Uncle George's Bike
When I was about 9 or 10, my Dad managed to procure a suitable replacement bike for the Dawes from his Brother, my Uncle George. It had been round at my Gran's for years in the shed in the yard. It was in a bit of a sorry state, but Dad had a contact who could get the frame stove-enamelled for us. I helped Dad strip it all to pieces and he took it to the chap who said he could do it. Not too long after, it returned in a resplendent shade of dull green (something akin to that used on Council road furniture - so I'm still not sure who actually did it for us!) Anyway, it was a vast improvement on the previous tapestry of faded Raleigh and iron oxide. I learned a great deal from my Dad about bike building - even though he himself was self taught - we greased all of the cleaned-out bearings and got the various adjustments just right and fitted new Bluemels white plastic mudguards and some of the cables were renewed at the same time. I used this bike for many years for going to school and trips around the country lanes with my mates. It was later replaced by a Dawes 'racer' with Campagnolo 'Gran Sport' rear changer, from Gerry Seltzer, a school friend at the Riley High school.