| The First and Second
Age
The Early Years
Reg Davies was born in October 1907
at number 5 Wolverhampton Road, Heath Town. After
winning a scholarship to Wolverhampton Grammar School,
he excelled in every subject, coming first or second
each time. His favourites were the classics, music and
English.
Even after doing so well at school,
going to university wasn’t an option he could consider,
because in those days it was an expensive undertaking
and the Davies family, like most others at the time,
couldn’t afford the fees.
In 1908, his father, Alfred Davies
left his secure job as a railway clerk to start a
bicycle repair business. After leaving school in 1923
Reg joined him in the family business, which was now
trading as Viking Cycles.
Working
Life
When Reg started to work in the
business, Viking Cycles was a small concern, producing
relatively small numbers of machines at the workshop in
Heath Town. In 1928 the business moved to a shop in
Broad Street, but quickly outgrew the premises, moving
again in 1934 to Midland Chambers, 34 Princess Street,
Wolverhampton. The following year a building was
acquired around the corner in Princess Alley, to build
yet more bicycles and framesets.
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Alfred retired just before the Second World War and
Reg took his place as Managing Director. Reg built the
business up from a small undertaking to a large scale
manufacturing concern.
By 1939 when Viking Cycles Limited was formed, about
800 cycles a year were produced. After the war the
annual production had risen to 2,000 and the company
formed its own road racing team, which would become one
of the most successful cycle teams in the country,
achieving national and international triumphs, thanks to
men like Bob Thom, Viking's team manager and sales
manager.
In 1933 Reg married his beloved Mair and they had
three children, Margaret, Valerie, and Victor. Cycling
was one of Reg’s passions in life and he went on many
cycling holidays accompanied by his children, especially
Vic. |
| Back at Viking things went from strength to
strength, mainly due to the quality products and the
cycle team’s many successes. Viking became a household
name and sales greatly increased. In May 1955 the
manufacturing side of the company moved to Merridale
Works, Russell Street where production continued to
increase, reaching a peak in 1963 when 20,000 machines
were produced with a workforce of around 70.
Mair and Reg.
In the early 1960s Reg became vice-president of the
Cycle and Motorcycle Industries Association, at a time
when Britain led the world in the design and production
of bicycles and motorcycles. |
| Sadly in the mid 1960s things started to go wrong,
due to a recession in the club-cycling world. Cash was
in short supply and sales fell, but Reg carried on much
as before, working long hours for the company.
Towards the end of the 1960s Viking ceased trading,
and eventually the business was sold. A bicycle assembly
plant still operates under the Viking name in
Londonderry. |
Reg Davies in a relaxing mood. |
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During his working life Reg had
transformed the business from a small shop, building a
small number of cycles each year, into the area’s
largest cycle manufacturing company, producing a wide
range of top quality products. Even today original
Viking cycles are much sought after, and are now the
prize possessions of enthusiasts all over the world.
Although Reg had already achieved
far more in his lifetime than most people, much more was
still to come in his retirement years. |
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Return to the
beginning |
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Proceed to
the Third Age |
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