Cycling In The Books

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...
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pete9012S
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Cycling In The Books

Post by pete9012S »

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Many of the most famous characters in the books had their own bike,Fatty,Julian,Dick etc.
I don't think any manufactures are specifically named in any of the books?

Raleigh could easily have been the choice of many youngsters in the 1940's/50's/60's/70's.

The Raleigh Heritage Timeline

http://www.raleighbikes.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Enid Blyton, British writer of children's books, presenting a Raleigh bicycle to 10-year-old Edward W G Morgan after he won the first prize in a road safety competition in London.
What bike did you have when you were a youth? Anyone have a Raleigh? :D
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Julie2owlsdene
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Yes, my bike was a Raleigh a blue one.

I wonder if the little boy in the photo remembers that day when Enid presented him with the prize. If only we could find these children who met and spoke with Enid, and ask then what they thought of meeting a well known author.

8)
Julian gave an exclamation and nudged George.
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Daisy »

I had a Raleigh too. Mine was green.
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John Pickup
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by John Pickup »

I had a Raleigh bike, it was a green one. The boy across the road had a blue one. We used to fasten a cigarette packet to the back strut with a clothes peg so it made a noise when riding the bike.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I'm amazed people can remember the brand! I just asked my son what brand his bike is. He's had it about three and a half years and rides it several times a week, but he hadn't a clue about the brand. I've borrowed it myself a few times but I didn't know either. I just checked and it's Ammaco.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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number 6
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by number 6 »

Mine was a Raleigh, too. Can't remember the type of cycle it was, though. Briefly had a Raleigh chopper in the 70's as well. Raleigh cycles were handcrafted in Nottingham, but I think they're made elsewhere now. :x
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Nick »

My first bike was a Raleigh Commando, in green. The I had a Raleigh Burner with yellow Skyway Wheels. My final bike as a kid was a Raleigh Equipe.
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Katharine
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Katharine »

I'm assuming my bike was a Raleigh as well, simply because I can't think of any other manufacturers of bicycles.
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pete9012S
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by pete9012S »

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At the beginning of Five Get into Trouble ‘ absent-minded Uncle Quentin (father of George) remembers that ‘when he was a boy and had a bicycle, the brakes would never work':

‘”Oh Uncle Quentin – of course they’re all right,” said Dick. “We’d never dream of going out on our bikes if the brakes and things weren’t in order. The Highway Code is very strict about things like that you know – and so are we!”

Uncle Quentin looked as if he had never even heard of the Highway Code. It was quite likely he hadn’t. He lived in a world of his own, a world of theories and figures and diagrams – and he was eager to get back to it!’.
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Daisy »

Daisy wrote:I had a Raleigh too. Mine was green.
There was another name at the back of my mind ... it may have been my bike or one of my sisters' but it has now come to me - "Hercules" it was. I found it in a list on Wikipedia and it says "(UK defunkt)". I knew it began with "H". Raleigh was by far the most popular though - nice sturdy bikes they were.
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

My childhood bike, which lasted me from age 6 till about age 10, was purple and yellow. Again, I don't know what make it was. As teenagers, my sister and I would sometimes hire bikes for the day and go cycling for miles with friends.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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pete9012S
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by pete9012S »

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A group shot of the Five on their bicycles from Five Go Down To The Sea.
I noticed George is riding a girl's bike,which rather surprised me.

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All the Five (except George and Tim) in their next to last adventure,Five Have A Mystery To solve.
To me,Julian looks very different and much younger in this illustration compared to the first.
Dick's bike looks simply enormous,like a child riding a man's bike!
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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

pete9012S wrote:To me,Julian looks very different and much younger in this illustration compared to the first.
True. Neither Soper nor Maxey made much of an impression on me with their Famous Five illustrations, and I think their inconsistency had a lot to do with it.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Rob Houghton »

As far as I know this was a conscious decision by Soper to start portraying The Five as younger again in the last few books, before she ended up drawing them with beards and wri kles if the books continued too long! I think it was a mistake and would much rather have seen the Five depicted as they are in Mystery Moor and Go Down To The Sea.

As for a bike, I had a red and yellow one, which had belonged to the boy next door, which I used between the ages of about 8 and 11 - then didn't have another bike until I was in my 20s. I also can't remember the make of the childhood bikes I had...although I did ride on my friends Raleigh Chopper a few times (and caused a puncture when I rode down the kerb! I remember my three wheel tricycle, rocking horse and scooter which I had as a very small child were all 'Triang'
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Cycling In The Books

Post by Moonraker »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: Soper [never] made much of an impression on me with [her] Famous Five illustrations
You heretic and blasphemer! :wink:
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