A REVIEW OF THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF SECOND CENTURY

A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE BY PETER ROSCOE                                                                             

Reflections on Our First Century Decline   

It is fitting to go back to what has been referred to as ‘The Halcyon Years of Bury Clarion” the latter half of the 1940’s, the 1950’s & the first half 60’s’. An era that many members felt could not be repeated. Well in the latter half of the twenty years under review I personally think whilst different in many ways something better has emerged. The last century decline started in the latter half of the 1960’s when many had left the club as a result of the demands of family life.

Into the 1970’s our club was based on nostalgia. Worthy of mention is Joe Baldwin who kept the club afloat as secretary and keeping going on Sunday rides with Bury Cycling legend Charlie Westlake. After Joe’s tragic death on his bike Donald Lever’s father kindly took on the role of secretary. All these three has been cycling in the inter world war periods – Bury Cycling Legend Charlie Westlake originally with the CTC but then joined our Clarion Section in the war when CTC suspended their activities. In the early 70’s I strove to keep our club going but I too eventually had to give up due to family and career.  Donald Lever took over from his father as secretary for a period of 17 years and along with Frank Jefferson kept our Sunday rides going. I continued with a minor role as auditor and sending reports to Bury Times. 

Others playing their part in the 1990’s were Phil Collins who attempted to recruit members from people he met in his paper shop. On occasions he was successful and one of these became our 50 mile TT champion. Bob Duckworth like Phil a member from the 1960’s still believed our club had a future worth striving for. I attempted to get some leisure riding going with Gordon Rigby and his wife Joan.  On some occasions Frank Jefferson and Donald Lever and others joined some evening rides. Alas into the early years of this century I would be the only one turning up

Into the First Half of the First 20 Years of the Second Century

It is notable that Frank Jefferson brought a proposal to a club meeting that we should wind up our club. His argument was that we had had our best years and it was unlikely we would reverse what amounted to a suspended state as young enthusiastic volunteers were not coming forward to join our club. He was quite happy about the proposal not being accepted. By this time Bob Duckworth had become racing secretary succeeding Frank J who had held this position for many years. Bob believed he could get a supplier for our customized racing jerseys. Previously Frank had registered a plain yellow jersey. This had been acceptable as it was unlikely that from our membership at the time of around 40 would generate the interest of a supplier. After a great deal of effort he finally found the agent of a Belgian company who included the club’s name on one of their existing designs. This proved satisfactory for a few years.

In January 2001 the first ride of the 2^nd century we had a commemorative ride. The mayor of Bury at the time started us off after making a short speech. I recall he remembered Clarion Cyclists riding to the Clarion Clubhouse at Tottington in the 1930’s. There were a number of Clarion Clubhouses around the country owned by Clarion Members. I recall Donald Lever’s father had shares in the Valley House in Cheshire.

The ride took the same route as the 1901 founders, through Tottington but the objective then was to distribute socialist literature. I can see at the time how they felt that socialism was the answer to the problems that had beset the working class through the horrors of the 19^th Century. Time changes all things and now we are purely a cycling club with a membership that is at odds with us being political in any way.

Our progress remained patchy. By then I was secretary along with organising events and sending reports to Bury Times. I see myself as being steadfast hoping something or somebody would turn up. This happened when Nick Hall joined us as an alternative to playing squash. He soon took up racing and his many successes are included (2.21) in Record Breaker and Champions chapter. I look back on his joining as a pivotal time when we started on the upward trend where we have 200 members at the end of the period. At this time no progress was being made with club runs.

Together with John Yates, Nick started Monday night training rides which attracted a few new enthusiastic members. The breakthrough in our membership numbers really occurred when Nigel Hood started his Saturday morning group rides for all abilities and Nick changed his group training rides to a Sunday morning. Regular weekend rides proved much more popular and coincided with the success of British cyclists in both the Olympics and Le Tour de France. Cycling boomed in the UK  and the club certainly felt the benefit.

Nick felt our award’s evening at the time was lacking so at a racing evening at the Velodrome he suggested to Tony Bowles of Bolton Clarion that we have joint events to boost the attendance. The quality of these events was considerably enhanced by Nick’s wife Lindsey, whose buffets were legendary but with the increasing numbers involved they were not sustainable so we subsequently had to use other local caterers. Attendance at the Awards Evening rose from less than 20 to over 100, with “guests of honour” including former international cyclists.

During this period a new updated club kit was designed and proved popular, giving the club a recognisable presence on the local roads.

Nick instigated the formation of a junior section for the club, recognising that this was essential for the future success of the club. After a slow start, members Joe Cadwallader, Simon Diggins and Lucia Cronin together with BC coach Pete Heywood became involved with the Bullets and this resulted in the junior section thriving and growing considerably. The Bury Clarion Bullets are now a thriving and growing part of the club. Peter Foster was a keen supporter of The Bullets during his period as Chair of the club.

Peter Foster had become our dedicated chair and was instrumental in opening our Facebook site as a supplement to our Website which has its limitations. As I see it this site is a significant tool in relation to our development as any member can make announcements relating to club runs they intend to lead or interesting information.

The contributions of Adele Vandercamp to our Facebook site come to mind relating the following of the major tours with her husband Paul. This is particularly pleasing as they have the opportunity to support Adam and Simon Yates. It is noteworthy that the year Adam achieved 4^th place in the Tour de France he was interviewed by a Sunday Observer journalist. A magnificent photo was published on one of the major climbs which coincidentally caught Ian Cark our National Secretary as a spectator with his son Monty on his shoulder. The reporter subsequently rang me and asked about Bury Clarion. The ensuing article included as much about our Clarion club as there was about Adam who had mentioned he was a member.

