£2 (Free to members) Winter 2020/21
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Saltaire Nigel Blandford
Obituaries The Touring Pages Suffragettes and Clarion Cycling Campaigning A Tricycle Ride Section News and much more
EDITORIAL
ere we are in lockdown again. Hee: empty streets, but the roads
don’t seem to have quietened down to the same extent as they did last spring. Fewer people cycling to work perhaps. For those of you that do, are the traffic reduction schemes still in place? Is it any safer than it was pre-COVID. If it is, perhaps its because cycling campaigners have been pressing for better facilities for cyclists and at last are getting heard. The Clarion have appointed a Campaigns’ Officer to respond to national campaigns like the recent revisions to the highway code, which are important for all cyclists; but others are banging the drum on behalf of fellow cyclists for local improvements, In this issue we hear from Angela Devas the campaign’s officer for Brighton Clarion and Charles Harvey, a member of London Clarion, but also a member of the London Cycling Campaign, about what they do and how they influence decision makers on cycling issues. For my own part, although I rarely cycle through Norwich I have sent my £10 off and joined the Norwich Cycling Campaign, in recognition of the work they do battling with the higway authority to get better cycling facilities in the city. Is there a local cycling campign near you? If there is, find it on line and join up. These local groups need all the help they can get trying to overcome the dominance of the car in urban areas and making life safer for you the cyclist.
Elections have been in the news recently, we of course had our own general election around a year a go and more recetly am sure that many of you will have watched with interest the outcome of the US presedential election. But do you take the right to vote for granted? It was not until 1918 that all men over the
age of 21 were allowed to vote. Women had to wait until 1929. The Suffragettees, as those who battled for voting rights for women were known, had a strong connection with the Clarion. The most farmous of these was perhaps Sylvia Pankhurst.
In 2018 Dr Sheila Hanlon was invited to deliver the Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Lecture. Dr Hanlon is a cycling historian and set out in her lecture to examine the links between womens’ sufferage and the National Clarion. She has kindly allowed us to reprint her thoughts here. It’s a long read but worth it. The National Clarion has a long and illustrious history, with
its members reaching in to many corners of working class life in the early part of the 20th century. The right to vote is an important one and it is good to think that Clarionettes were instrumental in helping towards this impoortant milestone for women in the 1920's.
Elsewhere in this edition you will see that there is a tribute to Ian Clarke who retired as National Secretary at the end of April, after 25 years in the post. lan is a hard act to follow; a dedicated Clarion man, cycle racer, cycle tourist and section secretary. Temporarily I have volunteered to act as National Secretary until a replacement
is found. Are you that person? You don’t need to be a super cyclist to fulfil this
role. The best I can manage is a 100k Audax, just within the time limit. But you do need enthusiasm for the Clarion cause, computer literacy, organisational skills, time and a degree of diplomacy, to carry out the role. If you feel that you are the person for the job then do please contact me for a chat.
bootsandspurs@clarioncc.org
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CONTENTS
Editorial 2 Easter Meet and conference 3 Letters to the Editor 4 Ian Clarke retires 4 Obituaries 5-6 Awards 6 London Cyclists Book Peter Roscoe Remembers A look in the past 9 Suffragettes and Cycling 11 Cycle Campaigning 15-18 A tricycle marathon 18-21 North Coast 500 22-26
Leeds and Liverpool canalinaday 27
Saddleworth do Zeeland 28-29 Mike Cowling in India 30-31 Section reports pages 32 43 West Lothian 2 up TT
Merchandising News 44
N
EASTER MEET AND CONFERENCE 2021
ollowing last years cancelled event Peeveites to take place at Warwick,
we had been hoping to run this year’s Easter Meet and Conference at the same venue, picking up on last years organisational efforts. Your committee has reluctantly concluded that this is not going to be possible with the present lockdown restrictions extending well in to the new year and rates of COVID infections still rising and so the event is cancelled.
With this in mind we are exploring both alternative ways of running conference to allow approval of accounts and committee elections to take place, including the possibility of a Zoom meeting.
To replace the loss of the social aspect of the event, we are exploring the possibility of some sort of Meet in the summer, either as a national event, or a series of regional events, subject of course to restrictions on larger gatherings being lifted sufficiently to allow this to take place.
Further information will be sent out both directly to Section secretaries and via Boots and Spurs Extra which you receive bimonthly direct to your inbox.
Edward Gilder Acting National Secretary
losing date for articles for the
summer edition is the 31st March 2021. There are lots of Sections
I would love to hear from in addition
to our regulars. Don’t worry if you
have been inactive due to the Covid 19 epidemic there is always something
COPY DATE FOR LATE AUTUMN BOOTS AND SPURS
to write about as you can see from this edition, even if it is just a memory of a happy day out in times gone by. Articles in word are preferred, with photos sent as separate files rather than embedded in the text.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CYCLE CLOTHING A MYSTERY
When the coronavirus hit the UK, I started cycling into Central London to get to work to avoid crowded tube trains during the rush hour.
My usual route in takes me round Regents Park. For many years, the Outer Circle has been used for training by racing cyclists. Unlike many of the commuters, they all wear specialist cycling clothing. Cycling jerseys and jackets have traditionally been colourful and conspicuous for obvious reasons. This is certainly the case with my National Clarion jacket and my London Clarion gilet.
But I have noticed a curious new trend. Many of the riders going round the Outer Circle have taken to wearing jerseys that
are black, grey, dark blue or other colours that don’t show up, particularly on an overcast day. Does anyone have an explanation for this?
Charles Harvey London Clarion
Are they just slaves to fashion or do these riders have a death wish? As always, your comments are welcome.
Ed
IAN CLARKE RETIRES
Peter Roscoe’s tribute to the work of Ian Clarke as National Secretary.
first became aware of Ian Clarke as a committee member of our
National Club when Marion Lamb was secretary, On her retirement after 25 years of service Ian became secretary in the 1990's and set about reinvigorating our club. Marion, an active official in the Clarion including secretary of the Manchester Union back in the 1950’s, had not been ready to adapt to the emerging IT revolution, Ian readily embraced this.
I observed that his commitment meant he went beyond the role as secretary,
as he embraced work that was in the realm of other officials. Progress was slow at first and at one point his focus
on the National Clarion meant he was neglecting his career prospects, so he reluctantly resigned his position. The role of secretary was taken on by Frank Bibby for a few years and on his retirement, Charles Jepson took on the role. There were no other candidates for the position.
Whilst Charles was an efficient Secretary, he was determined to restore our club to a basically socialist organisation, as many considered it to be. Others felt that his approach was not appropriate if our club was to thrive, so Ilan, now with advanced qualifications was asked to resume his role as National Secretary. Whilst his inclination is to the left of politics, he concluded that an attempt to reverse the way things had become in the club over the years, regarding its political outlook, would not succeed. He was of the view that most members, not being politically inclined, had joined our club because of our sociability rather than our socialism.
Ian had a certain reluctance to resume the position of National Secretary but having been approached by several members to take on the role again, he resumed with vigour and set out to reverse the membership trend, which had fallen to around 600 in the early years of this century. Ian had a target that we would reach first 1000 then 2000 members as more people became interested in cycling. His inspirational
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work meant this has been achieved. Some, including myself in the early
years of this century though the Clarion was doomed as the prospect of new sections forming seemed remote. Again, under his leadership we have achieved a substantial growth in sections including the very successful Tuxford Section which he established on moving his domicile location. It has been obvious, that with him often burning the midnight oil in devotion to the Clarion he was neglecting other aspects of his life. Now he will have more time for his family as they
grow up. Ian clearly ‘loves’ our National Club which will have been with him from his childhood days, as his father Ken introduced him to cycling with the former Peterborough section, now Fenland.
Best wishes for the future Ian and thank you for all you have done for
our wonderful National Club. We know you will remain active with the Tuxford Section and continue influencing others with what some in the past have called ‘The Clarion Spirit’.
OBITUARIES
Mark Riley
Mark, a lifelong cyclist and member of Bury Clarion passed away suddenly on the 1st December 2020 at the age of just 52, our thoughts are with his family, his girlfriend Helen and his many friends.
Ihave known Mark since 1989 and we have been on many club runs, park rides, camping and hostelling trips and other long distance rides together. In May and June 2019 four of us from Blackpool Clarion went on a nine night hostel tour of the Outer Hebrides, Skye and the mainland.
We had planned an extended version of the Coast to Coast {and back} for May 2020, but of course this was cancelled.
In recent years Mark had ridden with Bury, Blackpool and Clitheroe Clarion Cycling Clubs and Rochdale and Fylde CTC sections.
In the early 1990s Mark did a camping tour of the French Alps and visited his sister, Fionna, who was working out there and then one Christmas, Mark and a few of us from the CTC stayed at Wastwater Youth Hostel where Fionna also worked.
Over a couple of summers Mark took unpaid leave and did long distance camping tours of Ontario, Canada and North Carolina, USA.
As well as touring Mark was a keen time trialist with Manchester Centreville and enjoyed success in both 10 and 25 mile events, with a PB, over on the Al in 1996, of 57 minutes which was his Club’s fastest time that season and he had fellow members scrambling to beat that before the end of the year.
In the mid to late 90s Mark also enjoyed success at the Velodrome, having a winning streak in the Devil where he won the race for several weeks in a row, much to his delight.
In preparation for the PBP {Paris—Brest— Paris} Mark came with us on a hilly CTC 240 miles in 24 hours event around the Lake District, riding from Heywood to and from the start finish point in Whalley; over 300 miles in total.
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Lately Mark and Helen had enjoyed riding their e-bikes both at home and abroad.
Mark will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
RIP Mark. Paul Whitehead, Blackpool Clarion.
Tony Bowles
Tony Bowles, President of Bolton Clarion and a fervent supporter of the National Clarion Cycling Club, died suddenly and unexpectedly on 15/16th May 2020. He was 82 years old. He cycled to the end; his last ride was on Thursday 14th May. Anthony J Bowles was born to a working class family in Farnworth near Bolton
in October 1937. He was educated at St Gregory’s RC High School and later at Wigan and Leigh College where he studied plumbing and heating. He did his National Service in the Lancashire Fusiliers, serving in Germany and Cyprus. In later life Tony had no good word for his school but looked back fondly on his time in the army. Tony's working life was spent as a plumber, often fitting central heating in new build estates. In adulthood Tony had a wife and son, but they were estranged and he rarely spoke of them. The love of his life was his partner
and cycling companion Amy McLarty. He never got over her death from cancer more than a decade ago.
Tony started cycling at schoo! with a group of friends. They ranged far and wide and in recent years he enjoyed writing about their misadventures on Facebook. Later he rode with Leigh Premier Road Club, before joining and leading Bolton Clarion. During his cycling apprenticeship Tony developed a phenomenal knowledge of un-signposted minor lanes in Cheshire and the Fylde and became an excellent runs leader. He also learned how te fix almost any mechanical problem, using only the contents of his Carradice saddlebag.
Tony loved club runs, YHA weekends, National Clarion Easter Meets, and racing.
He was in his mid-70s when he retired from the track league at the velodrome. At 79
he was pleased to beat his standard time for a 10 by 3 minutes. Only the Covid-19 pandemic stopped him attending last year’s Easter Meet and riding the NLTTA opening 10 mile time trial in March. We thought Tony would last forever and his passing leaves a huge hole at the centre of Bolton Clarion.
