If you would like to leave a comment, feedback or ask a question about the club or the website - this is the place!
Next Anerley Rides
SUNDAY RIDE February 26th @ 9am
Meet: 501 Brighton Road/Shurguard
Tea Stop: East Grinstead Pub Stop: The Royal Oak, Crockham Hill
TUESDAY RIDE Feb 28th @ 10am
Meet: 501 Brighton Road/Shurguard
To: Dependent on weatherToday Friday Saturday 
Fog17°/8°
Fog16°/2°
Clear11°/4°-
Love the website!
I’m thinking of moving to Anerley and just wondered if anyone regularly commutes from the area to central london by bike?
I’ve been cycling to work from Highbury N5 for the last ten years or so and am afraid of switching to the humdrum and cost of a train commute. I’m not sure if it’s practical to cycle from Anerley to Farringdon but if anyone has experience in this area then please pass on any advice on journey time, routes, things to avoid etc.
thank you,
Steve
I used to cycle daily from Sydenham to Euston which is about the same distance. About 40/45 minutes.
Try Anerly to Sydenham (Thicket Road, Crystal Palace Park Road (tough!) to the top and down College Road. Straight into Dulwich Village, then take a right at the village traffic lights and pick up the cycle path that cuts through to near the Fox Inn. Then down Denmark Hill through Camberwell, Walworth Road to the Elephant. Up contraflow London Road to St Georges Circus and Blackfriars right on to Farringdon.
Good luck!
Just to add that if you are looking for a buddy or more advice – check out this thread: http://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4931
like the new website. I see you have quite a few new members. hope everyone i know in the club is well. I often see j turnball getting the miles in while i am busy working.
Mark: John was out last Sunday and Jack was back in the saddle after his operation to see us off from the phonebox too.
thanks for the reply stuart,i was driving my lorry passed epsom racecourse on tues the 18th and i’m sure i saw john dadson and john turnball cycling towards me.ps once i get some fitness in my legs you may see me back on a club run one sunday.
just watched silly cyclist on croydon cyclist website,very good videos to watch if you are new to cycling,it is amazing some of the risks people take,always remember not every lorry driver checks there mirrors before turning.if more riders watch these videos i’m sure they will save lives, injurys.
Mark,
Hope to see you one Sunday. An organiser from the Croydon Cyclist Campaign has just joined the Club. He is planning to re-vamp their site so hopefully we should have more.
BTW if you go here you will see a video of cyclists doing silly things up hills!
http://anerleybc.org/cheam-and-morden-hilly-50k/
stuart
someone left message with my wife regarding annual dinner a few days ago but she forgot to tell me and only remembered to night, and not remembered the message
Had a look at web site and found out the date and vanue, how do i book??
Leg still sore from fall so not riding yet.
regards
ricky
Ricky: check your inbox.
Just happened on your website whilst looking for something else. Carwardines retail shop and coffee and tea rooms was indeed in Southampton Row in 1960. I know because I worked there for a short time, taking samples of tea and coffee to many of the top hotels in London. Mr Critchley was the manager, and a fine gentleman he was, in the true sense of the word. Unfortunately my tenure there was short, as my fiance decided that she had become homesick for South Wales to where we moved and married in1963, and are still very happy in 2011 living near Liverpool. My time at Carwardines was extremely happy with delightful staff.
sorry to hear about jack he will be greatly missed by the club,always interesting to talk to,very good rider,and a great man.
Hi, great site, I collect cycle history books and I would like to get a copy of “Some notes about the Anerley BC” by G A Smith published in1931. Can any one help. Regards Michael Gaze. VCC #175
Hi Michael,
Re your query the booklet about the Anerley Bicycle Club by G.H.Smith.
This was a “private” print to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the club. Hence only a small number of copies printed. The club does still hold an original of the 1931 print. In 1981, to commemorate the club’s 100 years, the original notes of G.H were reproduced, and added to with notes covering the period 1931 t0 1980. In more recent times, John Jackson, the Editor of the Anerley Gazette (our club magazine), used to get further copies of this booklet (1881 to 1980) run off for any interested new club members. Unfortunately Jack died a couple of months back so I am at present unable to say if any copies are currently available.
Back in 2005 (the Anerley 125th) by chance we were contacted by the great grand daughter of G.H. She lives in the land of Oz but in 2005 was visiting the UK. She became the Guest of Honour at our Club Dinner. In return she regaled us with some delightful and very interesting stories about G.H, his life and cycling adventures!
Des Donohoe of the Anerley
Hello again Michael,
If your interest is in cyclists from the past, rather than just books about the history of cycling clubs, perhaps I should relate a bit more about G.H Smith, This is info gleaned from his great grand daughter when she visited our club in 2005, and throws new light onto some of his jottings about the Anerley Bicycle Club.
In his “Notes About the Anerley Bicycle Club”, he relates an amusing story about a club night (circa early 1890s) when a member brought a then new Dunlop pneumatic tyre to show off its advantages over the then normal solid rubber. Naturally the question arose of what happened if it punctured. No problem says the clubman. He then gives a demonstration on how to fix what was essentially, a “tub”. After much time and fruitless attempts the demonstrator gave up in frustration, packed the tyre in brown paper and sent it back to Dunlop.
