Book Review - Alex Moulton from Bristol to Bradford-on-Avon - a lifetime in engineering

The book arrived just before leaving for work. A very fast delivery I had only ordered it the day before using the excellent Paypal service and benefitted from the discount kindly available to our club members. Had a quick flick through which ended up being about twenty minutes and couldn't wait to get home and have a longer look. The book deals with Alex's family history and how they came to live at the Hall and his lifetimes work in engineering and interests. As a moultoneer I find this book a fascinating read. As you follow Alex's career all the missing pieces slot into place as to how, when and why the Moulton bicycle became a reality. I'd only really known the history of the moulton bicycle from the sixties onwards and that Moulton had designed the mini suspension and a coach. This book goes into more detail on those and many other projects I'd never heard of before such as the Fedden car and Alex's love of and designs for steam powered vehicles.
        The book is full of photographs, working drawings, letters and sketches to illustrate the subjects covered. Some of it too complex for my very limited knowledge of engineering but good to see how the process worked in the days before CAD and computing. The spontaneity of a sketch hastily drawn over a restaurant menu shows how focused and passionate they were at that exciting period in time. There are some excellent photo's from the Moulton bicycle's early development and famous Moulton racers that I'd not seen before. There are lots of old family photos from the turn of the last century and Alex in his youth which are great to see and how little 'the Hall' has changed in that time. Having been born in the sixties I had little idea how the two world wars effected day to day life and industry I found it very enlightening to see how the family coped with fuel rationing and the upkeep of 'the Hall'.
      You can't help but being envious when reading about Alex's pastimes on the water and holidays driving across Europe in an Italian supercar and meeting with the likes of Enzo Ferrari and Pininfarina. You wouldn't make it passed the first speed camera these days. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would say it is a must have to anyone interested in Moulton bicycles but which also tells the story of it's inventor and the history behind it. It's a book which will come off the shelf again and again.

by Andy Forey