Frank Ellingford wrote: Have just found this typical stunning or in Brit
cyclist speak "stonking" classic road path frame on ebay. It's got
everything loverly typical road-path round bladed forks with a very
pretty fork crown and the not so common Helenic seat stays.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem
<http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=420&item=65357
00502&rd=1> &category=420&item=6535700502&rd=1
Anybody know who W&E Pollard were or where they hailed from. Never heard
of them.
Two of my brothers raced on Pollards in the early 1950s. There is a
photo of Ken on his at
http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/1930-to-50s-English-club-cycling/Ken_o
n_Pollard . I have checked with him and he tells me that he was working
in Leicester at the time when he bought it, took the bus to Coventry,
and was measured for the frame and specified the kit to be fitted. He
then returned 2 or 3 weeks later and rode the complete machine back to
Leicester. Shortly after he returned to live in Lincolnshire and there
he used it very successfully as a time trial machine, mainly over the
longer distance events, for several years. I believe there were some
cycle shops in Coventry bearing the Pollard name, and they may still be
there, and, if so, may no more of the history of the builder and the
marque. I next saw a Hellenic style Pollard being refurbished by David
Miller about 5 years ago. There was also one offered in the V-CC News
and Views about 3 years ago, but that was a conventional style frame.
Hetchins were among other manufacturers to adopt the Hellenic triangle
frame, and it is stated on the Hetchins website that "The name comes
from Fred Hellens, who developed the design in 1923."