SHAKESPEARE’S JULIET MAKES HER DEBUT IN A SIDECAR
28 July 2004 - Watsonian-Squire

The Royal Shakespeare Company got in on the act for Ride 2 Work Day (Wednesday 28th July), when everyone is encouraged to travel to work on a motorcycle.

Sian Brooke, who is making her debut at the RSC playing Juliet in Romeo & Juliet in Stratford-on-Avon, travelled to work in a motorcycle & sidecar outfit.
One of the aims of Ride 2 Work Day is to introduce non-riders to the exhilaration of motorcycling. Watsonian-Squire, who manufacture sidecars close to Stratford-on-Avon, decided that it was time to get an actor in the chair, having previously provided transport for TV cooks, F1 racers and even the KGB.
“I’d always wanted to ride in a sidecar,” explained Sian, having arrived beaming outside the historic waterfront theatre. “It was great!”
This is not the first time that motorcycles have been associated with the RSC –a classic British bike appeared in a production of Much Ado About Nothing several years ago.
Watsonian have been manufacturing sidecars in the Midlands since 1912 – 20 years before the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was opened - and in spite of changing trends they remain Europe’s biggest manufacturer. Their factory, located near the Cotswold market town on Moreton-in-Marsh, produces 200 sidecars a year, of which approximately 60% are exported. Although the market has contracted dramatically over the past 50 years (in 1955 there were 160,000 sidecar outfits on the road, of which 50% were Watsonians) the customer profile remains unchanged. People who buy sidecars are motorcyclists who want their family to be able to join in the fun!
Contact Watsonian-Squire on 01386 700907

TF Watson, who had designed a folding sidecar that could fit through the side-passages and back alleys of terraced houses, founded Watsonian sidecars in 1912. At its peak the factory was producing 200 sidecars per week and in 1949 Eric Oliver took the World Sidecar title in a Watsonian outfit. Alan Collins, Parts Manager, drove the outfit at Watsonian Squire.

www.watsonian-squire.com

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