1937 – 1962 – History of the Club – St Neots and District Cycling Club

Until we secured the various posters from 1898 this was the earliest record we had and is from 1962 and this captures the history of the club from 1937 to 1962. From this record we gain a glimpse of a club that held its first Time Trial in 1938 and by the end of the 1950’s was featuring in National Championships with members travelling many miles to compete in events. The Club continued throughout the Second World War and in 1943 had 54 members of which 38 were serving in the forces.

Read about the first use of the telephone in 1949 to record the “turn times” in a 50 on the finishing board before each rider had finished.

The first club member to go under the hour was Mick Buck in 1954 in a time of 59.38.

From 1950 to 1955 members would get off the saddle and take part in the St Neots to Bedford Boxing Day Road Running Relay and in two of the years beat the local athletics team. Perhaps they were the early visionaries for dualathons !!

Have a look at the profiles for Gerald Ashley, Myrtle Gander and Dave Jordan and some of the times they were setting. Remember that the bikes they were using are not like the machines of today to help place these performances in context. 100 miles, 12 hour and 24 hour races were certainly the norm especially for Dave Jordan.

We gain a picture of an active club, organising their own “Open” events with members taking their cycling talents outside St Neots and creating many records. The name of the club is also worth noting. It was the St Neots and District Cycling Club with the emphasis on “District” as it drew a large part of its membership from outside the confines of St Neots. We know from the “ Minute Book” of the 1960’s that members joined from Huntingdon , Sandy , Biggleswade , Rushden , Kettering and Dunstable. However when the first sponsorship deal came along with Harry Quinn cycles the “ District” had to be dropped as they wanted exclusivity to St Neots. So even then commercial considerations took precedence !!

Newsletter PDF can be downloaded from here

Race Meeting – Priory Park August 9^th 1898 and “Good Old Annual Meeting”

We are fortunate to have these two posters from 1898 courtesy of George Lendrum whose grandfather , P C Tomson , was the printer who owned the St Neots Advertiser and the building that is now Neros. George’s mother is alive and at 99 was able to supply background on some of the names on these and other posters.

Note how elegant this poster is and how much pride the Club took in presenting the event. The President was G. F Rowley and he was a farmer with a substantial acreage – see below a picture of him with his staff celebrating the coronation of Edward V11 in August 1902.

There was prize money at stake and the £2 prize today would be worth about £260 and the 15 shillings quoted would be worth about £98 today. Generous prizes indeed.

Humour clearly played a part in their cycling lives with the Secretary calling himself a novice for the “Half Mile for Novices” and we have yet to have a definitive answer to what “Cutting the Turk’s Head involved. It was an oval track – see picture – and might have had something to do with crossing over at some point on the circuit. If anyone has an answer then please drop a line to the Club with the explanation.

We are not sure that “The Ladies’ Parasol Race” would be popular today , however it must have been quite a spectacle back in 1898.

The entry fee was 1 shilling and today that would be about £6.50 ( shows that the Club TT is god value !!).

Alfred Jordan is mentioned as the “Judge” He was the Jordan of Jordan and Addington ltd of St Neots who were millers and owned and lived at the Priory and was the uncle of George’s mother.

Nothing changes in that members still need to be reminded to pay their annual subs !!

The poster provides a fascinating insight into the history of our Club. If anyone has additional information on the people mentioned then we would be very pleased to hear from you.

“Good Old Annual Meeting 1898”

Another insight into our history and the precursor of our AGM’s and more lately the “Big Night Out”. The governance of the Club was just as important then as it is now. The venue is still in place in St Neots and clearly it doubled as the HQ with perhaps runs leaving and starting from the “New Inn”.

They had a dance and we have had discos. They must have raised money during the winter months by holding a concert and the name Rowley appears again in connection with the track at Priory Park.

We are not sure what “BASS.” refers to half way down the poster and any information would be welcome.

Clearly , as now , the Club never stops recruiting new members and have a look at the reasons suggested for joining.

• Keep the Roads in good condition
• Endeavouring to secure the Universal Light’s Bill
• We have erected Danger Boards on Dangerous Hills

Annual Dinner 1898