They’re Hall you need
Ernie Hall’s birthday in May 2021 was his 90th, the following month wife Joan and he celebrated 63 years of marriage, and they continue to enjoy retirement at their home in the Kent countryside. They reflected on lives that have revolved largely around motorcycling, where engineering and artistic skills involved some fascinating opportunities and challenges faced by few others in the world of powered two-wheelers.
As a child, Ernie’s first motorcycle experience had been as passenger in the family sidecar outfit, powered by an Ariel Square Four, the earlier overhead cam model. Around 1940, this extended to ‘hands-on’ experience when Ernie was allowed to drive it around a field. After the war, his father turned to four-wheeled transport, but with Ernie old enough to ride, he bought his son a 350cc Matchless (no capacity restriction for learners in those days). Ernie admits being rather petulant and could summon little enthusiasm for the Matchless. It was not the Tiger 100 he really coveted! In October 1953, Ernie bought a 1947 Speed Twin (HXH 307). In little more than a year, he had added a further 15,000 miles to the odometer reading before – at last – buying a new Tiger 100 from Harvey’s, well-known south London Triumph dealers.
Following school, Ernie had completed a college course before becoming an apprentice at A.L. Carter Engineering, a precision engineering company with premises in Holborn, London. Its City location was ideal as there was a high local demand for repairing, or replacing, parts for the many printing machines being operated in the vicinity. Ernie became a toolmaker, a craft that required proficiency in a variety of engineering skills.
His National Service became a very brief interlude, involving just five weeks in the RAF. While Ernie claimed: ‘mother wouldn’t let me stay, it was actually a more prosaic medical discharge.
Enthusiasm for motorcycling
A.L. Carter shared premises with another concern. One of its young lady employees found herself attracted to the owner of a Triumph with which he was often to be seen tinkering. The attraction was
