Dawes large frame with Reynolds 500 tubing

[Punkawallah]

You can ask the boss to see the 'stock' bikes but you'll need climbing gear and the eyes of an outhouse rat because you won't get near some of the bikes for clutter. Not sure what the Hereford connection is though. We're 84 miles away from there according to Google maps. If I'm lucky I'll get a sneek peek of a 'potential find' before it gets thrown into the maelstrom. What we need is an internet presence and then we might get somewhere but the charity has been going for an awful long time and failed miserably in that department. They've got stuff you simply can't get these days.

Sounds like the one I volunteered at. There was a warehouse full of bikes, lots of which were scrapped-in over time at the local yard, and when the funding went the rest went there too. I kept telling them I’d photograph and put some up on my eBay account for more than the £1 a bike they’d get at the yard, collection only, but they poo-poo’ed it. Managed to salvage some bits and the odd bike, but still crying for that Rudge Whitworth folding bike that went.
Have you suggested putting some up on the Vintage Bicycles For Sale Facebook page?

I am retired, and will possibly be driving to Hereford from the North East, so a detour will not be a hardship. I’ll send you a Message, and see where we go.

 

[Big John]

No problem. Be nice to meet someone off here after all these years. I wouldn't hold out much hope for the Dawes though. Nothing seems to hang around for long and I don't mean sold. It's usually a trip to the scrappie. Today's 'find' is a Dawes 531 tandem. Now THAT would be a shame if that got scrapped. Needs some work on it but could be an absolute gem.

 

[Punkawallah]

No problem. Be nice to meet someone off here after all these years. I wouldn't hold out much hope for the Dawes though. Nothing seems to hang around for long and I don't mean sold. It's usually a trip to the scrappie. Today's 'find' is a Dawes 531 tandem. Now THAT would be a shame if that got scrapped. Needs some work on it but could be an absolute gem.

If you are trying to make me feel guilty, be aware it’s been tried by professionals, and it won’t work :-)
Seriously, though, you could try offering them as ‘bike shaped paper weights’ at £10 each to shift the less auspicious pieces.
Whet we do in the shop with 10 speeds is to swap out the drop bars for flat bars, and sell them as ‘work bikes’. I’m just on with trying to make 26” wheels work on 10 speed frames - trying to shift some of the 26” mountain. Sometimes you can produce cable stops from downtube shifters and caliper brakes: