Lamplugh saddle, British bicycle

Discussion in '1940' started by marc coene, Oct 12, 2014.

  1. marc coene

    marc coene Member

    Hello

    Hereby some photo of a bicycle saddle that we found in old moat. the question is if this could have been part of a bicycle that British troops brought with in 1940?
    There is marked Lamplugh 84 Saddles. If it was a 1940 type, the saddle will have been about small 70 years in ground, but the leather is still surviving.
    Thanks for your answer.

    Regards, Marc
     

    Attached Files:

    Drew5233 likes this.
  2. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    Marc, My first thought was that although I've spent a lot of time going through Ministry of Supply contracts for the late 1930s and 1940s, 'Lamplugh' was not a name that I remember seeing.

    However, 'Grace's Guide' is usually very useful on these obscure companies and indeed they show Lamplugh as bicycle saddle suppliers to the British Army durring the Great War. By the 1920s, they had become 'Middlemore and Lamplugh'.

    http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Middlemore_and_Lamplugh

    I'd say that your saddle is a little older than seventy years, probably more like one hundered...

    Leather can of course survive for thousands of years in suitable anaerobic conditions, as shown by the Roman shoes that still turn up in waterlogged ground.
     
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  3. marc coene

    marc coene Member

    Hi Rich, so this would mean the Saddle is WWI origin and not WWII? Indeed this could be possible as also in WWI our farm was in the middle of military actions. Thanks for your answer. Marc
     
  4. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Marc,

    Hello and welcome to the Forum.

    It appears that you have found a piece of history and it may well be that you find more nearby.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  5. Stephen2020

    Stephen2020 New Member

    Hello,
    This seems to be a saddle from sometime late 1800s up to 1896, a great find!
    Lamplugh began as Lamplugh & Brown in Birmingham in the latter 1800s. After Mr Brown retired they became Lamplugh & Co. In 1896 they were merged with William Middlemore to become Middlmore & Lamplugh. Not known if they continued to sell old stock after the merger but would be sensible to do so. Around 1919-1920 M&L were mostly taken over by D. Mason, although the Coventry branch continued as Middlemores.
    Back in the 1800s Lamplugh had set up a Paris branch which continued well into the 20th century but these included the word Paris on a similar looking sidestamp. I have owned three Lamplughs from France and they all had Paris included.
     
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  6. Stephen2020

    Stephen2020 New Member

    I need to correct the last bit to, they had either 'Paris' or 'Croupon Garanti', but I knew the ones I had were French.
     

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