The third incarnation of Northam - the Salvaire Garage at 22 Peel Terrace

Between 1923 and the 1960’s there were two distinct business entities who used the term Northam Cycle as part of their names. The first was short lived, lasting only two years. The second ran from 1929 and passed through three owners.

Northam Cyle Depot 1923 to 1925

Lloyd Edwin Elms had been employed by the Armstrong Cycle & Motor Agency in Perth for many years before he took over the shop at 254 Fitzgerald Street in June 1923 that had previously been used by the cycle agent William Travers. Advertising as L. Elms & Co and offering built-to-order cycles he initially rented the premises from JK Moore as agent for the Gordon Motor & Cycle Co, using money borrowed from JK Moore.

He also took on the agency for West Cycles and advertised as the West Cycle Depot, and sometimes the Northam Cycle Depot, also selling AJS motorcycles from at least May 9th 1925 to March 18th 1927. Elms briefly had a sub-agent in Toodyay, Wilfred M. Ferguson, from March to June 1925. Ferguson advertised bicycles built by Northam Cycle Depot at this time.

Following a fire in January 1927 that burnt his entire stock he was unable to repay his debts to JK Moore and supplier Mortlock Bros. He closed business in February 1927 was in bankruptcy court by March and was later found employment as an engine driver.

Northam Cycle & Motor Agency 1929 - 30

Reginald John Campbell was a motorcycle salesman from Maylands before moving to Northam and forming a partnership with Cecil John Avery as Campbell & Avery. They opened business as Northam Cycle & Motor Agency at 234 Fitzgerald Street (opp. Northam Post Office) on September 22nd 1929. They advertised their locally built Northam cycle, as well as Douglas, Triumph and Indian motorcycles, and Triumph cars for whom they were sub-agents. (Armstrong Cycle & Motor Agency were the head agent).

Their partnership did not last long and was dissolved on May 9th 1930. Campbell had a cycle shop at Katanning for a short time in 1931 before moving to North Perth with his Navy Cycle Works in 1932.

Northam Cycle Works 1932 - 196?

In 1926 Royle “Roy” Thomas Haddrill opened a business as a saw doctor & tool sharpener at the rear of Peter Salvaire’s garage, across the road from the Northam train station at 22 Peel Terrace. Salvaire had run a cycle shop at Kalgoorlie prior to WWI.

Haddrill began advertising his services as bicycle builder and repairer under the names Avon Cycle Works and Northam Cycle Works in 1932. He last advertised as a cycle manufacturer in 1939 and as a saw sharpener on July 19th 1946 but is listed in the Post Office Directories as a bicycle dealer from 1940 to 1946 at the Peel Terrace address.

Northam has a history of producing notable racers; locals Peter Panton and Phil Bristow-Stagg rode and won at national and international levels. Two decades before Panton and Bristow-Stagg started making their marks, Bill Appleton was turning heads, both on track and in endurance events. In 1937 he rode the Beverley to Perth Road Race in 5 hours 12 minutes, on a Northam Cycle, beating South Australian Dean Toseland’s 1935 record by three minutes. Appleton’s record stood for 15 years.

Four years earlier, in 1933, Bill, a promising junior rider, was employed by Roy Haddrill. WWII war service in the 2nd AIF interupted his employment, however once discharged he returned to Northam and the shop.

Due to ongoing health issues Haddrill sold Northam Cycle Works to Appleton, changing hands on November 19th 1945. In a retirement statement, Roy Haddrill mentioned that he had been building Northam Cycles for 20 years, and had purchased the business from Campbell & Avery in 1930.

Northam Cycle Works rarely advertised for business once Appleton took the reins, however there are two notable entries in the Northam Advertiser.

The first, in 1952, promotes Northam Cycle Works on the back of Peter Panton’s wins in the York Wheelrace and Northam-York-Northam Road Race that year. 20 year old Panton, it is claimed, “naturally relies on his ‘Super Northam’ cycle to carry him to victory.”

The second, in 1954, is a notice to ‘long overdue’ account holders threatening legal action. It concludes on a bleak note; “We can’t live on promises, Bill Appleton”.

Trove trawling reveals little else beyond Bill’s 1954 missive with it’s implication of financial difficulty. An article from 1963 notes interstate treatment for, and recovery from, an unspecified health issue, as well as a move to Chidlow. Bill was 47 at the time, and he died in 1992 aged 76.

The existence of WAHCC member Collyn Gawned’s 1960 Swansea, rebranded as a Northam, suggests that Bill Appleton was still active in the bike industry in the early 1960’s. The downtube decal still sports Bill’s name but gives a new address in Northam’s commercial precinct - 96 Fitzgerald Street.

Update; At our pop up museum at Toodyay's Moondyne Festival on May 3rd, club secretary Bill Raczkowski had a conversation with descendants of Bill, Diane and Leanne Appleton. Leanne runs a bike shop in the metro area.

Rick Beazley and Robert Frith