C.D M.C.C.

Hi.

People here (I think) helped me out with a query on Bob and Doris Lowe
before I moved to Canada. I gave all of their glass negatives and old
photographs to the National Motorcycle Museum. They are somewhat reluctant,
but took them. Anyway, I have a query that I hope someone can answer. Does
anyone know what motorcycle club CD MCC is? It will be an old club. I have a
friend in the USA that has a silver spoon that was awarded as a prize. He
thinks it is Trials, but I think it is Grasstrack because of the crouched
posture of the rider shown on the spoon? There is a picture at the link.

<quote>
Not exactly a motorcycle part, but I bought this silver spoon off eBay on a
lark (nobody else bid), because it reminded me of the recent Anthony Hopkins
movie, World's Fastest Indian.

http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/mc-spoon.html

I collect work by the artist Kenneth Shoesmith, and this item came up in the
search. It had nothing to do with him, but was presented to someone with the
same uncommon surname.

I made some inquiries among m/c collectors and museums, who told me that a
Motorcycle "Trial" was a type of competition, somewhat like a rally, that
was popular in Britain and the US before WWII. They were low-budget events,
so instead of awarding trophies to the winners, they presented little
trinkets, like this Sterling motorcycle spoon.
</quote>

Thanks

 

In communiqué <eju5kj$tkr$>, Andrew Taylor

Not exactly an unheard of form of motorcycle competition today. Take a
bow Mr Colley.

C****** & District Motor Cycle Club [1]would be my guess. If there is a
connection with a particular locality try looking up town names starting
with C around there.

cf. Hagley & District Light Car Club

--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
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Castleford near Wakefield? still going.

Martin

 

Could be. A useful place for the OP to seach would be here:
http://www.acu.org.uk/directory/

Only if they are still going though.

BTW have a look in the UKRMFAQ at the bit about sig seps.

 

<quote>
Try the vmcc first http://www.vmcc.net/ , the acu will probably
waste your time. And I'd try phoning them and asking who is the
best person to ask

Spoons were given as awards for an awful lot of early m/c events,
and are still given as awards for some of the long-standing m/c
trials.

There are now two main types of trials - time and observed.

Some would argue that sprint events should be classed as speed
trials as they were called when they first started.

There are also vintage regularity events that are sometimes
called regularity trials.

Its all about the 'vintage' terminology really.

Observed trials are almost always offroad, with Dougie Lampkin
being a uk multi world champion for indoor and outdoor events.

Indoor trials are easily as spectacular as mx stunts.

Time trials are almost always on roads (or byways) and have a
much lower profile now than several decades ago when they were
very very popular.

People would ride to the trial, compete, and ride home on the
same bike.

CDMCC could very well be the Cookstown & District MCC of
Armagh http://www.cookstown100.co.uk/

And I think Shoesmith was a more common name in vintage times.

</quote>

HTH

 

Wotcha.

The only club that springs to my mind is the Conway and District MCC - they
must
be a fairly old club seeing as they run the Dragon Rally, which is the UK's
oldest rally.

http://www.dragonrally.org.uk/

 

The original enquirer is based in Eugene, Oregon. He knows nothing about
motorcycles, but happens to be the worlds leading expert in antique knife
collecting.

I got as far as 'C****** & District Motor Cycle Club'. I used to be a member
of Dunstable and District Motorcycle Club :>)

Thanks for all the replies. It gives me something to go on.

 

Well, tell him to be careful with that fucking axe, eh?

 

Looks like Ernie Shoesmith suffered from a remarkable amount of facial
bloating.

 

Still do at Brighton IIRC.

I think the early speed hill climbs on close roads at places like 'Rest
and be Thankful' were always known as hill climbs and not speed trials
from the start. Private hills like Shelsley Walsh started in 1905.

A lot of clubs used fairly standardised motorcycle motifs on awards
until even recently and I would have thought a speed trial award would
have been engraved to say that. So I still reckon the most likely bet is
an 'observed trial' much as we know them today on private land sections
linked by public roads (only without the vertical cliffs and waterfalls
they do now).

--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Canterbury and District rings a faint bell here

Ron Robinson

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, R.N. Robinson

Cheltenham and Dudley?

It's possible, what with them both being in the Midlands.

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Sounds like a more pikey version of the C&G.
--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

"You get a smarter investor at the Alliance and Leicester"?

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
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WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

That was a good suggestion. Thanks. I e-mailed library@ got the following
reply today.

Thank you for your email. I was asked this one a few months ago but have not
been able to come up with a satisfactory answer. There are a number of
possibles for CD MCC - Colchester & District, Chichester & district etc.
etc. I have not yet found a Shoesmith mentioned in the magazines of the
period but I will keep looking. To me the spoon does look like an artists
impression of speed but the handlebars being so wide look more US then UK.

I will let you know if I solve this

 

Telegraph Hill, Exeter was one of both IIRC.

 

except one is 20 miles north of Birmingham and the other is 40 miles south.

 

I have seen mention of that somewhere. There were lots of such events
pre WWII.
BTW apopos your enquirer's interest in old 'blades' I have a couple of
interesting specimens including a British army issue Crocodile brand
panga.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Andrew Taylor

Be quiet, you silly man. You're scaring the fish.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

(Careful with that axe, Eugene)