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Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine Volume 16 No.2 October 2019 !33

Later when coal gas was replaced by North sea gas which was a much hotter gas. This
required special torches as it would not work with the old coal gas brazing torches. This
introduced an era of brazing machines with multiple adjustable heads for brazing each
individual joint.
My part in the work shop by now included making the tools and jigs as needed and
tracking and inspecting the finished frames after they were shot blasted and filed, and was
soon in charge of four filers. I successfully argued that inspection should not be done on a
piece work basis as it was important that the job be done properly and not skimped to earn
more money, This was accepted by the management and I became the only member of the
building shop staff on a flat rate. This led eventually to my promotion to assistant foreman.
I remember when this happened I eagerly awaited my next wage packet and when there
was no increase I tackled Arthur about more money. He looked aghast “Isn’t the prestige
enough Willie ?” he asked. I think I eventually got an extra 7/6 a week. When Arthur moved
on to become works manager and office bound, I was promoted to the position of foreman
and one of the staff Keith Hardwick took my place as assistant foreman.

The next part of my story was an incident that was to have a far-reaching effect on the
lives of both Keith and myself and may even have sowed the seed for the eventual demise of
the Holdsworthy empire. By then the Holdsworthy company was not only the leading
lightweight builder in the country but also one of the leading continental equipment
wholesalers in the country, and one of their most cherished assets was the sole agency for
Campagnolo gears and other products in this country. So it came about one day that Sandy
and Mrs H were to entertain Campagnolo himself who was visiting this country, to an evening
at the Savoy or the Ritz, I forget which. There was one fly in the ointment, he was bringing
a young lady with him.
Now Mr and Mrs H were strict churchgoers and were well aware of the common belief at
that time that morals on the continent were not up to English standards. The lady might not
even be a lady, but something worse. But they were committed to meeting her and so they
decided that the best thing to do was to provide an escort for the young person and
perhaps dance with her if she so desired. As it would not do to expose a married man to this
temptation, they went through the hierarchy of eligible single men in the firm and Keith was
called up into the office where it was explained to him that to keep Campagnolo happy it was
desirable to provide some company for the young person, the firm to pay for the hire of a
dress suit to make him presentable for the evening.
Fortunately their worst fears were not realised and the young lady turned out to be his
personal secretary and possibly the 2 IC of his business. She was a rara avis not often come
across in this country at that time. Fluent in five languages Odilla was a brilliant business
woman, and as an example when Campagnolo decided to have a stand at a cycle show in
Japan, Odilla went out there by herself to organise it and arrange for all the printing of
catalogues etc. to be done in Japanese.