From my file marked well-that-never-happened-did-it?: “If Parliament sees fit to grant the necessary powers, it would be my intention to start on a further number of motor roads where that course is found to be preferable to the widening or […]
Continue ReadingLudicrous, really. There’s a blanket national ban on cycling on the pavement (and has been since 1888) but there’s a confusing mish-mash of conflicting laws which means there’s no equivalent national blanket ban on parking a car on the pavement. […]
Continue ReadingI’ve been hanging out at Tyne and Wear archives recently, requesting to see plans of Newcastle’s streets from the 1830s through to the 1930s. While the Roads Were Not Built For Cars book is international in scope, it’s instructive to […]
Continue ReadingNovelist H.G. Wells was a cyclist before the peak of the bicycle craze in 1896 and continued to ride until at least 1901 when he and his second wife went on a cycling tour of the southern counties. In letters […]
Continue Reading“The man who owns a bicycle rides his own steed. He throws his dust in the face of the man in the carriage, so that it is no longer pleasant to ride in a coach and four.” John D. Long, […]
Continue ReadingWhen is the book due to be published? I’m plumping for sometime in Spring Summer this year. Most of the research has now been completed I keep finding great new avenues of research but I’m nearly done with my exploring, […]
Continue ReadingH. G. Wells may not have said or written “When I see an adult on a bicycle I do not despair for the future of the human race” but his cycling credentials are still strong. I’ve featured him in a […]
Continue Reading“Good luck to you! No punctures, no breakdowns, and easy roads!” Centrefold in Puck magazine, January 5th, 1898 Artist: Samuel D. Ehrhart Large version: 1600 x 999 Massive version: 6983 x 4362 Source: Library of Congress
Continue ReadingSo popular was cycling in the 1890s that American church leaders feared that congregations would be dangerously depleted by those who preferred to ride rather than attend church. An 1890s clergyman in New Haven, who probably didn’t know that the […]
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