trade. As the industry declined from 1880 onwards, due mainly to competition from American and Swiss clock and watch manufacturers, the skilled pool of workers proved crucial to the setting up of sewing machine and bicycle manufacture, and eventually the motorcycle, automobile, machine tool and aircraft industries. However, Rotherhams were still making 100 watches a day in 1899 when many watchmakers had gone out of business. Cycles The origins of cycle production in Coventry lie in the manufacture of sewing machines at the Coventry Machinists Company established in 1861 by James Starley. The company produced several successful models of sewing machine, and in 1868, Starley and his company were persuaded to manufacture the French-designed bone-shaker bicycles. Starley developed the design which led to the "Penny farthing" type and more practical tricycle designs, but ultimately it was his nephew John Kemp Starley who was responsible for inventing the first modern bicycle, the "Starley Safety Bicycle". Produced by Rover in 1885, it was the first bicycle to include modern features such as a chain-driven rear wheel with equal-sized wheels on the front and rear. By the 1890s the cycle trade was booming and Coventry had developed the largest bicycle industry in the world. The industry employed nearly 40,000 workers in the 248 cycle manufacturers that were based in Coventry. The peak year was 1896, but in 1906 for example, the Rudge-Whitworth Company alone made 75,000 of the 300,000 plus cycles manufactured in the city that year, and the late 1920s saw Grindlay Peerless, a company founded by a future mayor of the city, Alfred Robert Grindlay, produce several record breaking motorcycles. Effects on the city This period of industrial growth was reflected in changes to the size and character of the city. The city walls had been largely pulled down in 1662, but otherwise at the beginning of the 18th century its plan and appearance had changed little and was basically medieval with very old buildings, some much decayed. The advent of toll roads, regular stage coach services and increased road traffic meant that the old city gates that had been designed for the access of horse and cart now restricted the flow of traffic. Five of them were removed during the 18th century, and all but two of the remainder were demolished the following century. With industrial growth there was a corresponding rapid increase in population for which housing was needed.