I'm looking for some information about Bill Philbrook frames. In researching things, I've come across mention of a small "punch mark" which Mr. Philbrook would use to identify his work. Supposedly this mark would be placed on the bottom bracket shell in front of the chain stay somewhere. However, I have not been able to find many image of this mark on known/confirmed Philbrook frames. If anyone has a Philbrook in their possession and would be willing to share a picture of this mark, I would be grateful!
It seems hard to believe that perhaps one of the most important ‘London’ bicycle frame builders of the last half century is not represented more in print and on the internet. Twenty years ago, Nick Sands, then a member of the V-CC wrote an informative piece in their magazine News & Views to try to make Bill’s career and talents more widely known inside the club. In 2010, V-CC member Norman Cole having suffered a bereavement revealed to me in a telephone conversation that he had been collecting information on Bill for a number years and this included photocopies of magazine and newspaper articles sent to him by Bill’s wife Mary.
Norman had in fact two solo frames and a tandem made by Bill. Perhaps the most important document was a copy of Bill’s frame building book containing a record of every bike frame he made under his own name but sadly not a record of the many hundreds of frames he built for other people. The dossier compiled by Norman was kindly sent to me with the promise that I would try to write an article based on its contents. As time has passed by so quickly, I thought I would just attempt something without reference to his surviving family but since then I have had a conversation with Mrs Philbrook, now 87, to discuss the contents. Hopefully those more knowledgeable than I will add to the information and rectify any serious inaccuracies.
Bill’s Career
Of the ‘London’ bicycle and frame builders from the post-war period there is probably no one held in higher esteem than Walter William Philbrook known as just ‘Bill’ or ‘Phil’. He was born on September 25th 1916 the son of a railwayman in the South East London suburb of Sydenham not far away from Crystal Palace. Like many of his generation he left school at the age of 14 and ‘with a fascination for bikes’ began an apprenticeship with the bicycle builders, Buckley Brothers whose premises were I think at that time at 61 Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill. Buckley Brothers had a fine reputation for making high quality lightweight bicycles in the pre-war period and one of a small group of South London firms that included Selbach and Granby that were building with ‘taper tubes’.
They were famous for producing one of the lightest bikes at that time which weighed only 13lbs and displayed at the first Lightweight Show as well as a 22lb tandem frame. Buckleys were not just cycle makers but innovators, patenting a strut between the bottom brackets of tandems, designing triangulated chain stays and ‘rigidride’ frames. The build quality of each frame was ‘par excellent’ and the attention to detail must have influenced Bill in his formative years.Norman Cole believed that during WWII Bill joined the army as an armourer (as was Bill Hurlow). After the end of hostilities he joined A S Gillott in 1946, a company revitalised by Harry Carrington. There, he was in the company of Len Hart, George Holt, Jim Collier, ‘Doc’ Green, Ron Cooper et al.
Bill Philbrook holding a frame with multi-coloured paint job in the yard behind the work
Bill at work in his workshop
Bill was also a keen club cyclist, a member of the Sydenham Wheelers and at one time their 25-mile club champion and he was to go on the become their President. He married Mary in 1948 who was ten years his junior and apparently built her a superlight frame as a wedding present according to Sands. They had two sons – Glen and Robert and two daughters Anna and Shelley. Sands writes that ‘the family was still transported on a tandem with a sidecar until Bill eventually purchased a Panther motorcycle.’ The family ‘moved to Farnborough in Kent in 1954’.
Drawing for Norman’s Tandem
Bill must have been amongst a number of Gillott frame builders that departed from Gillott in the late 1940s and early 50s. Jim Collier seems to have worked for a number cycles shops as a trade builder from around 1950 and Doc Green worked at back of Algurn in Wandsworth from 1948 before opening his own shop in Fulham in 1953. Norman noted that Bill left to return to Buckley Brothers around 1950 but went on to work for Claud Butler shortly afterwards when Cliff Shrubb arrived as an apprentice, although a copy of a photo showing Bill with other frame builders at Gillott astride a ‘quin’ sent to Norman by Mary is dated 1950. According to Cliff, Bill was Assembly Shop Manager in charge of quality control, scrupulously checking everything that went out, including tracking and had to rectify any mistakes. He was to remain there until about 1956 but left before Claud Butler went into receivership in October.
