1897: a spin from Delhi to Calcutta

[allen-uk]

1897: a spin from Delhi to Cawnpore

Not too sure where to post this, but Touring and Expedition seems a reasonable heading.

http://charlesives1897cycleride.blogspot.com/

...is my grandpa's diary of his Tour (in 1897) around part of northern India. He was no journalist, so while it well never win the Pulitzer Prize, it is still interesting, particularly to a cyclist!

(When I am struggling up a slight incline with my 21 gears etc., I do think of him and wonder what sort of wimp he would have called me. He died 90 years ago, so we never met).

Allen.

 

[Hilldodger]

Very interesting. Mind if I post a link on my history blog below?

 

[allen-uk]

Of course not, hilldodger. This is common land, not mine!

And a lot of what is in your link helps us understand what sort of world cyclists like my grand-dad were living (and riding) in.


Allen.

 

[Cathryn]

That's amazing. I wouldn't like to cycle in India without brakes or mudguards!!!! What a dude he was!

 

[Hilldodger]

Brakes cost extra in 1897 so few people bothered

 

[rich p]

Good stuff. The map shows the route to Cawnpore( now Kanpur) though, not Calcutta

 

[allen-uk]

Blimey. Another family myth blown. He LIVED in Calcutta, without a doubt, so what he was doing finishing his ride in Cawnpore I have now no idea. Until I just looked at it on a map I didn't realise it was a long, long way away from Calcutta.

Maybe he took the train home from Cawnpore - from all accounts train travel was quick and easy in India then, a bit like pre-Beeching Britain.

I shall rename the blog tomorrow!


Allen.

 

[allen-uk]

Not just brakes that were an expense. I have an Exchange & Mart from that era that shows that decent bikes were also silly money.


A.

 

[Hilldodger]

A bicycle could cost two or three months wages for an average working man. It wasn't until after the First World War the bikes became more affordable and a secondhand market began to grow.

 

[allen-uk]

I had a look at the cycling columns in an 1898 Exchange & Mart. Bikes could be had for as little as £4.10.0, and the dearest was an eye-watering £48 for a Beeston Humber. (Even the four quid one is equivalent to over £1500!)

According to

http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/

which for historians is a fascinating site, the Beeston's equivalent in modern wages is about £20,000. Conversely, my bike would have cost about ten bob then, which sounds about right.

A.