A substantial boost to the standing of our club and membership was when Lucia Cronin decided that it would be advantageous for her British Cycling backed ladies group to become members of an established club. I saw it that the ladies group would be even more advantageous to Bury Clarion. In reality they could just have joined but Lucy wanted it to have our approval. We of course, were delighted with Lucia’s move and readily agreed that the ladies group would be ladies led rides in which any participating male member would accept the ladies leadership.

Lucia had involved herself in other aspects of our club such as her heavy involvement in the running of our Junior satellite club and the organising of two ladies open entry night rides which proved successful particularly with fund raising for Bury Hospice. I am particularly grateful for Lucy rescuing me when I ran aground with a public family invitation ride along Kirklees trail with free portions of pizza at Greenmount Cricket Club. It had been decided that the online facility should be used for entries and this was something that flummoxed me. I had run many successful events over the decade but I fail when it comes to using I.T.

Many other are worthy of mention but my personal review will become far too long. However, here’s my story of Nigel Hood. I have been acquainted with Nigel for decades and I certainly knew him in the 80’s and 90’s when I was riding to Manchester to work on my bike and he would pass me. When we met at events he would talk to me about moving from Bury CTC to a club with clubruns more appropriate to his inclination. I would point out that at the time he enquired we did not have group led rides. Eventually he realised there was the flexibility in Bury Clarion that would allow him to develop clubruns to his particular inclination. He got going by recruiting members for Bury Clarion rides on a fixed circuit along Chorley New Road, Bolton through Horwich to the A6 for the return journey. These proved successful and he continued with other inspirational initiatives.

Racing members are listed under the Record Breakers and Champions chapter and it is worth mentioning other racing successes. We have watched the progress of the Yates twins over the years as they rode on the track and their progress in our hill climb championship. Incidentally they first raced with Geraint Thomas at Manchester Velodrome on the elite Tuesday night meetings. On the track Simon won the World Points championship when he was twenty. This was when I realised that Simon would use his intelligence to win as much as personal prowess. As I saw it he worked out that if he won the last lap with double points he would be a world champion so on the last lap, as I saw it,  he did not seem to be sprinting for the line just going faster than the several going for the line before him.

I am looking forward to someone writing a book about the twins’ progress over the years. Hopefully it would include something about their participation in our hill climb and the championships they won and records they broke. Our progress as a team is notable with three team wins in the prestigious Rake Hill Climb and winning the National Clarion team pursuit in 2008 the first time since 1929. It is safe to say we would not have achieved this without the inclusion of the twins –the other members of the team were Nick Hall and Simon Horner. At this point it is fitting to mention the contribution of Joe Cadwallader who became our club trainer. His influence will have been appreciated by Francis Woodcock who aspires to follow the Yates twins careers and Joanna Cebrat in the successes she has achieved

CHAPTER 2

CLUB CHAMPIONS AND RECORD BREAKERS

FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF SECOND CENTURY OF BURY CLARION

It is fitting to mention the position in relation to the records and the record holders at the start of the period under review.

Females who were record holders during first Century of Bury Clarion

(2.1 ) Maureen Bennet 

Maureen (became Mrs Walker). She and her husband Alan emigrated to Canada in the 1960’s. Alan has passed on, whilst I continue to communicate with Maureen. She visits the UK occasionally to see her brother. I remain in contact with her along with Frank Jefferson.

She established the first ladies 10 mile record in 1953 posting a time of 29min 05secs. Incidentally there are a number of hill climb times recorded for the Nick of Pendle. Maureen’s set the ladies record in 1953 – hopefully her time will emerge at some point.

(2.2 ) Barbara Horne

Barbara (became Mrs Gunshon) she remained a life-long friend until her passing in 2018. Frank Jefferson and I were honoured to be asked to be akin to ‘funeral celebrants’ at the ‘Celebration of her life’. I spoke about the several lifelong friends she made as a result of being a member from the 1950’s onwards. As Barbara Horne she established our 25 mile tt record in 1954 with a time of 1hr 15min 26secs

(2.3 ) Marina Leak

Marina (became Mrs Johnson). Her husband Alan came from the North East and was determined to marry someone who was a cyclist. I think they must have met at the annual Richmond (Yorkshire) Whitsun cycling meet. The last I heard they were resident in Spain where they continued to cycle. It is some years since I was in contact with them. Between 1956 she broke the 10 mile tt record 4 times. The following records stood at the start of the period under review:                                                                                                             

50 miles: 2rs 19min 09secs    1960

100 miles: 4hrs 52min 54secs 1961

(2.4 ) Vera Rigby

Vera was a very successful racing member in the 1960’s. Formerly Vera Hodgkinson until she married fellow member Phil Rigby in 1963. She combined training for racing with her toddler daughter Kay on a kiddie seat. I understand that she had successes on the track and in the Manchester and District Ladies Cycling Association championships. I did have the detail but alas in attempting to do too many voluntary jobs I failed to retain the detailed information.  What I do have is the following records which stood at the start of the period under review:

10 miles: 26min 57secs 1964

30 miles: 1hr 23min 11secs 1964       This record still stands.             