AWARDS
n Easter Sunday, we did a ‘virtual’ O awards ceremony using Facebook
and the collection of trophies that Jan Clarke had engraved, following the Easter Meet that was cancelled. Given that this was the start of the first ‘lockdown’ for Corona Virus, we couldn’t hold our usual Easter Meet which had been planned for Warwick in 2020.And so it was, that we had created an online awards ceremony, where each trophy winner was congratulated, and photograph of the winner, plus the trophy was also shown online.
It can still be viewed here https:// clarionec.org/2020/04/11/2020-clarionawards/ thanks to the talents of our webmaster Neil Matheson.
We would like to make a special note of congratulations for Martin and Jackie Hickman who were awarded the Club
man and Club girl awards. The husband and wife couple were chosen for this award for their contribution to Clarion administration on the National Committee. Martin is also the National membership secretary. Martin and Jackie were
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central to preparing for the [cancelled] Warwick Easter Meet, at the same time
as investigating the following Lancaster Easter Meet. Work that will not completely go to waste.
These awards were for the 2019 season, and Martin Jackie were often seen at National events, helping with marshalling and judging as willing volunteers. The committee could not think of more worthy winners.
Martin and Jackie Hickman with their club man and club woman of the year awards.
LONDON CLARION CYCLISTS FEATURE
IN NEW BOOK
been released by photographer
[Matthew Johnson and includes two images of members of London Clarion. This is Matthew’s first self-published book, and it takes a look at the City’s many cyclists, capturing those who cycle professionally, commute to work or get out on their bikes just for fun.
Li== cyclists post lockdown has
Commenting on its publication Matthew said ....“As someone who cycles frequently around London, this project started off as a bit of a passion project. I soon realised a lot of people were interested in being photographed and wanted to share their cycling stories.
ended up visiting parts of London I’d never been to before and meeting lots of interesting people in the process of creating this body of work.”
Image courtesy of Matthew Johnson
After connecting with over 40 cyclists through a Facebook post, Matthew cycled across London for several months meeting cyclists and capturing the portraits for this journal. Keen to demonstrate the breadth of London’s cycling community, the journal features images of people from all different walks of life and backgrounds from politicians to activists and everybody in between.
He went on to say that ....“It was fantastic to meet so many people on their bikes, all of them cycling for many different reasons. It was especially nice to do it at a time when London was a lot
quieter but through the conversations
I had with people, what became clear,
is that cycling is something that brings them all joy and is a big part of their lives. I think putting them all together in
a book, does a great job of showing that.
The professionally designed hard-
back journal features over 40 images of cyclists all around the city and includes a number of recognisable London landmarks, as well some lesserknown beauty spots in the City. It can be obtained from Matthew’s web site matthewjohnsonphotographer.co/shop price £33
PETER ROSCOE REMEMBERS
about my cycling past. John Bunting
and Jan Clarke have prompted me to tell my story of racing up Lumb Carr Road our club hill climb course.
a great deal of pleasure thinking
It wasn’t a time trial but two road races in 1963 and 1964. In the 63 event I was in the break of three or four riders. I cannot recall how the break occurred, but it would be by the third and final assault of Haslingden Grane. In the break was 19 year-old Peter Buckley of Oldham Century, who went on to have a super amateur racing career including winning the Commonweaith Road Race championship in 1966. Alas he had
the misfortune to hit a stray dog ona training ride and was so badly injured he died two days later I feel so sad as I write this.
On to the climb of Lumb Carr Road there were three of us racing and I was aiming to be first over the line at the top, but when the other two heard the
grating of my flawed gear change, they were off leaving me to finish in third piace. The following year I attacked on the approach to Haslingden Grane. Two others went with me, one fell away with the other nicely tucked in ready for an expected overtake. I was going almost flat out but ready for his move the
sun was behind me and could see his shadow. At the moment he pulled out I lifted to my limits so he would feel just how hard it was going to be to take a full length out of me he gave up. I relaxed at the line looked back and said ‘come on let’s work together’- as the peloton had been left well behind. He declined, so
I forged ahead on to the climb over the Grane. did not attempt to increase my lead, even though climbing is where I am at my best and no attempt was made to catch me.
My strategy was to race downhill and keep out of sight. Previous experience told me I was not that good at downhill racing, but I was that day even though
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I scared myself with the speed round bends. I was still ahead going through Hawkshaw village, but more relaxed I looked back and saw I was in the sight of the chasers who were sprinting to catch me.
To win, I again lifted my game to the limits to get to the Lumb Carr Road Climb before being caught. I was confident this time of out climbing
any other contenders; I did this and
my win meant I reached my ambition
of a category 1 British Cycling Racing Cyclist. It had been a hard road I had had great difficulty in persuading Bury Clarion to take out BC membership so that I could participate in road races and on the track. I was 29 and decided
I would not progress the Holcombe Circuit races were only 50 miles and my stamina for longer distances has never been good. I went on to hiking over hills and mountains and climbing. Wonderful
memories there as well.
At one time there were Clarion walking clubs around the country. There’s just one left now in Sheffield.
Ed I can find no current records for the Sheffield Clarion Walking Club although there is a Wikipedia entry showing it was started in 1900 by GHB Ward. There is a current website dedicated to all things Clarion related in Sheffield and this can be found at clarionsheffield.info
i
Google Earth clearly shows what a climb it is up Lumb Carr Road
A LOOK INTO THE PAST
s the pandemic and the ensuing
Aster bites so cruelly into ur lives, including both club
and recreational cycling, we take an opportunity to look back at some historical aspects of Clarion cycling, starting with this transcript of an email I received earlier in the year from Alan Ward about an arts project he is undertaking celebrating the last remaining Clarion House near Pendle in Lancashire and its history.
The video he has produced is well worth watching.
NELSON Lup
HOUSE
SOCLALIGM OUR HOPE
His email said
“Clarion Sunday 2021 Sunday 13 June The Fellowship of the Wheel (working title) An artist’s project by Alan Ward to celebrate this unique and historic event.
We are looking forward to seeing you next year, it is disappointing that Clarion Sunday hasn’t been able to happen this year, as been looking forward to working alongside MPA, to create an artist engagement with your cycling community. By way of a small homage to the rides you would have made, T have created a little lockdown virtual ride to Clarion House from my home in South Manchester.
link to the film: https://vimeo. com/427702191
Just prior to the shutdown, I’d purchased a gravel bike to begin to explore a little more off tarmac. My ride encompasses some of those surfaces, as 1 make my way through Greater Manchester. The film was made using a mapmyride plotted route, which was imported into the wonders of the Google Earth app. It’s a little bit of fun and references the fly-throughs of TDF stage previews and dreaded spin classes.
For Clarion Sunday 2021, we want to make your day a bit more special and offer you something to remember it by.
Iam an artist, photographer and designer, but also a devotee of cycling culture. I would like to document your club rides to Clarion House next year, using the data provided by tools like Strava and Garmin, and include photographs and notes from the journey to Jinny Lane. Between now and then I will
be seeking your help with planning this.
On Clarion Sunday 2021, I will be present
to take a formal portrait of each rider with their mount, using a pop-up studio, and MPA will thank participants with a small one-off memento of Clarion Sunday to take away. Afterwards, I will assemble and interpret all the material gathered into a limited edition publication, and each participant will be sent a copy, with MPA’s compliments.
If you are interested in taking part, you can contact me by email alan@alanjward.co.uk my website is www. alanjward.co.uk and
my instagram page is https://www.instagram. com/alanjward_ axisdesign/
Clarion Sunday is already a very special event. Through this project, we want to capture some
of that, and give your members something unique to remember it by. We hope you will be willing to
help, because we can’t do it without
your participation. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you next year!
MPA is an arts and culture charity working
in Pennine Lancashire. Our project Pendle Radicals is a part of a programme to celebrate the Pendle Hill area. Pendle Radicals explores the stories of the nonconformists, dissenters, independent thinkers and change makers who have been drawn to this rugged, rural landscape over the centuries. From the founder of the Quakers, who had his vision
at the Pendle summit, to campaigners for women’s suffrage and the pioneers of the Labour movement.
Clarion House is a central point for many of those stories, and a special place for Pendle Radicals. One extraordinary tale is the 125+ year narrative of the Clarion movement and the National Clarion Cycling Club. What we want to do, though, is capture a snapshot of today’s living tradition of Clarion Cycling, your club, your members, and their ride on 13 June 2021.
Pendle Radicals is a part of the Pendle Hill Landscape partnership programme, made possible by support from National Lottery Heritage Fund.”
Ed- Hopefully Alan can complete his project in 2021.
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SUFFRAGETTES AND CLARION CYCLING
The 2018 Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial Lecture took place at Wortley Hall, near Sheffield before a packed audience. Dr Sheila Hanlon summarises her talk below.
“Pedalling Days: Sylvia Pankhurst and Political Cycling Traditions from Clarionettes to Suffragettes” Dr Sheila Hanlon
as a leading suffrage and human
rights campaigner is beginning to get the recognition it deserves. Much less is known about her participation in another progressive activity with a political edge; cycling.
S ylvia Pankhurst’s important legacy
Who was Sylvia?
Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst was born 5 May 1882 on Drayton Terrace, Old Trafford Manchester. She was one of five children born into the highly politicised family of Richard and Emmeline Pankhurst. Christabel was the oldest born in
1880, followed by Sylvia, then Adela born 1885, then Richard and Henry.
The Pankhurst children grew up ina politicised family alongside the Labour, socialist and suffrage movements. Sylvia’s father Richard, was a lawyer and prominent member of the Independent Labour Party; her mother Emmeline was a giant among suffrage figures as well as a shop keeper and civil servant. Both supported the women’s franchise. Education was also important to them. Sylvia studied at Manchester High School for Girls, Manchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art in South Kensington.
In 1903, Emmeline founded the Women’s Suffrage and Political Union (WSPU) at a meeting held in the family home, 62 Nelson Street Manchester. Emmeline and Christabel rose to prominence as
leaders of the movement, but Sylvia
also contributed in her own way. In addition to regular campaign work, Sylvia was appointed full time organiser for the London branch of the WSPU in 1906, used her artistic skills to design WSPU emblems and pageantry and recorded the history of the movement. In contrast to her mother and sister, Sylvia maintained an interest in socialist and working-class politics, bolstered in part by her close friendship with trade unionist and labour leader Keir Hardie. In 1907-8, Sylvia embarked on a tour of industrial towns to document and paint the working lives of female industrial labourers. One of her stops was Leicester where she studied shoemakers and met and befriended Alice Hawkins, another prominent cycling suffragette.
Sylvia the Clarion Cyclist
Cycling, like suffrage, was a family affair for the Pankhursts. Christabel was the greatest cycling enthusiast of the lot, with Sylvia a close second. According
to Adela’s biographer Verna Coleman, however, the youngest Pankhurst sister was not fond of the pastime.
The Pankhurst family joined the Clarion Cycling Club (CCC) in 1896. The CCC, formed in 1894 in Birmingham, was
a socialist cycling group associated
with Robert Blatchford’s radical newspaper The Clarion. The CCC combined political activism with recreational cycling. Bands of Clarion Scouts served as socialist missionaries, holding meetings in rural villages, distributing pamphlets, leaving behind copies of the Clarion, selling Blatchford’s
Merry England, and drumming up support for the cause. Sylvia noted in The Clarion that, “the Clarion people carried a leaven of Socialist conversation and argument into rural districts then wholly untouched by any Socialist or Labour propaganda.”
