Larry Lewis sent me a photo of the the last Brough Superior motorcycle that was owned by T. E. Lawrence, who was better known as “Lawrence of Arabia” for his exploits during World War I. There was a movie made about him called “Lawrence of Arabia”. By the way, this is a good movie and I would recommend watching it on the biggest screen that you can find. The scenery in the movie is spectacular. This was the motorcycle that he was riding when he was died in his accident in 1935. This motorcycle is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.
Lawrence of Arabia’s 1935 Brough Superior SS100
Apparently this is the only display in the Imperial War Museum that has its own separate room.
T. E. Lawrence owned 8 Brough motorcycles over the years
Lawrence was a very keen motorcycle rider. He did a lot of riding and apparently much of it was at fairly high speeds. He owned a number of Brough (pronounced “bruff”) Superior motorcycles over the years. Obviously the Brough Superior company used his name in some of their promotional material.
Another View of Lawrence’s 1935 Brough Superior SS100
Brough Superior motorcycles were very expensive in their day and they continue to be very expensive if you want to buy one today.
The following four models represent most of the production of Brough Superior motorcycles. Most were custom built to order and many variations were made:
- The SS100 (Super Sports), powered by J.A.P. or Matchless 1000 cc overhead valve V-twin engines. The SS100 was guaranteed to go 100 mph. Approximately 383 were manufactured from 1924 to 1940.
- The SS80 (Super Sports), powered by J.A.P. or Matchless 1,000 cc sidevalve V-twin engines. The SS80 was guaranteed to go 80 mph. Approximately 1,086 were manufactured from 1922 to 1940.
- The SS680 O.H.V. (Super Sports) powered by J.A.P. 680 cc overhead valve V-twin. Approximately 547 were manufactured from 1926 to 1936.
- The model 11.50, powered by J.A.P 1096 cc sidevalve 60° V-twin engines. These were primarily designed for sidecar and police use. Approximately 308 were manufactured from 1933 to 1940. The model name refers to the tax horsepower rating of the engine.
Brough Superior Motorcycles used Most J.A.P. Engines
The one early summer’s day in May 1935, Lawrence was riding his Brough Superior SS100 back home to cottage at Clouds Hill. Suddenly he came upon two boy cyclists, possibly obscured from view by a passing car; fatally swerving to avoid them, he was thrown over the handlebars onto the road. Like most riders of the time, he was not wearing a helmet, and so sustained a serious head injury which left him in a coma and claimed his life some six days later.
The Last Version of the Brough Superior SS100 in 1939
Production of the Brough Superior motorcycles ended when World War II started.
stevemckelvie.wordpress.com 
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The movie Lawrence of Arabia opens with a scene of Sir T.E.Lawrence riding a Brough motorcycle and crashing. The Number plate shown on the motorcycle is UL 656. I guess that the movie makers used a stuntman double for actor Sir Peter O’Toole. , and the movie makers did not use the Number GW 2275. please correct me if i am wrong. The movie inspired me to own a motorcycle.When I was 24 years old ,my dad bought me a 250CC JAWA motorcycle. I subsequently became a stuntman with South India Stuntmens Association, did many daring stunts on motorcycles., before i retired as a stuntman. Now I am 62 years and still ride my JAWA-YEZDI 250cc.
It sounds like you have had quite a life so far. I’m surprised that you were inspired by a movie with a motorcycle accident that ends in death. You must be fearless!
It has been years since I last saw the movie and I have no idea what the license plate number was on the motorcycle used in the movie. As a result I am in not in a position to comment on whether you are correct or not, but given your interest in this matter, I suspect that you are right.
I would be surprised to find out that they used his actual motorcycle in the movie. Not only would they use a stunt double, they probably used a stand-in motorcycle as well. They would not want to damage the actual motorcycle.
Keep riding,
Steve
The motorcycle used in the movie had a chrome tank. There was quite point make of him polishing a spot of oil from the tank. However as you can see from the museum photo above, his actual motorcycle has a black tank.
