Every now and then, things turn up which remind us why Hetchins was, and is, a marque of distinction. David Miller entrusted to this Editor a card file. See photo below. It consists of post cards, a few letters, even fewer containing photographs--from Hetchins owners. In October of 1986, shortly after Alf had sold the business, then-new shop manager David Pullinger posted a letter in "Cycling" magazine, requesting Hetchins owners to get in touch, stating what bike(s) or frame(s) they had. The response was nothing short of Brilliant. Post cards came from all over the U.K., as well as Denmark, Germany, California, Washington, New York, and Australia--which just goes to show what reach a British cycling mag had in those days. Frame numbers too were all over the map, from 1935 to then-brand-new. In total, there were 164 post card responses. Scores of additional entries, all in one or the other of two handwritings, Pullinger's and, later, David Miller's, suggest information supplied by walk-in customers or word-of-mouth contacts.
Both first-owner frames and pre-owned frames were reported. Many owners had a story to tell--a raced bike, a European tour, a Scottish Highlands holiday, a bike owned by a father and lovingly passed along to the next generation, an abandoned bike recovered from a river bed. Many owners had high praise, "best bike I ever rode" sort of thing. And many correspondents owned several of them.
David Miller assumed managerial control of the shop in 1989, and additions to the card file appear as late as 1990, including brand new frames, so it would appear that this was the seminal idea for what would later become a Register of extant frames. Some of the post cards mention the possibility of a Hetchins club. Not long after, in 1990, the first of many annual Hetchins weekends was launched, perhaps drawing on this preliminary mailing list.
Below are a few samples, picked at random. Mouse-over for captions
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Jed Smith of the Viking Road Club writes (above) that he has three different marques, and that the other two were "not a patch" on the Hetch.
These are but a few reminders that Hetchins enjoys a level of brand loyalty which would be the envy of any company in the world. It is not just "curly stays and fancy lugs", for many of the bikes reported in this trove of post cards had straight stays and plain lugs, yet their owners were no less satisfied. It is noteworthy how many of the bikes were pre-war--these bikes were made to last, they are keepers.
In 1990, shortly after this trove of post cards was compiled, the first of many annual Hetchins events took place. The photo below is from one of those early events.
Readers are reminded of the forthcoming 34th annual Hetchins event, to be held 17-19 July in Oxfordshire. All bespoke bicycles and bespoke bicycle enthusiasts are welcome to join us. Click here for 2026 ride details.
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