RIDE OF BRITAIN

Mirror

RIDE OF BRITAIN

Jan 19 2005

William rode bike for 75 years

By Tom Parry

WILLIAM Wagstaff has finally given up his bicycle - after riding it almost every day for 75 YEARS.

Mr Wagstaff, 95, spent his £14 life savings on the bike on May 14, 1929.

He named it Evans after the F.W. Evans cycle works in Kennington, South East London, where it was made, and went on to wear out three saddles and about 15 sets of tyres.

He biked from his home in Croydon, Surrey, to work in Bermondsey, South London, in the Blitz.

Cornwall and the Isle of Man were among other destinations as he totted up 50,000 miles in a lifetime's pedalling His daughter, Jan Hibbard, 65, said: "Even into his 90s he used it two or three times a week. But a car knocked him off and upset his confidence."

The bike has its original saddlebag and tool-kit and an oil lamp masked with blackout paper from the war.

Mr Wagstaff has given the bike to the Transport Museum in London.

Curator Robert Excell said: "It's remarkably well preserved, partly because they made them out of stronger steel in those days and partly because Mr Wagstaff soaked everything in oil to preserve it. It's a real gem."

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