Thanks for this site – very informative –
Tim Haupt
Mr.Tim Haupt,
The movie Lawrence of Arabia inspired me, and i became a motorcycle freak when I was 24 yrs old. Im 62 yrs now and still ride a JAWA-YEZDI 1995 – 250 CC Bike. during my youthful days I became a stuntman and did a few daring stunts like jumping over a moving train.I have a vcd on this stunt. As for the bike in the movie Lawrence of Arabia I have a DVD and the number plate shown in the movie is UL656. I was facinated by this number and used it on some of my stunt motorcycles. Man, what lovely reminences :).
God bless you and keep up the good work. you can write to me at :jayakumarramasami@yahoo.com
The exhaust pipes on the bike used in the movie are different to those in your pictures, more modern mufflers I’d say.
Hello Steve
I came across your very interesting website and its comments about T E Lawrence’s Brough Superior SS100 – Registration No: GR 2275. As a documentary film maker, I’ve been associated with the motorcycle on several occasions and know the present owner well. Believe me, the very act of sitting on the machine is electrifying! If ever there was a spiritual scent attached to a man made object, this is it. Lawrence’s beloved Brough is probably the most famous road going vehicle in the world, and certainly the most valuable. It currently resides in London’s Imperial War Museum London, and is the very stuff of iconic history. One of your contributors discusses the present black colour of the tank. When Lawrence crashed the bike in 1935, the tank was badly damaged, and a rare photograph taken just after the accident shows this very clearly. The bike was quickly returned to George Brough’s workshop where a new aluminum tank was fitted, but this time it was painted completely black. This is the tank we see on the machine today. The former silver looking tank was in fact black on top with a thin gold key line separating the opposite shades. Ironically, the damaged tank was almost certainly repaired and sold as a spare by Brough’s workshop. One has to remember that in those days preserving the Brough’s original tank would have been unimportant – back then no one could have imagined how famous the bike would become. Miraculously, the Brough survived any further serious damage, and interestingly the small scrapes and dents caused by the accident are preserved to this day. Even the stretch mark where George Brough straightened the bent handlebar is perfectly in evidence. The motorcycle used in David Lean’s classic movie was a poor substitute for the real thing, and had the film been made today, I’m sure a doppelganger of the SS100 (with correct number plate!) would be top of the props list! When ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ was premiered in London, the real GR 2275 stood in pride of place in the foyer of the Odeon Liecester Square. Star of the show Peter O’Toole delighted the world’s press by sitting himself firmly on the Brough! I understand he too received the spiritual electric shock.
Roger Hopkins, London UK
Hi Roger,
Thanks very much for your insightful comments. Given the scale of the movie, having a motorcycle with a different registration number does seem like an unpardonable mistake. As evidenced by a comment on my website, people pay attention to that sort of thing. The motorcycle is probably one of the few direct connections to Lawrence.
Thanks again for your comments!
Regards,
Steve
Hi Steve
The correct registration number of Lawrence’s Brough should be GW 2275. Silly me!
For all saying the registration number was wrong on the bike used in the film, it may have been wrong for the actual bike he crashed on but was actually the registration number of Lawrence’s 7th Brough his 1929 model named George vi by him that bore UL 656.
I saw Lawrence of Arabia when a small boy and was fascinated by anyone who had a job that involved blowing up trains and riding motorcycles, and yes I’ve been a motorcyclist all of my adult life.
When Lawrence died another Brough (paid for by Charlotte Shaw and Nancy Astor) was on order. I understand that his own Brough had a bespoke petrol tank on it and this had been taken off to be transferred to the new bike, so it is likely that the tank on the bike he had the accident on was only lent to him by the factory.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for providing that information; it is quite interesting.
Glad to see that you have been a life-long motorcyclist. Hopefully you never got involved in blowing up trains!
