Sir, – There can be few of us who have not ridden a Raleigh bicycle with a Sturmey-Archer hub, but I was surprised to discover that both Raleigh bikes and the gear hubs were built, not only in Nottingham, but also in a factory in Hanover Quay, Dublin. This operated from the late 1930s (the exact date seems to be disputed) until it burnt down in 1976, during which time it made everything from old-fashioned upright roadsters to Choppers.
Apparently, it made a special Garda model with an unusual cross-frame configuration. This had all the normally chromium-plated parts painted in black enamel, maybe to avoid accusations of frivolity or luxury when on duty.
What really intrigues me, though, is the discovery that the Dublin factory continued to build bikes right through the Emergency, while the Nottingham plant was turned over entirely to the requirements of war production.
Did the Hanover Quay factory make all its own parts from scratch, then, and was there any resistance here to buying the products of such a quintessentially English firm?
Irish-built Raleigh bikes still turn up in yard sales all over the world, but my inquiries suggest that nobody has, as yet, documented the history of the factory which made them. There must be many people, hopefully some reading this, who worked in the Raleigh factory in Dublin.
May I appeal to them to contact me at paulgrifin@yahoo.co.uk, so that this important chapter in the history of the bicycle can be set down and receive the acknowledgement it deserves? – Yours, etc,