Anne Bradford wrote Royal Enfield history

Author Anne Bradford has died, at 91.

 Author and historian Anne Bradford won a permanent place in the world of Royal Enfield motorcycles with her 1996 book, "Royal Enfield, The Story of the Company and the People Who Made It Great, 1851-1969." 

The book, a compilation of interviews with former workers at Royal Enfield factories in the UK, captures the memories of the people who created Royal Enfield in Britain. Most of the people she interviewed are gone. 

And now the author herself has passed away. 

Anne Margaret (Russon) Bradford, born April 9, 1934, died Nov. 30, 2025. A memorial service for her is 12:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 at Redditch Crematorium. 

Bradford called herself "an oral historian," a task for which she was well qualified, as a former teacher of shorthand. In retirement she became a writer.

"I have written about 30 books and dozens of booklets," she noted at one point.

"I concentrate on local material. The most popular is ghosts, murders and scandals. Haunted Pubs has sold well over 2,000. However, one book has bombed; my grandson... wrote a local ghost book to encourage him to read and we still have 500 stuck in the outhouse."

There was more to this spunky lady. Her obituaries appear in the Redditch Advertiser and the Redditch Standard.

Bradford lived and sold books from a small house at 66 Enfield Road, in the Hunt End neighborhood of Redditch. There's a colorful story about how her house led to her writing a book about Royal Enfield.

Blogger Jorge Pullin tells it on his blog My Royal Enfields:

"Redditch historian and Royal Enfield author Anne Bradford says that her interest in Royal Enfield started because local historians claimed that the house she lived in was the Givry Needle Works, which later became the first Royal Enfield factory in Hunt End.

"It turns out this is not true, the Hunt End factory was destroyed by a fire and there is now an industrial estate in the place it used to occupy. However, it is true that Anne Bradford's house was a replica of the construction that anchored the Givry needle works."

Anne Bradford's book is a must read for Royal Enfield enthusiasts.

On my blog I called the book that resulted "The Royal Enfield history you must read.

"It is more than a history book," I wrote. "It is the affecting story of ordinary (and extraordinary) Royal Enfield employees, told in their own words.

"Readers learn not only how these people contributed to Royal Enfield, but how the company intersected with their lives, sometimes through generations."

That Bradford wasn't a motorcyclist herself is obvious in a 1995 letter she wrote to Doug Young, then the archivist of the Royal Enfield Owners Club (REOC). The club apparently had invited her to an event.

"To my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the rally," she wrote. "It was nice to meet everyone, and very interesting to see the bikes after reading up on the theory."

Her book is listed for sale on Amazon and as available on Kindle.

But wait. There's more:

In another 1995 letter to Young she wrote "I'm very disappointed that not all of every interview can be included as I have made many friends among the interviewees but I suppose the book will be all the better for the stringent editing."

Fortunately, her concern for local history never flagged, and she expressed her determination to leave full copies of the interviews with the Redditch Library and the REOC.

I've made an attempt to mine those outtakes for tidbits that I think add to the story of Royal Enfield in the UK. You'll find the resulting blog items at these links:

Anne Bradford's magnificent outtakes

More from Anne Bradford's archive

More of "The People Who Made It Great"

Donations in memory of Anne Bradford are welcome to Alcester Day Care Centre at Justgiving.

The Redditch Local History Museum collection of history books is named The Anne Bradford Heritage Library in her honor.

Sell my Royal Enfield? No, never!

 The man asked me "is it for sale?" 

The answer sprang to my lips: 

"No, never!" 

My own answer surprised me. 

I've never considered my Royal Enfield to be the last thing I would hesitate to sell. I know it's just a machine. 

It's unusual, but not unique. Many thousands like it exist. It was not an expensive investment, like jewelry. 

I've never even given it a name. It's just "the motorcycle."

I like it. I'm emotionally attached to it.

But look: I'm 75. I will be parting with many material goods all too soon. Its turn will come.

So, my answer, in the moment, was a surprise to me. But there was a bit more to this interaction.

I was in the driveway, unpacking the car from a two-night camping trip in the Everglades. A kayak was still on the roof of the car.

The guy pulled up in the fanciest looking cream colored SUV I've ever seen. It literally glowed with lustrous paint and shiny metal, and must have cost a fortune. We live in a "nice" neighborhood, but this vehicle established a degree of economic well being out of character with my old Camry.

I didn't recognize the man, who was dressed in fine sport clothes that expressed a degree of economic well being out of character with my sweaty T-shirt.

