A Victorian Sketchbook

Oakwood Hill 1860

Here are some sketches from a family sketchbook in the 1860s. Unfortunately, I don’t know which relative it is as they didn’t put a name in it but it gives you a flavour of that time. It would be interesting see if things have changed and whether or not the trees seen here are still around.

MaryAnn Arnold Oct 6 1860

Ockley Green Sept 9th 1860

Forest Green Sept 17th, 1860

Rev W Farwell, St Martins August 21st 1860

Lizzie Turnbull Nov 30 1860

Oakwood Hill Sept 1860

Oakwood Hill Chapel Sep 12th 1860

Tributes to a Suffrogette – 6 March Morpeth

Time: 12:30 – 14:00
Event: Emily Wilding Davison – Tribute to a Suffragette
About: Tribute to Emily Davison who ran in front of the King’s horse at 1913 Derby drawing attention to “the cause” and died from her injuries. – 12.30 Church service 13:30 Hot drinks in Storey Park Community Centre 14:00 Ends All welcome.
Venue: The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, High Church, Morpeth in Northumberland (where Emily Davison is buried), Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2QT
Organisation: Northumberland County Council: A local authority in the UK

Suffrogettes in Kent

I have always been interested in the Suffrogette Movement particularly as I was not taught it at either of my schools. How ironic is that? And they were girls’ schools. What a joke!

Anyway I found this book in the Millicent Press about the Women Suffrogettes in East Kent:-

“Ever since Laura Probert met a real live suffragette on holiday in Guernsey when she was eight years old she has been interested in the lives of women in late Victorian and Edwardian times. A retired librarian, who now lives in an Edwardian house in Ramsgate, Laura cares passionately about the town and its history. When she joined the Ramsgate Society Laura realised that most of the illustrated talks were about sailors, soldiers and smugglers so she decided to tell the other half of the story and research the history of women in East Kent. Her first talk was about Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills, Ramsgate’s first lady mayor and the town’s very generous benefactress. Laura has set up Millicent Press named after her grand-daughter Millicent Grace, but also to honour Millicent Garrett Fawcett, one of the leading suffragists.

Laura’s first book “Women of Kent rally to the Cause” looks at suffrage activity in East and South Kent (1909-1918) taken mainly from local press reports for Canterbury, Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Ramsgate, Margate and Broadstairs. People were usually surprised when Laura mentioned what she was writing about as they did not think there were any suffragettes in Kent. Setting the scene with chapters on Edwardian Thanet and the fashions of the day, as advertised in local newspapers of the period, this book sets out to dispel that myth.”

Vintage Bicycle Playing Cards

I’ve just received a  set of individually designed vintage playing cards. The pictures seem to come from the US, France and Germany.

And beautiful they are too. Here are a few I particularly liked.

Police probe in disappeared 1920’s cyclist

From Yahoo today:-

“Emma Alice Smith, 16, went missing in 1926 as she cycled between her home in Waldron, East Sussex, and a local railway station, and has never been seen since.

Her disappearance was investigated by police at the time and was reported by the local press but no trace of her was ever found.

Sussex Police’s Major Crime Branch said it had taken the unusual step of looking into the case again after receiving new information from the girl’s family.

Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Bowles said it was possible she was murdered near her home and dumped in a nearby pond.

He said: “This is a very unusual case. We have been approached by a member of Emma’s family who has indicated that there is a possibility that she was murdered close to Waldron or Horam and that her body was disposed of locally.”

“I am keen to hear from anyone locally who may recall the disappearance of Emma being spoken of. A number of local people have already assisted us and have been able to fill in some of the many gaps which exist”

Bikes designed for women

This is by Paul Rich:-

 

 

“Traditionally, 1920’s through 1970’s, a “girl’s bicycle” was simply any bicycle without a top tube (known as a “crossbar”) that allowed the rider to step through the frame when mounting, rather than throwing a leg over the saddle. However, frames built with the main triangle (top tube, down tube, seat tube) more equilateral on a “diamond” frame, tended to be lighter and more responsive, and “girls” frames tended to be available only in lower priced, heavier town commuter models.

 

The “step-through” designs remain a practical consideration for those who ride wearing skirts, or for riders who come from a culture or generation in which they were taught that “girls ride girl’s bicycles”. Also, if the rider’s bicycle is carrying a child in an over-the-rear-wheel child seat, then a step-through design makes sense, both for mounting and supporting the bicycle at a stoplight, etc. The women’s step-through bicycles, both hybrid or mountain, with full size wheels, tend to be more compact, saddle to handlebars, than so-called “men’s bicycles”.

 

Lightweight higher quality road and touring bicycles started to become popular with women around 1970. Women who ride for sport and for long distances will normally prefer the livelier response of a frame with a full triangle design. However, women who found discomfort with the reach issue were told to simply move the saddle forward and install a shorter stem. Unfortunately in so doing, the knee was moved too far forward of the pedal plumb line, and the steering quality was badly compromised. Women of a given height usually have longer legs and a shorter torso than do men of the same height. Often when women who range in height from short to average height are fitted to a bicycle and seem to achieve the proper saddle height they find the bicycle, saddle to handlebars, to be too long because of their shorter torso length. Also many women tend to tilt their pelvis on their saddles somewhat differently than do men, again making a long reach more awkward.”

Manchester & Salford Harriers Cyclists’ Procession 1901

I’ve just seen this video  on Youtube. To be honest, it is a little cringeworthy. I suppose it is a little more cringeworthy because they’re walking in the procession mostly without their bikes.

I have added it to my Videos link. Now, do you know of anyone who was in this club? Great great grandfathers? Who has inherited those  weird cycling clothes.  Indeed, who will own up?

I have also added a video of the Manchester Wheelers (1901) too, if you can’t get enough of this great vintage vids.

Victorian Women Slaloming

 I have added a video of victorian women slaloming .. have a look under the Category Video (hopefully, it works this time!)

Cycle Magic – Cycling History blog

History is no mystery

Roger Lovell from Cyclemagic knows a lot about cycling history so he’s started blogging about it.  Although the blog called cycling history  only started last month there are already some great photos and research up on the site.

Vintage American Bicycle: The 1950s Roadster

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_VAaATHmx1I

At the weekend I was strolling through London and J saw a shop called ‘Buddha on a Bicycle’ (27 Endell Street, London ) and saw this marvellous American 50’s bicycle. She said she had bought in an antique shop in Chiswick. She told me that she had met an American in London who said that he had one of these too!