Twenties sloping top tube cycle

Thanks to James Kelly for this pic of a chap with his sporting cycle. Really not the first idea as to the marque but there are a few interesting details to pick up.

From the style of the cycle it is from the twenties or early thirties: current with, but outdated by, the 'Bastide' generation of lightweights. Most manufacturers offered a sloping top tube drop bars model like this, lighter than a standard roadster and definitely racier but still with rod brakes. Most were catalogued as 'road racer' models or something similar.

From the clothing style I would say the picture is taken in the thirties. Look at his heavyweight gauntlet gloves which are rather incongruous. On the cycle itself note the steep gearing, heavy rear rack (possibly a Brooks) and acetylene front light. I find interesting the position of the bell on the top tube, not something you see on old cycles nowadays, I think I'm going to replicate that on my own road racer.