The Powell Brothers, originally Powell Brothers and Whitaker, were a prominent Wrexham-based agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in 1876.
Potato Pickers
Their Cambrian Ironworks, located next to Wrexham General station on the site of the old Jewsons, specialised in producing a variety of agricultural machinery and implements. They were particularly famous for their award-winning potato pickers, which they exported worldwide, including to New Zealand.
The brothers were Calvinistic Methodists. John was a magistrate and was became the first Chairman of the Governors of Grove Park County School for Boys. He was also an advisor for the Welsh Intermediate Education Act.
Powell Road, running from Asda to the old Groves school in Wrexham, is named after them.
Post-War Boom
Towards the end of the 1910s, the company decided to take advantage of the post-war boom in motorcycle manufacture and form their own bike design and production section.
The boom didn’t last long, but it did bring about a vast number of small manufacturers, all hoping to make money out of the demand for cheap mechanical transport. The Powells’ machines were a hit and appeared regularly at the Isle of Man TT Races, with overseas orders coming in thick and fast.
Their first bike was a 550cc machine with a three-speed gearbox and a Blackburne-engine featuring chain and belt drive. The option of an all-chain drive was also available at an extra cost. Designed by WW1 dispatch rider Edward Burney, it had a 4HP rating and featured a large external flywheel. In 1922, Powell Brothers produced a 170cc two-stroke engine machine of their own design. It was a brave attempt as most small-scale manufacturers would have gone for the easier option of using a proprietary make of engine such as a Villiers or a JAP.
The Ironworks
Powell Brothers displayed their bikes in a showroom on Town Hill. These premises later became Border Motorcycles, and subsequently, the showroom and workshop became a bar and is now the site of The Ironworks.
One of the most interesting stories to come out of this era concerns a young female motorcycle trials rider named Marjorie Cottle. She was a rising star and an object of curiosity, as it was very unusual in those days to have a female rider. Powell Brothers supplied her with her first “works” bike, although more prominent manufacturers such as Raleigh, Triumph and BSA soon took note and subsequently signed her up. Marjorie was still riding motorcycles into the 1970s. Artist David Kynaston has immortalised her in one of his famous murals – read more in our June 2025 edition.
Possibly the only surviving example of Powell’s 170cc two-stroke engine. As the motorcycle market faltered, the business concentrated on various models using their own two-stroke engines with different gearbox types. In 1924, The company decided to drop the large four-stroke Blackburne-engined model in 1924 due to poor sales.
In 1925, Powell Brothers went into voluntary liquidation before the engineering firm Rubery Owen took them over. They are largely forgotten now, but they still played a big part in the history of British motorcycle manufacture.
Thanks to John Allen and Russell White for their contributions to this article.
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