ARTICLES/Parcel For Mr. Blagg (Part 1) by Quentin Blagg...

Ring ring at the door. I’m upstairs, in my Office in the loft. I had to go up there when I went home based some 6 years ago. It was a cultural shock for a while. From having my own Office and Secretary, I went overnight to being a one man band. This is a Computer, the box said. Learn how to use it, quickly. I was one of the lucky ones, I had two sons still at home who were PC literate. I don’t think I would have survived otherwise. I digress. A quick dash down the steep little wooden stairs and a look out of the window. It’s a Parcel Delivery man. I get a lot of stuff this way. Sign here please. It’s a small jiffy bag, but heavy. Mm, it’s nearly time for my morning brew, so lets have a look inside. Wow, a blue semi hardback book,’ A History of Manchester Wheelers Club 1883-1983. Puzzled, I opened it up to see a neatly hand written note, ‘thanks to everyone for a really wonderful night at the Duks Dinner,’ from Peter Hayhurst, Manchester Wheelers, the HC winner in this years 50. I had fallen into conversation with Peter while waiting for everyone to arrive. I remembered him from Fallowfield, me as junior, he a senior, often riding Motor Pace. We had a lovely natter about the old days. He had travelled the world, always retained his love of biking and came back in his late 50s a couple of years ago. Just what I plan.
Anyway, the book was put on one side, as I was part way through about 3 Library books; does anyone else do that? I get bored with one, pick up another, go back to it and so on. I think I pay half the Hazel Grove Library staff’s wages, with my overdue fines! I eventually took the book with me when I went down to HO in London for a few days. My first action was to look at all the photos. And what wonderful photos they are. All my memories from early days with the Duks came flooding back. When I started riding at 15, I bought Cycling and Mopeds, yes that what it was called, out of my pocket money saved from paper rounds and caddying on the Golf Course. I read it from back to front, over and over, and I can still remember lots of names from then.
The first picture in the book is of WH Webb, c. 1902 pictured with the Muratti Cup won on Fallowfield. That race continued for ages, and I can remember it being run when I was riding the track as a Junior. The names continued, the riders all dressed in black, most with the famous long tights and funny jackets. A lot of the photos were at Fallowfield, and in each case the crowds were huge. Cycling was obviously very popular in the early 1900s. Leon Meredith, a very famous rider, is shown behind motor pace in 1911. the pacer bolt upright to give maximum cover, and Meredith with his forks reversed to get close to the pacer. Note for you fellow Motor Bikers out there, you want to see the pacing machines, they look like old mangles with an engine fitted! The names continue, Jack Sibbit, remember the Sibbit Frames, Sid Cozens, Jack Fletcher, Tommy Barlow, Eddie McGrath, frames again, Alan Bannister, and moving on, to Reg Harris. I met Reg when I was 15. I had won an event on the old Handforth Air base, and the lad who was second got a job at Regs new Bike Factory at Macclesfield. I went over to see him one day and he asked Reg if I could look
round the Factory. No problem. I remember he was a very charming man, and asked me a lot of questions about who I was riding for, what times I had done etc. Me a spotty 15 year old, and him a multi ex World Champ. I don’t think the Factory lasted long, but I can’t remember why. Reg was of course the Guest of Honour at the Centenary Dinner at the Dukinfield Town Hall. Who could forget it, the icicles on the chandeliers, and the only way to keep warm was on the Dance Floor. Dot and I had just learned to dance at the Marjorie Barlow School of Dancing in Stockport, and we weren’t very good. There were some very good ballroom dancers in the Duks then, and we gave up on the quickstep and went back to a safety first waltz. But it was a super night. Again I digress. Reg features prominently in the book, and then more and more names crop up with lovely memories. Cyril Cartwright, Dukinfield Town’s most famous rider, is pictured many times. I once wrote an article about meeting Cyril as a young Salesman, how he gave me all his old gear, including a Chrome Carlton which Tommy Simpson used for a while. It was a pure track bike, and I did a criminal act by drilling the fork crown to take a brake. Even then, it was so tight that I had to fit a centre pull with the blocks pulling upwards on the inside of the rim! It didn’t work very well but it was a lovely bike to ride. On future visits, Cyril told me of his past. I tell a lie. What I meant to say was that I pumped Cyril on his past. He was a very quiet and modest man, not given to wasting words. His wife Doreen filled in a lot of his past, how we was second in the World Pursuit Champs in 49, National 25 Champ in 48 and how he was one of the first riders in the Country to beat the hour. His training rides were on the tough side. He was a miner at the time, and after an early shift on a Sunday he would ride to Llangollen on 49in fixed! He retired to North Wales where I believe he still lives with Doreen.

To be continued...