Regards,
Steve McKelvie
hi i found it most intresting reading about lawrence more so as i went to buy a home at flambrough head and was told buy the present owners at that time that lawrence had built this for him and his friend where this was true i didnt know but apprently it was confirmed he used a different name for this at the bottom of this garden was a sidecar over grown with grass and weeds 8 yeras later i went to see if it was still there and yes it wasi bought this sidecar for 40 pounds in 2010 to restore it inside were two letters to lawrence from agentlman who lived in robinhoods bay they were of a very personal nature i just wondered if there was ever a mention of him owing an old sidecar who knows i have this fitted now to a panther
INTERESTING TO READ ABOUT THIS BIKE BECAUSE ;- IN THE EARLY 1960S I WAS A YOUNG MOTORCYCLE SALESMAN AT JENKIN AND PURSER IN SOUTHAMPTON AND A KEEN VINTAGE ENTHUSIAST WHEN OLD BIKES WERE JUST “JUNK”. WE HAD A BRANCH IN PORTSMOUTH AND SOMEONE HAD TAKEN IN AN OLD BROUGH WITH A WINDOW CLEANERS SIDECAR ON IT THAT HE HAD BOUGHT FOR A FEW POUNDS, IT HAD BELONGED TO A T.E. SHAW AS FIRST OWNER IN THE OLD BUFF LOG BOOK . A SMALL BIT OF PUBLICITY IN THE LOCAL PAPER ABOUT HOW IT WAS THE BIKE LAWRENCE HAD BEEN KILLED ON. MY BOSSES THOUGHTTO GAIN A BIT OF FREE ADVERTISING AND OFFERED TO RENOVATE IT FOR THE OWNER FOR FREE. IT CAME UP TO THE SOUTHAMPTON WORKSHOP AND THE YOUNG APPRENTICE DISMANTLED IT AND PUT THE BITS IN A TEA CHEST. THE MECHANICS THOUGHT IT WAS JUST SCRAP AND HAD NOT THE SLIGHTEST IDEA ABOUT RENOVATING OLD BIKES.
I TOOK THE BLACK CELLULOID COVERED HANDLEBARS, COMPLETE WITH ALL CONTROLS AND FOR OVER A YEAR THEY SAT PROUDLY ON MY DESK IN THE SALES OFFICE. THE LAST THING LAWRENCE HAD TOUCHED. IT WAS BEFORE THE FILM AND NO ONE KNEW WHO LAWRENCE WAS. THE MECHANICS THOUGHT I WAS A BIT WEIRD.THE BIKE WAS JUST JUNK TO THEM AND I EVENTUALLY CONTACTED THE OWNER AND SUGGESTED HE RECOVERED HIS BIKE, PUT THE HANDLEBARS BACK IN THE BOX. I COULD PROBABLY BOUGHT IT FOR £20 IF I HAD WANTED. WONDER WHA THOSE HAIRY ARSED MECHANICS WOULD THINK IF THEY KNEW THAT YEARS TO COME THAT WOULD BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE BIKE IN THE WORLD, WORTH MORE THAN THEY WOULD ALL EARN IN A LIFETIME.
Never been much of a motorcycle person but when I saw the picture of this bike and the back story,what a great find.I,m looking foward to learn more about the bike and the person named Lawrence Of Arabia.Thank You very much……Gary M.
Hi Gary,
I would encourage you to watch the movie “Lawrence of Arabia”, but watch it on the biggest screen or TV that you can. The cinematography in this movie is great and the scenery is spectacular and you need to see it as big as possible. Lawrence of Arabia was an extremely interesting person and although most of the movie takes place during the First World War you can get good insights into today’s news about the Middle East.
Steve McKelvie
Having recently read extensively on the subject of T E Lawrence and visited the ‘usual sites’ in Dorset, before Christmas I arranged to meet my daughter in London and visit the Imperial War Museum to view the Brough Superior on which he met his untimely end.
Unable to find the exhibit I enquired at the information desk where it was. I was informed that it had been privately loaned by an individual who they had recently asked to take it away as it was no longer thought to be ‘relevant’ to their collection. Apparently this had caused all sorts of problems to the owner as he had nowhere to store it and who needed to arrange shipment with little notice given.
Needless to add they were unable to give me any details of about the owner due to the ‘Data Protection Act’!! (Total bollocks. Why do these people always say this when they merely want to mess you around?)
They helpfully (and rather patronisingly) told me that they were about to have a major refurbishment and that if I liked motor bikes they would have one used by the Taliban on display when they re-open. I found it hard to hide my excitement.
Please tell me that this is joke!!
Steve McKelvie
That Has to be a joke. Please tell ME it is a joke.
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Mr. T. E. Lawrence, who known as “Lawrence of Arabia” also is distributing a brief knowledge and information about bike and its quality and also have created movie on it. If you are more interested about this can visit sell crashed motorcycle.
