John Ronald Tovey - Moulton Eight

Moulton Eight

Initially, apart from Moulton, seven people were responsible for the production of this challenge. Technical manager Phil Uncles, who contributed largely to the design; Brian Cottrell (Bath), whose drawings helped accelerate the experiments; Bert Hervin, whose produced special tubes out of sheet metal; tester Graham Cottle; newcomer Michael Bainton; and John Tovey. Moulton produced six models: The Standard, De-Luxe, Safari, Speed, Stowaway and Speedsix. There was also a special 'S' range produced at a separate building over the river at Bradford-on-Avon.

In 1970 a Mk3 high performance prototype named the Moulton Marathon was commissioned and was hand built by Tovey at the Moulton Bradford on Avon works. This bike was used by Colin Martin on his cycling trip from England to Kalgoorlie, West Australia, in the same year. Colin Martin’s book Half way round also makes reference to Tovey.