Unlike many other 19th Century cycling organisations, the CCC welcomed working class cyclists. Even more unusually it extended membership to women. Early invites to club meets often noted that ladies were especially welcome, and generally a handful did attend. The CCC was not, however, wholly egalitarian. Women remained a minority among members, and gender roles and gentle sexism persisted. An 1895 report from the Manchester CCC noted, “Lady members add a great amount of interest to our clubs runs
and are a real source of help to us, mere men, when it comes to the inevitable tea-time.” Perhaps even more off-putting for the Pankhursts would have been The Clarion’s official line on suffrage. Leader Robert Blatchford refused to back women’s enfranchisement, in part because he feared it would weaken the case for working class men’s rights.
In a 1931 article for The Clarion called “Pedalling Days,” Sylvia recalled joining the CCC at age fourteen in 1896. Fellow club member Mrs Bennett taught her
to ride, and although Sylvia had some trouble learning at first, including a collision with a pony cart, she eventually got the hang of it. “For the next two years,” she explained “we rode with the club every Sunday.”
Sylvia recorded another side of her cycling experiences in her 1931 memoir The Suffragette Movement—the
trials and tribulations of riding with Christabel. When Christabel decided to take up cycling, she was drafted in as her chaperon. Christabel invested in a good quality Rudge Whitworth bicycle priced at £30. Sylvia, in contrast —worried about family finances—opted for a cheap home-made model improvised from
gas piping. Christabel was the superior cyclist, often leaving Sylvia in her dust. Sylvia recalled, “It was when riding alone with Christabel that I endured a veritable torture. My crimson face and gasping breath were the wordless answer to her impatient ‘Come on!’ Afraid of being considered a nuisance, I would strain and strive till it seemed that my heart would burst. Finally, she would disappear from me, climbing some hill and arrive home somehow an hour before me.”
The Pankhurst family took part in regular cycling outings with the
Clarion Cycling Club and supporting their political and charitable work.
An 1896 letter to the Clarion Cyclists Journal noted that Dr. Pankhurst and his family visited a Cinderella camp held by the club to provide holidays for deprived children. Special thanks went to Mrs Pankhurst for a donation of clothing. They Pankhursts also attended annual CCC summer camps. These camps were a highlight of the Clarion calendar,
and took place in bucolic rural spots.
In 1895, The Clarion‘s “Cycling Notes” correspondent Swiftsure reported that the annual camp at Pickmere, Cheshire consisted of a van, marque, and three bell tents one of which was reserved
for ladies and children. The Pankhursts opted to stay nearby, rather than lodge with the masses who had a reputation for rowdiness.
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The Clarion Cycling Club was an important part of the Pankhurst’s family life. The girls grew up reading The Clarion, and met key figure in the socialist movement, such as Blatchford, in their family home. When Richard Pankhurst died in 1898, a band of Clarion Cyclists rallied together to accompany his funeral procession. The death of her father marked the end of Sylvia’s carefree days of youth. She gave up her membership in the Clarion CC, explaining “my life had become far too serious and too anxious to leave room for cycling.”
Cycling to Suffrage
Cycling played an important role in another side of Sylvia's life the women’s suffrage movement.
Bicycles have long been connected to women’s emancipation. Women were there on the margins as far back as 200 years ago when the first proto-bicycle was invented, the Draisienne. While only a few women took to the high wheelers of the 1870s, mostly professional racers, the invention of the safety bicycle in the 1880s transformed cycling into a popular form of mass leisure. During the 1890s cycling craze, women accounted for a third of bicycle riders, most of whom were middle and upper class. Ladies drop frames were available in virtually all makes, women’s cycling magazines flourished, and lady cyclists rode everywhere from private academies and quiet park lanes to public thoroughfares and country lanes.
The association of cycling with new women was quickly established.
The pastime caused great moral and medical debate ranging from the physical dangers of riding to the social
consequences of women’s mobility. Gendered social anxieties led to fears that women would cycle away from
the domestic sphere, abandon their husbands and children, become manly, and evade their chaperones. Cycling dress was also a contentious issue. Rational knickerbocker cycling costumes were the most practical outfit, but their association with masculinity and the negative reception they received in public led most women to stick to long skirts.
Sylvia was among the early adopters
of cycling. So to were many other progressive women whose names you will recognise from the Edwardian suffrage movement: Millicent Garrett Fawcett (NUWSS leader}, Emily Wilding Davison (suffragette martyr), Sarah Grand (feminist author) and others. It is not surprising that the lady cyclists of the 1890s later turned their bicycles to politics.
At the dawn of the 20th century when the women’s suffrage movement gained momentum, campaigners marshalled every resource available into the battle for the vote. Bicycles were among the tools at hand. Bicycles were integrated into the suffrage campaign in ingenious ways, tanging from peaceful protests
to militant missions. There was even a “Votes for Women” bicycle produced by the Elswick company and painted in the WSPU colours, purple, white and green. It was embellished with a medallion
of freedom, based of course on Sylvia’s design.
Cycling suffragettes and suffragists were particularly helpful for promoting events. One well-known image
shows two suffragettes with bicycles
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advertising a talk by Mrs Pankhurst. To advertise the WSPU’s 1908 Hyde Park Demonstration, Jus Suffragii reported “parties of cyclists...frode] through
the streets with decorated machines, distributing leaflets and holding short meetings.” The “Holiday Campaign” encouraged women to continue their work for the cause during the summer season, and often saw suffragette cyclists advertising meetings in seaside resorts. Orderly brigades of Suffragette Scouts operated much like the Clarion Scouts to take the suffrage message to outlying areas.
Parades, processions and pilgrimages also featured suffrage cyclists. Rosa May Billinghurst, a suffragette from Lewisham who used an adapted tricycle as a wheelchair, was often seen on WSPU parades through London. Cyclists accompanied the 1913 NUWSS Pilgrimage, which saw suffragists follow eight routes across England to converge on Hyde Park for a mass meeting. The cyclists’ role was to ride ahead to scout for accommodation, announce meetings and distribute pamphlets. Suffrage caravan tours used cycling outriders
in a similar fashion. Letters held at the Women’s Library, LSE reveal that when Ray Strachey (née Costello) volunteered for the NUWSS van tour from Scotland to Oxford, she took her bicycle with her.
Cycling played a more insidious role during the WSPU’s militant phase. Suffragettes on arson and vandalism missions found bicycles convenient
for transportation and other creative purposes. According to The Glasgow Herald, for example, in 1914 two militant suffragettes set out by bicycle in a failed attempt to blow up Burns Cottage in Alloway, the birthplace of the poet Robert Burns. Cyclists were accused
of a number of “Pillar Box Outrages,” riding up to post boxes and damaging the royal mail with oil or corrosive substances. Golf courses were a favourite target for cycling suffragettes, either
to tear up the green with their tyres or heckle politicians at play.
Beyond their political work, suffragists and suffragettes also cycled for pleasure and transport—we can’t forget that these women found riding just as practical and as much fun as we do today. The Women’s Suffrage Who’s Who, a 1913 directory to the suffrage movement including bios of nearly 800 women, lists cycling as their fifth most popular outdoor recreation. Sylvia, for her leisure activities, reported “I haven't time for any.”
Cycling Activism WWI to Today The outbreak of war in 1914 brought great change to both the suffrage movement and bicycle culture. As women were recruited into war work, they jumped on their bicycles, normalising women’s cycling for transportation.
In 1918 The Representation of The People Act enfranchised women over the age of 30 who met the property qualification. This was a small victory op the road to full emancipation. For Sylvia, there was much more work to be done. She continued to campaign for equality on behalf of women workers and labourers of both sexes. Finally, in 1928, women received the vote on equal terms to men.
If we time leap forward in time to today, women’s cycling is undergoing a renaissance. More and more women are taking to their bikes for recreation, transportation and politics. Cycling
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has never been more alive as part of activism, such as the Pedal4Progress riders who helped raise funds and awareness in support of the Sylvia Pankhurst memorial sculpture soon to be erected in Clerkenwell Green.
From the Clarionettes to Suffragettes, Sylvia and her fellow political campaigners harnessed the power of the bicycle as an ally in the fight for equality. I hope the story of Sylvia Pankhurst and her cycling sisters inspires you to get on your bike too.
CYCLE CAMPAIGNING
with my Clarion companions, and
through a gap in the trees we see the mist rising from the water meadows of the river Arun and beyond to the north, the spire of Arundel cathedral. This impressive view and the tranquil woodlands we are in are all set to destroyed. Highways England wants to build a bypass around Arundel, despite 60 years of evidence that traffic consistently expands to fill the road space available. Alternatives exist; for example we arrived at Ford station and debouched onto the horrendous Arundel to Littlehampton road. There is more
I riding through Binsted woods
than enough space here to build a decent cycle path, and in such a rural area
it could be a shared pedestrian cycle footpath.
Brighton Cycle Swarm
As Campaigns Officer I’m involved
with the Transport Action Network,
an umbrella group of travel activists. Transport Action Network https:// transportactionnetwork.org.uk/ris2-legalaction/ is taking the government to court about its plan to spend 27 billion pounds on new roads with another 90 million for spending later on. We are claiming that these new roads breach climate and air quality laws. The money to challenge this is being raised by crowdfunding and please do contribute: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/ stop-largest-ever-roads-programme/
I was elected as Campaigns Organiser for Brighton and Hove Clarion in 2019. I was already a member of the energetic Bricycles which advocates better cycling facilities in Brighton and Hove https:// bricycles.org.uk/
I also have connections with as many other local groups as possible. It’s vital to tap into enthusiasm and expertise held by others and to plan joint actions for example socially distant bike swarms with Extinction Rebellion.
It’s not all about getting out there in a spirit of carnival with bikes and whistles enjoyable as this is. I co-tweet ona clarion twitter account @BrightonClarion as well as on my own account DevasAngela. It’s helpful to see what's going on in our city and in others in
the UK as the tide very slowly turns
a little bit more towards cycling. It’s pointless getting involved with die-hard petrol (or even electric) motorheads; it’s better to get good publicity out there and counter some of the myths about cycling amongst those who are ready to think about changing. Words are important
we use phrases such as Active Travel’ and ‘quieter neighbourhoods’. Much campaigning is sitting in meetings currently I am part of a deputation that is trying to salvage approximately one and a half million pounds of central government funding as our local council has suddenly got cold feet about new cycle lanes. I’ve attended meetings
of the South Downs National Park Authority, been part of hustings for local government candidates, written emails, attended workshops, made objections and signed petitions about developments that are not cycle, pedestrian or public transport friendly. There is a wealth
of evidence-based information on the internet, as well as many different groups which all help make the case for change. I love going on Clarion rides, but I
also use a bicycle for public transport and always have done. The bicycle is technology at its best; cheap, green, easy to park, capable of carrying much more than people imagine, it widens the scope of local journeys, can be used by children and some disabled people, gets you out into the fresh air and is the nearest thing to flying on a downhill run.
Angela Devas, Campaigns Officer Brighton and Hove Clarion
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LONDON CYCLING CAMPAIGN
ne interesting finding of the O survey of Clarion members at
the end of 2019 was the number of members who supported cycle campaigning as an activity that the Clarion should be involved in. Moves are afoot to have a Campaigns Officer in the National Committee. So it might be of interest to B&S readers to learn about the UR’s biggest local campaign group, the London Cycling Campaign (LCC).
The LCC was founded in 1978 through
a merger of several London-based pro-cycling groups, some supported by Friends of the Earth. It gradually set up
a network of borough groups in the 33 London Boroughs and the City of London. Several well-known London cycling clubs are affiliated to it, including London Clarion. The organisation now has about 11,500 to 12,000 members and a staff of 19, currently based in Wapping.
