ARTICLES/Parcel For Mr. Blagg (Part 2) by Quentin Blagg...

The middle part of the book, ‘A History of Manchester Wheelers Club 1883-1983 ‘is really dominated by Reg Harris, with Cyril Cartwright not far behind. Before we leave this part, there is one picture which cannot be ignored. It shows Reg winning the World Sprint Championship in 1950, with Cyrils wife Doreen, cheering wildly. If you get to read this little story Doreen, I hope you also get to look at the picture, you look great. The next picture to bring back a memory is of Harry Hardcastle, in 1954. He was the one who rode the ‘Sputnik’, a bike covered in plastic, and looking like a transparent bullet. I think Harry set a load of records on the track with it. There is a great shot of him at speed, a really good photo. However, this is upstaged because a few pages later, there is a photo of a young lady in a sexy swimsuit, well sexy for the day, with the Sputnik on rollers and mounted on the back of a lorry being driven through Manchester. Did anyone see it? Peter Hayhurst, who you will remember sent me the book, features a couple of times in the mid 50s, winning trophies both on the track and on the road in time trials. Harry Whitehouse pops up next. I met Harry as I did Cyril, in the Grocery Trade. Harrys wife ran a little Grocers Shop. I remember it well because it was next to that lovely park named Boggart Hole Clough. Harry figured quite prominently in our open 50 and there is a great picture of him looking very stylish on fixed, winning the event in 1959. The next picture memory is really‘out of the box’. It shows 2 sprinters on Fallowfield, one of whom is Lloyd Binch.
Lloyd was a prolific sprinter, and I had seen him win many times on the track. He was big, strong and, it turns out, very good-looking! Read on before you question my sexuality. In my late teens, I secured a job with the Moulton Cycle Company, and lived down in Trowbridge for a while. The owner, Alex Moulton, had built a Sales Team of ex riders, and it turned out that Lloyd was one, covering the Midlands area.
Moulton at the time were sponsoring a local rider, called Vic Nicholson. He worked for the Company, and had some nice benefits like free bikes and a daily steak allowance! True, believe me. Well, Vic didn’t drive, and was looking for a lift to Lincoln for the national 50 Champs, for which he was one of the favourites. He had agreed accommodation with Lloyd, who lived not too far away at Nottingham. I had already made plans to go back home for the weekend to see Dot, so she met up with us both via the train. She was knocked out by Lloyd, he really was smooth. He put us all up, and absolutely forced us to share a bed, heh heh, because space was tight. We had a great weekend, bags of curry and booze, but not for Vic. I can’t remember whether he won the 50, what a pathetic end to a story.
A very small picture shows Jimmy Saville doing the commentary at Fallowfield in 1964. I never met Jimmy on the road, but I did run part of the Great North Run with him in 1996. He was getting on then, but was still in good shape and dropped me with a couple of miles to go. The picture memories start to get a bit thin now. Pete Gordon features quite a bit; as well as being one of the top roadmen in the Country, he dabbled in local time trials and I remember him winning the M&D 12 hr one year. Peter Bayley and I were doing a check over near Nantwich. Pete had a relation who lived just outside the Town, and I remember a few of us went there for tea and cakes a few times. One side of my family originated from Nantwich, and I remember I was quite keen to move there just after I got married. The house in question came up for sale and I remember going to view it. It was a lovely detached cottage, with secluded gardens but had one fault, it was very very close to the road. Because of this I didn’t proceed. I must go back to see it one day. There are lots of other photos in the book, but I don’t have any particular memories associated with them, so I will close. Can I backtrack for a moment. Along with the pictures there is a great deal of editorial, and I suppose if time was available I could have come up with a few more memories / flashbacks. I could also have checked times, dates and results. But that wasn’t the plan, and I’m sure it would have bored the pants off most people. The book is here with me, and if anyone wants to have a look at it, please give me a bell. It begs the question, could something similar ever be done for the Duks. It would be a huge undertaking, bearing in mind the time span to be covered. No, I’m not volunteering. See you up the road.

Quentin Blagg