The Hill Special
On the 31st August 2014, on the afternoon that Eastbourne’s pier burnt, I had the bizarre stroke of fortune to meet the Hill family in my back garden – the day after I just bought a 1982 Hill Special locally on Gumtree. How likely is that? Here is a letter I wrote to the Hill Special Website Owner, Charles Jepson, to explain my strange tale.
I thought I’d write to you with a story regarding the Hill family which happened very recently. I found your website dedicated to a Hill Special frames and I’m grateful for your excellent work, finding the site was a key event in my story and helped me acquire a beautiful frame.
I was reading the classifieds and came across an ad for a Hill Special bike for sale nearby. I had never heard of the marque so began some research, coming across your website and enthusiastically poring over the gallery of bikes and history of these frame builders. The next day I went and bought the bike, I was both excited and curious to see what condition the frame would be in and it’s craftsmanship. I loved it at first sight, and spent a good half hour speaking with the seller, a lady who had bought the frame from a bike shop in London for $75 in 1982.
From the 1952 Catalogue
The Penny Drops
I returned to your site a number of times and felt my interest growing even more as I tried to find as much information about Hill Specials as I could. But here is where the story takes a strange turn: my sister asked me, this week, if I could try helping her friend Avril, whose bike needed work. I had no idea what bike Avril had, so when she arrived at the house with her bike in the back of her car, I didn’t expect anything interesting. She had brought her mother with her, and as we sat in the garden with my parents, Avril’s mother noticed my old 1978 Raleigh Competition, and said that Avril’s bike, still in the car, had been made for her by her late husband, who once built frames in Padiham.
“Padiham?” I asked.
You can imagine how this piqued my interest. I asked her if it was an established family frame builder, and she answered that it was. In awe, I asked her with disbelief:
“It is not, by chance, a Hill Special bike, is it??”.
Her face lit up, and she she exclaimed “Yes it is!!”.
I couldn’t believe that it was the Hill family sitting in my back garden, whose bike history had so fascinated me recently. From that moment we spent a good 2 hours talking about the Hill family of frame builders, and Joyce, Avril’s mother, patiently answered my many questions.
Avril’s Specially Made Bike
The Family Business
Avril’s father was Dennis Hill, and Adam Hill was Joyce’s brother in law. Joyce herself used to paint the lugs of some Hill Special frames, perhaps even the lugs of the 1982 frame I bought just a few day ago. Joyce is now 83, but still has great stories and memories of those great days of frame building, as well as a passion for cycling. It was also very poignant when Avril saw my frameset, as she felt she would never see another Hill Special built by her father’s hands. She spent a long time gazing at the bike, often touching the lugs and tubing as she spoke about her father’s passion for frame building, and her memories of him. I was amazed at the coincidence of having the Hill family at the house, telling me stories of the business, of other frame building legends, just weeks after I had for the first time discovered the Hill Special marque.
Avril’s bike was given to her by her mother Joyce, but Dennis had built the whole bike for her a few years after the business closed in 1982. I can send you pictures if you like, of both my bike and Avril’s specially made frame with no serial number but with the Hill Special decals and head badge. It was a fascinating afternoon, and I thought I’d share the story with you which has a strange amount of coincidence but also good fortune on my behalf to meet the members of a family that contributed to the great traditions of cycling in Britain in the decades past.
Avril and the Bike her Father Built
The Reply
Charles Jepson kindly wrote back to me with and included a couple of pictures of his superb Adam Hill bike. He stated:
Whilst I personally did not meet either Adam or Dennis Hill, I have a very good friend Ken Hartley who was a crack racing cyclist to whom Adam would supply a new bike each season for the sum of one shilling in order that Ken could retain his amateur status. Ken, inspired by Adam, became a frame builder, and at the age of 81 has just built me a ‘Hart’ Special using rear stays he obtained from Adam.
The Hill Special website is here
The Adam Hill
The Adam Hill
What a wonderful story.
Dennis used to build frames for Overbury’s cycle shop in Bristol where I worked!
I used to go training and racing with Den, and he built me a 753 race frame which I wish I still had!
