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The Bespoke Bike

Where two-wheeled dreams come true: a visit to the legendary Witcomb bike shop in Deptford.

Interest film 1974 4 mins

Overview

Two-wheeled dreams come true at the legendary Witcomb Lightweight Racing Cycle Shop in Deptford, London, where you can be measured up for your new bicycle and see it take shape. Master frame builder and racing cyclist Barry Witcomb shows his prowess as he forges a new hand crafted frame, while the rather flustered presenter takes a shiny new set of wheels out for a spin.

Originally produced for government-sponsored 'cinemagazine' This Week in Britain, this was one of a great many similar films destined for screening not in Britain but overseas, in numerous countries. It was common for several different presenters to perform the same script to the camera in their native language, resulting in a frustrating but amusing archival anomaly - the images of the version preserved in the BFI National Archive don't match the soundtrack. We've done our best, but the sharp-eyed and -eared will quickly spot that the international reporter Esmeralda Reyna is speaking in somebody else's voice - the British journalist Michelle Brown. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.

Genres

Interest film

Country

United Kingdom

Language

English

Subjects

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