On the road, 120 years ago

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Bmblbzzz
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by Bmblbzzz »

I don't see why it would not be road legal. I wouldn't like to ride it down a big hill though.
Barrowman
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by Barrowman »

I don't use the foot pegs, think you would struggle to control it if you did.
If I am descending I take it slowly keeping the Fixed in check.
It actually pre dates the legislation but I consider it is Road legal.
Rarely use the spoon brake either, the tyres are actually 'soft' rubber ('Cushion Tyre') and not hard rubber ('Solid') tyres ,they were Cushion Tyres originally, no inner tube. They are replacements courtesy of the Green Tyre Company which had to be manipulated to fit and glued to the rims.
Stoneybatter
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by Stoneybatter »

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Last edited by Stoneybatter on 20 Aug 2022, 1:11pm, edited 2 times in total.
Barrowman
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by Barrowman »

Yes an Ordinary in the shed . Amongst other wheeled wonders
Stoneybatter
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by Stoneybatter »

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Last edited by Stoneybatter on 20 Aug 2022, 1:12pm, edited 1 time in total.
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horizon
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by horizon »

Jon Lucas wrote: 12 Aug 2022, 8:29am I have dipped into several books by Charles G. Harper over the years, and have just read one right through, his treatise of the Somerset Coast, published in 1909. He wrote many Road books describing the old main routes across Britain at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries, and also wrote a lot of books about specific parts of England, especially the south-west. As far as I can tell, his main (perhaps only) means of travel was by bike, and he certainly didn't approve of the increasing dominance of roads by motorists that he was witnessing at the time.
What Charles Harper did (and I haven't found it anywhere else really) was to focus on the roads themselves. Lots of books about "Beautiful Britain" portrayed the churches and the hills but ignored the roads. Even today there is little consideration given to roads and indeed closing one off seems to cause great delight even to the National Trust and English Heritage but he saw them as wonderful artefacts in their own right.

But although I can see what Harper objected to, it was nothing compared to what happened in the sixties, seventies and eighties when A road "improvement" really got underway. Yes, the roads may have been asphalted and busy after the 1900s but the routes were still roughly intact and followed the contours of the landscape until well after the Second World War.

Interestingly it was William Cobbett who had earlier railed against the turnpikes that Harper came along later to enjoy and appreciate. I reckon Cobbett had the last laugh though as Sustrans and others seem to have a penchant for the very lanes (narrow, muddy and unimproved) that the turnpikes avoided, even though the turnpikes themselves have now been obliterated by dual carriageways.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Bmblbzzz
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Bypass building and road straightening was happening, and being complained about, in the 1930s. It didn't really take off till after WWII but it did take place before.
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horizon
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by horizon »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 18 Aug 2022, 5:44pm Bypass building and road straightening was happening, and being complained about, in the 1930s. It didn't really take off till after WWII but it did take place before.
My impression of what took place in the 1920s and 30s was indeed by-pass building (such as the Kingston by-pass in 1923). Obviously there were road improvements (and new roads such as the Great West Road) but AFAIR it was still possible to follow the turnpike routes well into the 1960s and plenty of smaller towns and villages still lacked a by-pass in any case. Where new roads simply paralleled the old road, you can still see the route by comparing maps. Admittedly, this is a very broad generalisation but I'm going on what I saw in the early 1970s (for example the A38, A23, A30 and A303) and watching the various changes over the years.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Galactic
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Re: On the road, 120 years ago

Post by Galactic »

Thanks to Chris Jeggo and Stoneybatter for naming and sourcing the book I mentioned, along with H.G. Wells' 'The Wheels of Chance'. Am going to have a good read first chance I get!

EDITed to add:

Ah, finished Three Men on a Bummel - enjoyed it muchly, but it wasn't the book I was thinking of. Despite notionally going for a continental cycle tour, there was narely a mention of actual bicycling, the longest cycling-related description being a satire of bicycle advertisement posters.

The search for the book I read years ago continues, although now I have Wells and Harper to keep me company for a while.
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