John White and Others Cycling
Standard 8mm film Colour Mute ? 2:41
Summary: Short home movie of a group of cyclists in the outskirts of London in the late 1950s. From the Ashlee Family Films collection this short features cyclists on a country lane being timed by an older man.
Title number: 19584
LSA ID: LSA/25969
Description: Film starts off with a sign saying "Hill 1 in 6". The setting is a country lane. A cyclists struggles up hill on a racer bike, a car follows behind him. When he reaches the top there is a group of five men standing around next to a bicycle. Cyclist straps his foot onto the pedal of a bike. We see a stopwatch in a wooden case. Man in red shirt on bicycle is being held onto by another man before being released to freewheel down a hill. We see more cyclists going down the hill. Then another cyclist struggles up the hill. We see a stopwatch over a man's shoulder as he appears to have taken down the times. There is a second sign, a red triangle with "1:6" (gradient). Another cyclist gets pushed down hill on a red Carlton racing bike. Young boy in overalls get pushed off and cycles down the hill. The same boy swings his legs, moves past and something falls off his bicycle. Then he falls off his bike whilst two cars drive past. Man on red Carlton bike jiggles the handlebars from left to right (for unknown reason) whilst moving down the hill without pedalling.
Credits: Victor A Ashlee; filmmaker
Further information: Mr Victor Ashlee was a local resident and keen filmmaker. He lived at Eversley Avenue, Barnehurst and later at Caithness Gardens, Sidcup. His four children named Christine, Peter, Diane and Andrew were born between 1957 and 1969 and feature in many of the films in this collection.
Keywords: Cycling; road signs; country lanes; racing bikes; bicycle
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