A CENTURY ago, a Barnoldswick man’s passion for cycling transformed the lives of many.

Harry ‘Pop’ Hill was a clog-maker, but on Sundays he led hundreds of workers from mills and factories out into the surrounding countryside on their one weekly day of leisure.

Now, ‘Pop’ is the inspiration for a new book tracing the history of Barnoldswick Clarion Cycling Club.

Author Michael Meath joined the club aged just 12 years old. Three years later he left school and became an apprentice painter and decorator. Fortunately, he never forgot his introduction to cycling in the Dales.

Now, more than 60 years later, he has put pen to paper to compile the lengthy history of one of the country’s original ‘Clarion’ clubs.

It was a stone bench on the outskirts of Bracewell that led to his decision. When Harry Hill tragically died following a cycling accident in the Ribble Valley, the bench was sited in his memory.

The author, a lover of the outdoors throughout his life who went on to compete in long distance fell races, and triathlons, returned to his cycling roots 15 years ago. He has named his book: “A Bench, A Bike and a Pipe”.

His initial intention was to compile an exhibition of Barnoldswick Clarion Club’s cycling past. Covid struck, the town’s library closed and, having collected a growing number of historic photographs and articles, he turned his attention to a book.

Packed with intriguing insights into local cycling from the late 1800s, rare pictures and memories of life on two wheels from many who were passionate about their hobby, the book takes readers to the present day with a section of colour photographs highlighting some of the club’s more recent activities.

With 100 pages following some 18 months of research, “A Bench, A Bike and a Pipe” has certainly achieved the author’s aim – to ensure the club’s history did not “just disappear.”

Printed and published by Pioneer Press, Skipton, it is available directly from the author via m.meath@btinternet.com

It is priced at £12 or £14.50 including postage.