So nice to come across this page. I was brought up on Lawrence of Arabia and have read virtually every book available about him+The Seven Pillars of Wisdom and seen the famous movie and a really bad one of him going to I think it was the peace negotiations. Anyway that was a very forgettable movie. It should be pointed out that typically Peter O’Toole made a fine figure of a hero because he was so tall and yet the real ‘Lawrence’ was maybe five feet for inches tall on a good day. Plenty of photographic evidence for that. He was an incredible man. People say “He was very strange” ….. er ja…It takes a very unusual person to do all he did. Thank God for unusual people.
Hi Steve
I work at Clouds Hill for the National Trust, so there isn’t much I don’t know about TEL
Bob is right, the bike is no longer at the IWM in London but at their branch in Duxford. However, it is not on display. Which is annoying because we refer all our visitors to London, should they wish to see it.
I expect it’s in the corner of a warehouse somewhere collecting dust, which is criminal.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t provide adequate security at Clouds, which is a shame as that’s where it belongs. Although we are trying to get it placed in Bovington Tank Museum.
Not sure whether you know, but he had Brough put smaller wheels on the back of his bikes so that he could touch the ground. Last year we had four Broughs at Clouds and one of them was his so I measured the seat heights and his bike was approximately 2″ lower than the rest.
But Mark was wrong about his height. He was actually 5’7″ tall. The sculptor, Eric Kennington produced a marble, life sized effigy of TEL which is in Wareham Church in Dorset.
Regards
Stan
Some points in brief for you collectors.
T. E was 5. feet five and a half. He said so himself. O’Toole was way too tall for the part at 6.ft..3 but Lean liked to glamorise things. Part of the struggle was for TE to overcome his height disadvantage in leadership. The movie did not show this. TE may not have been homosexual: just frustrated with bad experiences with women. The JAP engine was used extensively in grass track racing right up until the 1970 s. It is very good with alcohol fuel as alcohol does not need big air cooling fins.
I had one (single cylinder JAP) myself. TE borrowed Charlotte Gs. “Shaw” name for his later years. He wasa very good motorcycle rider: skilled; and he was capable of moving quickly down country roads. But he mostly traveled at 40 MPH.( he says so.)
Most of the credit for the bike should not go to George Bruff, rather to JAP engines as they were before their time. I am lookig for one for my Harley ..to replace the Harley engine. Hard to find. ( here in NYC)
Point of note: The modern Brough Superior has no hope of success. The name was bought by a businessman. I dont have time to look up the name. The reason it has no hop is because fundamentally a motorcycle is a piece of sculpture and a mode of transport after that.
The modern brough is a 90 degree twun and is therefore ugly. It does not resemble the old one.
Lawrence would never buy one. Nor would I. Also bike people do not like a stressed engine. Allstress is to be in a frame.
I have more history. A lot. But later.
Paddy The Mick.
No, no-one likes a stressed engine. That’s why Vincents are so unpopular and cheap to buy. No one likes them at all. Unfortunately some Harley riders have a skewed view of how a motorcycle should ride. I’ve never had a Harley pass me on any of my Vincents on a twisty road. EVER. As for JAP engines, George Brough dropped JAP engines and went for Matchless based units because JAP were not keeping up with the times and reliability was a problem. He was not the only one. Do some research on Howard Raymond Davies (HRD before they became Vincent). He was the only man to win a Junior and a Senior TT on a 350cc. He also dropped JAP albeit a lot earlier the G. Brough did, because of frustration over reliability and lack of development. Rudge was another one who got sick of JAP and developed their own engines and with them won 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Junior TT of 1930 and 1st and 2nd in the Senior the same year. There were many other manufacturers who dropped JAP including AJS, Enfield and Morgan cars.
The movie portrayed Lawrence as a publicity seeking self opinionated braggard. Nothing could be further from the truth. He was a shy and private man who was used by the British Army command as propaganda. Damascus is portrayed as being captured in 1918 by Lawrence and his rag tag Arabic army. They were in the vicinity but Damascus was captured by Lt Gen Harry Chauvels Australian Desert Mounted Corps but the opportunity to curry favour with the Arabs was too tempting for the British so they rewrote history once again. Then, when they felt that they didn’t need them anymore, the British treated the Arabs with absolute contempt which Lawrence resisted and objected to.
