Whitmee Engineering
Whitmee Engineering of Balham, London
of Weir Road, London SW12[1]
Presumably successor to John Whitmee and Co who made coffee roasters amongst other things
1919 The first Alecto motorcycle was introduced by the Cashmore Brothers of Balham, London, who made their own two-stroke engine and used a Juckes two-speed gearbox.
1921 The original proprietors failed and so production of the Alecto was interrupted. Whitmee Engineering resumed production from the same premises and a better version of the model appeared. This was listed in complete sidecar form. Both versions were given the option of all-chain drive as oppose to the belt drive used until then
1923 An all-electric model was produced. This had CAV dynamo lighting as part of its specification.
1924 Three-speeds were offered, still with the final-drive option.
1925 Only all-chain machines were offered, and that was their final year.
1936 Whitmee Engineering Co made coffee roasters.
1949 "The fragrant aroma of roasting coffee berries drew me into the interior of Mr Searle’s shop in the Market Place on Wednesday morning where I had the pleasure of watching his new Whitmee Seven coffee roaster at work"[2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X
- The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle by Peter Henshaw. Published 2007. ISBN 978 1 8401 3967 9