The Wright stuff
Edwin Wright, at 78 and retired and living on the south coast, is a Brummie with an accent to suit. All his life he had a credo straight from ‘the city of a thousand trades’ – “I wanted to design things.”
Working at BSA’s Small Heath Drawing and then Design Offices, and then from 1967 at the Group’s R&D centre, Umberslade Hall, allowed him to do so – up to a point. Today, he’s a suitably taciturn Midlander, but when he speaks of those days, the passion – both enthusiasm and anger – keeps bursting through.
Brummagem born and bred
From the age of 12, Ed attended Handsworth Technical School, studying basic mechanical engineering. “They had gas engines there, on which you could vary the stroke. We learned about engines, pattern making, casings, and drawing, plus a little chemistry.”
Leaving at 15-and-a-half, in April 1957, Ed chose between three apprenticeships on offer – at General Electric Company (GEC), Wilmot Breeden and BSA. He went for an interview at Small Heath, where he saw their top designer, Ernie Webster. “Ernie was a lovely guy, with a broad Black Country accent – his mother was a chain-maker. I clicked with him right away. Bert Perrigo looked in as well.” Perrigo, BSA’s top competition rider prewar, was then their chief development engineer, after Bert Hopwood had gone to Norton in 1956 and he was Webster’s boss. Young Ed was accepted as an apprentice in the drawing