50 miles: 2hrs 19min 23secs 196

                                                                      

Female Record Breakers in the first 20 years of our second century

(2.5) Charlotte Gorman (now Boothman)                                                                                 

Charlotte was initially a commuting cyclist who found out she was going faster than many other riders so gave racing a try. One of these was our hill climb. Although she was from Rawtenstall she found our club friendly and so joined us about 2016. As a member of our club she became our first female member to post an ‘Under the hour ride’ at 25 miles. Her record breaking times remain at the end of the period under review:

25 miles: 59mn 45secs (2017)                                                                                              

50 miles: 2hrs 3min 29secs (2017)

She now rides for the ‘Lusso’ team.

(2.6) Joanna Cebrat                                                                                 

Joanna joined us for our club riding in around 2013 At that time Bury’s CTC group always had a group out for their scheduled Sunday rides. I recall one particular Sunday morning when only Joanna and a male teenager turned up at the Barista. So I suggested she tried riding with CTC – she had no interest as she was intent on Bury Clarion being her club. This was not for racing as at that time she had had enough of sport competition in Poland her homeland until she came to the UK. Continuing in her own words:   ‘”Anyway… back in Poland I was a national champion in Kung fu Wushu between 1998-2002. I had a very good chance to go to the Olympic games in Beijing but suddenly out of the blue China could not add their one and only national sport to the Games… it is a great shame as it’s extremely exciting and watchable sport… I was getting a bit tired with the amount of training and the impact on the body it had, especially on my knees, but continued until I came to Britain in 2005.”                                                                                                                                              

Since starting racing she has become one of our most successful racing members I have known over the years. Notably in 2020 she was placed third in the Ladies National 12hr Championship and won the Ladies Veteran’s 100 mile champion in a time of 4hrs 31 min 55 secs. The reason she fell short of her potential time was not only was it a hard day but a road closure as a result of a motorist running into a group of cyclists meant a policeman pointed out that if she wanted to continue she would have to climb a fence and run across a field. She did actually think of giving up, but Joanna being Joanna, soldiered on to be awarded the championship. The 12hrs Club record meant that she also became the National Clarion Lady Veteran’s record holder. It should be noted that none of the cyclists were seriously injured.                                               

The records she has established or broken:

100 miles: 4hrs 31min 55secs (2019)

12 hours: 236.4 Miles (2020)  

10 miles : 23min 43 secs (2020)

Mixed Tandem Pairs.                                                                                                                                      

(2.7) Janis and Stuart Brown

Married couple Janis and Stuart Brown still hold the following records. I recall them joining in the 1990’s and during that period Stuart realising our potential remarked something to the effect that our club needed someone to get us going. It was some years before this happened. See under ‘Club Development’ chapter in the First 20 Years of our Club’s 2nd Century’. I am still in touch with Janis and Stuart who over the years enjoyed touring France on their tandem along the Loire Valley. They are life members and now live in Cheshire.   

Mixed tandem 

10 miles: 26min 42secs                                                                                                                  

25 miles: 1hr 10min 00secs.

These records still stand at the end of the 20 year period. It would be good if some other pairing who are not current record breaker or champions were to go for these records sometime in the near future.

 (2.8) Lindsey and Nick Hall

Lumb Carr Road hill climb 2011 4mins 06.3 seconds                                                    

Males  who were record holders at the start of our second century.

At the start our second century all records related to the period 1955 to 1972. After this a decline in our club riding and racing continued until the beginnings of the resurgence in the 1990’s.

(2.9) Geoff McGann                                                                                                      

Most of the first century male records related to Geoff who started cycling with Bury Clarion in the early 1960’s without being outstanding when he raced. I was flattered recently when he recalled our 1962 participation in the NLTTA combined club 25. I was the fastest with my 59.24.- Geoff as a 16 yr old posted 1.13.59  posting. My time was a NLTTA record at that time. After a few years away from cycling Geoff approached me about starting again with ambitions of first getting under the hour for a 25mile TT along with other outstanding performances. He was very dedicated and before he left us for the West Pennine RC. His loyalty to Bury Clarion should be noted as others left us as we declined for the Lancashire Road Club.  His leaving us for the WPRC was the right thing to do as he was not getting the competition relative to his ability and he went on to get in the top 12 in the RTTC BBAR. His ultimate Bury Clarion records were:

10 Miles:  22mn 45sec 1970                     25 miles: 55min 36sec 1970

50 miles: 1hr 58min 36 secs 1970           100 miles: 4hrs 4min 20 secs 1972

12 hours: 253 miles and 251 yards           This remains a record in 2020                                                        

(2.10) 

There were two other record breakers from the 1950’s and1960’s

24 hours: Gordon Haslam 398miles  556 yards in 1955 Still Current in 2020 

30 miles: Alan Green  1 hr 12 min 55 secs in 1964                                                  

Gordon was not particularly interested in racing but I must mention that in 1956 he rode the same event with the intention of bettering 400 miles. He did this but once he has passed the 400 miles timekeeper he retired – after all he was near the event HQ. The consequence was that his mileage was not accepted as he should have gone on to the next timekeeper to calculate his final mileage. Gordon was for some years our General Secretary.  Alan Green,  a teenager, was part of a strong Little Lever contingent including myself .