The office deals mainly with London wide campaigning with Transport
for London (TfL), the Department of Transport (DoT), often working with other organisations such as Cycling UK (CUK}, pedestrians’ organisations such as Living Streets and groups campaigning for cleaner air in London. They also support the campaigning done by the local borough groups.
Most of the campaigning has to be
done at a local level by members of the borough groups. TIL is only directly responsible for a small number of trunk roads. The vast majority of London’s roads are the responsibility of the London Boroughs. The borough groups lobby local councillors, respond to council consultations, liaise with council officers
and try to publicise the benefits of cycling.
Success varies according to the politics of local boroughs. Generally, the LCC has a larger membership and is more successful in Inner London where car ownership tends to be lower, distances shorter and public transport better. Having said that, there have been major successes in Outer London. Boroughs such as Waltham Forest, Enfield and Croydon have done well in bidding for TfL. and DoT money for cycling schemes on the basis of a good track record in putting in cycling schemes in the past.
Some of the issues that LCC have been campaigning on are:
Cleaner air. LCC has been campaigning with other organisations over the quality of the air Londoners breath. This is a battle that has been partially won. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has already established an Ultra Low Emissions
Zone in Central London and it is being extended out to the North and South Circular Roads on October 25th 2021.
School streets. With parents’ organisations, the LCC is supporting the establishment of “school streets” where motor traffic is banned, except for access by local residents and businesses, during school opening and closing times. The first ones were established in Scotland. Several boroughs, notably Hackney, have been adopting them in London.
Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs). Areas based on the Dutch Woonerfs
(living streets), where cars can access houses in the area but through traffic is confined to the main roads. A much
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admired example of this is the “mini Holland” area in Walthamstow.
Emergency cycle routes, known colloquially as “Covid corridors” are temporary cycle lanes put in, mainly on popular commuter routes, as response to the Covid-19 pandemic. They are funded by TfL and the DoT to alleviate overcrowding on public transport and to prevent gridlock, as people try to use their cars instead of the tube, commuter railways and buses.
The LCC is a member of the Cycle Campaign Network, which is the UK wide federation of cycle campaign groups. Clarion sections who want to be take part in cycle campaigning should be able find local allies via their websites.
For further information please see: wwwilcc.org.uk https://www.cyclenetwork.org.uk/
The blue cycle lanes familiar to London cyclists as they fight for road space with the capital’s traffic.
Photo courtesy of London cycling Campaign
Charlie Harvey (London Clarion) is the Campaigns Officer of his local LCC group, Barnet Cycling Campaign. He writes here in personal capacity.
A TRICYCLE MARATHON BY LONDON CLARION
from London to Brighton on children’s
tricycles to draw attention to the world refugee crisis by distributing leaflets on the front at Brighton... or so the story goes. Pathé were on hand to film the occasion and created an entertaining, short colour newsreel. But it soon disappeared from public memory and the whole event was largely forgotten except, it now seems, by some of the participants and their families.
1960, the Hounslow Clarion cycled
In 2015, our London Clarion media officer Alan Kiddle picked up on a story in London 24 (then a free news reposting site) about a recently digitised Pathé newsreel called ‘Tricycle Marathon 1960’
in which ‘men from the Clarion cycling club ride on tricycles from Hyde Park in London to Brighton, East Sussex’. The corresponding page on the Pathé website further revealed a copy of the film and a description together with a note that ‘on file is one of the refugee leaflets they gave out at Brighton and a letter from John Tatam asking if Pathé would be interested in covering the event.’ We contacted Pathé to ask for a copy of the letter and leaflet, only to be told that, though not digitised, they would be with the original film reel in London’s Woolwich and that when the archivist next visited the archive, they would scan copies to us, which they did a few weeks later.
=18=
7h Darley Bond
The Kowe Bad tor Pathe Plekerdar
kay 2960
Boar Shr,
sarting off tro Mith May Sark by the Achillea statue.
A copy of the original letter is displayed above.
Meanwhile, whilst we recognised our former London Clarion Secretary Peter Shepherdly as being one of the original participants, we had no idea as to the identities of the others. But, about that time and as luck would have it, our then secretary Martin Perfect received contact from Colin McDonald, one of Peter Shepherdly’s nephews, who revealed that though another of Peter’s nephews who now lives in Cyprus had inherited Peter’s Clarion photographs, Colin had received scanned copies of them which he wished to deposit with the Club.
Just to give you some context, London Clarion Cycle Club was established in 1895; it eventually divided into various Clubs of which Hounslow Clarion was one of those before merging back into what is today’s, consolidated London Clarion in the 1980s. Amongst the photographs and memories which Colin sent us over the next couple of
years were various pictures and description. of the Tricycle Marathon and though Peter had never knowingly spoken about the event since, he had written on the back of one
of the relevant photographs ‘basic tricycles apart from thicker spokes; full size pedals and reversing of saddle clamp to obtain more reach. A re-run was made later and filmed by Pathé pictorial. Shown at cinemas (16mm film). Ridden in just over 7 hours including stops. Paid for by our local publican “The Lord Palmerston” where we had our weekly Clubroom.’ Colin further identified Jim Knight (‘died some years ago’} and Terry Davidson (‘don’t know Terry’s whereabouts or if he is still with us’) but could not identify anyone else. Enclosing a picture of his then car he added ‘I was in fact there with them, although I hasten to say not riding! Myself and my trusty 1936 Morris 10 together with my then wife to be (now been married over SO years) were the backup/breakdown team. There were no breakdowns as I recall only my Mortis 10 which blew a spark plug. The tricycles were lent to us by the Raleigh Cycle Company which had a main depot on the Great West Road, Brentford. As the news item says the wheels had specially fitted spokes. Of course, those were days before ‘elf and safety’... know that on the downhili runs they did get up to some pretty impressive speeds, It was their intention initially to make charitable collections en route but there was some legal reason why they could not’
With that information we tried to research John Tatam, Jim Knight and Terry Davidson but sadly came up with nothing, despite enquiries to then National Clarion membership secretary Don Lever. We resolved to purchase a copy of the film for our Club archives from Pathé, who initially wanted to charge us £312 vat per minute for a 1 year licence (the film lasts 2 minutes 44 seconds) but after much negotiation
we agreed a fee of £312 vat fora 5 year licence and the ability to download a high resolution copy. We further put a link to the film on our website together with the story. But that was our limit, or so we thought.
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On 12th April 2017, completely unexpectedly, we received a message through our website from one Paul Tatam who said ‘I was looking at the tricycle marathon page, my father John Tatam,
the writer of the letter, is still alive living in Devon and has fond memories of the ride to Brighton on the tricycles. Sadly, he no longer rides. Would be nice to see him mentioned. He is wearing the biue and white cap’. Excited correspondence followed which resulted in a telephone call with John who invited us meet up with him and hear his memories and so it was that only a few weeks later, myself, Alan, Martin and another member Frank Small made the 3 hour train journey to Honiton Station in Devon where, as agreed, John came and collected us in his range rover. John was a big chap and it was hard to picture him as one of the youngsters in the film. Indeed, John later recalled that he had never forgotten about the film in the intervening years and had often talked about it to people, though conceded that he was not sure they had believed him.
Sitting down in his living room, we were delighted to see a number of original photographs of the event (though sadly crumpled and ripped by the passage of time) spread out on his coffee table, but what was immediately apparent was that all of the riders were differently attired to those
in the film and other pictures which we had recalled seeing to date. “Well they were taken on the original run” explained John,
John went on to explain that in the Hounslow Clarion, Jim Knight had organised the weekly runs whilst John organised the trips further afield, including to Germany, Ireland, often to the Isle of Wight and indeed Brighton. However, John remembered the events with the children’s tricycles rather differently to Peter. ‘It was all a bit of fun’ John recalled but it was Raleigh who came up with the idea that it would be for the World Refugee Year. Not recalling the letter to Pathé and, indeed, not thinking that the letter was in his style, John reasoned that it was produced by Raleigh’s Public Relations department to whose offices located near to the Science Museum he recalled going.
From talking to John, it became clear that the original chronology of events was
that the Hounslow Clarion decided that it would be a wheeze to cycle from Hyde Park Corner to Brighton on children’s tricycles, as opposed to the adult versions, which many of them also owned and competed using. They wrote to Raleigh who agreed
to lend them the tricycles with their own idea being that they would try to get Pathé to film it for the obvious publicity (the film doesn’t name Raleigh but the ‘Nottingham cycle manufacturer’ that it references is obviously Raleigh). The original trip was indeed sponsored by the landlord of the Lord Palmerston in Hounslow where the Clarion rented a room and met each week to practice on the rollers ‘and sometimes we flew off’, On the original run, the Hounslow Clarion cycled to Hyde Park corner where they met the Raleigh lorry with the tricycles and then put their own bicycles in Club secretary Peter Gurney’s Bedford Dormobile van who followed them down to Brighton. The original run was conducted in 7-8 hours; Peter gave out leaflets on the seafront and the riders stayed at Patcham YHA on the Saturday night before cycling back to
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London (presumably the tricycles were collected by Raleigh in Brighton). But Pathé did not film the original event because either nothing was received from them in advance or they said they could not cover it.
But within a few days of returning to Hounslow, contact was received from Pathé to the effect that they did want to film the event. So, a ‘re-run’ (in different attire) with the same 6 riders was arranged for
a fortnight later. However, what actually happened on that day was that tricycles were delivered to Hyde Park and collected from Brighton seafront by a Raleigh lorry; the riders were then filmed riding the tricycles at various locations along the way and numerous places around Brighton to create the film footage; the riders were bused between the various venues.
The tricycles on both trips were Gresham Flyers’. The spokes were strengthened and though the tires were not solid, there were no punctures. John recalls that ‘the whole frame shook if you cycled downhill fast’ and that the best speed was achieved on Handcross Hill near Gatwick.
But what of the other riders? John further identified one as being Michael Beech who he had lost contact with though thought he saw presenting a TV documentary on the Sahara in the 1980s. Another, he thinks, was Hounslow Clarion racer Pierre Freullet’s brother.
In terms of publicity, John recalls that London’s Evening Standard newspaper published a story about the original trip in their midday edition within a couple of hours of them leaving Hyde Park corner. They were even able ta purchase a copy on the outskirts of London! John first saw the film at the News Cinema in London Waterloo and then with various other shorts/ newsreels before films at other cinemas during the following year. But in time, the film faded to a distant memory.
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John Tatam was 18 in 1960. Four years later, his job in the aeronautical industry took him to Devon and he left Hounslow for good. John was delighted to relive the events and was kind enough to lend us many of his photographs and we, in turn, were only to happy to additionally gift him restored copies when we returned the originals. In 2018 at the very successful London Clarion organised Easter Meet in Southend-on-Sea, we were able to show the film on a big screen whilst a copy of it is available through our website. It continues to attract much interest.
On 17th November 2020, completely unexpectedly, we received a message through our website from one Helen Knight which said ‘I was speaking to my Mum today and we got onto the subject of how she met my dad (again) and I wondered this time if the club still existed so I googled it and came across the wonderful Pathé News reel of my Dad (Jim Knight the one in black). We could hardly believe it. The club is where they met; sadly, I don’t think my dad saw it either (he passed away in 2001) although he told us many times about it. Such a wonderful thing to come across, especially in this awful year. Thank you so much,’
Alex Southern
THE TOURING PAGES North Coast 500
Intro: For our epic adventure we had decided to loosely follow the GCN route as ridden by Mark Beaumont and GCNs Simon Richardson. Our aim was to complete the 500 mile route in 9 days, averaging approximately 56 miles a day.
