In days gone by, it was vital to get the operating staff to their posts on time. The larger railway depots employed a 'knocker up' who would walk or cycle the rounds of the work force to knock and shout and wait for a reply - ensuring that the worker was awake.

Our bike is a rare survivor of this piece of history and is from Cheltenham, Malvern Road.

During its' dismantling, it could be seen that the machine had originally been in factory brown. None of the original GWR lettering survived, the down tube has a BR(W) transfer, but on the bottom bracket and the seat boss we have the GWR stamp.

The handlebars had been laboriously polished with fine emery cloth and then varnished - the sort of thing that a proud GWR worker would do.