HILL CLIMB RECORDS (2.11) 

I started Lumb Carr Rd records out of interest, the overall winners are now recorded on the Club website. The records I have are extensive covering Juniors,  Seniors and Veterans.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

(2.12) The Rake

The record came about as a result of my interest in comparing my time in a West Pennine RC event in 1963 when I recorded a 2min 36 sec for 3^rd place behind multi national hill climb champion Peter Graham who I had been training with. As a result it was a pleasant surprise to be awarded a certificate recording my time at an awards evening in recent years. As far as records go this time was bettered in 1966 by Gordon Yates who posted 2min 31.8 secs. This remains the best time by a Bury Clarion Rider at the end of the 20 year period being reviewed.                                              

BURY CLARION & NATIONAL CLARION CHAMPIONS & RECORD BREAKERS  2001 2020

(2.13) Adrian Smith

Adrian was a very enthusiastic member for a period of about 5 years plus during the second half of the 90’s and first year or two of our second century. I remember his turning up for a clubrun but he was the only one – I just was there in case any regular member  turned up. I suggested he tried going on the CTC ride –  my loyalty is with cycling as much as Bury Clarion. This was not acceptable so I took him up to Frank Jefferson’ s  house to see if he would be having a ride. On the way he remarked that ‘Bury Clarion is like a secret society’ but he stayed with us. Perhaps he wanted to race as much as Sunday rides. So he was an enthusiast at the Velodrome evening meetings along with Phil Collins and members who Phil has recruited. In the end something triggered off ‘Faith’ as in the Christian Church. I have an inclination to ask how it came about and his reply was its ‘Faith’. Anyway it pleases me to record that he was one of the first champions of the 20 years under review –                                                                                  

Winning our club Tens championship in 2001

(2.14) Martin Lee

In 1990’s Martin had had an impressive career as a tri-athlete – he was riding as a professional Tri-athlete for a French Team and living in Paris. He was also an all- round running athlete and in cycling had been an under the hour standard rider as a member of Lancashire Road Club. He joined Bury Clarion in the second half of 1990’s and up to and including 2000 he had won  three club Championships-  two 25’s and one BAR. Hill Climbs are not an event he generally chooses but in 2000 he was in third place and his 2min 40 secs was only 6 seconds behind the winning performance.

He has just one championship win in the first 20 year period of the second century –             25 miles championship 2001.

He would probably have won more club championships but for many years he had knee problems. It was good to see a sign of his potential to win club championships when in June  2017 he was under the hour (59min 55secs) for a 25mile trial in the Sportzmad event. In August 2020 he posted 1hr 0min 43 seconds in the Drighlington BC 25 miles time trial.

(2.15) Phil Collins

It’s good to see Philip listed as a new century club champion – he joined our club in the early 1960’s and he is mentioned in the Review. He had club championship wins in the 1990’s and in 2002 he won the: 25mile TT championship. 1.11.1

(2.16) Philip Albiez

Philip joined our club from Horwich CC. This came about when meeting Frank Jefferson on a Sunday ride. He came to the conclusion that we were a friendly club so he joined . He broke records six times – this included four of the records he held. His ultimate records have all been broken:                                                                                                                                   

Club Records                                                                                                                                               

10 miles 21.20 (2003) 25 miles 54.06 (2002) and 50 mile 1.55.01.Championships

Philip won twelve club championships in the year 2002 2003 and 2004 – three hill climbs, three tens championships, two Best All Rounder (time trials at the time) championships, three 25mile TT championships and one fifty mile championships. Philip kept in touch over the years and it was most pleasing that he made a token come back in 2015 and won our club handicap championship.  All Philip’s championships are listed in the Racing Men under Club Championships .

(2.17) Vince Eastwood

Vince had a short racing career with Bury Clarion before moving onto other things. In the years 2004 to to 2006 he won the 50 mile championship twice and the Best All Rounder championship twice at a time when it was based on time trial. He was also novice champion on two occasions.

(2.18) Andy Horner

Record Broken                                                                                                                                    

Andy had been a member of Bolton Clarion but decided our club would be better for his racing career. In 2014 he broke our 50mile record posting 1.53.26 and in 2017 he broke the 100 miles record posting 3.56.55 which meant he was the first Bury Clarion member to break the 4hr standard for this distance. In 2018 he broke John Bunting’s 30 mile record when he posted 1.8.00. This record still stands.                                                                            

Championships Won                                                                                                         

Andy with 21 championships has been the most prolific of our winners in the last 20 years: 7 Tens; 5 ‘Best All Rounder’ based on time trials; 3 Twenty Five mile TTs; 4 Fifty Mile TTs; 1 Hundred Mile TT and one handicap championship. It is noteworthy that he introduced   Rik Warrington to our club who made our club championships very competitive  for Andy as did Nick Hall. AN Other made Andy’s 100 mile championship very competitive.  Andy was not that well acquainted with racing over 100 miles his 4.36. win was well outside relative performance from the past. It was though a hard won race with his ‘match’ competition contender pressing Andy all the way during the event.                                                                                                                                           

Many years later he demonstrated his true potential be becoming Bury Clarion’s first member to beat the 4hr standard.       

                                                                                                                                                       

(2.18) Andy Horner  continued                                                                                                                                                                    

National Clarion Championship                                                                                                             

In 2009 Andy won the National Clarion’s Points Competition which is the Best All Rounder Championship. He had previously competed vigorously for this championship – the previous year he just lost by virtue of a defeat in the National Clarion Hill Climb championship – an event where Andy does not excel but he performed admirably in his bid to win.  I recall at the presentation at the Stirling Easter Meet Andy expressed his pride on winning this championship. He saw it as the premier championship.