Day 1: Inverness to Lochcarron scenery was picturesque but not stunning, (65 Miles) that was still to come. We had decided Leaving our B B in Inverness at around to aim for Lochcarron where we found a
08:30 we stopped first at a local bakery for small privately run campsite overlooking coffee and a pastry before starting our ride the beautiful Loch Carron. After pitching
proper at 09:30. We then eased ourselves the tent, we walked down into the village into our first day with several café stops of Lochcarron where we got a welcome hot along the way. The terrain was relatively evening meal in the Lochcarron Hotel.
flat and cycling reasonably easy. The
Day 2: Lochcarron to Kinlochewe (60 Miles)
After stocking up with provisions at the Lochcarron store we set off on Day 2. A few short miles later and we were straight into Bealach-na-ba or Pass of Cattle. Rising to 2054ft from a sea level start, it is the 3rd highest road in Scotland and the longest climb in the UK. It comes with a fearsome reputation, not helped by several of the ramps on the last few hairpins near the top approaching 20%! On a carbon road bike it would be a tough climb, but on a fully laden touring bike it was interesting to say the least! All I can say is thank goodness for an 11- 46t mountain bike rear cassette! Great views all the way up eased the pain. The descent down to Applecross was magnificent! Even if when we arrived in
Day 3: Kinlochewe to Dundonnell (51 miles)
Kinlochewe’s service station, with its small preity outdoor seating area, provided a proper breakfast which included porridge, coffee and filled hot rolls. Fuelled up we left Kinlochewe and started out on day 3 of our big adventure.
Applecross it was... Closed for the day! The mountains either side of the road as we cycled through Torridon were incredible!
We cycled on to Kinlochewe, where we were hoping to find a campsite. Unfortunately, it too was closed, so upon the advice of a local we pitched our tent on a patch of grass on
a small public carpark which had a toilet block. We were soon joined by others who had the same idea.
The Kinlochewe Hotel across the road was only taking pre-bookings for evening meals so we opted for one of our dehydrated expedition meals that we had brought with us. This proved tasty enough and allowed us to stick two fingers up to the Kinlochewe Hotel!
Our destination for this evening was Dundonnell where we had heard if we got there early enough, we could camp for £5 a night in front of the Hotel and for an additional £2.50 would be able to get a shower with towels provided! Luxury!
Day 4: Dundonnell to Clachtoll (56 Miles)
Leaving Dundonnell, after bumping into Beth Crumpton, British Cyclocrosser,
who was also doing the NC500 with her boyfriend, we headed for Ullapool and to take away Fish chips on the pier from the famous Seaforth’s! Very tasty they
were too. Whilst sitting and eating we got chatting to three luckless lads who were also doing the NC500, but from the sound of it had underestimated the enormity of the challenge and were on the point of quitting. Although they had an open-ended plan, they had covered just 3 miles that day and were planning on staying at a campsite
just another 3 miles up the road! They had also all managed to come to grief on a railway crossing and had spent the rest of that afternoon sorting out bent bikes! They seemed to take encouragement from our endeavours so I can only hope that we inspired them to continue.
The small single-track road from Drumrunie to Lochinver which avoids the A835 is simply stunning and must not be missed.
As the day closed, we tried to phone ahead to the Clachtoll beach campsite, only to be told that it was fully booked. Undaunted we cycled on through Lochinver and once on the road to Clachtoll found a suitable spot to wild camp for the night.
Day 5: Clachtoll to Durness (53 Miles)
Leaving Dundonnell, after bumping into Beth Crumpton, British Cyclocrosser,
who was also doing the NC500 with her boyfriend, we headed for Ullapool and to take away Fish chips on the pier from the famous Seaforth’s! Very tasty they
were too. Whilst sitting and eating we got chatting to three luckless lads who were also doing the NC500, but from the sound of it had underestimated the enormity of the challenge and were on the point of quitting. Although they had an open-ended plan, they had covered just 3 miles that day and were planning on staying at a campsite just another 3 miles up the road! They
had also all managed to come to grief on a railway crossing and had spent the rest of that afternoon sorting out bent bikes! They seemed to take encouragement from our endeavours so I can only hope that we inspired them to continue.
The small single-track road from Drumrunie to Lochinver which avoids the A835 is simply stunning and must not be missed.
As the day closed, we tried to phone ahead to the Clachtoll beach campsite, only to be told that it was fully booked. Undaunted we cycled on through Lochinver and once on the road to Clachtoll found a suitable spot to wild camp for the night.
Day 6: Durness to Melvich (57 Miles)
A misty start to the day soon cleared into glorious sunshine. Our first goal was to cycle to the small village of Tongue where we found a Post office/café and sat out on a picnic bench and enjoyed a coffee and a sandwich. The scenery of the North coast was notably different
to the west coast, but nevertheless as stunning. Setting off after lunch we soon came upon a sign, posted on a fence
Winter 2020/21
presumably by an angry local, warning of a horrible death by being sucked down into a bog should we proceed along this route!! Ever the one to try and maintain world peace we elected at this point to continue on the main road to Melvich, which as it turned out was still a very pleasant and picturesque route. We had pre-booked the North Coast Touring Park campsite at Melvich for the evening which turned out to be a good call.
Day 7: Melvich to Loch Brora (50 Miles)
Leaving Melvich at 10:00, after breakfast at the campsite, we took the very quiet and picturesque A897 south, favoured by Mark Beaumont. This branches again at Kinbrace onto the B871, which was surely the quietest and least travelled road of the whole journey. In places it
is little more than a track with grass up the middle. No motorhomes here! The beauty of this route is that it misses
a huge chunk of the busy A9. Our intention for the day was to ride for about 58 miles, leaving two more days of just 50 miles, but when we spotted a beautiful place to wild camp on the secluded shores of Loch Brora, we couldn’t resist cutting the day short in favour of peace and tranquillity!
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Day 8: Loch Brora to Dingwall (60 Miles)
A lovely, pleasant cycle on another quiet single track road from Loch Brora to Lairg where we stopped at the Pier tearoom for lunch before cycling on via the Falls of Shin to Dingwall. Here we stayed at the well appointed Caravan Camping Club site and had another hot shower!
Day 9: Dingwall to Inverness (51 Miles)
Leaving Dingwall, it was clear we had had the best of the weather, having rained heavily during the night. As we headed for the Black Isle it was cold and overcast. Fortunately, the wind was with us and we made good pace to Cromarty where we stopped at a small bakery for Lunch. From Cromarty we knew it was going to be into a strong headwind as we cycled back down the other side of
the peninsula, eventually getting into Inverness and the B B we had left 9 days previously at a very civilised 5:00 pm.
A hot shower, a lie on a comfy bed and
a walk into town for a hot meal while reflecting on an awesome epic adventure in the stunning Highlands of Scotland!
Another successful bike packing mission accomplished.
LEEDS AND LIVERPOOL CANAL IN A DAY
sa club and individually, we often
Ae along short sections of the eeds Liverpool Canal so the idea
of doing the whole thing has always been in the back of our minds. However, at 127 miles of variable towpath, it needs long days if you are going to complete it during daylight. So shortly after lockdown restrictions were lifted and at the crack of dawn, Paul Vanderkamp and I set off from Leeds City Centre. We had excellent surfaced towpaths out of Leeds and dry, sunny weather. We briefly stopped at the model mill town of Saltaire and then on to Skipton for our first real break in the pretty town centre. Onwards through some great landscape and well surfaced paths we eventually diverted into Barnoldswick town centre for a welldeserved cafe stop. Back into Lancashire, not surprisingly the rain started. We needed to take a slight road diversion to bypass the Foulridge Tunnel, then it was back on the towpath and into Barrowford. Here we spotted the Steven Burke Cycle Circuit next to the Canal and we couldn’t resist dropping down off the towpath and doing a quick loop. Shortly after we were joined by Adrian Brooks who acted as an excellent Domestique, pacing us through the Lancashire industrial corridor of Burnley/Blackburn and fixing the only puncture of the ride. Adrian bade us farewell at Darwen and we headed towards Wigan for our tea, which most appropriately was pie, chips and gravy in a town centre cafe for the bargain price of £3.50. Leaving Wigan, the surrounding landscape flattened and the quality of the towpath deteriorated. Our pace dropped considerably and what with the now persistent drizzle, it became difficult to maintain traction in places. The section between Burscough and Maghull we dubbed the “Unlucky 13 Miles” as we
slipped and slid around at slow speed but avoided a ducking. At Maghull the surface improved again, and our pace picked up as we entered Merseyside and towards Liverpool docks. We finally arrived at the end at dusk, perfect timing.
A great ride with plenty of heritage to take in on the way. Advice for anyone thinking of doing it is a 700x28 tyre as minimum and pick a very long and dry day to do it otherwise you'll need good lights and wider, well-treaded tyres to negotiate the poorer sections on towpath.
Nigel Blandford Bury Clarion
SADDLEWORTH “DO”ZEELAND!
eeland, well what an adventure. 7, It all began with a ‘thinking aloud’
post on Facebook. Wouldn’t it be good if....
Now lots of people said it would be and there it sat. We all did nothing. Club runs came and went and to be sure we spoke about it but did exactly nothing. Then one fateful night came a message, “I have booked,” said John with the beard, and it only cost pennies. Before long 17 Clarionistas were booked on to The Pride of Hull for what would turn out to be #thebestclubrunever.
Sunday morning and 10 riders meet
in Uppermill, Saddleworth for a 100 miler across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire,
the Humber Bridge and onto the ferry. The others? They were mixed between trains and cars. The ride to Hull was, spectacular, 10 riders aimed to meet a lost soul at the café stop. A tail wind all the way.
Now I am not one to pass the blame, but
Neil had his own ideas for a cafe stop, Audlem? Andy Beedham thought aloud (at least 110km in the wrong direction) Fortunately, not this time, only Nephi had already set off from nearby Huddersfield.
Contact was made and the plan fell into place. Only the café was shut. A quick stop at a bakers and we were on our way only to find the River Don had flooded. 5 KM, 10KM out of our way. Nephi was on his own and we were lost. Keep heading North and eventually we find a main road that takes us back to the route. Neil heads for home. Time is slipping and our second stop is far from pretty, Subway, Scunthorpe. Most certainly not a café to be recommended.
The Bridge approaches and the ten split into two. Both groups arrive for the ferry rendezvous and apologies are made to Nephi.
All set? Oops no passport for Amy. That is two riders going home. Do not pass go. Collect the wooden spoon.
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The crossing is great. A calm sea and the adventurers form 2 groups. The shoppers head to Brugge and the riders head to the Island of Walcheren. Two hours through dunes, past beaches and holidaying families and the Westerschelde Ferry is there. No wait, straight on and across
the Schelde Estuary. 25k is knocked off the plan. Around the coast we go on Fietspaden. The facilities for cyclists leave us speechless, amazing what a committed government can deliver. An hour or
more passes by and through Westkapelle where the chip shop smells delightful. We should have stopped, we didn’t. But on to Domburg. A cafe? Chips? No a restaurant. Flipping heck the café stops were terrible yesterday. Food is ordered at leisure. Blame or thank Neil. At the moment we are thankful. But all will change.
Then, stop. The Ferry? Oh my days. We have 3 hours to make two Ferries and cover 70k, sort of sounds easy. Only the first ferry is only once an hour. That is no problem. Ninety minutes 35k and an hour wait for the ferry. Job done, a quick diversion and onto the cyclist ferry.
