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Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine olume 19 No.2 October 2022

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search of excitement and camaraderie. This type of high bicycle remained popular until about 1894, and
it is believed that almost half a million were manufactured in Britain (probably one million worldwide)
between 1872 and 1894 and that about ½% (2500) survive in the UK today. After about 1891, the
Ordinary became an increasing nostalgic ride and while some makers helped to perpetuate its use by
adding pneumatic tyres, they became termed ‘Grand Old Ordinary’ in the cycling press and by clubmen.
However, street urchins, ner-do-wells and low social groups derided the machines and disparagingly
called them ‘Penny Farthings’, a term rejected by the students of cycling history today. Unfortunately, the
term is perpetuated today as being authentic, particularly so within media circles, because to explain
that an unusual design of bicycle to modern eyes is named an Ordinary Bicycle, takes too many column
inches to explain.
Prior to 1878, Ordinaries were just called bicycles. The change in name came about via journalists
writing in the popular bicycling press of the day. With the advent of a new type of bicycle with its lower
saddle and a rear-powered wheel, and to differentiate between the two types of bicycle, commentators
called these ‘Safety Bicycles’ because being seated closer to the ground, they were considered safer to
ride. On the other hand, high-saddled bicycles were re-named ‘Ordinary Bicycles’, because compared with
some of the weird and curious ‘Safety Bicycle’ designs emanating from the 1878 period, they were
ordinary.

The idea of a bicycle with drive to the rear wheel, as in the modern bicycle, featured in the pages of The
English Mechanic in 1869. The machine had a 40-inch front and 24-inch rear wheel powered through a
chain and promised perfect safety in mounting and dismounting, but as Nicholas Clayton says in his
book, Early Bicycles: 'Initial press comments were encouraging, but the public refused to be tempted: it
appeared that improvements in safety were not to be traded for reductions in speed or handling quality’.
Harry Lawson (1852–1925), a motoring entrepreneur but perhaps better known for duplicitously
obtaining money from his shareholders and being found guilty of Ainancial fraud in 1904, had an earlier
history that demonstrated inspired thinking. In 1878 he designed what he named a ‘Bicyclette’, which
was manufactured by Daniel Rudge & Co., and was the Airst bicycle to adopt a chain to drive the rear
wheel. However, only a few appear to have been manufactured and then quickly withdrawn from the
market, probably because the steering geometry was not precise enough. In 1881 Ellis & Co. built their
‘Facile,’ a lever-driven Safety Bicycle which was continually updated and continued in production until
1888, when the similarly-sized wheeled machine, with chain drive designs of the J. K. Starley ‘Rover’ type
was demonstrated as being easier to ride. Various Safety Bicycles became increasingly popular,
eventually ousting the Ordinary by 1894, when manufacturers stopped offering them.The Hillman
Herbert and Cooper Ordinary belonging to the Club, and often used for photographs is not a Penny
Farthing, but as a descriptive term, my belief is that it is reasonable to refer to it as a High Bicycle. In
discussion with our assistant secretary, Mr Watty, we are of a mind that modern reproductions of
Ordinaries can, with some justiAication, be termed Penny Farthings.
Kind regards ….Dr Slammer(Peter W.Card)