Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

A.A.A. JUBILEE SOUVENIR desire for a first in a "highest possible value prize" handicap or a string of little " pots " at some wayside holiday meeting. May one suggest that the centenary of the A.A.A. will be celebrated at the start of a season devoted to inter-school, inter-club, inter-county and international com– petition, with such other fixtures as may be necessary to determine who are the local and national individual champions in particular contests ? If this prophecy should come true, then shall we indeed have reached the pinnacle of athletics in the South. OLD STAMFORD BRIDGE By E. H. PELLING (Holder of 2 50 Yards Record) MY first recollection of Stamford Bridge dates back to 1883, when, after leaving school at Southampton at the age of seventeen, I came to London to study for the Civil Service. I went to one of the L.A.C. spring meetings, and remember seeing J.M. Cowie among the competitors, and wondered whether I should ever compete with such renowned athletes. I did not, however, do much running until 1887, when I joined the L.A.C. My first attempt at record was in that year, when I had a shot at J. Shear– man's record of 20-} sec. for 200 yards. I succeeded in doing even time, and at a later L.A.C. meeting did 19-g- sec. in my heat, and 19¾ sec. in the final of a 200 yards handicap. The A.A.A. only passed the former time, giving as a reason that between the heats and the .final a breeze had sprung up in my favour. I think it could only have been a very small one, as I remember it appeared to be blowing against me at the finish. The old straight running alongside the railway was on the site now occupied by the Chelsea F .C. grand stand, and was used for all races up to 25oyards. It was on that straight that I did 24-g- sec. in 1888, in a 250 yards level race with W. Lyle-Smith (a previous holder of the record) and W. Lock, ofEton. The latter, a very fine runner at any distance from 1oo to 880 yards, afterwards became a professional, and ran successfully as W. Cross, of Edinburgh. In his anxiety to get off well, he beat the pistol six times, but it was ofno avail, as C. L. Lockton was not a starter who could be caught napping. This straight was actually 300 yards long, and on one occasion I ran a 300 yards on it, but the .finish was a mixture of ashes and gravel where the spectators usually stood, and the tape was about 3 yards from the entrance to a small refreshment bar. This necessitated the presence of a sturdy attendant to catch each man at the finish in order to prevent a mix-up with the bottles and glasses!