Return of iconic Wolverhampton cycle brand Wearwell that refuses to die

But the Wolverhampton-based Wearwell Cycling Company bounced back after every crisis to become even more successful. It was one of the first bicycle manufacturers in the country, going on to export tens of thousands of bikes around the world. A company team even won the prestigious Tour de Britain race.

It seemed the name had been lost forever when the company closed in 1975, a victim of the catastrophic recession and post-war boom in car sales.

But now, more than four decades on, and exactly 150 years after the business was originally launched, the Wearwell name has been resurrected – by a great-great-grandson of one of the former owners.

Alex Joynson, 32, and his business partner Will Laughton, 30, have started a company selling premium cycling clothes under the Wearwell brand.

Both work in sales development, Alex for Cadbury owners Mondelez and Will for Britvic, but they plan to expand into cycle accessories and possibly even manufacture bicycles again one day.

Alex, a big Wolves fan whose family lived in Finchfield, said: "Wearwell really is the beast that refuses to die. It really resonates with me that we are bringing back a brand that was part of the Wolverhampton fabric."

The idea for the new company was hatched by the pair at a stag party three years ago and lay dormant until 18 months later when Alex, having researched the scheme, contacted his former university friend Will again with an invitation to set up a joint enterprise.

Part of the appeal of the brand is its rich history, which goes back to 1856 when Wolverhampton blacksmith Henry Clarke, stopping over in Paris briefly on his way back from the Crimean War, came across a wooden wheeled contraption he learned was called a bicycle.

The following year he founded the Cogent Cycle Company which made and exported bicycle wheels to France. Business boomed as his five sons – Tom, George, William, Jack and Henry – came on board, and it remained a thriving family company until Henry’s death in 1889 at the age of just 56.

Eldest son Tom was appointed as successor to the fury of his brothers, who mutinied and threw him out. Tom ended up in Manchester where he set up a rival cycling business, Express Cycle Company while the remaining brothers founded a new firm, Wearwell, which they took to new heights.

By the early 1900s the business was producing over 500 machines each week, and exporting in tens of thousands. But it emerged that their trusted company secretary had been plundering the profits and by the time the deceit had been discovered by William Clarke, it was too late to save the firm and in 1911 it went into liquidation. Worse still, he realised that one of his own brothers was in on the fraud.

William Clarke bought another local cycling business, which he revitalised and used to reintroduce the Wearwell name to the market. After his death in 1922, Wearwell was sold to George Waine - Alex Joynson's great-great-grandfather - and his cousin Jack Waine.

The pair gifted a share of the company to each of their sons, Theo and Vincent, who later took the reins and took it from strength to strength. Even a large fire at the factory, which took eight hours to fight and caused £10,000 of damage, could not stop them.

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The company started to look beyond Europe Ito India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam and China. During the Second World War, Wearwell was forced to scale back and a further fire which stopped production completely until after the war.

Again the business bounced back, prospering both home and abroad, so by 1950 it was selling to 40 countries around the world. Wearwell had moved from its original base in Darlington Street and opened bases at the New Griffin Works in Colliery Road and also Great Brickkiln Street.

Now it moved out of Wolverhampton to Alverley in Shropshire where it was eventually sold to local businessman Martin Wells. He continued to produce the famous bikes until he, in turn, sold the business.

Lincolnshire-based Elswick-Hopper Cycle Company moved production to Humberside but as the recession pounded the UK and the car grew in popularity, bike sales took a hit and, despite sustained efforts to stay afloat, the company closed in 1975.

And there ends the history of The Wearwell Cycle Company ended. Until now. In 2017, Wearwell relaunched as a purveyor of high quality cycling clothing and accessories, with products including cycling jerseys, bib shorts and cycling caps.

Alex says: "I've never lived in Wolverhampton but I know that the Wearwell name is remembered in the area, and by cycling fans elsewhere, as one of the city's great manufacturing names. You come across Wearwell bikes on eBay sometimes - they're still around - and it would be a dream to one day start producing a new generation of the bike."