An ‘army’ on two wheels

AS some of the world’s fastest bikes race through the Yorkshire countryside this summer, as part of the Tour De France’s Grand Depart, there will be some bicycles of a slightly different nature on display in Ripon.

They may look a little unsteady and cumbersome compared to the high tech bikes of today, but back in the day, they played a key role in the community.

The display forms part of a new exhibition, Bobby on a Bike, at Ripon’s Prison and Police Museum, celebrating the role that police bicycles have played in patrolling our streets over the decades.

It features police bicycles and other pedalpowered contraptions, including a somewhat uncomfortable-looking 1950s Raleigh with a Lucas King of the Road bell, leather saddle and original inner tubes. There are also vintage photos, press cuttings and documents.

Vice-president of Ripon Museum Trust, Ralph Lindley, helped to put the exhibition together and being a retired policeman, he also has vivid memories of pedalling around the streets. He served in the Paisley Burgh Police Force, in Scotland, until 1964 when he moved to Yorkshire and joined the then West Riding Constabulary.

So what was life like back then for the bobby on the beat?

“You enjoyed your job because you got to know the people on your beat and they got to know you,” says Ralph. “At Paisley, there was only one beat which had a bicycle and it was known amongst the policemen as The Ponderosa because it was so big.

“If the bicycle was punctured when you were on a night shift, you weren’t allowed to repair the puncture.

“You had to ring road traffic at headquarters to come and collect it and it wouldn’t be repaired until the following day, so you had to walk really fast and work really hard to get around the beat.

The amazing Salford bicycle-powered fire engine

“In those days, your sergeant or inspector would go around and if there was snow on the ground, they’d double check to make sure your feet were going around all the places you should be going around.

“You’d have a meal break of 45 minutes and woe betide you if you were caught inside the police box before the time your meal was due to start.”

Police bicycles came into use in the service towards the end of the 19th Century, which was a major step forward for the ordinary bobby who had previously had to patrol on foot. Only Inspectors and higher ranks had the benefit of four-legged horsepower.

“I think a lot of people will have their eyes opened when they find out how much the police station relied on bicycles,” says Ralph.

THE exhibition includes a receipt that shows in 1896 the East Riding of Yorkshire Constabulary purchased 12 bicycles, fitted with Dunlop tyres, bags, bells and lamps for the sum of £12 16s.

Police Constable Gordon Graham, of North Yorkshire Police in Ripon, in 2006

“The early bikes were very large and what people would describe as a ‘sit up and beg’ bicycle,”

says Ralph. “They were very basic, there were no gears and they had very rudimentary brakes.”

The bicycles were used by bobbies at East Riding until July 1925, when a system of cycle allowance was introduced. This was adopted by most, if not all the police forces in Yorkshire and meant a bobby could get his own bicycle and have an allowance for using it. They continued to be used until the mid-1960s, when other forms of transport, including lightweight motor cycles, came in.

One of the bicycles in the display belonged to PC Cliff Gallantree, who used it throughout his 32 years service, from when he joined the North Riding Constabulary in 1948, right up until he retired in 1980. It is even believed to retain one of its original inner tubes. “They were built to last,” says Ralph.

The exhibition also features a bicycle used by Inspector William Herbertson who was knocked off his bike whilst on duty in 1929. The offender was charged with driving in a dangerous manner and failing to stop after an accident and the display has the press cuttings featuring the story.

Police Sergeant Walker and Police Constable Hainsworth of West Yorkshire Police on their cycles at the Bingley High Rise Locks, on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, in 2002

Another episode which came to light through the archives was when a PC in North Riding tried to bend the rules by using his own bicycle. “It must have been the early part of the 20th Century because the superintendent was still using a pony and trap,” says Ralph.

“The PC had to be at certain places at certain times during his shift and when he got to his point he hid his bicycle behind a hedge. The superintendent had a good eye and knew what was going on, so he had a chat with him, signed his book and said, ‘I’ll give you a lift back to headquarters’.

“The PC said, ‘Oh, it’s all right, Sir, I’d quite prefer to walk’. The Superintendent said: ‘No, no! I insist – get on’, and the PC had to walk ten miles to get his bike back.”

PC Cliff Gallantree, pictured at the time of his retirement, used the same bike throughout his 32 years’ service. He was a familiar sight patrolling his Scarborough beat

Having spent the past 20 years of his service in CID before retiring in 1989, Ralph has seen major changes in policing and it has been a chance to reflect on what life would have been like on some of the first bicycles. “I still smile when I look at some of them,” he says.