War, Floods and a Cast of Thousands
An Epic Drama spanning a Century!

Contrary to rumour Stanley Fearn's has not been here forever - though it may seem like it at times! Bikes have been sold in the Matlock area by four generations of the Fearn family.

William started things off in 1904 or thereabouts with his first shop in Darley Dale. His son Stanley was soon involved, at first working with William and then from about 1912 trading under his own name, selling cycles and motor cycles.

Stanley moved three miles down the Derwent valley to Matlock, where he traded from a couple of different locations before settling in Bakewell Road at the site of the present day shop around 1926.Today the buildings are virtually unchanged from all those years ago. Essentially three separate structures, they were originally separate businesses, all built around 1925-1927. Stanley initially had just one, in later years acquiring the other two.

Stanley's eldest son Geoff joined the business in 1930 straight from school at 14. He served in the RAF as an aircraft fitter during the war returning to become a partner. The shop was then renamed "Stanley Fearn and Son".

As well as cycles and motor cycles, the shop also had a thriving petrol business with four pumps. In those days there were lots of small petrol stations scattered around. Today Matlock has only three stations, but as late as 1965 the town had at least eight. Our pumps were sited next to the footpath with "swingarms" which piped petrol high over pedestrians to vehicles at the roadside. Not surprisingly you do not see this sort of thing any more!

Geoff serving a customer with petrol c1950

Immediately behind the shop runs the River Derwent. In about 1980 major flood defenses were completed in Matlock. Prior to that hardly a winter went by without a flood scare. Sometimes the water barely broke over the bank, but sometimes it was a bit more serious.......

"Young Andrew left that tap running again then?" 1965

As a young boy Geoff's son Andrew remembers thinking the floods were really exciting. (For some reason his Dad did not think they were such fun).

Andrew joined the business in 1977. Geoff continued working full time until he was seventy, and then worked part time until he suffered a stroke five years later.

Today

These days we are a limited company - Stanley Fearn Cycles Ltd. but we usually just refer to ourselves as "Stanley Fearn's"

The cycle side is much bigger for us, dominated by the cycling phenomenon that is the mountain bike. We stock several leading makes and are proud to be the leading dealer in the area for Marin, who are arguably the top mountain bike brand in Britain.Road racing bikes have made quite a comeback in recent years. Our leading road brand is Trek.Lance Armstrong's famous Tour de France victories were all on Trek racing bikes,but to the best of our knowledge Lance hasn't ever experienced the strange joys of shopping at Stanley Fearn's ! See our cycling pages for more information on all our bike brands.

For over eighty years now the old buildings have carried on more or less unchanged. Sometimes we think about knocking them down and replacing them with a smart new shop, but we are really quite fond of them in their funny old way. We think we might carry on as we are for a few years yet!

Inside the shop we have no spotlights and hardly any carpet or fancy display units, but we do have a certain 'olde worlde' charm (and when was the last time a spotlight repaired your bike or a shiny display case gave you good advice?).

Much more important is the quality of the service you get, which more than anything else depends on the quality of the staff. We really feel our team is one of the best in the business. If you want to know why have a look at our staff page.

HISTORY	Our Staff	The Peak District
Service Package	How to find Us	Choosing a Bike
Hardtail	Full Suspension	Hybrid, Comfort & Urban
BMX	Slalom, Trials & Jump	Road Bikes
Accessories	Folding Bikes	SALE!