Derbyshires Motorcycle Maestros

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Derbyshire's Motorcycle Maestros- Peter McManus

Prolific author Peter McManus is back with the fifth book with a motorcycle theme, this time focussing on those motorcyclists hailing from Derbyshire. Obviously many springs to mind straight away like Ted Mellors, Bill Lomas and John Cooper from the world of racing, trials riders like Mick Andrews and so on. But, this soft-bound book is not just about the riders, in the 230 odd pages can be found snapshot biographies about great engineers like Denis Jones and George Silk, who produced their own machines to mention just a two. In fact, it seems that many of those profiled in the well-illustrated pages seem to have Derbyshire's Motorcycle Maestros- Peter Mcmanus Worked at Rolls-Royce (who were, of course, one of the largest employers in the area) and have engineering connections in some form or another. In addition are chapters on ordinary clubman who may never have made the pages of any motorcycle publications apart from the odd by-line, which make the book even more interesting. However, as the author states, many of those profiled have been mentioned quite extensively in some of his previous works, but many have not. It would be fair to say that this latest tome is a fascinating trip through motorcycle history covering all facets of the subject from organisers like Fred Craner who persuaded the owner of Donington Park to allow racing to take place in the thirties, though to restorers and historians like Ivan Rhodes and his family. Talking of families, two chapters on the Haslam family, Rocket Ron and son Leon end the book, bringing the Derbyshire connection bang up to date with modern racing, adding to the foregoing history of some of well and less-well-known sons and daughters of the county. Thirty-three chapters tell the tales of these fascinating men and women, illustrated with some marvellous period images supplied by the families with many of them having never been seen before. McManus seems to have had a connection with many and puts his own personal take on their personalities, making it a very pleasant read that is easy to dip in and out of.

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