I rode up to see Den when he moved back to Padiham, was very upset when I heard about his death, and one regret was that I didn’t go to his funeral.
I have a photo taken after a Ross-on-Wye hilly time trial of me, Den and Rob Pink, who also worked at Overbury’s.
Rob won the event with a course record, Dennis was third and fastest Vet, I was fifth, and we won the team prize for Bristol South Cycling Club.
We were all riding bikes with frames built by Den, and wheels built by Robert!
Thank you for your comment, Steve, and very interesting to know about your riding days with Dennis and the bike shop in Bristol. Would you mind sending the picture of you and Dennis so I can add it to the article? Best regards.
Adam Hill was Joyce’s Father-in-law. She was also my nan.
I would love to find a Hill Special bicycle! Any information would be appreciated! Thanks
I would love to find a Hill Special! Any information would be greatly appreciate!
Hi Patrick, I think the best place to enquire here: https://hill-special.co.uk. where collectors meet and share their Hill Special stories and arrange rides. They are hard to find, sometimes it’s just luck. Cheers!
Dear Sir My name is Ken Hill, and live in Jersey c.i. Adam Hill was my uncle and Dennis my cousin . I see the letter sent by Stuart Hill and I’m trying to contact him do you have an email address so that we can make contact I last so him at our Dennis’s funeral and have been trying to get some kind of contact since, hope you can help
Thank you KenHill
Hi Ken, sorry but I can’t share an email address of anyone on here but I could contact Stuart and let him know your request if you like. Hope that helps.
Hi Ken, I was born and brought up in Padiham as were my parents. I’m attaching a photo of your father and mine on a cycle ride. My dad named as many as he could but probably never realized that the guy on the right, Tom Shackleton, was the uncle of Allan Shackleton, who broke the 25 mile TT record on Brock in 1959. I was the third member of the team. A member of the hill family, Graham, lives less than two miles from me on the outskirts of Burnley. I believe he has a collection of HILL SPECIALS.
Alex Keers
Hi Ken Hill,
Sorry but only just found out about this site. I presume by what you’ve said, that you are the son of Tom Hill, Adam’s brother. If that’s the case, I have a photo of your dad and mine on a cycle ride together in the early 1930s. I’ve tried to put it on here but for some unknown reason it’s been removed.
Alex Keers
Hello…I have recently acquired an unknown track frame via an online auction site. After a lot of research and removing more paint from the bottom bracket what I had initially thought was a 6 turned out to be a C…mystery solved. My coincidence though not as interesting as yours is that after looking through the pictures of some of the cyclists who raced using a Hill bicycle that one of them raced in the South Lancs Reg colours. Now my great grandfather and his step father belonged to this regiment during the Great War. My great grand father as a private and his step father as an instructor, who had played in the regimental band. Neither of them came from Lancashire but from Kent and London. The frame should be back in the road shortly. Kind regards Paul.
Thanks for the interesting comment, I enjoyed reading that. Cheers!
Hi, can anyone place an approximate year of manufacture on a Hill Special Gate path/track track frame that I have recently purchased? Any information would be glady received thank you?
Wow, look at those drilled horizontal dropouts! I hope some Hill Special expert can help you as I don’t know enough about them myself, but thanks for posting and hopefully someone will post a reply.
Hello Martin,regarding your frame it’s numbers are key to identification,look under the bottom bracket and also on the inside of the steerer tube.as a guide the letter C represents 1950 which would then have a few numbers after that.The letter D then becomes 1951 and so on with E,F,G-etc.There is no surviving log which has detail regarding beyond doubt all identification.There are also many forgeries appearing on various sites as well.Also good ‘i-d’is a wrap around brake bridge and the type of lugs used in the frame construction.Hope this helps all the best,Graham Hill.
Thank you for that detailed and helpful information for Hill Specials, cheers!
For Sale. Early 80s Hill Special made by Denis Hill. Red and white in very good condition. Please contact me if interested.
Ian Dandy 07917190239
Early 80s Hill Special made by Denis Hill
What a superb bike. If I was in the area I’d buy it. Thanks