"I see you have a motorcycle," he said, smiling, through the rolled down passenger window of his SUV.

This really surprised me. The motorcycle was in the garage, at least 30 feet away, and just a shapeless heap under multiple old sheets I throw across it to keep the dust off. How could he even see it?

"What kind is it?" he asked. I had to repeat "Royal Enfield" twice. He wasn't familiar with Royal Enfields.

"Who makes it?" was the next question. Rather than repeat "Royal Enfield" uselessly, I replied that "they're made in India. It's an old British bike. They never stopped making them in India."

"What does it look like?" was the next question. This was getting a shade odd. He wasn't directly asking to come in and have me show it off, but close.

"It's a naked motorcycle," I said. "This one is old looking. You can see them on the Internet," I said, maybe too warily. But he wasn't put off.

"It's a collector bike?" he asked.

This was getting odder. "Well," I said, with a shrug, "I collected it. It's a 1999. Nothing special."

That's when he asked "is it for sale?"

My answer, "no, never," said emphatically, seemed to end things. He wished me well, and drove off.

I know I behaved badly. I'm normally flattered and friendly when people ask about my Royal Enfield, as they often do when they actually see it. If this guy turns out to be a neighbor I just didn't recognize, I will be embarrassed.

Funny thing is, I have been on the "other side." I wrote recently about spotting a Royal Enfield in the parking garage of the condo where we stay when we visit Washington, DC. I left a note on the door of the apartment corresponding to that parking space, suggesting we get in touch.

I never heard back. Maybe the guy freaked out, same as I did. If so, he would have responded by clutching his Royal Enfield to his heart. Just like I did.

What America needs: More sidecars!

Fred's 2016 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 with Cozy sidecar.

 Reader Fred Lenk, of California, likes motorcycle sidecars, and thinks you might too: 

I've been following your website for some years, since I got my own 2016 Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar. 

Interesting, in California, a three-wheel vehicle, such as an outfit, requires the same driver license as anyone driving a four-wheel vehicle. 

Remember, our former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, crashed his outfit, but wasn't cited for driving without "a motorcycle license." Here's why: 

Post World War II, several European countries exported three-wheel cars to the U.S. and California. You know about those.

So, Mr. Sidecar, Doug Bingham, was able to convince lawmakers in California that since three-wheel cars don't require motorcycle licenses, three-wheel motorcycles don't require "motorcycle licenses."

I began riding outfits in 2008 because my employer forbade me from riding my three-wheel human powered push trike with trailer on the job. Trailer pulled my tools.

I repaired computer networks and teachers' computers for the local school district. I could pedal to all the schools to fix stuff. Some bean counter got worried about insurance, I think, and I could no longer pedal on the job.

I had some time to research a new transportation solution, and read about Gov. Arnold's problem. So I found a motorcycle outfit.

I had previously ridden motorcycles. Funny, on the way home driving the outfit, I suddenly learned I had to be very careful making a right turn (left turn in England). The Velorex car went airborne on my heavy Kawasaki 1400.

Lucky I still had my old motorcycle skills and could correct.

I wore out that Kawasaki motorcycle in a couple years, and bought my Royal Enfield 500 with "Cozy" car already installed. I can't drive the 500cc Royal Enfield on 70 mph highways, but it's perfect around town with a sidecar for shopping errands.

Fred's sidecar outfit stays off the Interstate highways.

I know all the slower backroads to get anywhere in the county at slower speed.

I'd like a freeway-capable outfit to drive 800 miles to a Northern California home. Maybe a new BSA 650 Goldstar outfit might work if the BSA ever make it to California.

Maybe a new Royal Enfield 750 might work. But even those engines would be working at their maximum on our California freeways. 

I think it would be great if some American motorcycle manufacturer besides Ural (assembled in Kazakhstan) could figure out simple technology to make sidecar motorcycles again. 

That's what Fred wrote, but it occurred to me to ask why a tricycle motorcycle, Servi-Car style, might not do? Tricycle conversions are available for powerful, full-size U.S. motorcycles. His response went farther, dealing with tricycles whether the two wheels are up front or behind the rider:

As far as trikes (Delta one front/two rear, as opposed to Tadpole two front/one rear), I found they're like driving a sidecar, with two tricky turning directions. Maybe that's why I've never seen them racing in any situation like dirt, grass, paved roads.

Tadpole trikes are much more controllable in turning situations, and have at least twice the front wheel braking ability.

Finally, a sidecar hauls a lot more stuff when running errands around town or strapping on an eight-foot-long 2x4!