Lawrence of Arabia’s bike on show at talk

A motorcycle owned by Lawrence Of Arabia will be on show at the National Civil War Centre, Newark, during a talk about his life.

T. E. Lawrence, who shot to worldwide fame by leading the Great Arab Revolt a century ago, and whose story inspired the classic David Lean film of 1962, was a fan of the powerful Brough motorbikes that were hand-made in Nottingham.

Mr Alan Payne, of the TE Lawrence Society, and a Brough owner, will give a talk on Lawrence Of Arabia and his machines at the National Civil War Centre at 2.30pm on Saturday.

The Brough Superior Club will be there with half a dozen of the classic bikes. They will include one owned by Lawrence in the 1930s, which is now in private ownership.

Mr Kevin Winter, of the National Civil War Centre, said: “Lawrence visited Newark every week on his Brough while based at RAF Cranwell, so that makes this occasion especially apt.

“He owned seven Broughs and the firm used that to great effect as the ultimate celebrity endorsement of its time.”

'They are superb machines'

A Brough Superior owned by Mr Howard Wilcox, originally from Newark, is on display at the National Civil War Centre as part of the current Shifting Sands exhibition about Lawrence.

Mr Wilcox said: “The exclusive marque was known as the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles and it’s not surprising Lawrence fell in love with them. They are superb machines.”

The Lawrence exhibition is based on ten years of excavations in Jordan and traces his life from archaeologist to the war hero who drove the Turks from Arab lands.

Lawrence eventually turned his back on fame and lived under an assumed name in the RAF until he was killed in a motorbike crash ­— riding a Brough Superior ­— in 1935.

Admission to the talk and exhibition is included in normal entry: £8 adults, £7 concessions and £3.50 children.