CTC Gazette, 1949

If I start off by saying that CTC stands for Cyclists’ Touring Club, and DA for District Association, I hope that’ll be helpful with what follows. That’s because one winter’s evening recently we hosted the CTC – actually its South Manchester DA. In front of a roaring fire we were delighted to show off some of our cycling-publication gems, such as our bound set of Scottish Cyclist (1892–3). We also showed off our CTC Gazette, which we have from 1890. This was especially significant because South Manchester had just donated to us the 1949 volume of the Gazette to add to our set. But a bit more on that in a minute.

The CTC was established in 1878 and was recently rebranded as Cycling UK. Right from the start, the CTC offered a magazine for its members. In the very early days this was the Monthly Circular, renamed the Gazette in about 1881. It became Cycle Touring and Campaigning in, I think, the 1980s, until (again, I think) 2009 when it became Cycle, and by then it was every other month. The constant throughout is that the magazine has campaigned for cyclists’ rights. It has always been free to CTC members and, as far as I’m aware, never available in newsagents.

So, the 1949 volume. It’s entirely in black and white, although the cover also uses blue. It’s A5-ish, and the paper is thin so we need to be careful handling it. BSA advertise their cycles on every front cover, in the context of a dreamy picture of cyclists on tour. Within there are earnest editorials, letters to the editor, write-ups of cycle tours (mostly in the UK but occasionally into Europe), DA news, a regular ‘Notes of a Nomad’ column, show reports, and lots of CTC business. There are also frequent scatterings of artwork by Frank Patterson, whose work we greatly appreciate (see The Frank Patterson Blog - Part One — The Richard Roberts Archive and the three subsequent blogs on Patterson).

The January edition starts on a high, with its editorial noting that the CTC had a record number of members, 14,000 having joined in the last year alone (what Cycling UK would do for that kind of membership hike..!). The December editorial rails against the minister of transport and his forlorn machinations to make rear reflectors compulsory.

The ads, all black and white, are of course wonderful: Renold chains, the BSA Streamlight, Brooks saddles, Halfords (when it was just a bicycle-repair chain of shops), Lucas, BSA 3-speed hubs, Dunlop tyres, and long-gone bicycle manufacturers such as Phillips and Royal Enfield. Small ads cover everything a cycle-tourist could dream of.

Our thanks to South Manchester CTC for the donation, gratefully received.