The commuting from Farnborough was always difficult and he could see that CB was already in difficulties Mary told me. Sands mentions a move to Holdsworth who bought the Claud Butler name and relaunched the CB brand. However, he was to leave after a short period. There is a note made by Norman to suggest he have spent time at Andy’s of Beckenham and then Avery Weights but his heart was always in cycles and cycling. Then in 1959 he appears to have hitched up with Pete Benedict the proprietor of Meridian Cycles at Sutherland Road, Forest Hill and helped to build the Grandini, Meridian and Metro marques along with the frame builder Harry Healey (Paris, Hercules, Don Louis). Bill was probably responsible for the creation of the Grandini drop-outs and possibly the internal reinforced ‘Meridian’ fork crown. Later on he created his own unique drop-out of extraordinary beauty. (See images of Philbrook dropouts below)
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Norman’s notes state the Philbrooks moved to Gillingham on May 13 1959. According to the Nick Sands article, in 1959 after a visit to Rochester to see a relative, his wife Mary came across a double fronted rundown shop at 4 & 6 Arden Street, Gillingham, Kent with accommodation above it. They were to move in that year and Bill was all set to build frames for the trade and under his own name (PAG = Philbrook –Arden Street- Gillingham) for the first time and he joined the local Wigmore Cycle Club. By 1967 the accommodation above the shop was declared unfit for habitation and the family moved to Rochester according to Sands. Despite this it did not stop the use of downstairs workshop which remained in use for a further 25 years.
Bill with Jeff’s scooter carrying bike frames. Can you identify them? (courtesy Jeff Lyon) They are Philbrook, Ken Bird, Condor and Dawes
Bill produced frames for Meridian Cycles alongside Youngs of Lewisham but perhaps one of the most extraordinary customers was C&K of Penge a new manifestation of Claud Butler and his nephew Keith, one of his attempts to re-launch himself. Pete Holland was persuaded by Claud to see ‘his builder’ for a track frame in the mid 60s. Bill was to build for Harry Perry and Ken Bird amongst others but no record of this activity survives. Sands and Bogdanowicz both mention a small punch mark that was placed under the right chainstay to identify frames built for others and this is corroborated by Keith Perry. However, owning a Meridian and a Grandini known to have been built by Bill and a number of other frames which were strong candidates I found none in this location. However, the punch marks do exist but just not in this location but once identified are consistently in the same place providing a eureka moment when discovered.
Thanks--- I've seen that Philbrook article on the classiclightweights web site you pasted here, and it's quite a nice history. However, on the subject of the mysterious "punch mark" it mostly serves to cloud the issue further. The relevant parts of the last paragraph assert that 1) several knowledgeable folks assert that Philbrook used a punch mark under the right chainstay to identify his work, but 2) the author owns several Philbrook frames and/or possible Philbrook frames and has never seen the punch mark in that location. Finally 3) the author asserts that identifying punch marks do exist, just not on the chainstay location-- and that once you find them, you can consistently find them in the same location. (I presume the author means consistently from frame to frame?)
So where, exactly, is the punch mark to be sought and found?
I remain lost in the cloud of unknowing. A few pictures of the mythical beast would perhaps clear things up....
Clearly they didn't want to divulge it, as it's easy to just add your own.
Evidence or absence of the mark is no proof of originality, as not all of his frames were marked.
A friend of mine stamped all of his frames that he made for other dealers, to prevent false warranty from frames that he didn't make.
You will just have to do a close inspection and or contact the guys in the article for help.
Lol OK..... um, thanks for the assistance, I guess? It's not where I think it is, OK I hear you--- but it's not permitted to tell me where it actually might be found?
I guess I'll go on waiting to be initiated into the inner circle of the shadow council.
You could just contact the author or do your own close inspection.
I have no idea where it would be but it isn't where a lot of people think it is, from the comments in the article!
As they didn't confer and you want a non to obvious spot, it isn't unexpected. Frank Herety just stamped FH before the serial number to avoid any confusion. Why these guys didn't do something similar is anyone's guess.
From my research, W. Philbrook used a different location than Ron Cooper. But there are a bunch of images you can find on the web showing known Ron Cooper frames with the mark in between the chain stays. But I have not been able to find equivalent photos of the punch mark on Philbrook frames.
Ron Cooper mark:
Would still be curious to see such photos if they are out there.
......isn't that where Ron Cooper marked his frames?.
