Hunting Hilton Wrigley: Chapter One
Sometime in early 2010, I happened across Norris Lockley’s article on Hilton Wrigley on the Classic Lightweights UK website. My family name is also Wrigley, and my line of the clan emigrated from a village about 7 miles away from where Hilton lived. We are, at most, distant cousins. Yet the story was fascinating, and the examples of his work sealed the deal. I had to find a Hilton Wrigley frame to call my own.
The Hilton Wrigley article: http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bu ... lders.html
Finding such a frame is not so easy as it might sound – and I don’t even think it sounds easy. One, I didn’t see much opportunity to travel to Yorkshire, and even if Hilton Wrigley frames were once very popular in the West Yorkshire Riding community, the original output had not been great, and most had been ridden hard by those who’d had them made. The last new frame was probably made in the late 1960s, although he may have made a few into the early 1970s. Even finding references to them, beyond the single article that Norris had written, was tough.
I did swap a few notes with Jonathan Wright, whose fabulous bike is featured in Norris’ article. See the site above.
I started posting WTB notices, more accurately WTB pleadings, on several sites. Feeling certain that there wouldn’t be a single one of these on the North American continent, I pinned most of my hopes on this excellent site right here: Retrobike.co.uk site. Quite literally a long time back, there had been one singular reference to someone’s Hilton Wrigley bike, so I held out hopes.
Over the months, I would re-post or bump my plea. Someone offered a rumor of a possible bike, but this didn’t pan out. It turned out to have been long gone. BUT, finally, in early December 2010, a nibble!
Derrick (An active member here. I’ll wait for his permission to out his name), a collector living in Sheffield responded to my post. He apparently keeps his collection trimmed, and was ready to pass on a late 50’s Hilton Wrigley Connoisseur model frame. He drove a hard bargain, and it took until late January 2011 to convince him to accept my money (literally). But, finally, the deal was struck.
PHOTO of the original “find” below.
During the negotiations, I swapped notes with several people about the frame, but mostly with Norris Lockley, author of that article. I had only a small number of snapshots from which to work, and Norris began his invaluable support to me at that time. When the deal was finally sealed, Norris offered to inspect the frame before it was shipped and I very gratefully accepted. It was also very inexpensive to ship the frame the short distance from Sheffield up to Settle, Yorkshire.
This was good for several reasons. 1) The frame had a unique “Wrigley Cycles” crest on both the head tube and seat tube that Norris had never seen before; 2) I really preferred to have it refinished in the U.K., if that was going to be necessary; 3), The rear triangle was a little worse for the wear, and; 4) The frame was smaller than I ordinarily ride.
This last item, the small size, was, in my mind, simply a “price” of finding ANY Hilton Wrigley frame. But having this frame appear on his doorstep, Norris became motivated to dig a few of his Hilton Wrigley frames out from his frame dungeon (which I’ve slowly come to realize can only be called “extensive”). Among them was a frame almost identical to mine, in ugly respray with hideous makeshift decals, but in a size 60cm. So, we agreed to swap. Yet, again, my gratitude to Norris is enormous.
The unique transfers, however, became my major project of the spring 2011 season. Working from photos, mostly taken by Derrick, but with a couple more by Norris, I got a rough graphic version completed. I emphasize the word “rough”. Then, with some amazing talent donated by Alan Goldsworthy, a cyclist and graphic artist from San Francisco, the graphic was vastly improved and then reproduced into transfers by Greg Softly, from down under.
PHOTO of crest is below.
Anyway, one simple frame was never my entire objective. What I’ve really hoped to do is to further assist in resurrecting the marque, and to bring additional examples of Hilton Wrigley’s frame-building art into the public sphere.
Norris’ article in the builder’s section of classiclightweights.co.uk is the significant beginning, and I owe so much to him for this. Especially with the addition of Jon Wright’s bike, the refinished International model that belonged to his grandfather, as well as Andrew Loughran’s bike, that page is still the primary site on the marque. The goal is to showcase a few more of these beautiful bikes.
In the meantime, Norris has made several trips down from Settle into the West Yorkshire Riding territory to meet with several of the well-known names of English riders, such as Brian Haskell, to talk story and to photograph a few bikes.
