Leisure

The biggest leisure craze of the century was well underway by 1891: the bicycle.

The first two-wheeled object with a mechanical crank that allowed continuous self-propulsion via pedals, had appeared in Paris in 1867, but it was in Britain, with its strong metalworking trade and good roads, that the bicycle developed from a novelty item into a mode of transport.

By 1870 there were a dozen manufacturers in London, mostly sewing-machine manufacturers who switched over to cycle production.

Technological changes brought the cycle into daily use. A rear-driven mechanism in 1880 reduced the huge front wheel of the ‘penny-farthing’ and the cyclist no longer needed a running start to get underway. Edouard Michelin’s detachable pneumatic tyre in 1891 was a final key improvement. Speed and comfort were increased and tyres were easy to change.

Cycle clubs began to agitate for better roads. The National Cyclists Union had test cases brought to court, where councils were prosecuted for failing to keep roads passable. A Roads Improvement Association was formed, “to remonstrate with responsible authorities where neglect of roads became a public scandal, and take legal action where necessary; to watch or introduce fresh legislation; and to take up the question of fingerposts and milestones and their maintenance.”

This was essential, for cyclists were now everywhere. In 1891, it was estimated that there were half a million cyclists in Britain, and dozens of hobby industries arose to cater to the market. The Bicycle Touring Club had a badge, handbook, newsletter, and members got 30 per cent discount on recommended hotels.

An endless stream of guidebooks for touring in Britain and abroad appeared. There were annual cycle shows in London with hundreds of exhibitors; Nottingham’s first cycle show in 1897 had 27,000 attendees, or one-in-nine of the town’s population. The Cyclists Touring Club had 14,166 members in 1894, surging to 60,499 in 1899. By 1898, there were 2,000 cycle clubs in the UK and Thomas Cook began to run cycling tours to the continent. Cycling magazine had a weekly circulation of 41,000, and more general magazines quickly hired cycling columnists. Jerome K Jerome, Conan Doyle, George Gissing and Charlotte Yonge, all wrote fiction with cycling in it; and Harry Dacre’s Daisy Bell (“Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do”) was first sung in 1892 by Katie Lawrence, and became one of the most popular songs of the era.

Judith Flanders