Meriden Bonnie history book
Added on Friday, April 9th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Meriden Bonnie history book
The story of the Meriden workers co-op and its attempt to keep the Triumph Bonneville alive, is one of the most interesting slices of British social and political history from the 70s. Now, a new book from Veloce has the inside story, written by the ex-Chairman of the workers’ board of directors. This is the real story of the last bastion of high volume, British motorcycle production following the rapid collapse of the industry between 1972-74. It’s also the story of a workforce’s refusal to let the Triumph Bonneville die.
There is no more famous motorcycle than the Triumph Bonneville, the Bonnie, “the best motorcycle in the world,” and the Meriden factory producing this icon was a personal Mecca to fans of the marque. Film stars such as Steve McQueen visited Meriden for their Triumphs and the marque had a huge fanbase in the USA, even rivalling Harley-Davidson in the late 60s and early 70s. But on the brink of what should have been its biggest ever sales season, the BSA parent company dramatically collapsed. The Conservative government reacted, and Norton-Villiers-Triumph was created. The new owners decided to close down Meriden, so the workers locked them out.
There followed protracted political negotiations, affected all the while by national government changes, ministers’ attitudes, national and international economic conditions and, throughout all this, the world’s continuing desire for the Triumph.
As much a study of changing political attitudes as of an economically traumatic time for both Triumph and the country, socialist John Rosamond’s unique position within the workers’ co-operative makes this work a fascinating account of a story never before told from the inside. The reversal of his role from worker to chairman brought with it new responsibilities, bringing home to him the passion that employees, customers and dealers had for Triumph, and how that could keep Meriden from closing and the Bonneville in production. During all these desperate struggles, the Triumph Bonneville became the best-selling motorcycle of its class, winning the coveted Motor Cycle News Motorcycle of The Year award at the end of the seventies. Yet within just a few years of this, Meriden and the Bonnie were finally gone.
All the rescue attempts, the lifesaving international orders, and the negotiations for a reprieve with the new Thatcher government are covered here in unique detail, as is the introduction of new models that Meriden hoped would attract a ‘white knight’. Lavishly illustrated with never-before-seen photographs from the personal collections of the factory’s workers, this inside story of Triumph’s last years at Meriden is the definitive history of the most famous of the Tony Benn worker’s co-operatives. It also features a foreword by Tony Benn.
Available from www.veloce.co.uk priced at £24.99
