Cotswold cycling, yesteryear

One of my readers, Martin Lewis, has been in touch following a recent article (click here) I wrote about this curious sign and logo we spotted at Bourton on the Water.
CTC logo

CTC logo

Very helpfully Martin was able to shed some more light on cyclists who used to pass through Bourton on the Water and also talk through some contemporary cycling clubs and how Windrush Cycle Tours has sprung into life.  I thought this was worth sharing, so over to you Martin….
The Old New Inn Bourton on the Water gets quite a few mentions in the old diary logs of my local club the North Cotswolds Cycling Club.  The Club flourished in the 1930s  – but dissolved with WWII looming and never reformed  . . .  until . . . 18 months ago . . .
When a few local minded riders based around the Morton in the Marsh area decided to start a “new” club – and looking at various naming options and doing a little historical research we stumbled upon the idea of resurrecting an old one !
And with the blessing and support of a surviving relative of one of the oldest members we re-ignited the flame of the NCCC again.
Within 18 months we are now over 180 members strong and flourishing with all age groups and abilities joining us and enjoying regular Sat and Sun rides.
The spirit and camaraderie of cyclists in the Cotswolds rides on !
Check out the old website about the early NCCC club – and its mention of club rides out to the Old New Inn at Bourton with attached pics:
 
The North Cotswold Cycling Club: a revival
The story of the North Cotswold Cycling Club (NCCC) is not a complicated one. It was formed in the early 1930’s by a group of friends and acquaintances living in the Vale of Evesham who discovered a shared interest in cycling. Finding there was no existing club locally for them to join, they formed their own. The Club they started survived, officially, for about fourteen years, until just after the end of the Second World War, though in all but name the arrival of war in the autumn of 1939 put an end to its activities, and signalled the Club’s demise. The NCCC was therefore active for just seven years (1933-1939).
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“A more typical Sunday run was the one held on a cold January afternoon in 1937, to the Club’s customary watering-hole at the Old New Inn, Bourton-on-the-Water.”

Providence Lodge - Burford

“As the Club matured, a pattern of regular dinner and tea stops became established, although not all of these stopping places were necessarily CTC approved. 
The Old New Inn was invariably the place to take tea when at Bourton-on-the-Water”
Some friends and I have just launched Windrush Cycle Tours – based in the Cotswolds
– so please feel free to like and support us and check us out at:
and on Facebook – thank you.

Thank you to Martin Lewis for sending through the above information, I’m only too happy to support this. 

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