An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 39 long journey in the same matter, professional etiquette prevents my talking. In the autumn I spent a well deserved holiday at Cromer and Norwich with my wife and brother Frank, and made the acquaintance of a capital Market Ordinary called "Fountain's " on the site of London Street, where farmers and others had gargantuan dinners of cold meat, apple pie, and custard, at most moderate prices, an entertain– ment now greatly wanted in Norwich. On the 9th October I saw Rochester Castle, and the "Seven Poor Travellers." In the Octobe~ I tried to get up a Working Men's Club at Wandsworth, in conjunction with Cooke the editor of the local paper, and also nearly took over such paper itself. On October 31st-my birthday- my second son, Roger Cubitt Rye, born at 2.45 a.m. On the 5th November I attended the opening of the Guildhall Library, London, probably through J. B. Martin, the backer and well-known Oxford athlete. Athletically speaking this year was noticeable for the gross misbehaviour of a man called Morgan, a very fine walker, one of the " Tradesmen Amateur" division, who had sworn at the spectators for criticizing his style. We called an emergency meeting at the King's Head> Roehampton, on Sunday and issued circulars. Owing to a protest very few respectable people attended at the meeting on 23rd November. January 15th, 1873, saw that extraordinary spectacular play: "Babil and Bijou." On 15th March went to Edenbridge for the first of many times. On being told I was cured of my diarrhoea or dysentery, I tried to go into training again, and employed Miles of Brixton to train me, but finding after six weeks I could not get better than 7.37 for a mile, I did not persevere. In September, my wife and I took the two elder children to be baptized at Cromer, but I was never well there, and we only stayed a week or two, and soon after heard bad news about my wife's sister. At Michaelmas I moved into the " Limes," Fairfield, a much larger and charming old panelled house, which then stood in the middle of a fine old fruit garden and