"Raleigh Bikes" were made by The Raleigh Bicycle Company, a bicycle manufacturer originally based in Nottingham, UK.
Raleigh's history started in 1887, in Raleigh Street, Nottingham.
Sir Frank Bowden, a prosperous 38-year-old, bought a bicycle made by Messrs. Woodhead, Angois and Ellis, because his doctor had told him to ride a bicycle for his health.
Here are some of the high points of a more than a century of bicycle manufacture.
1) 1886 - Three Englishmen and french - Messrs.Woodhead, Angois and Ellis - begin building bicycles in a small workshop on Raleigh Street,
2) 1887 - Alfred Milward Reynolds invents the process of butting (of tubes).
3) 1887 - The Raleigh Cycle Company - Russell Street.
4) 1888 - Frank Bowden purchases the Woodhead/Angois/Ellis bicycle workshop on Raleigh Street and renames it the Raleigh Cycle Company. At this point there are about a dozen employees and production is there high-wheelers a week.
5) 1889 - Reynolds founds the Patented Butted Tube Company.
6) 1895 - British stockbroker Terah Hooley buys controlling interest in Raleigh.
7) 1896 - Fred Hanstock builds the first Carlton bicycles in Carlton, England.
8) 1896 - Raleigh has the world's largest bicycle factory, occupying 7 1/2 acres. There are about 850 employees and production is 30,000 units per year.
9) 1900 - "The All-Steel Bicycle".
10) 1902 - Raleigh buys sturmey-Archer.
11) 1904 - Raleignette.
12) 1905 - Motor Cycles produced.
13) 1906 - Robin Hood Cycle Co., Ltd. acquired.
14) 1914 - Over 50,000 cycles produced.
15) 1914-1918 - 400 Million parts for Forces (Munitions).
16) 1920 - The Nottingham presswork acquired.
17) 1921 - Sir Frank Bowden died.
18) 1921 - Motor Cycle Production resumed.
19) 1923 - Patented Butted Tube Company name is changed to Reynolds Tube Company, Ltd.
20) 1925 - Factory increased to 20 acres.
21) 1928 - 114,072 cycles produced.
22) 1931 - H O opened Lenton Boulevard.
23) 1930s - Carlton bicycle factory moves to larger facilities in Workshop, England.
24) 1931-1936 - Safety Seven Car.
25) 1932 - Raleigh buys Humber Cycles
26) 1934 - Raleigh Industries Ltd.
27) 1935 - Reynolds 531 manganese-molybdenum ("mang-moly") tubing is developed.
28) 1936 - Motorised production ceased.
29) 1937 - Invention of the Sturmey-Archer Dynohub.
30) 1938 - Raleighs first exported to Canada.
31) 1939 - 409,479 cycles produced.
32) 1939-45 - WW2 Munitions production.
33) 1943 - Raleigh buys Rudge-Whitworth.
34) 1943 - Gradual Payments (Nottm Ltd) acquired.
35) 1946 - Factory increase to 28 acres - 5,000 Employees.
36) 1946 - 'Winkle' tricycle - first of the toy range.
37) 1947-1948 - Boston USA Plant-Raleigh Industry of America Inc.
38) 1949 - Raleigh Industries of India Ltd.
39) 1950 - Raleigh Industries of South Africa Ltd.
40) 1951 - 1,010,077 Cycles produced.
41) 1952 - Duke of Edinburgh opens New Factory - 40 acres, 7,000 Employees.
42) 1953 - Raleigh buys the Triumph Cycle Company.
43) 1955 - Raleigh Cycles Industries of Canada Ltd.
44) 1957 - Raleigh buys BSA (Birmingham Small Arms).
45) 1958 - First mopeds produced (Raleigh Mo-ped, later known as the RM1).
46) 1960 - Raleigh and the Tube Investments Group (aka TI) merge, forming TI Raleigh.
47) 1965 - RSW 16 (Raleigh Small Wheel 16")
48) 1967 - Moulton Cycles acquired.
49) 1967 - Cox of Watford acquired.
50) 1968 - Queen Elizabeth II visits Raleigh.
51) 1969 - Dreamline range of Prams/Pushchairs.
52) 1970 - Chopper (UK).
53) 1970 - Production ceased motorised products.
Sources:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh_Bicycle_Company
2. oldbike.wordpress.com/9-bicycle-history-nottingham/
3. www.raleigh.co.uk
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