Sammy Bartleet was an Anerley member for 40 years. A renowned cycling journalist, author, amateur racer, inventor and collector, he also published a cycling classic ‘Bartleets Bicycle Book’ in 1931 which covered cycling history.
Among Bartleet’s inventions were a golf bag carrier, an attachable framework for carrying a tradesmen basket, and a three wheeler on which he carried his son thousands of miles. Sadly none of his designs became commercial successes.
Bartleet put a lot of effort into acquiring items, scouring old bicycle shops around the country as well as following up on any bits of information that came his way including funeral notices and newspaper columns. In his Bicycle Book, Bartleet complains about a gossip columnist who declared in her column that Sir Edward Elgar, the great composer, had a historical bicycle collection on which he insisted guests must ride. Bartleet of course wrote to Elgar wanting to visit the collection. Elgar wrote back that the story was a complete nonsense. Disgruntled about fake-news reporting, Bartleet appeared to have gotten the gossip columnist fired!
In November 1868, Rowley B. Turner brought a “Michaux bicycle” – essentially a “Hobbyhorse” with pedals – from Paris, took it by train to Coventry, and persuaded the Coventry Sewing Machine Co., to make 400 similar machines for him to sell in Paris. This event kickstarted the UK bicycle industry.
Bartleet became a friend of Rowley Turner and often heard his friend lament that the ‘home of the cycle trade’ had no museum of old cycles. He wanted to remedy the situation but although an avid collector, at the time Bartleet had only 20 machines. When he had finally accumulated 40 complete machines, including some that major records were set on, Bartleet bequeathed the lot to the City of Coventry who agreed to house and display them to the public.
Sammy Bartleet’s cycle collection formed the core of the Coventry Transport Museum when it opened and is still very prominently displayed for the public to enjoy.
