About Barton Wheelers Cycling Club

The Club was founded in July 1933 after a group of cyclists led by Herbert Dent and Dave Farmer went to a rally at Torksey and found that they had to be members of a club  in  order to enter the sports. They used the name Barton Wheelers for the weekend and held an inaugural meeting on their return to Barton.

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Competitions started in 1934 with riders taking part in time trials, track racing and endurance events. The ride to Meriden and back, a distance of over 200 miles, is the endurance event most frequently found in the club records. Photographs of club runs and events show that the club had a substantial membership of both sexes and it is known that there were 11 couples riding tandems in 1938.

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The club prospered until the late 1950s when private motor transport gradually became more common and the club declined to such an extent that organised activities ceased in 1959. However, Mike Frow, looked after the trophies and bank account and continued to pay the National Cycling Union subscriptions.

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In 1978 some of the previous members and new enthusiasts revived the club and held their first club run on 23rd. April. Time trialling and road racing followed later in the year. The club now has an average of 50 members each year and is involved in practically every aspect of cycling.

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The majority of our club competitions involve time trials and between April and September we have club time trials every Thursday evening at distances from 5 to 25 miles. We have promoted the National Juvenile 10-Mile Championship (1983), the National Junior 10-Mile Championship (1994) and the National Junior 25-Mile Championship (1999).