The Kent History Forum
Life Stories and Personal Memories => Personal Memories => Topic started by: Dave Smith on May 24, 2020, 07:29:09 PM
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In the original KHF, there was a section devoted to clubs, etc. & I put " my pennyworth" on it, along with a few others. For posterity, I will reiterate. When I went home to Gillingham in 1948-1950 - on leave from the RAF-, in the Medway towns, there was an active branch of the Cyclist Touring Club- probably 30 members- who went on club runs every Sunday.( Safe as very little traffic then). After a couple of years with them, I joined the Medway Road Club. Along with the Medway Wheelers, they were the only club devoted to racing "time trials"- individuals against the clock, as well as touring in Medway. Then in 1950 the Medway Velo, was formed, cyclists who were keen on "mass start" racing as done on the Continent. Time Trialing was a very sombre affair- before WW2 you had to wear all black so that you didn't upset the motorists! - & you were required to wear " non gaudy" clothes as dictated by the governing body, the RTTC. The other body that we were affiliated to was the N.C.U. The Velo was affiliated to the B.L.R.C. & was started by a few friends, including my cousin Eric Smith. The Wheelers rose to fame as they had the winner,( Pete Beardsmore), runner up ( Ken Joy) & Team of the RTTC Championship ( 25, 50 & 100 miles) for 3 years running.
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Got a feeling I remember the Velo club ,most Sunday mornings in and around the cycle shop under the arches in corporations stree rochester,can't recall the shop name but understood it was very well known I the cycling world,even made there own frames,and built racing bicycle parts,drop handlebars were the thing to have,very racy,trouser bottoms tucked into our socks,us kids thought we were the bees knees.
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Perhaps the "non gaudy" clothes were a way to discourage attempts at advertising?
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No, I don't think advertising was the reason, just a follow on from the early days but with a more modern, reasonable outlook. However, the Veio did wear gaudy clothes in line with the Continentals but again, not advertising in those days for who would pay them. Later of course, sponsered teams appeared & advertising took off.e.g. Ken Joy road for & was paid by Hercules Cycles.
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What routes did you take for these tours and trials Dave?
Colin, would the cycle shop in Rochester be Chambers?
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I used to see the cycling clubs pass me as I did my solo cycling, after my mate was called up.in 1944.
I used to cycle to Tonbridge from Chatham. (nice scenery) Longest to Margate & back on a Sunday.
There was a cycle shop until recently, owned by a well known cyclist, in Rainham.
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Smiffy. All over East Kent mainly. Tonbridge & T.Wells, Ashford, Folkestone, Canterbury, Herne Bay, Rye & occasionally across the ferry at Gravesend & up to Billericay. At Whit. week-ends, a Friday night ride down to Portsmouth, across on the first ferry & have a sleep on the sands at Sandown. Tour the IoW & night at Sandown YHA. Then on Sunday pm cross back & up to Soberton YHA & Monday back home via the Devils Punch Bowl. Whenever we went S.E. we always returned via Boxley Hill where we stopped for a cooler at The Woodman & on the way out a favourite stop for "tea & a wad" (RAF expression) was the Singing Kettle on the A20, quite often meeting London, etc. clubs there. The " hard riders" of the club would go their own way, much further- & faster- than us tourers. Sometimes the Sunday run would be a "100 in 8" ( miles in hours). The usual number of participants was around 20.
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Haha - and here's me thinking you were talking about a nice little ramble around the local area :)
Must have been pretty fit to do all of that riding, and I would imagine you were caught in some pretty foul weather at times.
Not in Kent, but I think this old British Transport film may be of some interest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPkT0paGEnQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPkT0paGEnQ)
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Yes, very interesting although a bit after my time for I got married in 1953 & that was that! I should have clarified, the club run was not an out & back but a circular ( or oval) tour, mostly along country lanes- impossible now! Time Trialling was out & back along allocated courses, fairly flat, measured & numbered by the RTTC. A local one was just outside Headcorn, 25 or 30 miles. The annual Hill Climb on Boxing day was up Boxley Hill. You had to be pretty fit to compete in T.T's,but if you took it really seriously, then out for a 10 mile training run before work every day & 100+ miles on Saturday & Sunday. Chambers rings a bell, the biggest cycle shop in Medway who made their own frames to order, as did Elliott Bros. in Canterbury Street, Gillingham. Happy days.
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Hi Smiffy,yes soon as I read your post it came to me ,Chambers was the name,the club members?used a tea rooms at the bridge end of corporation St as a rest area/may have been the bridge tea rooms/Rochester cafe,not certain I think ,ultimately chambers had a shop on the other side of corporation st,sold motorized push bikes as well,
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I believe the old Chambers premises is now Baggins Book Bazaar.
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Smiffy,take your word for that,have not returned to the Medway area since the yard closed,had to move way to find work,miss the places I grew up in,so many memories left there,it was our home and we were forced to leave,still feel bitter about it,our daughter still lives in Chatham ,but at my age there's no chance of returning,
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Colin. Afraid that's the way all the " proper cycle shops" went with the loss of new, young cyclists to buy all their gear. First, lots of ordinary bicycles for the ordinary folk- especially at Christmas- then adding mopeds & even scooters. Fin!
