1956 I Learn to Ride a Bike ......................

"Nineteen fifty six!" I hear some exclaim, "but that makes him seventeen."

Indeed it does, or did. I'm a slow learner or maybe that should be late developer.
The whys of the late bike-riding are simple enough. Nobody ever bought me one, none of my small circle of childhood friends owned one and, at the time, all our destinations seemed within walking distance.

So childhood and school had passed without my mastering the bicycling knack. The one try I'd made in about my eleventh year had bruised me and my ego and removed some quantites of skin, so I'd not persevered.

When my mother and Reg elected to move to Southend-on-Sea I'd found a bicycle in the garage. Some spark had lit in my rather timid breast and I decided this was an ideal oportunity to try and teach myself.

On a succession of early mornings I ventured forth with aforesaid machine on the quiet of Branksome Road and proceeded to wobble my way into this new freedom. I did manage at least one minor collision with a parked car and no doubt many anxious moments as my skill slowly developed.

Suddenly I could travel faster than I'd ever run and further than I'd ever walked. The sense of new-found freedom must have been wonderful. Far greater because of my advanced years - I suspect a wonderful boost to a very fragile ego.

The wonderful thrill when first I descended the seemingly suicidally steep hill down to the sea- front at the Kursall. The brakes blocks must have been very hot and my heart rate much elevated! But, suddenly, gloriously, triumphantly ......... I COULD RIDE A BIKE!!!!!!!!

I crammed many, many miles into the next couple of years as I sought to make up for lost time. My first courtship , my first jobs were courtesy of the bike I'd bought .... a bright blue Phillips "Kingfisher", second hand of course. ...... the hours I lavished on that trusty steed!

Later, I nearly killed myself on it in London but that was me and a trolleybus, not really the bike.

At left the only known picture of biker Cliff - at RAF Kirkham 1957