Redditch came to prominence during the Industrial Revolution, earning a worldwide reputation for its needles and fishing tackle. The earliest Royal Enfields, sturdily engineered bicycles produced there in the 1890s, were equipped with an engine in 1901 making them the first motorcycles to be rolled out of Redditch. Thereafter the town earned a permanent place in British motorcycling history. Production at Royal Enfield's Hewell Road factory may have ceased in 1967 but the company's Redditch years still have a palpable effect on the look and feel of a Royal Enfield today.