Miles of smiles on our trusty Raleighs
I WAS sorry to read that bike firm Raleigh might be taken over by a Dutch company. My husband bought his Raleigh Lenton sports bike in January 1952 and kept a copy of the original guarantee. He rode his faithful Raleigh most days up to the day he died, four years ago. Apart from the usual maintenance, it has cost very little to keep it roadworthy. He bought it for about £17 (almost two weeks’ wages) from a shop in Weybridge, Surrey. He used it to cycle to and from his job at the Ambulance Service because he worked early, late and night shifts — sometimes when there was no public transport available. My husband was on a youth hostel holiday in Lynton and Lynmouth in Devon at the time of the 1952 floods and pushed his cycle through the rising floodwater — both he and his bike survived. In 1954, I bought a Raleigh Lenton ladies’ bike and together we enjoyed youth hostel holidays, cycling all over the country. In later years we used child seats to take our children on our outings. The bikes also travelled on the back of our campervan, and later we bought a tandem — travelling the length and breadth of the country. When my husband retired, he worked as a volunteer on maintenance at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge and helped set up the cycle display there. His bicycle is still in rideable condition and is a constant reminder of all the happy times our bikes gave us at very little cost. It is now ‘retired’, but maybe one of our grandsons will use it in the future! Thank you, Raleigh.
JANET FLUDDER, Byfleet, Surrey.