The Rockingham club & Uptown & Downtown Cycling

. TheCycling in the early days first 32 years of my life I spent in Swinton, except for 3 years racing in France, earning enough to pay my way without any financial backing in the years 1960/61/62/.  My first club was the Mexborough Road Club  in the  adjacent  town of that name.  My father became secretary when almost all the male members went off to war. They never came back,  so he continued as secretary until the club becoming defunct.  This was a club that solely raced on the track. so it is no surprise I  mostly did this up to the age 18. My year of birth was 1938 and most clubs were principally social clubs, as a bike was the best way to travel around. Cars were only for the very rich .My parents rode tandem together and after their marriage my mother never rode again. In Mexborough there was  another club the Mexborough Wheelers , who rode the track and time trials having among there membership Tony Siveter and Bill Cheadle. I started road racing at the age of 18, eventually joining   the Dearne  Wheelers to ride with a stronger road racing  team

I became a member of the Rockingham club when the professional class was forcefully introduced in the UK, because of needing to comply with the Olympic rules.  I applied for reinstatement as an amateur which  was refused,  I was unofficially  told they needed riders like me. It  was either ride as a  professional or not at all. . Having  to earn   a living and make a career other  than in cycling,  I judged there was not enough money in cycling in the UK  at that time. Obviously in this situation I could not do the required training needed to perform at a level I would have wished. After three years enjoying myself  and doing better than many, I had enough of all the traveling so I retired not touching my bike again for 10  years. (see footnote)

During my time in the Rockingham I  trained with the top riders at that time including  Mike McNamara, Johnny Blacker who both lived in Swinton and others on the chain gang.  They became my friends many of us meeting socially, at least once a week in the Gate Inn Pub. Many other talented  riders came from much further away to be part of a winning team.  In such a staunch time trial club the word professional was taboo, especially where the secretary was concerne,. Who was to argue with him, as secretaries were harder to find than riders. When it came to the annual diner and prize presentation I did not exist I regret to say ,  but hopefully this is a thing of the past, after all we are all sportspeople

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By chance just over a year ago when in Mallorca for the winter, stopping by chance at a bar on the Bay of Pollensa I came across 3 charming  young ladies with the  name Manvers emblazoned on their cycling wear. Amazingly it turned out that the 3 charmers came from Swinton  and they were in a new club, well new to me,  called Manvers Cycling Club.  Named in honour of the Manvers  Coking & Mining Complex  which closed in 1988.  They had one thing in common with the other Swinton club the  Rockingham  who were  named after the  famous and  long gone Rockingham Pottery 

Unfortunately the Downtown clubs of Mexborough don't exist anymore whilst the 2 Uptown clubs at Swinton are thriving.   KEEP CYCLING, KEEP HEALTHY, KEEP HAPPY & ABOVE ALL ENJOY

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Footnote;  After the 10 years the story becomes even better and I am still riding my bike not so fast ,but  does  it  matter ?. Finally I must say my first wife  Janet came from Mexborough , a lovely lass,  known to the many who came on the Ideal Travel Training Camps. She is in the photo with Bill Cheadle. To learn more visit my Author Website cycling70yearsonceworldchampion.com

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