Preface• Club Cycling Formation Kit Club Runs Refreshments & Diversions Competition The Parting of the Ways Photo Gallery
On a fine Spring Sunday morning in April 1938 a dozen lads from the North Cotswold Cycling Club set out on their bicycles from the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire for a seventy-five mile round jaunt to the railway town of Swindon in Wiltshire. After negotiating their first challenge, the steep climb out of Broadway village, they rode to Stow-on-the-Wold and then on to Burford, pausing a third of the way through their journey at the Oxfordshire village of Filkins to take dinner at the curiously named Five Alls public house. There the landlady entertained the group by showing them a pullet’s egg that weighed a remarkable 6½ ounces. After dinner they resumed their journey, though apparently with some difficulty; two of their number having consumed a quart each of Bulmers cider. They headed south to their destination, barely breaking their rhythm when passing through Swindon before turning homewards via the ancient Saxon town of Cricklade, near to which they paused briefly in order to help two lady cyclists with a punctured tyre. A halt for tea at Cirencester provided sufficient fuel for a return to Broadway and the Vale, via Cheltenham and Winchcombe, to end what all agreed had been a delightful run.
On the same day, the Austrian people were voting on the Anschluss: the union of their Country with Hitler’s Germany. The ballot was a portent of events that would soon transform the political map of Europe. Although those young riders enjoying the fresh Cotswold air that day did not realise it, changes were afoot that would shortly put an end to their carefree wanderings.
The story of the North Cotswold Cycling Club (NCCC) is not a complicated one. The Club was formed in the early 1930’s by a group of friends and acquaintances living in the Vale of Evesham who discovered that they shared a mutual interest in cycling. Finding that there was no existing club locally, they decided to start their own. The Club they created survived, officially, for around fourteen years, until just after the end of the Second World War. However, in all but name, the arrival of war in the autumn of 1939 put an abrupt end to activities, and signalled the Club's demise. It was therefore active for just seven years (1933-1939), and it is this period that is covered in this short account of its history.
Since the Club was so short-lived, it is fair to ask why it should merit a history, however modest. The NCCC occupied no special place in the annals of cycling. None of its riders ever broke any national records or came to prominence within the wider cycling world. Although the performances of its racing members were respectable, the 1930's was a boom time for cycling. Competition was fierce among the many thousands of amateur riders, and the honours were won by only a select few. The true significance of the Club, and the reason it deserves to be remembered, lies in the fact that it was typical of so many other cycling clubs of that era; comprised as it was of a small band of dedicated enthusiasts for whom cycling was more a way of life than a mere hobby. It recalls a time when road racing was illegal, and practiced in virtual secrecy. The story also has a special resonance for me because my late father, Norman Parsons, was one of the Club's founders.
Fortunately, several boxes of NCCC records have survived, and these have been indispensable in compiling this history. The archive includes newspaper clippings, club cards, badges, medals and run lists, among which the latter are especially informative because they provide details of the destinations and tea stops for the regular Sunday rides. Also preserved is a membership book containing an alphabetical list of members and addresses, as well as information that indicates who were racing members and who purely social riders.
One of the most exciting survivals is a book that records the names of those who attended the Sunday runs during the 1937 and 1938 seasons. For so many clubs of this era this kind of ephemeral material has been lost. It includes around a dozen brief but lively hand-written descriptions of the runs, and these shed an interesting light on the nature of these outings. The typical Sunday run, it would appear from the reports, was an opportunity for a group of young people to burn off some excess energy, and to surmount various challenges presented by the ride – be they steep hills, crashes, punctures or weary legs – in addition to indulging in some fun and games at the tea stop, and maybe some impromptu competition en route with fellow riders.
Although it is not certain, the author is of these reports was probably my father, who was Club Secretary at the time, and who retained the books after the club folded. Written in a light-hearted style, in keeping with his own character, a typical entry is as follows:
This run was one of the ‘Colonel’s’ Cotswold rambles, and took a course strange even to some of the local lads. We started from Broadway and proceeded to Mickleton through lovely country lanes towards Hidcote Boyce. Leaving this village on the left we went through Ebrington to Paxford. Here the Cycle Agent (no names), who always has an up-to-date model!!? broke his brake-cable, and had to change to fixed. We then started off towards Draycott, leaving one of the ‘upright’ section in the rear causing another delay. The said rider rallied however, sufficiently to ride Draycott Hill, and hurried on to Moreton, which was a slight error, as the rest of the Club went up the hill near Batsford, along the top road to Bourton-on-the-Hill. Here we shed two more riders. Through Sezincote’s leafy lanes to a good tea at Sturdy’s, and darts in the Parlour.
Amongst the surviving records are about seventy photographs, many of which were taken by my father with his second-hand Box camera. These are mostly posed snaps which show members relaxing after races or during a break in proceedings whilst on a club run. There are also a few ‘action’ shots taken at club events, which give a sense of the excitement and drama involved when participating in competition. Whilst the image quality of these photographs is unexceptional, they are nevertheless an invaluable record of the club. Nearly all were taken during the latter years (1936-9). Only a handful seem to be from an earlier date, snapped by various unknown hands which I am regrettably unable to acknowledge.
Because the 1930’s is within living memory I have been able to gather a certain amount of first-hand information about the Club, although I am painfully aware that this project would have been better begun ten years ago. In researching the Club’s history I have had the kind assistance of my uncle, Theodore Parsons, who was a member of the North Cotswold almost from the beginning, and whose memory of those days remains exceptionally clear. His contribution has been especially valuable because he has been able to provide the kind of detail that can seldom be gleaned from any source other than personal reminiscence. My very sincere thanks go to him for his help, and for his patience in answering my questions over what transpired to be many hours of ‘interrogation’. My thanks also go to my brother, Brian, who read the original manuscript, and supported me in the preparation of this site.
For general background on the history of club cycling I consulted a number of sources, but would particularly recommend This Island Race by Les Woodland (Mousehold Press 2005), which provides an absorbing though somewhat depressing account of British cycle-racing over the past 135 years. Woodland’s book does much to explain the reasons for the lack of success among British riders in competition at international level over many years.
The North Cotswold Cycling Club may have had only a fleeting existence. But it would be a pity if its story was to be forgotten. This account will, I trust, serve as a permanent reminder of those young men and women of the Club who, winter and summer, rain or shine, considered that there was nothing more splendid than to mount their bicycles and ride off into the Midland countryside.
Finally, I should mention that notwithstanding the generous help I have received in researching and writing this history, any errors and omissions are entirely my responsibility.
Derek Parsons: 20th March 2007