(2.19) Simon Horner                                                                                         

Simon is Andy’s son and is included here because of a super day out for him at the National Clarion Track Championships where he won all the championships he entered: Sprint, pursuit and five mile.  The track was an open air surrounding the pitch of the local league football team at Newcastle –under-Lyme. Superb for the fine day it was.

(2.20) Rik Warrington

Rik joined our club as a result of Andy Horner’s influence. In the three year period 2006 to 2008 he won four club championships: three 25s and one 50 mile championship.

In 2008 he also won the National Clarion 50 mile championship.

(2.21) Nick Hall.                                                                                                                                             

Nick’s influence on our club is documented under ‘Bury Clarion Development in first 20 years of our 2^nd Century. He broke records on two occasions:

2013: 50 mile 1.54.24 and in 2014: 100 miles – 4hrs 1min 0secs

These records no longer stand.

The 50 record was particularly outstanding to me as Nick’s previous time gave no indication of this result. Then he did another class ride for 100 miles. When I asked him how he achieved these records I was really asking how he trained for them but he responded by saying something like ‘I prepare a schedule at a speed I thought I could sustain. This was checked with his Garmin                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Club Championships.                                                                        

Over a 5 year period 2010 to 2014 Nick won 7 club championships – four 25 mile; two 50 mile time trials and one 100 mile time trial championship. His pivotal influence on out club is listed under The Review Chapter.

Nick Hall

National Clarion Championship                                                                                        

50 mile tt championship 201?. Team pursuit championship along with Yates Twins                              

(2.22) Jon Longworth                                                                                                             

John joined us after some years with Lancashire Road Club.

This elite club attracts members from a wide area including Bury. In the late 1960’s some of our members migrated to this club as a result of our decline – good to see this reverse.

John has the honour of being our second members to better 4hrs for 100 miles. As it was the first was Andy Horner as he started in the same BDCA event around 20 minutes before Jon.

100miles: 3hr 52min 00secs 2017.

Club Championships Bury and National Clarion

Jon had the class to win more club championships than he did but apparently he had other ambitions so the Tens Championship and club 50 mile TT championship  in 2016 and the 100 Championship in 2017.

In the 2017 National Clarion 50 mile championship he was placed third overall and the second placed veteran. He was particularly proud of the ‘bronze’ and ‘silver’ medals with Jake Wright in first place and Andy Horner in second place overall..

(2.23) Joe Cadwallader

Joe has surely be one of our most enthusiastic racing members. Not only in his own interests but  also in helping others to succeed. In this respect teenager Francis Woodcock has benefited substantially from Joe’s help and his training directions. Another particularly benefitting is Joanna Cebrat – in this connection scheduling her 2020 National 12 hour championship ride when she won the third fastest medal. Then there is his son Dylan when he was old enough to compete as a member of the Bury Clarion Bullets. Another area where Joe was influential was in his efforts to ensure that the Bury Clarion Teams in Lancashire Road Clubs classic Rake hill climb achieved their best performance. The consequence was 3 team wins in three years.

Championships:

In 2015 and 2016 he won the Best All Rounder championships (Points System) and in 2018 he won our club 50 mile championship posting  a sparkling 1.59.21.

(2.24) Declan Brady.

It is apparent that Declan prefers club runs to racing where he has the ability but not the ambition to be a contender for club championships. However, one of the few club championships he competed was the:

50 mile championship – in 2017 – he was the surprise winner with a sparkling 2.00.19.

(2.25) Mike Smith.

Mike has not competed in many club championships but from the start it was apparent that he had the potential to be a club champion. He proved this in 2018 when he won the club 25 championship with’ an under the hour in 2018.                                                   

(2.26) Simon Yates and Adam Yates Records.

2012 10 miles – Simon 21.14

2012 10 Miles Adam 20.58

These records no longer stand. It’s pleasing that these two class riders are in our archives. A book will be written about them someday – let’s hope their activities with Bury Clarion championships get mentioned.

Simon Club Championships.

Hill Climb 2007- 2min 33.0 sec club record for a 14 yr old

2008 – 2min5.0sec club record for all categories as well as a 15yr old ;  

2009 – 2min 7.7sec

2010 – 2min 2.1sec- club record for a 17 year old and all categories as well as course record.

This course record was broken in 2018 by Josh Hunt when he posted 1min 53.8 seconds. It is interesting to note that Josh split the Yates twins in 2008. Like the twins he raced as a professional for a number of years on the continent. He was our guest of honour at our 2018 awards presentation when he added to the enjoyment of the evening with tales from his life as a professional on the continent.

The Twins also competed in the National Clarion Track Championships.

A consequence of them competing was a landmark win for the Team Pursuit Championship for Bury Clarion in 202? A trophy we last won by in 1927.                                               

(2.27) John Bunting.

Record

On resuming cycling as a former member of WPRC where for decades he was a recognised class time trialist, he choose Bury Clarion as I had responded to his enquiry whereas Lancashire Road Club had not bothered. I knew John from the 1990’s and one year nominated him for the title of The Bury Veteran Sportsman of the year. This was based on his achieving 1hr3min 28sec for a 30 mile time trial which was the fastest for the year at the time he posted it. As a result he got substantial publicity for his achievement and the awards committee were so impressed he was awarded the title of ‘The Bury Sportsman of the year’ and not just the Veterans Title.

In 2015 he broke our 30 mile record with a time of 1.9.20.

