In 1951 I started an apprenticeship in Luton. I was in digs, aged 16, and a couple of streets away I found AJ (Pop) Hodge Cycles operating out of an end of terrace converted house. My club mates in north Cambridgeshire all had Claud Butler or Holdsworth frames but I found that a Hodge frame would be a bit cheaper. I had a chat with delightful old Pop and found that he was keen to involve young customers, like myself, in the various stages of frame building. So decisions needed... Wheel size (27" was replacing 26" diameter), track or road - this determined bottom bracket height, seat tube angle and height, top tube length, head angle, fork rake, type of tubing (531 double taper of course), track ends or drop out, do you need mudguard and deraillier fixings, light brackets , type of lugs (pressed steel or best French cast lugs). Then chromium plated ends, colour choice (any colour), contrasting panels. Finished frames were sent out for plating and painting somewhere in London. Having worked through all this and wishing that I had ordered a Claud Butler or Holdsworth like my country dwelling clubmates there was another challenge. Pop, who was 74 at this time only worked in the evening along with two other men who I seem to remember were toolmakers at SKF bearings during the day. So I was called upon to come in the evening and the first task was to file the best French lugs to give a nice low stress-raising joint. I realised that I was to be given a bit of engineering training as well as getting a frame. Then cutting some of the tubes to length and putting everything together in the brazing jig to suit the size and angles specified. Done any brazing?, he asked. At this time I hadn't so the art of brazing was explained and I had a go on some spare steel. Fortunately the regular guys did the proper brazing and a few days later the frame was sent for plating and painting. After a week or so I went to collect the frame and it looked superb. Pop proudly showed the decals. A J Hodge Cycles on the head tube and down tube, Reynolds 531 at the top of seat tube, and another little decal saying World Champion 19?? . He explained that his frame was the only UK cycle to have this distinction. Sadly I can't remember the rider or the event. Pop was a pipe smoker and used Swann Vestas matches in regular relights. He showed me that the fancy border of his championship decal came from back of the Swan Vestas matchbox.
In his little office there was a sepia coloured framed photo on the wall showing a handful of cyclists on Pennyfarthings starting on a race. He pointed out that one of them was him in earlier days and that he had won the race.
Website
View attachment 481975
shows a picture of Pop at about the same time that I bought my frame(s) from him. It captures him completely as I remember him.
Later I bought another road frame from Pop and ordered and collected another frame for a clubmate in the next couple of years.
I only saw him down-cast once when I called in. There was a cycle with bent front wheel and frame (yellow, I seem to remember) with some dried blood still on it. A promising young rider (Luton Wheelers, perhaps) had crashed into a stationary vehicle on an evening 10 TT and unfortunately had died. Pop said he couldn't bring himself to dismantle the cycle.
My photo, scanned from an early colour slide taken in 1955 shows my first Hodge frame.
View attachment 481976
Good memories!
Oh, I think the total cost of the frame was about £12 - 10 shillings.
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