Scaling the Matlock Mountain!

  If you happened to be in Matlock this lunchtime, you may have noticed a bit of an event going on! If you weren't there, and were wondering what all the fuss was about i.e. cyclists, spectators, sirens, police motorbikes and cheering schoolchildren, it was the Women's Tour - a professional women's cycling race, which had a whole …

Have bike, will travel – a splendid celebration of cycling

Thursday 5th May saw the start of our latest 'What's in the Wall?' exhibitions.  Running (or should I say pedalling?) until the 30th July, 'Have bike, will travel' is a comprehensive collection of items from our Local Studies and Archives, ranging from the late 19th century to the present day. Many of the photographs are courtesy …

PC & the Pedal Crankers ‘flying the flag for Great British Cycling’

Whilst researching for our forthcoming 'Have bike, will travel' exhibition, I came across a reference to an 'audio disc' featuring a song by 'PC & the Pedal Crankers' which turned out to be a 7inch single featuring the songs 'Ride Your Bicycle' and 'The Bike Ride Song.' The only information we have is that it …

Joseph Waterfall – Poet of the Peak with ability

Do you ever get side-tracked by a subject while researching another? Most of us have at some point! This is probably one of the strangest and most interesting 'distractions' I have encountered. As part of a future exhibition about cycling, I have been searching through the Record Office for interesting bicycle-related items. During a thorough search of the …

On This Day: ‘Velocipedes’

From the Buxton Advertiser, 28 August 1869: VELOCIPEDES On Thursday night about 9pm there was a disturbance in Spring Gardens, caused by the velocipede riders.  T. Widdowson, blacksmith, met and upset a velocipede, whereupon the whole of the brigade came down upon him, threatening vengeance.  Widdowson was obliged to obtain the assistance of neighbours and …