Do the maths that is 45 minutes and 35k. The ferry will depart with or without us. The faster riders push to the front. The pace, well ‘we never leave a rider behind.’ Keep it steady and keep everyone on. The clock ticks, the KMs drop.
Cobbles? Oh no, divert and add on 3K or down the pave? Divert, now we are in trouble. No word of a lie, one puncture and we are finished. Bang, crunch, stop. A broken spoke. Big trouble now, but fortune smiles, a disc brake, so just wrap it round and push on. The Ferry is there and so are we. Well nearly as we ride on, the ramp begins to rise. The 1989 Tour, many say it was close. But from here those 8 seconds would have been a comfort cushion. “Squeaky bum time”, says Mr Moreman and we all agree.
Straight to the bar and 8 brave
Clarionistas take it in, alongside a few beers, tales are told and the shoppers listen in awe. Did that really happen?
Well it will happen again. Next year. We have learnt some lessons.
Don’t listen to Neil, period.
Do take the right phone number. Stick to the plan change the plan Do check what time the ferry is.
Eat quickly.
Don’t forget your passport.
It’s a good job we stopped at the first Jumbo.
Keep your eyes open for next year. Zeeland part two. £100 covered the ferry, en-suite, two evening meals and two breakfasts. Money well spent.
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booTU spurs
YORKSHIRE BASED FENLAND SECTION MEMBER MIKE COWLING TRAVELLED TO INDIA WITH HIS CYCLING BUDDY, MARK BUTTS:
Monty Python opening on television, ‘And now for something completely different”.
those of us who can remember the
This was no ordinary cycling holiday, this was a trip to India, a destination on my bucket list for some time. My long suffering wife lost any inclination to go there so I suggested a trip to my riding pal, Mark. We earmarked February but had to plump for March as he was off on his soon to be son in law’s stag do.
We had booked through Cycling In India and were met by Sabir Mallick at Kochi Airport in Kerala, in the country’s south west. Leaving a cool Manchester Airport to arrive at Kochi, via Dubai, hit us hard as the compressed air driven sliding doors quietly whooshed open to cloak us in tremendous heat and humidity. We and our cases, packed with quite a bit of unnecessary gear, were whisked away from the airport in our air-conditioned van, driven by Majid, into
the morning traffic of Kochi. The van, with its cool air, was to be a haven during the trip in the heat of an Indian spring.
Battling though heavy traffic in the van we had a 3D version of the much witnessed India driver that we all have seen on our screens. It’s the done thing to blow the horn when overtaking or approaching a vehicle. That was something that we just about got used during the trip but still annoying to our reserved way of road use.
Arriving at Fort Kochi we were introduced to our bikes and cycling guide, Sherma. He’d taken two days by train to meet us from Delhi. We could have taken our own bicycles but the hassle we’d had travelling with them to France a couple of years ago made the use of their bikes an easy choice to make. We were riding mountains bikes, a change from our usual tourers that we were both used to.
The first day of riding was alongside a canal and pretty flat. We rode by kids splashing
in the water, men bathing, women washing and a baptismal ceremony before stopping for a snack and drink. The van held a carboy of treated water and I kept my bidon full. Out came the camping chairs from the back of the van and a selection of fruit and nuts. Very civilised. We'd set up ‘camp’ next to a bridge over the canal and were scoffing food when a local bus turned up. We were parked in his turning circle for the bridge. No problem, we just moved ten yards and all was well. After a while the heat was too
much for me and I climbed into the van. Mark carried on for a few more miles but eventually joined me. Sherma wasn’t even sweating.
The days took on a pattern of fairly early starts to avoid the heat, which really
didn’t work as it was plus 30C before breakfast, cases in the van and off riding. Stopping after ten miles for snacks and then climbing into the van when either the road or temperature went up. Away from the bicycles we visited a tea museum, went kayaking, enjoyed a river cruise on a small boat, an off road four wheeled drive safari and spent a night on a converted rice barge gently wafting across a lake.
Without doubt the highlight of the trip came fairly early on during the holiday. A long range descent through the hills and tea plantations near Munnar. The road switched from a great surface to no surface at all. Our eyes strained to get the best views of the scenery as we rattled and rolled downward but kept coming back to the road surface and pot hole avoidance. We dropped down the side of the hill past small villages, some flying the Hammer and Sickle flag, with their isolated community buildings of a canteen and Labour Room.
The folks we met were generous in their greetings and smiles abounded from groups of youngsters we met at the roadside waiting for a school bus. At one point towards the end, we rode past a major hole in the ground, a drainage project, and from the bottom of the hole came the cheery greeting of ‘hallo.’ I could just about see
the worker at the bottom with his knees covered in water.
The peacefulness of the back roads in Kerala is in sharp contrast to the noisy and hectic towns. There’s no predictability of traffic, tuk-tuks just go anywhere they want to, local service buses rule the road and the wary cyclist has to be aware of everything.
Out in the countryside cycling is pretty idyllic. Apart from the mountain bike’s noisy tyres the sounds you hear are birds, unseen kids shouting ‘hi’ the occasional horn beep and click of a camera shutter as you stop for yet another picture.
Near the end we crossed a river by wooden canoe ferry. Sherma loaded up the three bikes and we boarded. The ‘captain’ paddled at the back, with me helping at the front. His smile was as wide as the river, as was ours, after the short crossing. This is the sort of memory that you'll have from a trip like this.
Apart from the, at times, overwhelming heat and the road going up far more than Tm used to, the trip was well worth it. The food was excellent and we strictly enforced the rule of using only bottled water in a successful plan to avoid tummy troubles. Our driver and guide were fantastic, knowledgeable and extremely helpful, as our route and schedule changed daily owing to the ever worrying Coronavirus outbreak and the precautions taken. We took Yorkshire Tea bags and some digestives that were very welcome at the end of a day’s riding as we settled in at our hotel.
I recommend a trip here, memories of the scenery, the people and the food will be often recalled and I'll never complain about the British heat ever again.
RACING
West Lothian Clarion 2 up Time Trial September 27th 2020
fter a frustrating year of event Aeceteen and rescheduling, we
were delighted to be able to run our annual 2 up TT at the end of September. With mid-week TT attendances having been down for the past few seasons we put a real focus this year on inclusivity, trying to bring through members of our junior section, as well as setting a “road bikes only” rule to encourage people new to time trialling, to come and have a go. This yielded our best turn out for many years with 13 club members coming to the start line, many of whom hadn’t ridden a TT before.
We were very fortunate with the weather, being late in the year, with an early morning frost burning off quickly and leaving a lovely sunny day with next to no wind. Ideal conditions for a time trial.
The race was dominated by the youngsters with 15 year oids Ruan Vorster and Finn
Mason pipping the pre-race favourites Sam Chisholm and Andrew Turner over the rolling 10 mile course with a finishing time of 25.36. Father and son pairing of Dave and Rory Ogiive finished third. The remaining contestants were all extremely well matched and were separated by less than two minutes.
Racing aside, the overall feedback was that everyone thoroughly enjoyed having an event of some kind, with all the associated atmosphere and banter. Club president Diane said “That certainly cleared the cobwebs! It was such a great atmosphere, we organised the TT so that folk could have a good race, but it was nice to see everyone having a laugh too”. Members are now eagerly looking ahead to next year with renewed positivity for the club TT scene.
Dave Mcivor
SECTION REPORTS TUXFORD CLARION
take long for us to realise we had
to cancel our staple diet of Sunday club runs, which certainly saddened us all. Slowly we all learned to realise, that it wasn’t just the group riding we missed, but the café stops, the banter and the fellowship that holds the Clarion together. Solo riding became the norm, and whilst the summer weather was kind to us in North Notts, I have to say it was a lonely affair.
I ike most clubs in the country, it didn’t
A few of our racing members, continued as keen as ever during the lockdown, training in vain for when the time trials could be restarted, and indeed that time came towards August when a select number of open time trials allowed our young [second claim] star, Jack Levick to amass 9 time trials since August, including two sub-50 minute 25 miles, and a 9th place in the National 50 with a lhr 43... (if only he was 2nd claim for that other club...but he’s still one of us, we know that).
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Once the restrictions started to ease, some members rode to meet each other at cafes, then rode home alone and it wasn’t long before the committee felt under pressure to review the situation following the BC guidelines about group riding.We had already conducted a survey with all our members which had concluded that most were cautiously ready to start group riding, and especially that they were prepared to follow strict guidelines which would need to be signed up to before joining a club group ride, on a first come first served basis. So by the end of September, we had restarted our club runs. This consisted of three groups of different abilities, but with a maximum of 6 riders in each.
We ensured that all riders had face masks for when they stopped, as well as hand sanitiser, and for the time being, decided it was best not to stop at cafes, but at the roadside where we would find a quiet spot to grab a banana or energy bar from the pocket and have a short natter. For a while we were almost back to normal.
We even attempted to run a few time trials, starting with a Sunday morning ‘road bike only’ 11.3mile TT (on the infamous Polly Taylor’s course), and 2 weeks later, using any TT and aero equipment people wanted to use. Riders followed CTT guidelines, which included starting with one foot down (i.e. no pusher off) and bringing their own pins for their race numbers. We had around 8 riders in each event. At this point, I have to thank our loyal helpers who marshalled and put the signs out, Fred Foreman, Mick Shaw
and Ian Phillip. I even resorted to time keeping for the first time in a few decades, due to our regular timekeepers Mandy and Jools Levick being unavailable.
For most of the lockdown months, the committee has actually met more regularly than usual, with monthly Zoom meetings
ter 2020/21
to discuss how we could function in some capacity, at the same time as being safe. Yet it wasn’t to last, as we heard in November, despite Nottinghamshire already having fallen into Tier 3 restrictions, we had the second set of National restrictions, meaning that there was no longer the option
to ride even in groups of 6. It’s a small price to pay for the longer term health of the public, and our families, so we have
to accept this and get used to riding with a maximum of one other person. This I put to the test on the first weekend in November with one of our rapidly improving riders Luke Peters, a foggy and muddy day for our first club run of two.
One personal upside to resigning from the Clarion secretary role was having more time to spend with my family as they grow up. We’ve had some wonderful times cycling as a foursome this summer. Riding a lot more off road around the trails of Tuxford with Jayne, Monty and Jenny, and even building a multitude of cyclo-cross courses in the back garden for us all to play at.
We wish all Clarion members the best of health, and hope that bike riding, even alone will keep you physically and mentally healthy, take care, be safe and see you all soon.
Jan Clarke secretary Tuxford section
TUXFORD
YORKSHIRE COAST CLARION
ver the past few months, the O members of the Yorkshire Coast
Clarion have enjoyed regular runs on a Sunday and some Saturday outings. Our four new members are Anne Nunn, Gary and Chloe French and Carol Steel; we hope that you get a lot out of being part of the club and the National Clarion. The pace set has been manageable and we have had guest riders including Rosie, Holly, Katrina, Rory, Keith, Paul Tansley and Jez. Our rides currently focus on the Vale of Pickering and the wonderful Yorkshire Wolds. Colin Dickens has joined us on his tricycle and continues to impress.
Gary and Chloe’s initiation ride, from Leyburn, was memorable for the ascent of Fleak Moss into a headwind; I am sure they said a few words under their breath! Once we got to Askrigg we were blessed with a backwind along Wensleydale and took a diversion to Castle Bolton before our return to Leyburn. Congratulations are in order, particularly, as they were not using cleats or toe-clips.