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Ok, while we are on cycle shops,any one remember Sharmans,corner of casanue St Rochester (is that the correct spelling)?and King st,oposit Troy town school,now that was a real old style bike shop,Thay sold new, second hand ,plus three wheeler kid bikes,had frames, wheels and a myriad of spares hanging from the ceiling when you entered you were hit by a lovly smell of new rubber and oil ,the window in King st was allways full of strange spaners,bike bells and a assortment of nuts & bolts,got my first bike from that shop about 1957 ,during the war mum used to send me to collect our recharged acumilater,6d a charge ,no electricity in our house,it would run the wireless for about a week,
When de railer gears became de rigor ,chambers sent a lot of there problems to the chap who owned chat mans.
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Chambers was also a dealer for Honda and Puch motorbikes. Dad bought his there in about 1959 after he retired his faithful Norman Nippy.
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Well Alan you sussed me out quick as i did hate cycling or exercise.... I was the one put as the goalkeeper at school that let all the goals in!!
I chose the Claude Butler as it looked nice and i like nice things even then.
I left school in 1963 so needed a decent bike for work... think I only had it a year and Len Chambers gave me peanuts for it.
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Just found this!
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KeithG. A Campag gear, & a Claud Butler with Reynolds 531 tubing?- I bet you felt on top of the world! We lesser mortals couldn't afford those, Simplex was the standard. Later of course, Shimano came along with a much more reasonably priced gear to compete with Campag. Of possible interest, I met a chap who'd bought one of the C.B's used on the Lands End to John o'Groats record attempts. It had "squared! capital letters CLAUD BUTLER, rather than the standard script signature.
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AlanTH. Fantastic that you rode all that way on your first club run, some ( no names!) would have called it a day! Yes, there was a lot of " friendly animosity" between NCU & BLRC clubs. Although the League boys favoured Continental frames, etc. they really weren't as good as a British Reynolds 531 Double butted tubes, forks & stays. I bought a Frejus with double clanger, etc. ( 'cos it was Italian) but it weighed so much more than my A.S.Gillot frame. Also, a mix of Airlight or Harden hubs with French Mavic rims were the tops; unless you could afford Campag hubs to go with the gears! KeithG. Shame on you for giving up so quickly.
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Just an anecdote to do with cycling.
My dear old Dad born 1901 left school in 1914. His first job was as an errand boy earning 50p ( then ) a week ! He gave his Mum 40p for keep and saved the other for his first cycle. It cost 25 p and had solid rubber tyres. How long did he survive with that I wonder he didn't say in his memoirs I have. He died shortly before his 91st birthday.
Another one was the fact my middle son apparently ? rode from Rochester to Hastings with his pals when he was about 15 yrs old and I didn't have a clue for years after before he told me what they sued to get up to. No H&S then of course.
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Lyn. I'll bet that was hard going on solid tyres, but then, they didn't know any different. Lads ( & life) were very hard in those days so cycling to Hastings would have been good fun for them ; their only option would have been," Shank's Pony".
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Yes Dave and they lived in Kings Lynn which had many cobbled streets then OUCH ! He didn't like office life and joined the Army as soon as he could ( RAMC ) ended up as a Lieutenant and left the Army in 1945. I landed on their doorstep the following year by stork ! His life memoirs are brilliant to have but like many he didn't tell us anything about them until not long before he died.
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And apologies everyone for going completely off topic. :-X
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Hi LynL,yes naughty geting of topic,but enjoying 😁
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Hi Dave Smith. I had Mavic centre pull brakes, Fiammi rims, Campag gears, Gnutti chain gear, Ideal French saddle (far better than the bum cutter Brooks) and virtually everything foreign made back then except for Dunlop tubes.
Whole bike less wheels (given to me by elder bro) cost 33 quid.... a huge sum back then but I managed to pay for it with my earnings of 10 bob a week and then my apprenticeship wages from Blaw Knox....about 18 shillings at age 15 or 16 but it got better later.
Took a long time maybe about 2 or 3 years but I loved cycling everywhere including passing those old buses going up Chatham Hill at nought miles and hour. :)
Happy days and the hard work never killed me.
Cheers.
AlanH
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Hi DS.
"One a cyclist always a cyclist"! Not sure about that as the last time I rode a bike which must have been at least 20 years ago, I fell off through braking too hard with the front brake. :( Now my legs are knackered through various ailments I may be tempted to get an electric bike .....
By the way, my brakes were actually Mafac centre pull not Marvic as I said. Had no trouble with the Gnutti gear that I remember. Plus I think I may have accidentally inflated the price of my bike to include the rims given me by my elder bro.
I think it was about '57 I joined the Rochester Velo Cub Olympic.
Just remembered another club members name... Bert Wakeham. You should have seen that man go on his Cinelli if there was a sign of rain on the horizon. :)
AlanH.
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There is Plaque on the Wall of Newnham Church commemorating a cycle club .Why its there is explained on this link.
http://www.delaunecc.org/history.htm (http://www.delaunecc.org/history.htm)
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After reading all about cycles / frames / gears / saddles - my head is in a whirl.