What G.H does not say in his write up is that it was he who failed in the attempt to fix what was the first Anerley Bicycle Club puncture!
Also in his Notes about the Anerley, there are references to a “member” being the first person to ride a bike in many countries around the world, Transvaal, China, Malaysia, Australia, to name but a few.
What we now know from his great grand daughter, was that this “member” was in fact G.H. He became a much travelled world sales rep for Dunlop Tyres and these adventures was G.H on his sales trips!
His grand daughter also had his cycling diaries for the years (I think it was) 1894 to 97, at which date he set out on his around the world sales trip. The diaries note his travels, with details of companions, weather, milage etc. These included riding in snow and ice during an Easter weekend club run (who said climate change is not happening!), an extended ride upto and around Scotland, and much more.
With riders like G.H. no wonder the Anerley B.C became a leader in long distance cycling records!
There is an intriguing family story (with some evidence to support it) that G.H is descended from an illegitimate son of the Prince Regent, later King George IV. In each subsequent generation, the first born son was thus named George, including of course George H. Smith!
Hope this may be of interest
Des Donohoe.
Des, Many thanks for the replies, I am interested in all aspects of Cycle history, and your information on G.H. Smith was very enlightening. When it comes to collecting books I mainly concentrate on racing and the technical side of it, you have to draw a line some where,as there is a limit to how many books you can fit in a house before they take over. If a copy of the book becomes available could you email at :- michaelgaze@hotmail.co.uk Regards Michael.
Hello Michael, Just a bit of recent news. Today by chance I was given a copy of another booklet written by G.H. Smith. This book is about one of our most famous club members, S.F.Edge, who broke a number of records and won a number of top cycling events on a variety of machines. One of his early favourite bikes was the geared penny farthing, about which he claimed, “If you want a machine to go like the wind, ride up the side of houses, or down chalk pits without danger, you must buy a geared ordinary”. And to prove it he went out and won the Catford Hill Climb in 1887 on Westerham Hill!
In 1888, he won the track national championships at 1 mile and 25 mile on a trike. This was but the start of his many and varied track records. Not least his world record over 100 miles, set in 1893 on a “safety bike”. Prior to this, in 1890, he broke the record for the London-Brighton-London ride on safety bicycle with the benefit of the then new, Dunlop pneumatic tyres. In 1892 it was London to York on a geared penny farthing, followed in 1893 by setting the world record over 100 miles on a safety bike. A prolific rider and a very successful all rounder!
The booklet, published in 1929, is entitled “Selwyn Francis Edge – The Man and Some of the Things He Has Done”. It consists of 4 parts; the first is an over view of his life up to that time; the second part which would be of most interest to you, is entitled “Cycling Achievements” and consists of some 16 pages; next “S.F. Edge as a Motorist” (in 1897 he became an avid promoter of motor cars, competing in many national and international motor events, often in a high powered Napier); and the last part, “In Business”, details his many ventures in the world of commerce.
Whilst I am familiar with some of his exploits, I have not yet had time to read this booklet, but it looks to be very interesting!
Des
When is the Anerley dinner? I can’t seem to find any info. I need to know ‘cos we are off to Machu Pichu at the end of January and I suspect I’ll miss the dinner, which would be a great shame.
Yes – it is early February. I will post the date when I put up the AGM report at the end of the week. I’m in Wales and my notes are in London!
An old (93yrs) friend of mine has just shown me a trophey his father won from your club in 1912
it is The Palmer Tyre Ltd trophey for a 12 hour trial (he covered 209 miles)
The trophey is hall marked siver, made by a company in Regent St
His father ‘ s club is shown as University CC
Their family name is Cook and his father would certainly have not gone to any University ! can you identify that club please ?
Can you find me any more background infomation, or best of all, any pictures from that period or even that race
Given the size / style / cost of ther trophy, I can only guess that it must have been an important event at the time
Hi Jeff,
Sorry that I cannot answer any of your queries. Unfortunately two world wars have resulted in club magazines, documents etc, being lost. Or at least are not now in the clubs possession.
One possible source of information might be the British Library Archives. If you go to http://anerleybc.org/thursday-ride-13th-september-1888/ you will see an item that I discovered this week. Cycling was very popular at this time 1880/1900) so race results were published in many newspapers. Do not know if this continued upto the 1914/18 war.
I also found reference (in 1889) to a court case involving one of our very famous members, S.F Edge. This appeared to be concerning a debt relating to a tyre company of which he was a director. As a result of your request I searched for the Palmer Tyre Co. The only reference I could find was also a reference to court case in 1889, and also relating to debts. A coincidence?
My guess is that S.F Edge was the director of the Palmer Tyre Co, and being heavily involved in cycle racing, provided the trophy to his club, the Anerley B.C.
With the little information that you do have, you might be lucky to find a reference somewhere in the British Library Archive.
Des of Anerley B.C