Lawrence hated the limelight. He was on the verge of starvation and joined as a private in the British army and the RAF under the assumed names of John Hume Ross and Thomas Edward Shaw ( in honour of his friend George Bernard Shaw who contributed to the purchase of at least one of his Broughs and probably three or four) so he could eat and have a dry bed. Read the book “The Mint” , published posthumously at his order. He was basically retired when he was killed.
His sexuality was neither relevant nor judged by the Arabs which was another reason he had so much regard and respect for them. Never have I seen any reference to any intimate relationships Lawrence may have had with females either successful or otherwise, frustrating or fulfilling.
Lawrence was a larger than life figure despite his protestations. His death eventually led to the almost universal requirement that helmets are worn when riding a motorcycle. The attending surgeon who operated on him and kept him alive for six days after his crash was Hugh Cairns, an Australian working in London. He was convinced that helmets would save lives and kept up the campaign for the rest of his life. His first major success was the British army who were losing two despatch riders a week, mostly to head injuries. In 1941 it became mandatory for all British army motorcyclists to wear helmets. In the couple of years leading up to 1941, roughly 110 motorcyclists died on British roads PER MONTH. In 2013, roughly 28 motorcyclists per month died, despite the increased traffic and population.
Most of the new Broughs have a reproduction OHV engine that externally is similar to the JAP but internally is radically different and better. They are 50 degrees by the way. The gentleman concerned is named Mark Upham and he lives in Austria and runs a business selling spares for many different classic motorcycles. I have never met the man but those who have tell me he’s passionate about preserving the Brough name and reputation.
The missive above starts with ” Some points in brief for you collectors” Given the twaddle this person tries to jam down our throats, I can’t wait for his “more history. A lot. But later. ” Let’s hope the desire for accuracy gets stronger.
A collector and a rider.
So long ago that I forget where, I read that T.E. Lawrence’s motorcycle had tyres specifically designed for use with a sidecar. A motorcycle with sidecar does not lean (except with “trick” riding) and tyres with a broad flat road contact grip better on wet surfaces (and wear longer) than normal motorcycle tyres. However such tyres are problematic with a solo motorbike as they tend to interfere with self-balancing ability. For small unbalance forces the bike can balance on the broad base of the tyres. But as the unbalance forces increase this effect suddenly falls away and the normal self-balancing forces are what keeps the bike steady. This sudden change gives an effect similar to over-steer. A car with over-steer can be controlled but it take skill. According to the account I read, someone tried Lawrence’s bike but felt so unsure that he rode it back at a snail’s pace in the small ditch beside the road to avoid the unbalance forces of road camber. Lawrence could apparently deal with this semi-instability but it was allegedly a contributing cause of the crash. Can anyone corroborate first if there is validity in this theory of stability, second if the bike did indeed have such tyres and third where I might have read this.
Don Macleod
I’m so glad to have found this forum because it seems as though there are individuals who post here who have the knowledge to answer some or all of the questions which I’ve been trying to find answers for concerning T. E. Lawrence and Brough Superior (abbreviated in the text to Broughs) motorcycles (abbreviated to bike or bikes). Let me say in advance that I can’t claim to be a motorcycle enthusiast as such but I come from that part of England where Broughs were made and I’m interested in the Lawrence connection. In no particular order my questions are as follows together with some comments:
1. Sources claim that Lawrence owned eight Broughs. However, one was supposedly on order from the Nottingham works when he crashed and subsequently died. Some sources claim he crashed on the seventh bike; other sources I’ve read claim he crashed on the eighth. If the latter, it couldn’t have been on order at the time. A Thomas Hardy website gives (without authentication) a list of all the bikes owned by Lawrence. See: http://www.thomashardy.co.uk/te.htm
This maintains he crashed on the eighth bike, named by Lawrence, George VII and the one on order, which had been named George VIII, would therefore be the ninth. Is there a definitive, undisputable answer for this?
2. You’ll note the reference to the repaired bike being sold by Brough to a Cambridge dealer as per the 2015 Telegraph article (http://bit.ly/2CeEtup). The Thomas Hardy website as above notes that a Mr. John Weebly has owned it for the “past 23 years” but as there’s no date at that source for this, the year when Mr. Weebly acquired the bike can’t be determined from it. Can that ownership date be determined?
