Now that's what we call a bike shed: Inside Britain's historic Pashley cycle factory
Who needs 21 gears and a carbon-fibre frame when you’ve got a basket and a comfy saddle? At a factory in Stratford-upon-Avon, British craftsmen are making bikes that promise a ride into nostalgia
Pashley is one of only three bicycle-makers left in Britain, but business is booming - and this despite an average price tag of over £600
When Ewan McGregor recently decided he wanted a new bicycle, his order came with an unusual request: a basket big enough to fit his dog, Sid.
‘How big is your dog?’ the manufacturer asked, prompting the actor to send through a picture of the fluffy white pooch sitting on some scales.
A gleaming new bike – pictured, below – complete with Sid-sized basket duly arrived.
Following in the tyre tracks of Lily Cole, Agyness Deyn and Helena Bonham Carter, McGregor is only the latest celebrity to demonstrate a passion for Pashley, a small British bike firm that hand-builds beautiful retro-classics in a workshop in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Ewan McGregor sent Pashley a picture of his fluffy white pooch sitting on some scales. A gleaming new bike - pictured, above - complete with Sid-sized basket duly arrived
The company is one of only three bicycle-makers left in Britain, but business is booming – and this despite an average price tag of over £600, which makes the company’s models more expensive than the mass-produced ones of its foreign competition.
Last year, 10,000 Pashley bikes were sold, evidence of a steadily growing niche market for high-quality, old-fashioned British craftsmanship. Moreover, Pashley now exports to 50 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Italy, Sweden and the UAE, where workers use the bikes to get around the oilfields.
Brazing a frame in the workshop. Last year, 10,000 Pashley bikes were sold
As well as celebrity patronage, the company’s word-of-mouth success has been built on the support of high-profile customers such as London estate agent Hamptons, whose staff pedal Pashleys to appointments, and Savile Row tailor Huntsman, which uses them to deliver suits.
The bikes are also used for deliveries by the Royal Mail and Pret A Manger, and have featured in ad campaigns for Barbour, Radley and Topshop.
‘We don’t stand on ritual here,’ says managing director Adrian Williams as he greets me at the front door of the company HQ.
The workshop, located at the rear of the building, is where the 46-strong production team – more than double the number employed five years ago – can be found hard at work brazing (joining bits of steel) and fettling (cleaning metal to a high lustre and even texture).
There’s no conveyor belt on this assembly line, only rows of wooden benches featuring different bike parts, including steel tubes supplied by Reynolds of Hall Green, Birmingham, and gleaming wheels of all diameters.
After a bike has been through the adjoining paint bay, the old-fashioned bells, gorgeous wicker baskets and bottom-friendly leather saddles (made by another British company, Brooks, based in nearby Smethwick) are all added. There are 160 different Pashley models to choose from, ranging from classic to contemporary and work bikes to beach cruisers.
The Model H, as shown in an original Thirties brochure. The company was founded in 1926 by William 'Rath' Pashley, a World War I dispatch rider and engineering apprentice with Austin Motors
Founded in 1926 by William ‘Rath’ Pashley, a World War I dispatch rider and engineering apprentice with Austin Motors, the company initially built its reputation on its carrier cycles, including the iconic ‘Stop Me And Buy One’ tricycles supplied to Wall’s ice cream after the Great Depression.
William handed the company down to his son Dick, but by the early Nineties, with the mountain-bike craze in full swing, the business was finding it difficult to compete.
In 1994, a management buyout led to former aeronautical engineer Adrian Williams becoming Pashley’s main shareholder and managing director.
Handlebars featuring Sturnley Archer gear shifts (left); design sketches (right)
Tall, slim and boyish for his 57 years, he explains that he fell in love with the bikes after borrowing one to ride along a new Bath-Bristol cycle route one beautiful spring day in the early Nineties. It was an experience that convinced him there was still a place and, more importantly, a market for Pashley’s classic handmade bikes.
Recent years have witnessed a surge in demand for classic models such as the Pashley Princess (with its traditional looped frame, deep wicker basket and sturdy mudguards), the Roadster and the Guv’nor – the last taking its name from Williams, who nominated it as his ride-to-work bike.
The Pashley logo (left); tools of the trade (right)
Finished frames (left); the bikes are fitted with classic Brooks saddles (right)
‘We are proof that you can survive if you focus on products that customers want,’ says Williams.
‘Health and leisure are more popular than ever before, the mountain-bike trend of the Nineties is past its peak and there’s a new trend for people wanting to go back to their roots.
'We’re seeing increased demand from customers seeking British-made bicycles with individuality and style.’
Williams insists that 99 per cent of UK bikes are imported, describing them as ‘box shifters’ – units made and sold without love or passion.
In 1994, a management buyout led to former aeronautical engineer Adrian Williams becoming Pashley's main shareholder and managing director
It’s an accusation that could never be levelled at Pashley, where the workforce is recruited locally, apprentices are trained at a nearby college and factory manager John Kerby has been with the company for over 40 years.
And on summer evenings, staff can be seen cycling to the pub on – what else? – their Pashleys.
So what of the future? Williams is characteristically upbeat, saying the company’s main challenge is to ensure it doesn’t sacrifice its craftsmanship and soul as it continues to expand. ‘It’s not a bad complaint to have in a recession,’ he admits with a smile.
Recent years have witnessed a surge in demand for classic models. Three of the models built by Pashley are pictured above: From left, the Paramount, Britannia and Guv'nor
Look who else is in the saddle
British Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton goes retro (left); Kelly Brook (right)
Lily Cole on her Pashley
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