Simply the best
‘Better than ever’ was the headline in The Motor Cycle on November 25, 1965, by the journalist Peter Fraser, after he had put the latest Greeves trials bike through its paces in the woods at Brands Hatch race circuit. Held in torrential rain, Fraser likened the chalky clay woodland surface as offering as much grip as on offer if ‘negotiating the Cresta Run’ but, with the rear tyre deflated to five pounds, the Villiers 37A-engined machine coped admirably with the adverse conditions. Indeed, he was so impressed with the new model, he decided to buy it, and the following weekend the bike, carrying registration number of NVX 31C, was used in the Kiwi club’s open to centre trial on Salisbury Plain – a tough event in which Fraser came away top of the second class awards, missing out on a first class prize by a single dab.
“The Anglian is regarded by many feet-up aficionados as the ‘best ever’ Greeves trials machine.”
Five decades on and I’m at Peter Masters’ farm high up in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, about to tackle some sections on the same Greeves, which is now owned by West Countryman David Bishop. David has only recently acquired the Thundersley two-stroke from Greeves enthusiast Stuart Wigmore and Stuart was in attendance at our test ride to tell me about the history of the machine, which came his way 30