I was never one for clubs - except for one - & that was not for cycling -- I cycled at my own speed.
Never for a minute thought of joining any cycling club. The only thing was I took longer to get any-
where - than them - I enjoyed the country side. I did join one club ` Rochester United Skating Club.
That is another story -- Roller Hockey.
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H Alan. I didn't necessarily mean " physically" a cyclist, just for ever interested in- follow latest trends & equipment, records, Tour de France, Tour of Btitain, etc., etc. I understood what you meant- Mavic. I forgot to say that when at St Athan I had 27" alloys with D'Allesando tubs & Eureka gears. For grass track, a cheap 26" fixed, with Dunlop 10. Grandarog. Most interesting about the De Laune Cycling Club, thanks. A fair run from S. London to Newnham but a lovely ride. I also read the Club History, where it mentioned Herne Hill track & " rattling the boards". In my day, H.H. was smooth concrete ( boards usually were indoors for obvious reasons).
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I know what you mean DaveS, I still watch bits about cycling but feel being on the roads these days is much more dangerous than it was 60 plus years ago. Too many self centred incompetent loonies around.
Drivers out here (Oz) have to be seen to be believed. :(
Many cycle paths but those that use them seem to have much the same attitude towards others that they have when driving their cars.
So it's not for me and at 76 I think that's the best way. :)
But memories brought back by others on this forum and the previous one are great and I thank you all.
AlanH.
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AlanH. I wouldn't dare go out on a bicycle now- or for the past 50 years. Afraid motorists mostly haven't been cyclists so are completely unaware. My daughter says she is fearful of her daughter in Pert as the Australians are not considerate drivers- worse than here. When we went on club runs in Kent, very few cars & not driving recklessly at all, so it was quite safe, even on country lanes. Of course, as I was reminded on the TV " all creatures great & small" - theirs was an Austin 7, cars were so much smaller then; at least a foot narrower.
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This reminds me of a story told to me by my wife's grandfather, who despite not coming from Kent, had a rare three day holiday from the Bridgeyard by cycling from Middlesbrough (he was a strict Yorkshireman) to Dover 'to see what t'south was all about'. After cycling with his wife down the A1 to overnight in London on the first day, they proceeded to Canterbury for lunch before carrying on to Dover and back to overnight in Canterbury on the second day. Not being the slight bit impressed they cycled back to Middlesbrough on the third day to be home for tea. This was all pre WWII and the few photos that were taken show a very deserted A1. This was done on a hand built Bianchi cycle he won in a previous cycling competition which consisted of racing from Middlesbrough to Blackpool and back as face as possible.
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CAT. That was some ride, but they were like that in those days. Slightly off thread, but I think interesting. When I was a Civilian Instructor in the ATC, an elderly chap joined us who'd been in the RAF during WW2. But, before that, he'd been an AA man based on the Great North Road at Grantham with a bicycle! His patch was 10 miles North & 10 miles South. All day, every day.
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Amazing effort on their behalf CAT. Great county Yorkshire that I've spent a fair bit of time in but not sure I could ever have done that mileage even when young and fit. Although some of those young maidens in Scarborough I knew may have enticed me to better efforts. :)
Got to agree DS about Perth drivers, absolutely shocking with no skills or consideration.
And the worst time of day is..... school in and out time when mums take their horrid children to and from. One of the teachers at the local private Catholic school has the same sort of attitude and gave me the finger after I'd held back to allow him on his bike to negotiate a roundabout safely.
They pass that attitude to their pupils as many of the older ones drive their own "tank" to school and their behaviour to others is woeful.
I may well buy a electric bike but only for those cycle paths where the morons can't get to me. :)
AlanH.
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CAT. Just had another read of your post & thought deeply about it. I'm sorry to say it but " shooting a line" - as we used to say- comes to mind! One word gives it away, " wife". HE may have been super fit, although I honestly doubt Canterbury to Middlesborough ( at least 330 miles) in a day- in time for tea! But with his wife, sorry but no way. "Gods own country" Yorkshire might be but how could he not be impressed by Canterbury Cathedral & Dover Castle? And if it was Spring time, all the miles of orchard blossom in Kent in those days- from my memory, it really was the "Garden of England".
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Bare in mind, both he and his wife were totally cycling mad, with the grandfather logging ever mile he cycled throughout his day/week/month/year and life in a series of notebooks still retained by the inlaws. He would cycle at least 60-80 miles each day, weather permitting, and if not, the engineers at the Middlesbrough Bridge Yard, where he worked all his life, made him a stand with tensioners to increase friction for use in the kitchen. He was a committed participant in time trials and appeared to win almost every preWWII medal, trophy, clock etc. on offer, all of which now litter both my, and the inlaws houses. The Bianchi bike he won is still hanging in the rafters of the inlaws barn.
I'm sure it must have taken longer for the total journey, but still a mammoth journey done in very few days.
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CAT. I completely agree with your last sentence. I smiled at your reference to clocks, etc. To retain your amateur status, all prizes were "things", no money.The Bianchi would certainly be a collectors item now.