Some of our members have been gaining assistance from EPO* and electric engines on some of the runs. This has proved helpful yet requires judgement in setting the overall speed. Paul Tissington is now fondly referred to as the “club derny” rider, as he goes to the front to battle with the strong headwinds. No engines are needed for Richard Cullen and Hannah Bayes. Richard has had many podium spots in local time-trials plus a recent win and Hannah has had success in cyclo-cross races and the Magnificent
Seven in the Sheffield area. She set a course record in the Team Sportslab hill climb at Leadenham, in September. Hannah has entered the National hill climb which takes place near Reading and we wish her every success.
On 20th September, we had an inter-club run with Alan Kiddle and Alex Southern (London Clarion), David Bisset (Bolton Clarion) and Charles (NC 1895) to Eden Camp which is on the outskirts of Malton, in North Yorkshire. The run was the final day of a week’s tour from the capital, visiting Eleanor crosses and Lincoln on route. This was an impressive ride, with good weather.
Stuart has also been riding regularly and building his fitness in Lancashire and Cheshire; in addition, Andy, James and Charlotte Fisher have done some good walking in the Wolds and south west Scotland. It has also been good to meet and catch up with Paul Anderson on a recent run. Greystone Smai! has now retired and has been enjoying some fine rides, including one to Spurn Point and back. Thanks are due to our treasurer, Terry Lynch, for managing the club finances and Brendan O’Sullivan for introducing new faces and creating extra pedalling opportunities. Happy retirement to Greystone and best wishes from Yorkshire Coast Clarion to ail those reading this.
Chris Goode
Glossary: EPO is evening primrose oil or extra pedalling opportunities.
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_Go Ride session
he junior section of North Cheshire Clarion continues to flourish despite the challenges faced over the last 9 months with membership,
participation and enjoyment all at record levels.
2020 started positively, it was therefore a bitter pill to swallow when racing and coaching activities were brought to an abrupt halt in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Our last club update left you with news that our club coaches were delivering online Zwift sessions as a way of ensuring fitness, enthusiasm and enjoyment were not adversely affected during the initial lockdown. Our coaches delivered a series of structured workouts, social rides and even races during this uncertain period of the year. Sessions were open to all U18 riders across the North West (and beyond!) and were positively received by riders and parents alike.
Since our last update, youth rider Ethan Grimshaw was awarded his Gold Level Cycling Award for Young Volunteers. Ethan has put in many hours of volunteering to gain his bronze, silver and finally his gold award. He has been
involved in course set up/take down, helped out with coaching, sign on and judging at races, and was a flag bearer
at the World Track Masters. This has given him a great insight into what goes into organising coaching and racing and has also given him the opportunity to meet and watch some world class riders. Congratulations Ethan, it’s so great to see you give something back to sport we are all incredibly proud of you.
At the virtual awards ceremony at this year’s Easter Meet, three of our young riders were presented with awards. Sebastian Grindley took the Harold Lamb Cup for The Most Meritorious Junior. The title of Best Novice went to Sam Slough and the winner of the Youth Omnium at this year’s National Track Championships went to Ethan Grimshaw. Congratulations to you all.
On 11th July, we were able to hold our first outdoor coaching session of the year, albeit under strict guidelines and for a reduced number of riders. Demand, as you can imagine, was incredibly high and our coaches worked extremely hard to ensure these sessions were delivered safely yet remained engaging and enjoyable for the riders. It’s safe to say they smashed it! So much so, that they were able to open up sessions for increasing numbers of riders which eventually culminated in the highest attended session in our relatively short history.
Focusing on off-road and cyclocross skills, over the 12 weekly sessions we saw all our riders improve their bike handling skills and show increased confidence on some devilishly difficult course design.
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Over the late summer and autumn months, due to demand, we were able to hold additional mid-week sessions for our advanced riders to help them prepare for the limited number of cyclocross races that had been announced.
Despite the cancellation of many of
the regional cyclocross leagues, the cyclocross season got off to a great start at Shibden CC’s No Nonsense Cyclocross Series in Bradford. 21 of our junior riders headed over to compete, meaning the club was well represented in all age categories with many of our riders racing for the very first time! We had podium finishes for Sebastian Gindley (2nd place U16 Boy), Faye Williams (2nd place U14 girl) and Zoe Scott (2nd place U8 Girl) at the opening round.
Nothing was going to stand in the way of the first round of the National Trophy Cyclocross Series at Westmoreland,
not even Storm Alex who made the conditions incredibly tough for all rider. And nothing, it seemed, was going to stop our riders handling the conditions brilliantly! Sebastian Grindley took an incredible 3rd place on his debut ride
in the U16 Boys race at national level, but a special mention must be given to Raphael Tabiner who battled back from almost dead last after a first lap crash
to finish fourth. Ethan Grimshaw placed 11th with Luke Williams in 29th. In the U16 girls race Hannah McClorey finished a creditable 20th place, whilst in the U14 girls Faye Williams rode a superb race
to finish 6th and Gabby Scott secured another top 20 finish for the club coming home in 17th.
More impressive performances were shown by our riders at the Heart of England Cyclocross race, especially from
Zoe Scott (2nd place U8 girl), Frank White (3rd place U10 boy) and Raphael Tabiner who rode to victory in the U16 boys. However, there were strong rides from Gabby Scott, Luke Phillips and
John White who put in an incredible performance just narrowly missing out on a podium finish.
Cyclocross racing continues, for the time being at least, with more races scheduled at Bradford and a mini-series planned by NW CX Association at Broughton Hall. At present, due to the second national lockdown, we are unsure how these will be affected but we hope to be able to bring you more news of our participation in the next edition of Boots Spurs.
Over the summer, a few of our riders were able to compete at local time trial and hill climb events that were able
to continue despite the restrictions on racing. Jamie-Leigh Lloyd, Gabby Scott and Aibie Jones competed at the BNECC 5 mile Time Trial in Willaston, commonly known as the ‘Boardman 5’, Luke and Faye Williams also represented the club at the Rhuallt Hill Climb in North Wales with all posting excellent results.
There has not been much closed-circuit racing this year since the promising
start the club had in the early spring season. However, our U16 and U14 riders competed at Matlock CC’s mini-series
at Darley Moor in September with great results from Sebastian Grindley who took 2nd place U16 boy and Hannah McClorey who placed 3rd in the U16 girls.
British Cycling have also hosted a series of evening races at the Tameside Cycle Circuit for U12/14/16 riders which have been well attended by our riders. There have been some strong rides from all
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riders in all categories, most notably Albie Jones who retains his unbeaten record this year in all U12 races. With our junior club activity now finished for 2020 and all racing now ‘on hold’ for an unknown period of time, it’s time to draw breath and reflect on an incredible year. Whilst our annual awards party cannot go ahead in the traditional sense, we will ensure
all our rider’s achievements and commitment does not go uncelebrated and the efforts of all those that have contributed to such a successful year is duly recognised.
And so our thoughts inevitably now turn to 2021 and our junior section’s 10th birthday celebrations. There may be a high degree of uncertainty about how we will be able to continue, but one thing is for sure; we will do so with the resolve, commitment and positivity that has seen us through the last few difficult months. And we shall do it all with a smile!
On behalf of all the coaches, I would like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed to junior club life and supported us during these challenging times we couldn’t have done it without you.
MAKE IT COUNT
Gabby Scott
COTSWOLD CLARION AUDAXING WITH COTSWOLD CLARION CYCLING CLUB
udaxing is a popular activity for Av members of Cotswold Clarion
Cycling Club. A welcome relaxation of Audax UR’s rules meant Permanent Events (a predetermined course ridden on a day of your own choosing) were reinstated. Keen to take advantage, we entered Mr Pickwick’s High Summer Meander. The reason for its name will become obvious later.
Just after 7am on Saturday 5th September, our peloton of 4 members and 2 prospective members, rolled out of Malmesbury in Wiltshire. Ahead was a circular 214km course up through the Cotswolds, around the top of the Severn Estuary, down through the Forest of Dean and back home across the Severn Bridge. With about 2,700 metres of climbing, for us, in our neck of the woods, it qualifies as ‘lumpy.’
The opening pace out to and over the flat lanes of the Cotswold Water Park was lively with Tommy Loft and Andrew Trudgian setting out their stalls early.
After 52km we arrived at our first control in Bourton-on-the-Water, often referred
to as the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’ due to its attractive bridges crossing the River Windrush. We breakfasted at the acclaimed Bakery on the Water. With some confusion. over whether we were going to eat in their garden or across the road overlooking
the river, the first orders were placed as take-aways. This resulted in Gary Walker’s scrambled egg arriving in a paper cup and having solidified, it slid out like a sandcastle looking just as unappetising.
Back on the move again, there was soon along, gradual climb up to the village of Guiting Power and beyond. Eventually, having reached the top, we either enjoyed or endured, depending on how much of a thrillseeker you were, a rapid, nerve-jangling
descent of a heavily pitted Sudeley Hill into Winchcombe.
After Winchcombe, the peace and quiet of the countryside was disturbed by the throaty roar of cars assaulting the Prescott Speed Hill Climb, owned since 1938 by the Bugatti Owners’ Club. Stirling Moss made his hill climb debut here in 1948 finishing fourth out of twelve drivers.
In Tewkesbury, our next control, we passed the Royal Hop Pole. The grade 2 listed building was mentioned in Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers. It also happens to be famous in the Audax world. The legendary organiser Mark Rigby’s regular calendar events begin and end at the public house.
After coffee and snacks in the busy High Street, we headed for our next port of
call at Newent. Buffered for some time by a brisk headwind on exposed roads, we were grateful for the cover provided by the narrower, but hillier lanes.
With Newent being only 24kim further along the route, we made just a brief stop for
our proof of passage. For some, this meant purchasing a very reasonably priced cake at the Crusty Loaf bakery.
A challenge now arose. The Forest of Dean Heritage Centre, where we could obtain
a stamp for our brevet cards, was due to close at 3.00pm. Despite our best efforts, a wrong turn and the never-ending climb up to Littledean, meant we were 15 minutes too late. A member of staff, alerted by our frantic waving, did unlock the door and oblige us with his signature.
The consensus was that a cup of tea would be very welcome. Fortunately, Peter Cattermole was aware of the café at the nearby Mallards Pike Lake. The name has
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nothing to do with a fish or a mallard duck. The pike refers to a turnpike or toll road. The mallard comes from Mr Maller, who until the early 1950’s lived in a toll keeper’s cottage. Originally known as Maller’s Turnpike, it eventually became Mallard’s Pike.
Seated around a vacant picnic bench, we soaked up the afternoon sunshine and devoured our assorted cakes, pastries and ice creams. Fortified, we left for Chepstow, knowing that after St Briavels, we would be treated to a glorious fast-running drop all the way into Wales and the centre of the town.
There’s always something special about cycling across the Severn Bridge. It’s a magnificent structure and the views can be breath-taking, but more than that, there’s a feeling of danger. The bridge moves as the cars pass, and it’s only the railings that stop you falling 47 metres into the swirling, treacherous currents below. 7 4 Having returned to England safely, there might only have been another 44kms left of our outing, but we all knew only too well the dreaded 17% ascent to the Somerset Monument at Hawkesbury Upton, stood between us and our journey’s end.
The stone tower commemorates General Lord Somerset, who at Waterloo during the first cavalry charge lost his hat. Improperly dressed, he went to retrieve it. A cannonball tore off the flap of his coat and killed
his horse. He later became the MP for Cirencester.
With much grinding of gears and gnashing of teeth we summitted. All credit to Mike Greer, who on the climb, at over 70 years of age, was able to show a clean pair of heels to some of the younger riders.
