Remembering Roamer Cycling Club: an Oral History with Andrew West
About this record
Andrew West was born on 29th January 1943 and grew up in East London. He moved to East Ham as a child. He discusses his relationship with cycling and the freedom it gave him as a teenager to explore the city and escape into the countryside. He discusses his experience being a member of Roamer C.C in the 1960’s.
Andrew speaks about how he joined local club Roamer C.C which was based in what would later become the borough of Newham. Cycling Clubs were commonplace and memberships high. Andrew discusses the large number of local clubs in the area at that time and the mix of age groups they catered for.
The club enabled him to meet other cyclists of different generations and helped develop his interests in a range of cycling disciplines from commuting, touring and racing. This local cycling club organised multiple weekly rides or ‘club runs’ which set out from East Ham Town Hall. The cycling club also became key to social life with a range of activities including club balls and weekly social meetings at the club room.
As Andrew’s experience grew his cycling diversified with his new group of friends in Roamer C.C. Andrew speaks of how long days in the saddle would become commonplace. The ability to escape the city remained appealing and Andrew discusses how long rides to seaside towns and back were commonplace.
Joining Roamer C.C around the same time as a group of other teenagers from a local school gave the club a youthful feel. It was through these connections that Andrew got his first taste of racing through time trialling. He entered a novice event and this discipline would go on to become an important aspect of Andrew’s cycling.
In the post war period there was a boom in what have become known as Classic Lightweight frames designed for touring and racing. Andrew discusses the large number of frame builders in London and how these independent frame builders and bike shops had their own distinct culture.
Andrew speaks about how a single bike would be used for all of his pursuits in cycling. He speaks fondly of his top of the range Hetchins built in North London, which would be used for touring and racing. Lightweight wheels would be used for racing days. This is different to today when specialist equipment is available for different pursuits.
E.G. Bates was one of the local bike shops and was based on the Barking Road at that time. It was particularly notable as they had strong links with Roamer C.C. E.G Bates was chairman of the club and his hand built frames were prominent in the local racing and club scene.
The ability to travel and see different parts of the country was a central part of cycling club life during this period. There were a number of annual trips within the year which would be well attended by riders from across the country. Andrew discusses the Easter weekend trip to the Isle of White.
These events would be meeting points through the year combine the pleasures of touring and exploring new roads as a group. The events included the Isle of Man Cycling Week which would have closed roads with opportunities to race and watch professional road races.
Andrew reflects on the way things changed for cycling clubs like Roamer C.C with the rise in car use at the end of the 1960’s. Club members driving to events took away some of the community aspect of the sport and eventually led to the club’s demise. Slowly the weekly social activities wound down before the club folded. Despite the large number of these clubs in this period Newham has few active cycling clubs.
Andrew has been a lifelong member of other cycling clubs and reflects on the important part they play in maintaining cycle sport in the UK. This includes large periods of low membership and activity compared to other sports. The changes which occurred around 2012 with Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France and the London 2012 Olympics which saw great cycling success were notable. Andrew views these events as being key in pulling more people into the sport and helping current cycling clubs thrive.
Additional record details
- Contributor: Newham Folk Archive
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