3. Provenance and value. Sources claim there are between 1,000 and 1,100 extant Broughs but apparently not all are totally original in some respect or other which will obviously affect value. I gather that all the Broughs owned by Lawrence still exist. However, is it known if indisputable provenance for them exists? Have any ever come up for sale? The Telegraph article noted above states that “Six of the eight Lawrence Broughs are beyond certain identification” Beyond certain identification suggests to me that strict provenance for six of them is lacking. Is this correct?
A record price ($929,000 plus buyer’s premium) was set last January at a public auction in the US by Bonham’s for a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning. This pushed a 1915 Cyclone previously owned by the actor, Steve McQueen into second place in the record books. The last five in the top ten of record prices set at auction are all Broughs and in all the sources I’ve checked for the top 250, there are about 30 Broughs spread fairly randomly throughout the lists suggesting that Broughs might not be as valuable as is generally thought. Only 30 of the Vincent model which fetched that record price were ever made. In any auction of course, what also has to be factored in is a winning bidder’s determination to take possession of the item and also having the financial muscle to achieve that aim. Whether the “final” Lawrence Brough, presuming proven provenance, would fetch in excess of £1.5m as per the Telegraph article is debatable I think but would the present owner put it up for auction anyway? Hagerty’s current values for the 1936 SS100 are: Concours condition – $225,000; Average – $125,000. A storied history like once being indisputably owned by Lawrence would incontestably add to the value but maybe not to £1.5m.
4. Quality. It’s claimed that a Brough SS100 was the Rolls-Royce of bikes. I understand this to mean of a standard superior to any other bike of its era. Like any road vehicle builder, I imagine Brough outsourced a number of components and I’m wondering how much of the manufacture in Nottingham was assembly of outsourced components compared to in-house fabrication. Evidently, even the engines, arguably the heart of a vehicle, were outsourced. What was or is the essence of Brough’s claimed superior quality?
Reflecting further on the Telegraph’s article on the Broughs purportedly owned by Lawrence, I think it’s possible I may have misinterpreted the phrase “beyond certainty” as it relates to how assured the provenance is of the Lawrence-owned machines. When writing my previous comments, I interpreted it to mean outside the realm of certainty, i.e. in some doubt. On the other hand, it could mean to an unparalleled degree of certainty, i.e. with no doubt whatsoever. Some might not agree that the language is ambiguous but in any event, the same question remains: how many of the Lawrence-owned bikes have unquestionable provenance?
TEL . BS he was killed on was GW 2275. The Bs he never took de!ivery of was a 2 of everything SS100. Its registration number was BTO 308. Some early history of this known and it was tracked by Albert Wallis to Bedford in the late 50s early 60s.
To reply to a few points.
It is known that Lawrence proposed to one lady but was spurned, he also had very close relationships with Nancy Astor and Charlotte Shaw, but probably not intimate. The theory of his supposed homosexuality was generated mostly by a biography written by Richard Aldington, published twenty years after Lawrences death. There is no known supporting evidence for this and the biography led to the writers reputation being soundly trashed.
Lawrence called his bikes Boanerges (powerful orator) and reference to this is made in his book The Mint. I think the idea of calling them George may have been a story put about by George Brough, it would certainly tally with his other publicity exploits.
There is a story that Rolls Royce inspected one of GB’s bikes and because of the quality allowed him to continue marketing them as the Rolls Royce of motorcycles. There is little doubt that the components, whilst bought in, were the very best available at the time and the machines were high quality items.
Wheel sizes in Lawrences time were much larger than nowadays, 21 inch being very common on motorcycles for their centrifugal effect, which it was believed improved the handling, so a smaller wheel size is quite plausible on Lawrences bike as he was very short, he also had a fairly high pitched voice, but I doubt that affected his riding capability!
Also in his time, square cut motorcycle tyres were very common and persisted until the latter years of last century. To the uninitiated they look like sidecar tyres. I am a lifelong motorcyclist and can tell you that after riding on modern profile tyres, they are utterly awful and only a complete fool would use them nowadays.
After leaving the army he joined the RAF, but was discovered by the press and hounded out. He rejoined the army, but the same thing happened. After enlisting Lord Trenchard’s help he rejoined the RAF and remained there until his retirement. During this time he actively helped to develop the high speed rescue launches that saved so many lives during WW2 and during this time he served under the assumed surnames of Ross and Shaw