Club Championship

In 2015 he won our club 25 championship

(2.28) Jake Wright

Jake is the son of our multi club champion Gareth Wright. As an early teenager he knew he had the potential for top class racing so as well as joining our club he joined a racing team. As a 15 year old he posted an amazing 1.57 in the Congleton Cycling Club 50.

Continues in his own words:

“In 2016 I won the national 25 and was 2nd in the national 10 in 2017 Championship but didn’t do the national 25 due to racing commitments in Spain. I also posted the 48.05 in this year when I was 18 and still a junior. 

In 2018 I joined Zappi under 23 team. I didn’t have a great experience there. This is what I spoke about on the recent panorama documentary’. A number of Bury Clarion members saw this programme.   In 2019 I joined GD supermercados froiz an elite team in Spain and loved my time there, but unfortunately kept getting ill due to the after affects of the diet and regime my body was placed under from Zappi.

In 2020 I went back to Spain to the same team and was completely recovered from all previous illnesses. I returned just before the pandemic stopped flights and realised I wanted to focus on other things. I’m still involved in some aspects of the sport but a step back from racing was the right move for me. “

National Junior 25 championship in  2016

National  Junior 10 championship in 2017

Jake  currently holds the following club records:

10 mile: 19min.56secs

25 miles: 48min .05secs

He has claim to National Clarion records but these have yet to be claimed. The 10 time does not count as it was in a club event. Francis Woodcock has claim to the 10 record this is also pending as there currently is no official keeper of National Clarion records.

(2.29) Gavin Wright.                                                                                      

Gavin moved to Bury many years ago from the Midlands where he had done some racing with Coalville Wheelers. It is pleasing that he choose to join our club. At first he rarely raced but on one occasion in a Southport CC 25 he was under the hour then he left it at that for some time.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Club Championships                                                                                                 

He has been more active in 2019 when he was club 50 and 100 club champion and 2020 the 50 mile champion. In these events he broke club records which at the end of the period under review remain current club records:                                                                                                  

50 miles: 1hr 51min 18secs (2019)                             

100 miles. 3hrs 51min 09 secs (2019)

(2.30)

Club Handicap Champions Winners of these championships are just as worthy as any other one event Championship. Most would never win any of the other championships but on the day knowing they are in with a good chance of winning. The eventual winner will have risen to the occasion and have competed with a greater resolve than they would in the other championships,

2002 Peter Adams; 2003 Bob Duckworth: 2004 & 2005 Vince Eastwood*;

2006 Simon Horner; 2007 Jody Warrington; 2008 & 2009 Nick Hall*;  2010 Dave Woods;

2011 Andy Horner* 2012 Dave Woods; 2013 Nigel Hood; 2014 John Yates**;2015 Phil Shaw;

2016 Philip Albiez*;  2017 Andy Koral; 2018 Mike Smith; 2019 Geoff Taylor.

                                                                                                                                                    

(2.30) Club Handicap Champions continued

Four winners were also club champions in other championships* underling the statement that               not competed previously. In these instances the handicapper will be reserved with the handicap  allocated.

**John Yates is, of course the father of the Twins who know how much of their success has been the result of the support of their Dad and Mum Susan.  Incidentally in 1994  John was hill climb champion on Blackstone Edge recording the fastest Bury Clarion riders time at that time posting 10min 51secs.

2.31 Bury Clarion Bullets parental arranged and supervised Record Attempts.  (They accompany them either on a bicycle or running alongside the younger ones).

These are not part of Bury Clarion racing events but since the Bullets are members it is appropriate to list those who have established a record or broken a previous record for each age on the Lumb Carr climb.

Ten years old Toby Diggins recorded the fastest time of 4min 00.5secs so he has established the record for the Bullets club.

In the National Clarion Circuit Championships Toby was placed first in 2017 for his age group and second in 2018.

In 2019 Benjamin Richardson was place second and Dylan Cadwallader 3^rd.

THE HILL CLIMB STORY                                                                                     

Peter Roscoe

(2.32) 

In our halcyon days an annual hill climb was a feature of an autumn club run each year after WWII usually somewhere in North Lancashire.  They were one of the events as a change from just club runs e.g. Hobo runs, map reading contests and “All Night Rides”.

Those who entered the hill climbs rode on their one and only club riding bike and all they did was take off their saddlebags and sweater.  It is a pleasure to be a spectator on one of my first runs in 1949 – most of those on the clubrun were spectators who as the riders ascended would encourage by shouting ‘Up, Up, Up’ in time to the pedal stroke of the competitor.  Pity this is not done today – it did make for a splendid atmosphere.  I first rode in 1952 on the clubrun to Mellor Brook of Blackburn. I did not do that well. Alan Walker was the winner and unusually for our members he had a Huret derailleur gear. I did better in 1953 and won the event on Nick o’Pendle in a time of 4min58secs beating Alan Cooper by only 2 seconds. I did win others from time to time but they were not classed as club championships. There was opposition to my attempts to designate them as club but I finally succeeded.      

(2.33)  Martin Hanson’s Story current story of the hill climb

Hill Climb 2020 records – I’ve analysed this year’s hill climb times and we have 6 new all time records! So congratulations to the following riders:

Francis Woodcock beat Simon Yates’ 2010 time of 2.02.1 to set a new u’18 record of 2.01.5 (both aged 17 at the time).

Meg Lloyd set a new best female under 14 time of 3.16.3.

Eve Heywood set a best new female under 17 time of 3.03.6.

Gemma Sergant’s time of 2.41.6 set a new female 40+ record, beating Joanna Cebrat’s 2019 time of 2.58.0.

