Pedal Power

We did get about a bit in those days

Walking everywhere was the norm, but some used bicycles to get to work and for those that could afford one, a bike widened horizons.

Photo:Cycling in Bodmin Grove in 1949. Douglas Millington with Clive Orton.

Cycling in Bodmin Grove in 1949. Douglas Millington with Clive Orton.

Photo from Clive Orton


We all had cycles.  Everybody had bikes here. (Ivy Leigh née Knowles)

I cycled to work all the time because my first job was in Lines toy factory at Morden.  I was there about three years before I moved onto Pascalls sweet factory which was in Mitcham, and I used to cycle every day to work and back. We used to cycle down to Hampton Court and we used to cycle to the zoo - Chessington Zoo.  So we did get about a bit in those days.  (Doreen Porter née Wilkes)

Photo:James Jackson outside his home in Peterborough Road

James Jackson outside his home in Peterborough Road

James Jackson

This page was added by Cheryl Bailey on 10/01/2011.
Comments about this page

Was in the supermarket today and bought some Pascall sweets (here in NZ they are lollies!) One of my Nan's neighbours in Colliers Wood used to work at the sweet factory - she also had pigs somewhere and the neighbours would leave scraps in the dustbin outside her house. If kids knocked at the door with the scraps we would get some mishapes and odd bits of sweets from her. My cousin and i had a good idea - we would take stuff out of the bin and then knock on the door for sweets...worked for quite a while actually til we got a cuff round our ears for being a pair of bleedin' nuisances!!

By Maureen Hurt
On 10/09/2013

I remember my brother collecting me one day when I was about 7. He had tied a cushion to his crossbar and sat me on that.

By Rosemary Turner
On 14/12/2017

My dad's bike was his only transport. Every year he would cycle from Winchcombe Road, Carshalton, to Epsom Race Course for the Derby.  He also would go on is bike picking hazelnuts and bring them home in his saddlebag. His bike was always kept in the passage at our house as we had no garden shed.

By Linda (Meader)
On 27/07/2018
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