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From: rod.nicholls@virgin.net
(Fri Feb 24 23:16:34 2006)
I well remember my father riding a Velocette similar to this as a rural beat bobby with the West Sussex force in the late 1950s. The more repeatable nicknames included 'Noddy bikes' and 'sewing machines', the latter due to the remarkably quiet water-cooled engine. The quietness allowed the rider to patrol his beat without announcing his approach, while the mobility and speed of response, compared with the pedal cycle that it replaced, represented a huge improvement in flexibility. Perhaps the most important aspect was the radio, allowing two-way contact at all times - until then, the rural beat bobby had to be at specific phone boxes at pre-arranged times so that he could be contacted if necessary; thus if something was reported on his beat, it could be up to 59 minutes before he got to know about it via phone call from the divisional station!
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