From the fork section and braze-ons, plus the Bayliss Wiley BB, this is a late 1930's Dawes. No civilian production 1939 to 1945, the factory was making war supplies, steel stock was requisitioned by the War Office and the workers were drafted into the military - some sort of unpleasantness had arisen with the Germans, Japanese, Italians and for part of the time with the Russians! All friends again now though!

Seller's got the date all wrong and it's been refinished with the "wrong" decals, but it's survived pretty well for it's age. Would have been a brilliant bike in its day. It could be 531, equally Accles & Pollack tubing - which was similar but now rarer. No real way to tell, but from a later model I once owned I believe this will be a really light steel frame. Pretty sure the frame would have had a threaded BB when built and the threads ground out in the factory to take the buyer's option of 'oil tank' BB. It's far too big for me and I don't buy oversize frames any more, also I'm having nightmares modifying the drive train on a 1985 tandem at present, but it would still make an awesome project for someone.