A useful tailwind helped pilot us back to Malmesbury, where we arrived just after 8.00pm with our Garmins and a Wahoo registering over 140 miles.
A special mention goes to Andrew who decided to stay out and upgrade his 200km tide to 200 miles.
Tim Wadsworth
BROADLAND CLARION
2020 has been a successful year for Broadland Clarion. We have doubled our numbers, all be it from a low base. We
welcome Anthony, Dick and Frank from the Cycling UK group in Bury St Edmunds, Steve from our base here in Reedham
iE spite of lockdown I can report that
and most recently Keith and Sue from the Cycling UK group in Norwich. It seems that for some Cycling UK members, somewhere along the way, the feeling of belonging to a cycling club has been lost. We hope that we can rekindle that joy even if only in some small way.
The best way of course is with a good rides calendar. We had wonderful trips planned to Southwold, Eye, Framlingham, Cromer and many other
places, along with at least three of John “Tommo” Thompsons Audax rides. We are lost for choice when it comes to great events and destinations and all with wonderful cafes but then the dystopian world of COVID 19 entered into our lives. I never thought that I would crave latte and Eccles cakes so much. We have been to Harleston more than once, but the wonderful farm shop café has shut. We manged a hastily rearranged ride to Framingham in late summer sunshine and are pleased to report that “Bakery at 221”, a favourite Audax stop remains open, but The Good the Bad and The Hungry at Wingfield, another welcome Audax stop, has closed. Our favourite, the Earsham Street Café in Bungay, has only half as many tables as before and is so popular that you have to book your space for morning coffee!
Nonetheless, we have enjoyed the huge skies and open landscapes of the villages known as the Saints, to the south of Bungay on more than one occasion, along with the joys of both the Waveney valley in Suffolk and the Tas valley in south Norfolk.
Ellingham mill on the river Waveney
Being reduced to groups of two again in the past few weeks has not deterred us. Spurred on by the messages on the WhatsApp group, members keep in touch and pair up to ride. Perhaps in 2021, with another great rides calendar and possibly with our own Audax event, we can double the numbers again.
FENLAND CLARION
have been somewhat curtailed as a result of the Coronavirus, but they’ve made the best of a bad situation.
L= all sections Fenland’s club activities
Club runs ceased as we went into Lockdown at the end of March. As group rides (Maximum 6 riders) were permitted, members organised small meet ups amongst themselves, but the decision was made
to hold no full club runs until the COVID situation was resolved.
To keep members engaged with the club socially, Fenland have been holding fortnightly Online Quizzes since early April.
Like the club runs, racing and the popular Go Ride aspects of the club were
impacted. To combat the lack of racing Fenland introduced Online Club 10 mile TT’s using a GXP file of their real life circuit on the RGT platform and have also been weekly running club rides on Zwift.
The club TT programme was put on ice for four months in lockdown, but as soon as the CTT allowed Time Trials again, Fenland scheduled a COVID compliant series of midweek events up to the end August.
With a lack of racing opportunities, the events proved to be more popular than ever, with some nights even selling out.
So popular in fact that the decision was taken to run all the originally planned club events, on Sundays from August Bank
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Holiday weekend to the middle of October.
The handicap based midweek Bluebell 10 mile Series forms the back bone of the club’s TT programme and 12 year old Harry Tozer, a product of Fenland’s Go Ride programme, romped away with the win with 79 points from Mick Stegeman (43) and Dave Hallam (40).
Veteran Simon Pitchford won the Club Championship Series from Dave Thorold and new member Jonny Hynes who tied on points for 2nd place.
Some members participated in the massively reduced Open TT programme. Lindsay Clarke produced a lifetime best for 10 miles for a new Fenland women’s record of 21.43. Meanwhile Paul Lunn narrowly missed the longstanding men’s record with a 20.00.
Finally a big shout out to Ian Waddilove, who was awarded the Clarke Merit Cup for the impressive way in which he returned to racing in 2020 after recovering from Cancer.
BARNOLDSWICK
2020 Review January. Dave Poole finishes 2nd in the Keilder Duathlon event sporting club colours which gave him automatic selection for the European Cross Duathlon Championships. He achieved a GB place for his Vet 40 category. The event should have taken place in Romania 2020 but has been moved to 2021 in Italy.
Dave Sherwood’s Club Majorca trip cancelled,
February. A.G.M. Mick Meath steps down from organising Saturday rides after Syrs. Sue Gornall reluctantly steps forward with a look on her face that says “What have I
let myself into”! Sub committee formed and Linda Reid takes over Wednesday rides from Colin.
March. Sportives cancelled, Eden Valley, West Riding Classic.
April. Mick Meath’s Clarion photo exhibition at the Old Library cancelled at last minute due to covid.
May. Club rides with or without cafe stops
on the agenda due to covid. A really bad start for Sue and Linda who have done an amazing job of keeping the club going during testing times,
June. Jo Brown and Nicola Heap step up their wild water swimming with great
photos, including a mountain challenge in Wales.
July. Members are changing their cycling habits, Pam and Dorothy start exploring local bridleways.
August. This has given me time to re-explore the green bridleways of the Dales which I rode with the club many years ago on my steel tourer.
September. Ian Lyons joins the club and brings his enthusiasm of Audax riding to the club on his state-of-the-art steel machine.
October. A chance meeting and ride over Brogden with Karen Bailey on her steel Roberts tourer culminated with her joining the club and later putting fab pictures of her South Africa camping tour on our club site.
November. Roger’s plans for a Christmas dinner cancelled. Cumbria Cracker Sportive cancelled, two very popular events for the club.
December. Summary: A huge thanks to Sue and LInda for keeping the club riding under extremely testing times, with continuous government updates. Our regular cafe stops have suffered immensely and I am sure we all wish them weil for 2021.
Michael Meath
BRIGHTON AND HOVE
only two “official” rides since March,
though there have been a number of smaller unofficial ones; we were particularly disappointed to have to cancel a planned weekend of riding with Broadland Clarion in July. Our first official ride since lockdown took place on 2nd August and attracted 10 members, riding in two socially-distanced groups of 5. It featured the Egrets Way, a lovely new shared-use path that runs between Newhaven and Lewes, alongside the River Ouse, and a picnic lunch by the river.
B righton Hove Clarion have managed
The second ride, on 27th September, owed its very existence to the pandemic, and showed that good things can occasionally arise out of a disaster. In the summer I had found myself making a lot of short cycling trips around town, as part of a fascinating project involving a charity I volunteer for, Thousand 4 1000, which supports and houses destitute migrants and refugees. One of the people we house turned out to be an excellent seamstress, and in mid-April she started making high-quality reusable face masks at a prodigious rate. These were offered for sale on the charity’s website, and the orders very soon came rolling in. Between April and November we sold over 3300 masks, and raised £9,500 for the charity. Masks were posted to addresses all over the country, but most were ordered
by local residents around Brighton Hove, and these were delivered by hand by a small team of volunteers some on four wheels, some on foot, but the majority on two wheels; the photo below shows myself and fellow-volunteer Karen Swirsky about to set off on a delivery.
Having previously only used my bike for country rides (it isn’t much fun cycling in the town centre, and for more suburban trips there’s always the bus or there was until Covid came along!) I found myself discovering all sorts of interesting corners of the conurbation, especially when I started
lobbying for the more remote deliveries to surrounding villages. I needed the mileage, because I’d signed up for another charitable venture fellow Clarion members David Jezeph and Graham Geeson were raising money for Myeloma UK by taking part in
a sponsored “virtual London to Paris ride” which involved cycling 316 miles (the distance from London to Paris by road, including “cycling” across the channel!)
in a month, and I joined in with that. You could clock up the miles anyhow, even on a static bike but we preferred actual riding. At the end of each day you uploaded your mileage and would then be shown where you and other participants “were” on the map between London and Paris; you could also see the “street view” from this place
David and Graham both reached the target with plenty of time to spare, but as the deadline approached, I needed the 10-
mile round trips with masks for places like Saltdean and Rottingdean to add to my total, as well as outlying suburbs such as Bevendean and Patcham. David and Graham kindly accompanied me for my last 30 miles, completed on 16th August, the day before the deadline.
Gradually all the interesting places I visited assembled themselves into a ride, which six members of the club did on 27th September. It included a large park, two nature reserves, and several little bits of greenery
A?
that connected one part of suburbia to another though whether they had been inserted deliberately by thoughtful planners in more enlightened age, or had just come about by accident, I can’t say. On the way, we came across a huge mural of Greta Thunberg. Street art has been one of the pleasant surprises I've discovered in the backstreets in the last few months.
At the end of the ride we were able to chart the rise and fall of a bold venture to bring
a car-free route into the town centre from the suburbs, along the route of an old goods line: the Brighton Greenway. Sadly, powerful interests Network Rail and the building industry cut the original ambitious plan down to a mere shadow of what it might have been the final insult being an office building that has taken years to build and will probably remain empty for more years to come, and if it had only been built slightly smaller, could have accommodated the path. Ah well you win some and you lose some
Jim Grozier.
BOLTON CLARION
There is a sad probability that all Clarion Section reports for 2020 will be very similar.
Bolton Clarion started the year 62 members, a full runs programme, and several fully booked tours. The long established A ride, ably planned and led by Mike Singleton, was popular and well attended. The more recently established JABS ride (just a bit slower, before you ask), led by Pete Lane and Clive Bryan, was growing in popularity, and collecting regular riders. Bernard Nicholson contributed a regular Thursday ride, and several members participated in the Lancashire Road Club Old Lags Ride on Tuesdays.
And then on 23 March lockdown was proclaimed. Club runs, social nights and committee meetings were stopped. All
the planned tours were cancelled. The Government ordered over 70s to shield, affecting significant numbers of our members.
Riders continued to ride, mostly alone, sometimes greeting each other across the road, but hampered by the closure of cafes. July brought some relaxation; club runs restarted, small groups at social distance. Alas September has brought further restrictions, especially in Bolton which is a Covid-19 hotspot. We do not know how long it will last.
Sadly in May Tony Bowles, widely known as a regular at Easter Meets, died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 82 years. He was cycling until within 48 hours of his demise, and he was still training for time trials on his turbo. His astonishing knowledge of unsignposted lanes in Cheshire and the Fylde has been lost. Many members have Tony stories, lots of which describe him sorting a get-youhome repair having sustained seemingly terminal mechanical failures.
We have high hopes for 2021, we hope
that the pandemic will pass and we shall
be able to return to normal activities. 24th February 2021 will be the 125th anniversary of the foundation of Bolton Clarion, and we hope to celebrate, though it is difficult to plan anything at present. We may combine such celebration with a memorial for Tony: lockdown and other issues mean we have had no funeral or memorial for him.
For more than a year we have been planning a Bolton Clarion Challenge Ride for summer 2021, and it is hoped we shall be able to go ahead when the time comes, and that other Clarion sections will join us. Sadly under the circumstances I have no current photographs of Bolton Clarion riders in action this year. David Bisset
MERCHANDISING NEWS
Watch out for news of Clarion Snoods using a word cloud graphic like the one featured below, (that’s a Buff or a neck gaiter to those of you who live south of Nottingham). Details hopefully in the next edition of Extra at the end of February. A version featuring the club logo may also be available for those of you who prefer a more traditional look.
labour Sezbond 8 33 o =o Ec g 8 $5 3 235. 5 lellowship ESE 8s 8 5s g ESE 5 west SSE S85
meets easter S, ti broadland EE cheshire
“IT’S ALWAYS FUN CYCLING WITH THE CLARION”