Hewitt's History Files

OUR pictures of Ashington a few weeks ago proved particularly evocative for John Grant '“ an authority on the history of the Worthing Excelsior Cycling Club, which was founded in the late-19th century as the Worthing Working Men's Cycling Club.

By The Newsroom

Published 25th Sep 2008, 17:13 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 03:12 BST

"That's how the Horsham Road would have looked when our early members hammered out their medal rides, which used a course based on Broadwater Green to Woodhatch and return with dog-legs to Chichester and so on to build up the distance," he says.

"The early days of the club's history are a bit hazy, especially as it has no minute books prior to January 1, 1901, but the Worthing Gazette records a founding meeting on top of the Washington Bostal in September 1889."

John offers for publication a glorious image of the club's founders.

"You'll spot that they are already well established, with a club uniform (grey Norfolk jacket, grey knickerbockers, blue stockings and cap), although the cap badge, perhaps a winged W, beats me."

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette October 1

Ashington Chichester