About

UPDATED February 2019

One photo. That’s all we had to go on. One photo plucked from a plethora of family photos and mementoes found in a battered old suitcase.

It’s Great Uncle Harry Darby resplendant in his cycling garb.

Look hard enough and you can just make out the name of a club. The badge stitched into the jersey and the pin badge on the jacket both say Balham Cycling Club.

In July 2016 I thought it would be interesting to do some digging on the club. What was it, when did it run and who was in it; what was the cycling scene like in South London, what was Balham like in this period. Actually, what period was this?!

The blog was launched to help me find out. A year later I thought it would be a good idea to relaunch the club on its 120th anniversary.

If 2016 was the year of thumbing through vintage cycling annuals and resurrecting the Balham CC story, then 2017 was the year a niche cycling blog morphed into a cycling club.

I write this latest version of the ‘About ‘ section in February 2019. We currently have over 100 members and a waiting list of people who would like to join us for a ride.

In February 2019 we were shortlisted for Organisation of the Year at the Wandsworth Active Awards.

We continue to unearth Balham CC stories and memorabilia that help us piece together the story of the club, the neighbourhood and the story of cycling in London from the 1870s to present day.

Happy reading

Paul

Blog Editor and Chair of Balham CC

Official Balham CC Website