Among my suggestions (ne: nagging) to Norris was that he consider drafting up a “human interest” piece for the Hudderfield newspaper on frame building in the heyday of West Yorkshire cycling that could feature Hilton Wrigley. In the process, we might induce a few folks to pull more bikes out from the attics and garages to be seen in the light of day (and be photographed).
Still, we were missing Hilton, the man. No confirmed photos of Hilton could be found, and the story Norris wrote is only of the early Hilton, with only an end note from the later period when Hilton was no longer building. Hilton passed away in 1977.
I spent months hunting for any trail to find people who might have know Hilton – or could help to locate any children. Norris remembered a son named Peter. No one could track them.
The small Marsden Historical Society became the key, although many months went by with nary a clue. One person remembered attending school with “a Peter Wrigley”, but had no idea if this was a son of Hilton or where he might live now. I was surprised by how many Peter Wrigley’s I could find in the various public directories. I’ve had some interesting exchanges with more than a few.
Finally, Hazel S., an active member of the Society, raised the question at a monthly meeting and found several of the elder members who remembered that Hilton’s widow had relocated to the Nuneaton area about a decade back. Hazel took the added step to look in the public directory and found a Vera Wrigley and a Peter Wrigley in the Nuneaton area.
Following the trail Hazel gave me, I found a postal address for both Vera and Peter and wrote a snail-mail letter (who remembers those?), and sent them off.
In surprisingly short order, I received a response from Peter, who confirmed that he was/is the only son of Hilton and that Vera, age 92, is alive and well. She had just phoned him, as her letter arrived some hours prior to his.
Peter is providing a few details and has promised to collect and scan a few images for us. He regrets that many photos and records may have been discarded in their relocation from Marsden down to Nuneaton, but says he has a few that he will scan and send.
Peter still has yet to do this, but I’m prodding him gently along the path. It’s all in the name of a good cause.
END, Chapter One
COMING, Chapter Two: The newly refinished Hilton Wrigley
Wherein the saga of refinishing is recounted. A teaser, however, is warranted.
Photo of the “new” Hilton Wrigley Connoisseur as it just arrived into my hands.
Cheers!
Sometime in early 2010, I happened across Norris Lockley’s article on Hilton Wrigley on the Classic Lightweights UK website. My family name is also Wrigley, and my line of the clan emigrated from a village about 7 miles away from where Hilton lived. We are, at most, distant cousins. Yet the story was fascinating, and the examples of his work sealed the deal. I had to find a Hilton Wrigley frame to call my own.
The Hilton Wrigley article: http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bu ... lders.html
Finding such a frame is not so easy as it might sound – and I don’t even think it sounds easy. One, I didn’t see much opportunity to travel to Yorkshire, and even if Hilton Wrigley frames were once very popular in the West Yorkshire Riding community, the original output had not been great, and most had been ridden hard by those who’d had them made. The last new frame was probably made in the late 1960s, although he may have made a few into the early 1970s. Even finding references to them, beyond the single article that Norris had written, was tough.
I did swap a few notes with Jonathan Wright, whose fabulous bike is featured in Norris’ article. See the site above.
I started posting WTB notices, more accurately WTB pleadings, on several sites. Feeling certain that there wouldn’t be a single one of these on the North American continent, I pinned most of my hopes on this excellent site right here: Retrobike.co.uk site. Quite literally a long time back, there had been one singular reference to someone’s Hilton Wrigley bike, so I held out hopes.
Over the months, I would re-post or bump my plea. Someone offered a rumor of a possible bike, but this didn’t pan out. It turned out to have been long gone. BUT, finally, in early December 2010, a nibble!
Derrick (An active member here. I’ll wait for his permission to out his name), a collector living in Sheffield responded to my post. He apparently keeps his collection trimmed, and was ready to pass on a late 50’s Hilton Wrigley Connoisseur model frame. He drove a hard bargain, and it took until late January 2011 to convince him to accept my money (literally). But, finally, the deal was struck.
PHOTO of the original “find” below.
During the negotiations, I swapped notes with several people about the frame, but mostly with Norris Lockley, author of that article. I had only a small number of snapshots from which to work, and Norris began his invaluable support to me at that time. When the deal was finally sealed, Norris offered to inspect the frame before it was shipped and I very gratefully accepted. It was also very inexpensive to ship the frame the short distance from Sheffield up to Settle, Yorkshire.
