Does the history of cycling interest you? Then pedal back in time with CTC

By Cycling UK

Thursday, 04 July 2013

A copy of CTC's Gazette magazine from the archives

Does an interest in cycling run in your family? Would you like to find out if your ancestors were mentioned in copies of ‘The Gazette‘ dating back over 100 years? The Cyclists' Touring Club has applied for Heritage Lottery funding to make the charity’s history accessible via a simple online search

Let us know if you would find such a service of interest. In the meantime do take a listen to our CTC Podcast a chance to pedal back in time… The CTC Heritage Podcast project is the brainchild of Cyclists' Touring Club volunteer, Kay Lakin and has been developed with support from another volunteer, journalist Sylvia Howe.

The half hour programme is based on the fascinating snippets that Kay uncovered during research through the shelves full of CTC Gazettes here at head office, dating back over 100 years.

Kay has been leading the research, working with CTC’s senior fundraising officer, Lorraine Stone, to develop an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant. This will enable CTC to create a digital archive of the member magazine, known variously as ‘The Gazette’, ‘Cycle Touring’ and ‘Cycle’. The information would then be set up as a website, with a search facility to allow people to find articles from a particular date, or written by a certain contributor – or even featuring a particular cyclist!

CTC has such an amazing heritage, and it would be fabulous to make it more accessible to both our members and the general public.

In addition to creating this digital archive, CTC will also be seeking oral history interviews and accounts from members. If CTC’s application for a grant is successful, we will be looking to recruit a number of volunteers to help digitise the archive and conduct the interviews. We will also be looking for members who want to share their stories and experiences.

“CTC has such an amazing heritage, and it would be fabulous to make it more accessible to both our members and the general public. The podcast will transport you back to the more innocent times of the 19th and mid 20th centuries to explore the delights of cycling and give you a flavour of what this project is all about.” says Lorraine Stone.

The podcast will transport you back to the more innocent times of the 19th and mid 20th centuries to explore the delights of cycling and give you a flavour of what this project is all about.

Lorraine Stone Senior Fundraising Officer CTC

“Reading through the Gazette, you get a real sense of CTC as this dynamic, forward thinking organisation – from our support of women cyclists throughout our 135 year history, to our unwavering commitment to campaigning on cycle and road safety, and the right to ride."

"In addition to the magazine forming a commentary on CTC activity, there are also some wonderful snippets of social history – from the ‘Companions Wanted’ section, to the letters’ pages which reveal the pressing issues of the day for our members, plus some truly wonderful advertisements, the magazine, in all its guises is a real gem, and we’re so excited about the prospect of sharing it with the world at large.”

CTC’s first Heritage podcast is available, free, to download now.

The Podcast has been produced and researched by Kay Lakin, Sylvia Howe, Lorraine Stone and is presented by Laura Raymond.