Caroline MacFarlane beat her own 2019 female 50+ record by 3 seconds.

And David Gamble’s time of 2.26.2 beat Nick Hall’s 2012 time of 2.31.5 to set a new male 50+ record.

Thanks again to Jason McDonald for ensuring this year’s event still went ahead despite the difficulties and let’s hope for a better racing season in 2021

Disclaimer!! All times are TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE and any rider not putting their age or DOB on the sign-on sheet is not included.

(2.34) On the way to rejuvenation.

Come the 1990’s I was working hard to restore the fortunes of Bury Clarion. At first  I started club championships by using an NLTTA event for the 25 and ABC Centreville events for the hill climb. In 1995 I started organising the hill climb on local courses. The 1995 event was on Turton Road, Harwood. Neil Gorton won the event with Phil Collins in second place. I made the field of five up and finished last.  The course was seen as dangerous because it was on a bus route so in 1997 we had the first of the Lumb Carr Competitions. We had thirteen entries but only four from Bury Clarion. Two of these were the Ellis  twins, Andrew and Jonathon from Radcliffe. Their parents came along to watch and I was obliged to ask Mrs Ellis to start the competitors.  Veteran Peter Jepson won with a time of 2min 49secs. Jonathon Ellis won the Bury Clarion championship with a time of 2min 59secs. The twins father was a CofE minister and moved to Rossendale and I recall the twins went on to join Rossesdale RC then on to University. I often wonder if they have continued their interest in cycling. On the finish sheet I hoped the prize winners were happy with their ‘Blankety , Blank prizes (Modest).

In the 1990’s I was secretary/treasurer of Bury Group of Co-op members, which gave me the opportunity to initiate good prizes by making the hill climb a jointly run event – the Group was not allowed to use their grant to make donations to other organisations. 

Steve McEwan won the event in 2min 18sec and Paul Way won the club championship with a time of 2min 18sec. Eventually ‘The Co-Operative Group’ stopped funding local groups leaving the prizes to come from other sponsorship and members donations.  Incidentally I note that Simon Yates won his first Bury Clarion Hill Climb championship as a 14 year old in 2007 in a time of 2min 33secs.

In 2013 the entries increased to 52 compared with a maximum of 25 previously. In 2014 our best eve entry of 70.  Fairtrade is one of my good things to promote so in the latter hill climbs we had bars of Fairtade chocolate.

                                                                   

(2.34) The Bullets                                                                                             

Although not a Bury Clarion promotion nor the Bullets  club it is important to record the success of the initiative in 2020 when under each rider’s parental supervision, the entrants rode what might be seen as private record attempts up Lumb  Carr Road on the day of the event.  Those in the frame for records were: Toby Diggins; Harry Patterson; Benjamin Richardson; Daniel Taylor Frazer Inman;Dylan Cadwallader; Noah Hallworth; Henry Davies and Max Walsh.  So Toby Diggins was the fastest and is the record holder for a 10 year old with a time  4min 00.5 seconds.

(2.35) THE TRACKMAN OF THE YEAR STORY                                                                                    

In January 2001 we had our Annual reunion at Walshaw Sports Club. A good number of . members from the 1950’s/1960’s attended. The evening could not have gone better for all concerned with a group of Keidli musicians to play numbers we enjoyed way back when. Bob Chadwick, who alas is no longer with us wrote a special club poem which he recited. Frank Bibby of Bolton Clarion was at that time National Secretary so he was our guest. He was so pleased with this that he donated £25 for club funds to do with whatever we wanted with it.

So we had nothing pressing and used the money for another club trophy. On the annual visit to our engraver at the time I looked for a suitable trophy. The one I selected was a tankard made of the expensive type of pewter. As it was £50 I paid the balance and the trophy has been engraved ‘The Frank Bibby, Peter Roscoe Award”. We decided we had enough competitions so we decided it would be for “The Trackman of the Year” who was to be a committee selection based on merit.

So we have Simon and Adam Yates for their outstanding performances at Manchester Velodrome as teenagers . Their father John was awarded the trophy another year for outstanding performance whilst Nick Heap not only was impressive, he also worked hard to encourage other members to race at the Velodrome. In the 1990’s and many years in the 00’s there were a groups of our members regularly competing on the track but interest has fallen away in recent year. Those who have been awarded the trophy are:

2001/2 Adrian Smith; 2003 Bob Duckworth; 2004 Simon Yates; 2005 Adam Yates;

2006.07 Simon Horner; 2008 John Yates; 2009 Geoff Downs; 2011 Joe McQuade

2013 Ryan Whatmough; 2014/2015/2016 Paul Whatmough;      2017 Nick Heap;

2018 Martin Usher; 2019 Paul  Whatmough; 2020 Not awarded – Covid.

(2.36) CONCLUSION

Club riding is the activity of most members with racing being a minority interest. This is the way I personally like it to be despite my interest in racing. It’s good that we allow second claim members who have paid their third annual subscription to race our championships.

The Yates twins and Jake Wright have added to the lustre of our racing activities as a result of this rule. It is interesting to note that these juniors (at the time) member’s fathers are also club champions/award winners along with Simon Horner.

On perusing the results I conclude with 21 championship wins Andy Horner must be nominated as ‘Champion of  Champions’  for the first 20 years of our second century. Virtually all the championships he rode were keenly contested and most times he won. On several occasions he was runner up giving the eventual winner ‘a run for their money’.  These were Rick Warrington (who Andy had persuaded to join our club), Nick Hall and Jon Longworth.

