A rare Ellis-Briggs bicycle has been donated to Bradford Council’s Bradford District Museums & Galleries collection, preserving an important piece of the district’s cycling heritage and shining a spotlight on the enduring traditional craft of custom frame making.
The bike belonged to the late Neil Crabtree, a lifelong cycling enthusiast who purchased the bespoke machine from Ellis-Briggs in Shipley in 1989 for £274. Following his death in 2025, his family donated the bicycle so that both their father’s story and the craftsmanship behind it could be preserved for future generations.
A lifetime of cycling
Originally from Halifax, Neil Crabtree developed a passion for cycling as a young boy and spent decades exploring Britain and Europe by bike.
His Ellis-Briggs bicycle accompanied him on countless journeys, including cycling holidays across the UK and overseas. In the summer of 1990, just months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he used it for his fifth solo cycling tour of Germany.
Mr Crabtree continued riding throughout his life, using the bike regularly well into his eighties, including for local shopping trips.
Following his death, Neil’s children, Jane Nugent and Jonathan Crabtree, approached Bradford District Museums & Galleries about finding a new home for the bicycle that had been such an important part of their father’s life.
They said: “We are both delighted that Bradford Industrial Museum has accepted our donation. The Ellis-Briggs bicycle opened up a world of adventure for Dad, taking him on journeys both at home and abroad. He would be thrilled to know that, after all those miles, it has now come full circle and returned ‘home’ to Yorkshire.”
Celebrating a Bradford cycling legacy
Founded in Bradford in 1933, Ellis-Briggs Cycles is recognised as the UK’s oldest custom steel bicycle frame-builder. For more than 90 years, the company has been producing hand-crafted bicycles built to the individual specifications of riders ranging from everyday cyclists to competitive racers.
At a time when most bikes are mass-produced, Ellis-Briggs continues the specialist craft of bespoke frame-building, helping to keep alive skills that are now considered endangered.
The Ellis-Briggs bike represents a significant addition to the collection, filling a gap in its representation of the district’s bicycle manufacturing and engineering history.
Made by Many Hands exhibition
The acquisition comes as Bradford Industrial Museum hosts Made by Many Hands, an exhibition exploring traditional and threatened crafting skills from across the Bradford district.
The exhibition highlights practices identified on the Heritage Crafts Association’s Red List of Endangered Crafts, including stained glass making, lacemaking, blacksmithing and bicycle frame-building.
Part of Bradford’s transport history
The bicycle joins a number of other locally significant cycles already on display in Bradford Industrial Museum’s Transport Gallery.
These include a Raleigh bicycle sold by Wiley’s Cycles and Toys in Bradford during the late 1960s and used for deliveries by a butcher’s shop in Eccleshill; a 1930s bicycle built by local frame-builders W. & R. Baines; and a “King of the Mountains” bicycle built by Bradford-born endurance cyclist and frame-builder Walter Greaves.
Greaves achieved global recognition in 1936 when he set a world record by cycling 45,383 miles in a single year. Following a childhood accident that left him with a below-elbow amputation, he adapted his own bicycle with modified handlebars, gears and braking systems to suit his needs.
Once the Made by Many Hands exhibition closes, the Ellis-Briggs bicycle will go on display in the museum’s Transport Gallery, taking its place alongside other bicycles that highlight Bradford’s rich history of cycling, engineering and skilled craftsmanship.
Made by Many Hands is at Bradford Industrial Museum until 15 November 2026.
