Triumph's EDWARD TURNER Blue Plaque unveiling event speech

Speech on 25th October 2009 at The Rye public house by barrister and Triumph Owners Motor Cycle Club member Erum Waheed who organised the campaign for the greatest British motorcycle designer to be commemorated with a Blue Plaque at his address at 8 Philip Walk, Peckham, London SE15.

Edward Turner lived this address whilst he worked for his father in the factory now 6 Philip Walk. He moved out when he started his motorcycle engineer shop in Peckham and then advertised his designs for manufacture by the big factories in the West Midlands.

After his Square Four design was accepted and produced by Ariel, he later designed the Daimler V8 engine and SP250 Dart sportscar and, most famously at Triumph at Meriden, the Triumph Speed Twin, Thunderbird, Tiger, Trophy and the legendary Bonneville. His wonderful styling cues are still used by the current Triumph factory, now at Hinckley.

Also speaking that day were the Mayor of Southwark Jeff Hook, Edward Turner Jr, Tony Benn (former minister of trade and industry), John R Nelson (TOMCC patron) and John Rosamond (former chairman of Triumph workers' co-operative), Duncan Saunders (patron, Daimler Owners club), Stephen Humphrey (Southwark LBC archivist).




ITN have footage of the unveiling itself and a web search should quickly find this. Their footage was shown on the 1815 edition of local TV news programme, London Tonight that evening.

Thanks to TOMCC Mighty South London and South Essex branches, Martin Kerwin, Roy Shilling, Lester Grant (Ariel Owners Club), Charmian Hawley, Jane Meadows, the London Borough of Southwark and all those who kindly attended a wonderful day.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Meriden
• Triumph factory

[PaulKasner]

Nice to see Edward T recognised, even if his designs were, with perfect hindsight, as significantly flawed as they were hugely elegant, cost-effective and popular in their day. (Turner believed in revs; his key rivals Hopwood and Page believed in torque.) The 1960s Japanese, who moved from simple copy-and-improve to radical clean-sheet innovation, effectively ended the entire British carnival by worshipping at Turner's altar of more revs too.