As I see it Joanna Cebrat is worthy of feminine recognition. So matched with Charlotte Boothman (formerly Gorman) I think she deserves at the very least ‘The more notable’ of the ‘notable’ females. In 2020 she won the Vets 100 title with a bold effort, against the odds, when others were packing in, and third place in the NATIONAL 12 HR CHAMPS also the National Clarion Female Vets record as well as three club records (see 2.12 above).

Charlotte merits special mention as she was our first member to beat the hour for a 25 mile time trial. She holds the ladies records for a 25mile TT and also the 50 mile TT see 2.5 above.

I’ve been posting my late father’s memoirs bit by bit and I’ve come to the section where he joined Bury Clarion as a Rookie in 1951, so I thought I’d post it, as it might be of interest to current club members and perhaps for the Clarion’s historical archive.

Bob Chadwick, was a keen member back in the 1950’s and led many a run. He also rode with my mother, Joan Chadwick, on a tandem. He has recently passed away, aged 92, but this black and white photograph is among his effects. It’s not high resolution and a bit blurry, but it shows him out on one of the Bury Clarion rides with like-minded hardy souls. He’s the one in the cape on the left at the front. I can’t give you a year, but pre 1957. I thought some of you might like to see it. It’s a bit of club history!

The Cycling Bug 1950’s Part 1

Having returned from National Service, he wanted to get out from under the parental thumb.

“I embarked on an course of action which virtually guaranteed an alternative Sunday activity and, much to my parents disapproval, I joined a cycling club. It was a decision that totally altered my life style.

I had always had a bike but I wouldn’t have called myself a cyclist in the true sense of the word. I had a Raleigh Lenton Sports with Sturmey-Archer three speed and Dyno hub and steel wheels. One Saturday night in the summer of 1951 I was talking to my cousin about cycling and we decided to go for a Sunday run with a cycling club.

There were no clubs in Radcliffe so we went to Bury to ride with the Clarion. The meeting place, published in the Bury Times, was outside the Theatre Royal and there was a crowd of cyclists already assembled there. They were split into two sections and seeing our bikes and our generally rookie appearance we were strongly advised to go with the “A” section. This we did and on a beautiful sunny day we rode to Southport and back at a leisurely pace. This beat church and Sunday school into a cocked hat but it all seemed too easy so we decided to go again the following week but this time with the “B” section.
The first thing we noticed were the bikes, hand-built frames, alloy wheels, derailleur gears etc. The run was to Malham in the Yorkshire Dales and, led by a sadist by the name of Charlie Westlake, we set off at a cracking pace with me and cousin Jim hanging on like grim death. It was forty miles on the outward run and by the time we got there we were absolutely knackered and the thought of having to ride home filled me with dread but we did survive although it took me to mid-week to fully recover. However, on the plus side I had seen some wonderful Yorkshire scenery, made some new friends and discovered the alternative lifestyle open to me as a bone fide cyclist provided I could get fit enough. There was racing, Youth Hostelling and loads of social events.

My father’s idea of sport only extended to cricket and football so again it was met with disapproval and to add salt to the wound he found out that the Clarion was a socialist organisation. So, to sum it up, in my parent’s view, I was skipping church, riding out with a bunch of commies from Bury, and frequenting public houses into the bargain. Cousin Jim never came out again after that first “B” section run but I persevered and soon realised that I was becoming quite fit but the bike was not really suitable.

I bought a Bates hand-built frame, which I still keep in the loft to this day for sentimental reasons, it cost almost two weeks wages and then I had to assemble all the rest of the components over a period as funds became available. This machine had to suffice for both racing and general touring so I had two sets of wheels, both alloy but the racing wheels were “sprints and tubs” i.e., special tubular tyres pumped up to over 100 psi. for minimum rolling resistance. Thus equipped I graduated to the status of a clubman and outside of work my life revolved round cycling.

Sport in my dad’s opinion consisted of cricket and football and all other sports were regarded as of no interest. He bought me a cricket bat which languished in a cupboard for ever after and therefore I was a great disappointment and all my achievements in cycling modest as they were counted for nothing but nevertheless, I did what I enjoyed and revelled in it

These were the heydays for cycling, petrol was still rationed and universal car ownership was far in the future, I was never in the top league for racing but long distance fast touring was my speciality. I built up tremendous stamina for 100 mile plus club runs over hilly terrain and all holidays were spent touring. I have, without any other means of transport, toured most parts of the British Isles from Cornwall to the far north of Scotland. The countryside was ours alone for the most part and tourist attractions were often free or at least very cheap. I have wandered among the monoliths of Stonehenge and visited the Bronte museum at Howarth uncluttered by car parks and hordes of visitors. It is an unfortunate fact that universal access to beauty spots leads to excessive commercialisation, which destroys the very thing that people come to see.

Every Clarion section organised an annual “reliability ride” with a certificate presented for the completion of the event and these were right up my street. Our own reliability starting from Bury went through the Yorkshire Dales to Ingleton then across to Lancaster and back to Bury via Preston and Bolton, a distance of about 120 miles. The Manchester Clarion ran one to Sheffield and back, twice through the Peak District, taking in the Cat and Fiddle on the way out and Mam Tor on the homeward leg. Finally, the Leigh- Llangollen and back, 104 miles not including the twenty-mile ride to and from Leigh to home, we did not have cars with roof racks in those days.”