Velocette 250cc GTP.
A quick check of the site search facility will bring up quite a few references to Velocette motorcycles, both on the main site and buried away on the forum. Val kindly sent over the following photographs of a machine that belonged to an uncle, in the early/mid-1930s. The bike I think is a 1933 Velocette 250cc GTP, registered SM 9963 (a Dumfriesshire registration). The first shows Val's mum sat on her brother's Velo, the location is Powfoot near Annan in Dumfriesshire, where they used to race bikes.
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This head-on view of the Velocette shows one non-standard fitment - a small mascot in the shape of a triple-winged aircraft, quite likely a Sopwith Triplane, a single-seat fighter used briefly by the Royal Navy Air Service in 1917 before being replaced by the Camel bi-plane. The Triplanes
continued to serve but from then on as training aircraft, until the end of the war.
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Regarding her motorcyclist uncles, Val adds:
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"They had a sad ending really, both bikes and riders. Albert was killed in 1933 about a mile from Kinmount on his way to a dance. Skidded on the road, no other vehicle involved. And 5 years later coming back from a dance in 1938, and within 100 yards of where his brother died, Frank also was killed on his motorbike. He sadly had a passenger, a valet, who died as well. They ran into the back of a parked lorry and were killed instantly. Both brothers were daredevils and both had gained their pilot's licence ... a sad story, however whilst they lived they both embraced life to the full."
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The second of Val's photos shows the two motorcyclists' bikes together, the aforementioned Velocette, and a similarly-aged James. Again, the triplane mascot can clearly be made out, attached to the Velo.
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Thanks for the photos Val.
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Return to Page 19 in the photographic archive, or visit the main index here. Other Velocettes to feature in this section of the site, include a c1930 KTP, and a somewhat later 500cc Venom.
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