The Scarborough Speed Trials have been a feature of the North Yorkshire seaside town for more than a century, and a remarkable photograph from 1922 captures a moment that links Yorkshire motorcycle manufacture, early competition success, and some of the most famous names of the era.
The image first appeared in the 28 September 1922 edition of The Motor Cycle and was initially miscaptioned as showing F W ‘Freddie’ Dixon riding a 998cc Harley-Davidson sidecar outfit on the starting line. While the references to a sidecar and the start line were correct, the rider and machine were not.
As revealed by a second image published alongside it, the motorcycle was in fact a 499cc Sheffield-Henderson, ridden by Ernie Searle, awaiting the starter’s signal. The two photographs appeared together under the heading “Speed Trials on Scarborough’s Promenade”, with the captions mistakenly swapped.
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Freddie Dixon and a Star-Studded Entry
Although Freddie Dixon was not the rider in the photograph, he was nevertheless the biggest name at the event. By the late summer of 1922, Dixon was already recognised as a leading performer, even though his first Isle of Man TT victory would not come until 1923, when he won the Sidecar race on the famous Douglas ‘banking’ outfit.
Dixon would later add a second TT victory in the 1927 Junior race on an HRD, and his reputation was already well established following his runner-up finish in the 1921 Senior TT on an Indian. Beyond racing, Dixon became legendary for his tuning skills, record-breaking exploits and colourful off-track activities.
At Scarborough in 1922, Dixon proved the fastest man present. The meeting attracted 131 competitors and, despite being officially open only to club members, was described at the time as illustrating the difficulty of distinguishing between open and closed events. Contemporary reports noted that the Scarborough trials drew a larger and more talented entry than any other comparable event that year.
Yorkshire Machines to the Fore
Reports from the meeting highlighted the resurgence of large-capacity twin-cylinder machines. In the unlimited solo class, many fast 500cc motorcycles were entered, but only George Dance managed a placing on a Sunbeam overhead-valve machine, sharing second place with G Brough on a Brough Superior, while Freddie Dixon took first on his Harley-Davidson.
At this stage, even the spelling of Brough Superior had not been standardised, and the marque name was often hyphenated. Timing suggests that George Brough was riding the immaculately finished machine known as ‘Spit and Polish’.
Dance’s overhead-valve Sunbeam was a prototype that would later lead to the celebrated Sunbeam Model 9/90. He also competed on a smaller-capacity machine, winning the 350cc class ahead of future star Wal Handley, riding an OK Junior.
In the 500cc solo category, Dance finished ahead of Ralph Cawthorne’s Norton, with Ernie Searle taking third place — this time with a third wheel attached 008 TCM_SEP.
Ernie Searle and the Sheffield-Henderson Story
Sheffield-born Ernie Searle would later join the Norton team, becoming closely involved in its racing efforts. He finished 17th in the Senior TT in both 1925 and 1927, with a retirement sandwiched between those results. There was even later speculation — though likely unfounded — that his initials may have influenced Norton’s ES2 model designation.
While Searle’s racing career continued, the future was less kind to the machine he rode at Scarborough.
Before the First World War, Henderson sidecars were produced at the ‘Aero’ works in Fitzwilliam Street, Sheffield, under aeronautical engineer Leonard Henderson. Motorcycle production began in 1920, with machines featuring an unusual frame design that placed the toolbox beneath the nose of the fuel tank.
Searle was employed as a rider and enjoyed considerable success on Blackburne-powered models, helping to draw attention to the marque. However, despite its promise, Sheffield-Henderson ceased operations by 1923, becoming one of many short-lived manufacturers of the period 009 TCM_SEP.
A Snapshot of a Vanished Industry
The Scarborough results list from 1922 includes both familiar names — Harley-Davidson, Brough Superior, Norton, Sunbeam, Velocette — and many marques that have since faded into obscurity, including Trump, Massey-Arran, New Scale, Weatherell, Duzmo and Brevet.
Together, the photograph and its story provide a vivid snapshot of British motorcycle sport and manufacture in the early 1920s, when Yorkshire-built machines briefly stood alongside the great names of motorcycling history.
Taken from an article in The Classic Motorcycle Magazine. Subscribe here
