The Bicycling Times and Touring Gazette, Vol 6, No 16
Articles in this issue
- Argues that the growing number of club race meetings at Stamford Bridge demonstrates demand for a purpose-built London bicycle track, suggesting Willesden Junction as the ideal site; also criticises the Bicycle Touring Club council for maintaining its connection with Cycling Magazine against members' wishes.
- Lists Saturday fixtures for London and provincial clubs including the Alert, Atalanta, Athenœum, Comet, Wanderers, and others, plus upcoming dinners, balls, and open amateur race meetings at venues including Stamford Bridge, Kennington Oval, and Carlisle.
- Extensive club notes covering annual general meetings, officer elections, and run reports from clubs including the Albion, Belgrave, Bradford, Cardiff, City of London, Forest Hill, Lanarkshire, Leamington and South Warwickshire, Lombard, Wanderers, and many others across England and Scotland.
- Miscellaneous gossip column commenting on hollow forks, American road mileage by W.H. Ames of the Massachusetts B.C., and inter-club rivalries involving the Stanley, London, and Wanderers clubs.
- Report on the fourth annual dinner of the Buckingham Amateur Bicycle Club, held at the Swan and Castle Hotel, presided over by club president Egerton Hubbard M.P., with about sixty members and guests including the Mayor and military officers.
- Paper read by W.C. Flegg of the Temple B.C. on 25th February, covering the organisation and economics of bicycle race meetings, including advertising expenditure, prize values, race distances, the disqualification rule for inside passing, and the challenges of handicapping.
- Notice of a Council meeting at the Guildhall Tavern on 11th March, with agenda items including subscription arrangements for 1880–81 and discussion of appointing an official handicapper for bicycle races; signed by Hon. Sec. Robert T. Cork.
- Announcement that the Midland Counties Bicycle Meet will again be held on Whit-Monday at the Jephson Gardens, Leamington, with a fete; signed by J. Anthony Locke, Vice-President of the Leamington and South Warwickshire B.C.
- Report on the club's first Smoking Concert at the Clarendon Hotel, Anerley, attended by about 140 members from clubs including Kent, Croydon, Sydenham, Lewisham, Surrey, Stanley, and the Bicycle Touring Club, featuring two parts of songs, recitations, and nigger minstrel performances.
- Report on the delegates' meeting convened by the Kent Bicycle Club to organise a Kentish Meet, attended by representatives of fourteen clubs; it was resolved to hold the meet on Whit-Monday 17th May within five miles of Maidstone, with A.J. Kelton of the Kent B.C. elected Hon. Sec.
- Publishes the approved Wiltshire byelaws (clauses 7–12) regulating bicycle use on public roads, covering footway prohibition, lamp requirements at night, bell or whistle warnings when overtaking, keeping to the off-side, and the duty to dismount when an animal becomes restive.
- Notice that the provisional committee has called a public meeting for 10th March at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street, to launch a company for forming a bicycle track for London, chaired by Mr. Waller with Wm. Pye-English as Hon. Sec. pro tem.
- Report on the Civil Service B.C.'s last winter smoking concert, held at the Occidental, Fountain-court, Strand, under Captain W.W. Rishworth, featuring performances by members and guests from clubs including the Atalanta, Belgrave, Temple, and I Zingari.
- Long open letter by Gerard F. Cobb, Chairman of the Bicycle Union and President of the Cambridge University Bicycle Club, addressed originally to The Field, giving a full history of the Union's position on amateur and professional competition and refuting claims that it had allowed amateurs to race for gate money.
- Brief editorial replies and reader queries on topics including repairs in Highgate, road racing legality, bicycle clubs in Gravesend, and lamp reflectors; includes answers from correspondents including F.G. Kitton recommending Snelling of Kentish Town-road for repairs.
- Theatre column by Bruto Currie reviewing Henry Irving and Ellen Terry in The Merchant of Venice at the Lyceum, praising the comedy Betsy at the Criterion, and noting productions at the Duke's and the Holborn Amphitheatre.