The John Warrick Cycles company was established by John Warrick, the son of a

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

bargee. He was originally a

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very h ...

, apprenticed to William Soper, and together they had success manufacturing complex and highly accurate but slightly unreliable rifles. Warrick himself was a member of the Berkshire Volunteers and was an excellent marksman, using his medals and competition victories to promote the company. After some years the market in guns declined and Warrick turned his attention to the growing trade of bicycle manufacturing. He used both the Warrick and Monarch brands in their factory on Caversham Road,

. The factory lasted until the 1970s, passing on to William Warrick, his son. They exported bicycles, including supplying Orville and Wilbur Wright's cycle business. The company specialised in delivery and later motorized tricycles, especially for ice-cream and for food delivery although they did supply organisations such as the Army Cycle Corps and several department stores. One of their bicycles can be found in

Reading Museum Reading Museum (run by the Reading Museum Service) is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area. It is accommodated within Reading Town Hall, and contains galleries describing th ...

. Many were used by

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

vendors in the mid-twentieth century, and requisitioned in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to act as aircraft simulators, with radio equipment in the ice cream box and with vision restricted so that they could only be driven by instructions. The trade mark on Warrick bicycles was a metal triangle on the top of the rear mudguard of the cycle. They also constructed batteries for electric cars and vans, although their early attempts at producing electric cars themselves were less successful. Whilst their factory was located on Caversham Road by Northfield Road, they ran a shop in Reading at 24 St Mary's Butts and on Edgware Road in London. In later years they stopped making bicycles and moved on to

enamelling Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by melting, fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitrification, vitreous coating. The wo ...

electroplating Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct electric current. The part to be ...

and other contract work, including making some parts for the prototype of the

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

aircraft.

References

External links

Company historyXe đạp điệnInformation about threewheelers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrick Cycles Defunct cycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Companies based in Reading, Berkshire