How bikes shipped around the world put Barton on the map

From humble beginnings in a blacksmith's shop, Fred Hopper got the wheels turning in a sleepy town when he grew his business into a worldwide exporter of bicycles.

It was in1890 in Barton, North Lincolnshire, when the engineer made his first bike, before going on to acquire Elswick Cycle Company in 1913. It became known as Elswick-Hopper.

At its peak, he employed more than 800 people, and some of the company's manufacturing and offices are still in the town today.

An exhibition by the The Ropewalk is now on at Baysgarth House, exploring the history of the bicycle empire created in the town.

Liz Bennet, the charity's chief executive, said: "We've got some interesting photographs of horse-drawn carts queueing up at the railway station full of cycles to get on trains and be exported to India and China."

According to Nigel Land, who was part of Barton Civic Society, the first advertisement for the cycles appeared in the North Lindsey Star on 1 February 1890.

That was when Mr Hopper started manufacturing Ajax cycles, which had a classic-cross frame.

Ms Bennet said the exhibition had been put together after Mr Land approached the charity following more than 10 years of research into his book, Elswick-Hopper of Barton-on-Humber.

Mr Land died before he could see the exhibition, but Ms Bennet said his "legacy now stands with the bikes he saved from going to the tip or being scrapped".

The exhibition, which opened on 20 August, includes Hopper bikes that hold stories of their own.

One of the 1932 models on display was donated by a woman from Caistor, Lincolnshire, who continued to ride it until she was 92.

Extracts from interviews Mr Lane did with owners about their love of Hoppers are also on display.

"A lot of architecture and development of the town in the early 1900s was through the Hopper factory," Ms Bennet said.

She added: "There's nowhere else in town that really looks at the legacy of the cycle works that was quite prolific here in Barton until the 1960s."

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