A Brief History
For many years Guildford has been home to cycling enthusiasts and as far back as 1884 the Guildford Cycling Club was known to be flourishing. By 1898 the club had between 170-180 members and was a prominent feature of late-Victorian Guildford. However, it appears that some were dissatisfied with the club and by 1899 the Stoke Cycling Club had been formed, followed by the Guildford Wheelers in 1900.
At the beginning of 1903 all three of these clubs reported substantial memberships at their annual general meetings, though perhaps all was not so well with the Wheelers, for an item on the agenda of their meeting sought “in view of the poor support accorded to club-runs” to allow motor-cyclists to join the club. This was carried unanimously, and the club henceforth became known as the Guildford Cycling and Motoring Club.
Whatever the merits of these organisations they apparently failed to satisfy all the wants of the would-be clubmen of the district. Accordingly, a call went forth for a club that would cater for the “working-class cyclists” of the area. The outcome of this was the convening of a meeting of all interested persons at the Charlotteville Institute, Addison Road, Guildford on Friday, 27th March 1903.
Rev. Mitcheson presided over the first part of the proceedings and afterwards the Mayor occupied the chair. Having agreed that a club should be formed, the meeting went ahead with the planning of its constitution and the election of officers. The subscription was fixed at 1/- per season and it was decided to have a leader and sub-leaders for each club-run. It was resolved that runs should be held on Saturdays, but if a sufficient number of members were enrolled Wednesday runs would also be arranged, and thus the Charlotteville Cycling Club was born.
The other Guildford cycling clubs were, by and large, short-lived: The Guildford Wheelers had gone by 1907 and the Stoke Cycling Club by 1911. Guildford Cycling Club itself had disappeared by 1913, leaving the Charlotteville Cycling Club as the only surviving Guildford based club from that time.
“The Charlotteville Cycling Club has made a splendid start and members have been enrolled in sufficient numbers to warrant the committee arranging for Wednesday runs as well as the Saturday programme.
The opening run took place on Saturday (4th April, 1903) when a goodly number of friends turned up to see the club’s first venture, the Mayor being prominent among the spectators. Owing to the extremely slippery state of Shalford Road an exciting incident occurred, no fewer than four riders having side-slips and falling on to the muddy road. Fortunately, there was no serious mishap and the incident provided a fund of humour for the rest of the journey. Cranleigh was reached in due time and twenty-six members sat down to a capital tea at the Lady Peak Institute, Mr. A. Curling-Hope being host.
After the meal smokes were handed round; and the Secretary announced that the Rt. Hon. W. St. John Broderick had kindly consented to become a Vice-President of the Club and had sent £1 0s 0d towards the funds. This announcement was received with much applause. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Curling-Hope who responded with a humorous speech.
The return journey was fixed for 6.30 p.m. but the wretched weather then prevailing made a disagreeable ending to an otherwise enjoyable day’s outing.
The next run was arranged for Easter Monday to Aldershot.”
The Charlotteville Cycling Club
1903-1953
In 1953, to celebrate the club’s Golden Jubilee, Don Field wrote a history of the club, entitled “The Charlotteville Cycling Club 1903-1953”.
Copies of this manuscript are available from the club, or you may find it by searching: ISBN 0-9546627-1-7
The Charlotteville Cycling Club:
A History of the Second 50 Years
In 2003, the late Les Bowerman completed the work started by the late George Hunton to create another book covering the period 1953 – 2003.
This book is available to borrow from Guildford Library, or can be found under: ISBN 0-9546627-0-9