spent at the Grindleys that nurtured my love of motorcycles and the sport,” Copnall told the BBC.
The bike he’s brought back to Prees is on loan from the National Motorcycle Museum during October and will be displayed at the Grocott Heritage Centre, named for the Grocott family which founded Grocontinental and owned it until 2017.
“I feel immensely proud that we've been able to bring the Grindley Sporting back home,” said Copnall.
“I'm sure that many local people will enjoy having the chance to see it.”
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