There was one street in Birmingham that gained world wide fame during the golden age of the British motorcycle. The street was Bracebridge Street in Aston and it was the home of the most successful manufacturer of the British racing motorcycle, Norton.

James Lansdowne Norton was born in Birmingham in 1869. He was a bright boy with considerable mechanical skill which he used to make a model steam engine which astonished neighbours and friends.

James Norton started his business, The Norton Manufacturing Company, in 1898 in Bradford Street, Birmingham.

He started by supplying the cycle industry with parts but is also known to have assembled complete bicycles.

The direction of his business changed when he met Charles Garrad, the UK agent for the French Clement engine which was used as a bolt on engine for bicycles.

In 1902 Norton began making his own motorcycle using the Clement engine. Later on he used Peugeot engines and while showing these at an exhibition at Bingley Hall in Birmingham he persuaded Birmingham enthusiast, Rem Fowler, not only to buy one but to enter it in the first TT motorcycle race in the Isle of Man. Although Fowler was not the overall race winner he did win the twin cylinder class. It was the start of Norton's remarkable racing history that would take them to world prominence.

Later on in that year Norton exhibited at the Stanley Show in London. Norton now had models with his own design of engine, one of which would become Norton's most enduring model. The Big Four was a side valve single and it remained in production until 1954.

The company occupied premises at Floodgate Street but then moved to Sampson Road North.

James Norton however was not a business man, his strengths lay elsewhere and the company ran into trouble and was forced into liquidation in 1913.

The company was bought by Bob Shelley, who owned R.T. Shelley an automotive accessories manufacturing business. Most people credit James Norton with the success of the company but actually without Bob Shelley there probably would have been a Norton motorcycle company at all!. R.T. Shelley were already suppliers to Norton so the transfer of power was made a little easier however the relationship between  Bob Shelley & James Norton was not a good one.

In 1916 the company moved to Phillips Street, Aston. Bill Mansell moved from R.T. Shelley to take over Norton management and under his guidance the company was reformed in 1926, the new company name being Norton Motors 1926 Ltd.

Arthur Carrol re designed an OHC engine

James Norton died in 1925 and sadly never lived to see the real potential of the motorcycle company he had created.

In the 1930s the International engine was developed into the racing Manx engine and later the 350cc & 500 cc 'Manx Norton'. This motorcycle was probably the most successful racing motorcycle ever and certainly the most successful single engined racing machine. The Manx engine went on to used to power Cooper racing cars as well.

Three great men from Northern Ireland provided Norton with the expertise that made them world class, one was racer Joe Craig. Craig undoubtedly was the man responsible for Norton's racing success but as will be discussed later his blinkered approach and stubbornness also contributed to its demise.

Craig had been invited back to Norton in 1929 to work with Arthur Carroll. Craig managed the team but he also refined the engine by a 'trial and see' style as he was more of a tuner than designer. He called his approach functional harmonization!

In the early 30s Norton were unbeatable. In 1931 Tim Hunty won the Senior and the Junior TT.

Plunger rear suspension came along in 1936 followed by telescopic forks and double overhead camshafts in 1938

In 1946 Craig was convinced that Norton's racing future still lay with the single engined machine and he was right for a few more years but like so many in the British motorcycle industry he had a blinkered self righteous approach to change and progress.

The Mc Candless brothers were the two other Northern Ireland greats, one of the brothers being Bob Shelley's brother in law. They designed what was without doubt at the time the greatest motorcycle frame in the world, it was nicknamed the 'Featherbed', a name which the company went onto use.