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Bert Kent of Worthing, who was born in 1928, has some fond reminiscences of his early cycling days.
The cycle has always been my main means of transport, and when our first child Mary was three, I made a sidecar on a 'Bluebird' cycle sidecar chassis. At the weekends we would visit the country, and it was so comfortable that she would be asleep as soon as the wheels started turning.
Our next offspring were twins; so as soon as they were old enough, I fitted a child rear seat on the back of both my wife's and my bike, and a cross-bar saddle to mine, thus enabled us all to enjoy cycling.
As soon as they were all big enough they had their own bikes: a family of five enjoying a group cycle ride, which would be a rare sight today.
In the forties and fifties, cycles dominated the roads, and we would ride four abreast in town, but reduce to two abreast on the main roads.
The vast railway carriage works at Lancing, one of the largest employers in the area, saturated local roads with bikes when hundreds of workers all started at the same time and also left together was on.
At Worthing, the tunnel under the railway, between Dagmar Street and Ivy Arch Road, was a bottle neck in the rush hour, with hordes of cycles going in each direction, mixing with pedestrians, yet there were no accidents that I was aware of.
As the sixties approached, cars came into favour, and cycle traffic decreased, to such an extent, that cycle shops started to close.
In Worthing we had Mason's in Montague Street, Greenwood's in Portland Road, Curry's in Warwick Street, Searle's in Chapel Road, Gaydon's in High Street, Richardson's in Brighton Road, Nodes in Clifton Road, as well as one by the level crossing in South Farm Road, and another in Broadwater Road, to name just the few I remember.
During the seventies it was difficult to find a cycle shop, so the paper shop opposite The Dolphin pub in Dominion road sold puncture repair kits.
An attempt to revive the cycle trade gave us the folding bike for car boots, the small-wheeled shopper, and the hopper, which was the fore-runner of today's mountain bike. Sales of the latter gained momentum in the nineties, and cycle shop numbers increased again.
But car sales increased more, making cycling on the car-crowded roads dangerous and difficult.
Today I use my late father's cycle, it is 39 years old, has had many replacement parts and coats of paint, and I think the only original parts are the frame and the three speed 'Sturmy Archer' rear wheel. Even that has had new spokes.
With all my years of cycling, I ride in the road where possible, but I only ride within the town now, and would like to see better facilities to make cycling safer. After pursuing this latter wish a couple of years ago, I discovered the 'Worthing Cycle Campaign'.
The WCC aim is to make cycling in the Worthing area safer. I am all for making cycling safer, and feel that cycle lanes should dominate the roads, and not be pushed to unsuitable routes that make cycling difficult.
It is so noticeable that in the Worthing area Cycle Lanes have been put where it is convenient. They stop at car parking places, junctions and roundabouts, yet these are the very places that need cycle priority.
With this approach to cycle safety, and an in-town low speed limit, we may see families back on their bikes, children cycling safely to school in the road and adults using their cycles for shopping in town again.
This would also help the environment, as at present most of the town traffic is driving around looking for somewhere to park.
The WCC membership is growing, and a large membership means a large voice, so I am confident that in my time, with the help of the WCC members, cycle safety and facilities in the Worthing area will improve.
Bert Kent, Worthing, 2001
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