This was good for several reasons. 1) The frame had a unique “Wrigley Cycles” crest on both the head tube and seat tube that Norris had never seen before; 2) I really preferred to have it refinished in the U.K., if that was going to be necessary; 3), The rear triangle was a little worse for the wear, and; 4) The frame was smaller than I ordinarily ride.
This last item, the small size, was, in my mind, simply a “price” of finding ANY Hilton Wrigley frame. But having this frame appear on his doorstep, Norris became motivated to dig a few of his Hilton Wrigley frames out from his frame dungeon (which I’ve slowly come to realize can only be called “extensive”). Among them was a frame almost identical to mine, in ugly respray with hideous makeshift decals, but in a size 60cm. So, we agreed to swap. Yet, again, my gratitude to Norris is enormous.
The unique transfers, however, became my major project of the spring 2011 season. Working from photos, mostly taken by Derrick, but with a couple more by Norris, I got a rough graphic version completed. I emphasize the word “rough”. Then, with some amazing talent donated by Alan Goldsworthy, a cyclist and graphic artist from San Francisco, the graphic was vastly improved and then reproduced into transfers by Greg Softly, from down under.
PHOTO of crest is below.
Anyway, one simple frame was never my entire objective. What I’ve really hoped to do is to further assist in resurrecting the marque, and to bring additional examples of Hilton Wrigley’s frame-building art into the public sphere.
Norris’ article in the builder’s section of classiclightweights.co.uk is the significant beginning, and I owe so much to him for this. Especially with the addition of Jon Wright’s bike, the refinished International model that belonged to his grandfather, as well as Andrew Loughran’s bike, that page is still the primary site on the marque. The goal is to showcase a few more of these beautiful bikes.
In the meantime, Norris has made several trips down from Settle into the West Yorkshire Riding territory to meet with several of the well-known names of English riders, such as Brian Haskell, to talk story and to photograph a few bikes.
Among my suggestions (ne: nagging) to Norris was that he consider drafting up a “human interest” piece for the Hudderfield newspaper on frame building in the heyday of West Yorkshire cycling that could feature Hilton Wrigley. In the process, we might induce a few folks to pull more bikes out from the attics and garages to be seen in the light of day (and be photographed).
Still, we were missing Hilton, the man. No confirmed photos of Hilton could be found, and the story Norris wrote is only of the early Hilton, with only an end note from the later period when Hilton was no longer building. Hilton passed away in 1977.
I spent months hunting for any trail to find people who might have know Hilton – or could help to locate any children. Norris remembered a son named Peter. No one could track them.
The small Marsden Historical Society became the key, although many months went by with nary a clue. One person remembered attending school with “a Peter Wrigley”, but had no idea if this was a son of Hilton or where he might live now. I was surprised by how many Peter Wrigley’s I could find in the various public directories. I’ve had some interesting exchanges with more than a few.
Finally, Hazel S., an active member of the Society, raised the question at a monthly meeting and found several of the elder members who remembered that Hilton’s widow had relocated to the Nuneaton area about a decade back. Hazel took the added step to look in the public directory and found a Vera Wrigley and a Peter Wrigley in the Nuneaton area.
Following the trail Hazel gave me, I found a postal address for both Vera and Peter and wrote a snail-mail letter (who remembers those?), and sent them off.
In surprisingly short order, I received a response from Peter, who confirmed that he was/is the only son of Hilton and that Vera, age 92, is alive and well. She had just phoned him, as her letter arrived some hours prior to his.
Peter is providing a few details and has promised to collect and scan a few images for us. He regrets that many photos and records may have been discarded in their relocation from Marsden down to Nuneaton, but says he has a few that he will scan and send.
Peter still has yet to do this, but I’m prodding him gently along the path. It’s all in the name of a good cause.
END, Chapter One
COMING, Chapter Two: The newly refinished Hilton Wrigley
Wherein the saga of refinishing is recounted. A teaser, however, is warranted.
Photo of the “new” Hilton Wrigley Connoisseur as it just arrived into my hands.
Cheers!
) I can ask around for you to see if anyone knows any more but - if Norris has already got involved - then it's doubtful.
