The theme for October is "From Here to There", and the prompt photograph shows a group of lady cyclists out for a ride. My first photograph shows my Aunty Pat and her brother Ken 'riding tandem' on their tricycle in about 1925. They must have been aged around 4 and 2 respectively. Young Ken had a lovely head of hair back then! Both Pat and Ken have featured in my blog a number of times, in particular here and here, but in this photograph they are simply young and innocent children having fun together on their tricycle.
That tricycle was to last through four more children in the Morrison family. Below is young Derek taking his turn, followed a few years later by Graeme and Peter, on this occasion riding it in the snow. I don't have a photo of my mother riding it, but I'm sure she would have also had her turn.
Uncle Peter above was exactly fifteen years older than me, as I was born on his fifteenth birthday. Here I am getting a dink from my Dad on the handlebars of his bike in Cambridge England in 1954, where bikes were and still are a very popular mode of transport. No child seats or safety helmets back then, but somehow most of us survived.
Back in Christchurch NZ as a 3 year old I regularly rode my smart 3 wheeler between home and my grandparents' house, Uncle Peter was still living there with his parents, but the old family tricycle beloved by him and his siblings had probably been given away by this stage.
I'll finish with a photograph of a real tandem bike. I've ridden tandem a couple of times and I can't say I enjoyed the feeling of not being in control, but here is Sergeant Pilot Bob Featherston, looking relaxed and carefree as he rides on the front of a tandem bike with a similarly uniformed friend in Bournemouth, early in World War 2. Bob had enlisted with the RAAF and was serving with the RAF Bomber Command. It cannot have been very long after this ride that the Lancaster of which he was in charge was shot down during a raid on Berlin. Bob was promoted to Flight Lieutenant whilst imprisoned in Stalag V111B, in Lamsdorf, Poland, where he was interned under harsh conditions for over two years, from January 1943 until the end of the War. I'm glad he was able to have some fun beforehand.
The photograph comes from my late father-in-law Bob Featherston's collection of negatives. Another friend must have taken the shot for him.
For more blogs on this month's theme, just hitch a ride, any way you can, across to Sepia Saturday #344.
7 comments:
I don't think I would enjoy riding a tandem bike either. Your photos are precious!
Wonderful pictures featuring a much-used and obviously treasured tricycle. The one you rode was really something. I've never seen one quite like it. A kind of bridge between a regular tricycle and a full-sized adult tri-wheeler. And I agree with both you and Anna about the tandem bike. I've ridden one before - on the rear seat - and it felt rather unnerving as I'm one who likes to be in control of a situation. :)
A lovely set of family memories and I do like the photograph of you on the well loved trike.
Thanks for an inspiring post. I might have to borrow this theme some time this month!
Great collection of themed photos!i kind of like the idea of sight seeing on a tandem, but haven't tried it. I loved biking across campus at U Fla. in the 80s. There was a way you could zoom around inbike traffic by just watching the front wheels to see where they were headed. Never was in an accident that way.
Those photos are amazing - especially the kids. I have a picture of a toddler on their trike, but unfortunately don't know for sure who it is. Great post.
Wonderful series of photos. I had a three wheeler like the first one but pined so much for one like yours - they were the ultimate in three wheelers to me.
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