North Roaders at Play in the 1890's - by Graham Thompson

NORTH ROADERS AT PLAY IN THE 1890's

The North Road Gazette tells us about the activities of the North Roaders only from 1903 onwards so I have had to look elsewhere to find out how members disported themselves in the really old days.

The Club possesses the second visitors’ book from the George Hotel at Buckden on the Great North Road, this book is kept solely to record visits by members of cycling clubs. I have been unable to ascertain what happened to the first or any subsequent books, probably destroyed many years ago as the hotel has been completely refurbished and modernised in the past two years.

Monty Holbein of the North Road and the Catford is the first signatory in this book with the remark “Last name in the old book and the first in the new.” Monty was a famous cyclist and later an equally famous swimmer. The last signatory is F. T. Bidlake, “Biddy”, of the North Road along with his clubmates J. M. James, “Jimjams” and F. George Hillyard Browne.

They had been “sampling droves and river sides to Ely, Littleport, Upwell, Wisbech, Downham Market, Ely and St. Ives, which I guess must be part of 70 miles along rough fenland roads. They do not tell us how they reached Buckden. The book covers the months from July 1890 to August 1891.

The remarks column gives some insight into record attempts. On September 2, 1890 Biddy timed R. C. Nesbitt of the Bath Road at 6:27:30 for the R.R.A. 100-mile record on an ordinary, that’s a penny farthing to most people, shod with solid tyres. Two members of the Bath Road and one of the Pickwick paced him: it must have been a very wet day as they used the words “snorked” and “snorking” which us akin to “snorkling” now used in diving parlance.

I have a copy of the diary of George Pryor, who was a member of the Club from 1890 to 1908 and who rode in the first “50” time trial of 1895.

He was frequently experimenting with his gearing – in those days single and fixed – and in August 1901 rode from his home in Luton to Gorleston on a gear of 75" which he found too high, taking under eleven hours. Often he used higher gears and in June 1899 he rode from Luton to Reading and back on a gear of 81" with a riding time of 8 hours and 35 minutes. He and three others left home at 2.20 pm and arrived home at 2.05 am the next morning.

They were in Reading by 6.15 pm including a stop for tea at Slough, and lost time in taking a wrong turning. He commented that the weather was beautiful and very warm which made the roads dusty (this was long before the days of tarmacadam) and that he “never rode a long journey easier.” The distance that day was 124 miles.

Gorleston was his favourite holiday town judging by the number of times he cycled there and in July 1898 he and his wife took the tandem there covering 122 miles from Luton via Royston, Newmarket (breakfast), Thetford, Norwich and Yarmouth.

The children, one son and nine daughters, had been sent on ahead the previous day to Gorleston. Seemingly the Victorians had energy in abundance and it is little wonder we had an Empire of which to be proud. Graham Thompson