An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

AUTOBIOGRAPHY when I saw him later on at a visit to the Bodleian. We looked on with H. T. G. and the Rev. Dr. C.. who I summed up in my diary as '' a vulgar, pompous, pushing humbug.'' I might have written more warmly had I known all I afterwards did. I returned 9th September, my wife having complained that I never took her out to theatres, &c. We vvent in one day to: rst, the Monument; 2nd, the Tower of London ; 3rd, lunch at Birch's ; 4th, St. Paul's ; 5th, National Gallery, 6th, Westminster Abbey ; 7th, Aquarium; 8th, dinner at Blanchard's ; 9th, "Pinafore" ; and so home to Croydon, a fair record day's amusement. During 1879 I visited the Bodleian, and I fancy spent Christmas at home. The winter was a hard one, and we had plenty of skating in the old gravel pits. By 1880 my weight had nm up to 13 st. s½ lbs. In January the T. H. & H. had a ~kating meeting at the '' Welsh Harp," which was won by C. E. Leeds, of Oxford (an old "yellow-belly"), who beat C. H. Mason, our crack runner, and others. In the spring I went to Norwich for the Election, and wrote several letters to the papers on it. (See " Rubbish and Nonsense," p. 8r). During April I learned to ride the high bicycle; at the second try I rode nearly a mile, and at the third mounted and rode by myself. In the same n1onth I attended an Athletic Meeting of London and Oxford men at the " Randolph,'' Oxford, having a view to the formation of an Amateur Athletic Association, and was elected on the Committee. I went in a great deal for cycling a11 through the year and bought a Singer's ''Extraordinary" bicycle, which worked with a long bent treadle, the saddle raking back, the idea being to shift the centre of gravity and remove the possibility of being flung over the handles, for the machine could be ridden over a brick but with no other result than a jolt. It was a beautiful made machine-the first piece of real work I had ever seen. My son Hubert Gould Rye was born on 6th May, 1880, and is now serving in the army with two of his brothers. During the spring and summer, my eldest son ran very well in several boy's races, winning at Norwich, Edmonton and S. Norwood.