Cycling in Edwardian Saxilby
Cycling became popular at the end of the 19 th Century. However, before the invention of the safety bicycle in the 1880s, the pastime was an expensive hobby. A ‘penny-farthing’ cost £12 in 1880 (6 weeks wages), £800 today. One of the earlier photographs in our ‘John Wilson Collection’ shows members of a Lincoln cycle club photographed outside the Sun Hotel in 1885. A later photo, taken in 1895, shows a gathering of cyclists at the same spot with their safety bicycles. This was obviously a large gathering, as you can see, they were followed by a stage coach. It was reported at the Annual General Meeting of Lincoln Cycling Club in 1885 that the opening run in the previous year was in the form of a picnic at the Sun Inn, Saxilby. Rev. Canon Fowler defrayed the cost of the club being photographed, and the photos were sold for the benefit of the club. On August 4 th , 1902 (Bank Holiday Monday), the Lincolnshire Echo reports - ‘ Encouraged by the success of the sports organized a m