An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

AUTOBIOGRAPHY 53 collection of works relating to athletics and cycling, I recently gave to the Library of the Guildhall at Loudon after they had been refused by the British Museum, a refusal I could not understand, for they were certainly the largest collection as to English Athletics in existence. On the 27th May. I bad left the last of the orth Erpingham appet dix with the printer. Later I bought a "sociable" on which my wife came sometimes as much as ~o miles, and later on a 1 ' Fleet, ',. a much bandier n\achine 011 which on 29th of May I won the open Norwich Tricycle race on Whit Mondav, returning by the mail train and riding back to Sellrnrst from Liverpool Street, arriving very wet at about 6.30 a.m. On the 24th J ne, I won the South Norwood Tricycle race, beating A ixon (the celebrated John of Gaunt to Land's End rider), Reay, Winthrop and others. The end of tbe year was noticeable by my inspecting Carrow Abbey with the view of writing a history of it, which I afterwards published, and b y my elde ·t son winning au open Balliol Scholar ·hip at Oxford. On the 10th July, 1882,we had a very narrowescape from fire at Selburst. I may mention that the only thing my wife was nervous about was fire, and sbe was always raising fat e alarms. So when she woke me this time, I merely turned over and told her to wake me when she had found out that it was one of her usual fancies. Two minutes later, I was thoroughly aroused bv piercing shrieks, and slipping out of bed to the servant': bedroom found it '' well alight." The girl having gone to sleep · with a lighted candle on her knees while trimming her Sunday hat. With great presence of mind I rushed downstairs for the garden hose (how often it got between my legs I cannot ·ay, bnt I was afterwards black and blue from my falls) and hastily attaching it to the bathroom tap~ soon bad the fire "well in baud." It was not till the girl who was cowering in the corner began to skip about and yell, that I realised I had inadvertently fixed the pipe on to the boiling water tap. However, hot water puts out fire just as wt:11 as cold, so no harm wa done. My brother and his wife who were in the next room, slept right through the whole thing! During the year I went several rides with Bateman and Winthrop, e.g. to the Cbertsey Bridge Hotel, and on the 7th