The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-05-29 00:00:00

THE STOTIRBRIDGE OBSERVER:

GREAT BICYCLE MEET AT HAMPTON

COURT.

Nearly two thousand bicyclists, representing 118
London and provincial clubs, took part in the annual
meet at Hampton Court last Saturday. From early
morning the sky was portentous with rain, but,
nevertheless, thousands of people went from the
metropolis by the road, the river, and the rail, to wit-
ness the demonstration, which has come to possess as
much attraction for the general public as for the
cognoscenti. Those who intended to take part in the
procession assembled at 4.45 on the Green at Hampton
Court, where, under the superintendence of a body
of marshals, the machines were sized off and the men
formed in order of clubs, captains leading.
The " meet " was as pretty a proof as. it was con-
vincing of the immense impetus which has been given
to the sport of bicycling within the last few years.
Down the long chestnut-tree avenue in Bushey Park,
looking enchanting with its sides formed by great
masses of green foliage sprinkled plentifully with
graceful bunches of white flowers, came a stream of
bicyclists riding in pairs with the regularity of
British cavalry. The varied costumes of the riders,
their badges, the glitter of the spokes of their nickel-
silvered machines, as they caught the sunlight, and
the luxuriant beauty of a scene which a charming
spring has made every effort to adorn, all combined to
make the annual meet of the Bicycle Clubs as pleasant
a sight as the eye could rest upon.
So large a gathering of bicyclists is unprecedented.
Men had come down to the meet from all parts of
England. There were enthusiastic riders who had
ridden all the way from Portsmouth, Brighton, Hull,
Newcastle, and many another far-off place. These
travellers were easily distinguishable. Their machines
as well as clothing were dust-begrimed and mud-be-
spattered; and at corners, or beneath some "spreading
chestnut tree," groups were to be seen being brushed
down. The muster took place on Hampton Green,
which, with its chestnut and elm trees on one side, its
line of old-fashioned low houses on the other, and its
solitary wide-spreading chestnut trees standing here
and there upon the sward, formed as pretty a scene of
operations as the bicyclists could have chosen. Each
club as it arrived took up its position on the ground
allotted to it, and as each position was indicated by
numbers, remarkably little confusion took plate among
the vast crowd of men and bicycles. The mustering
was conducted by a large number of marshals, who
wore on their right arms a white badge, decorated
with the golden letter "M."
At five o'clock the signal for the start was given, and
at once the bicyclists commenced to stream out of the
Green in pairs. Once on the road they mounted, and
set off at even pace for a long ride to New Hampton,
round by the right to pretty Teddington, thence
home to Hampton again through the Chestnut-avenue
in Bushey Park. It took over an hour before the last
Bicycle Club quitted the Green. In fact, when the
last rider joined the procesion, the leading riders were
already wheeling along among the chestnuts in
Bushey Park. The spectacle was a very imposing one,
but was deprived of some of its effect by the absence
of the sun. A comic element was introduced into the
pageant in the shape of a body of " negro melodists "
with blackened faces, who were heartily laughed at
for their eccentricity and as heartily applauded for
their excellent riding.

small PO Bban
T Okv-FnloctEe s for oss ..tively, inasmuch as they will be payable at every
NOTES.—These
as.e,
and be practically
crteisc respec-
tively,
post-office. We hope that Parliament will shortly
authorise their introduction; indeed the Bill for that
purpose was already before the House of Commons
when the Dissolution took place. For years past we
have at intervals advocated some transmissible instru-
ments of this sort. We are not sure, however, that
the authorities would even now have granted our i
prayers f Post Office orders had been pecuniarily
profitable. . . . The new notes will, we expect, be wel-
comed by the public. They will be far more conve-
nient both to get and to receive than Post Office
orders, and the odd amounts (where such a sum as
14s. 6d. has to be transmitted), can be made up by
postage stamps. But. if the plan proves a genuine
success, shilling and sixpenny notes, chargeable with
a halfrienny commission, will probably be issued.
Although the new notes will not be a legal tender,
they will very likely to some extent be passed from
hand to hand. This is not a consummation devoutly
to be wishe'd, as those know who have been wont to
handle the frowsy malodorous money of paper-
currency countries. For comfort and cleanliness,
although it is a luxury which costs a good deal, there
is nothing like a gold, silver, and bronze currency,
"flimsies" under five pounds in value.—
, cfrwitahlt no 'flimsies"

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