Fishing & Boneshakers

A Memory of Priddy.

I was very proud of my first bike - even if it was a relic from the '50's or even earlier. My schoolmates took the mick - they had Sun racers or the new Raleigh Choppers. My oldie had rod brakes, no gears & weighed a ton - or that's what it felt like pushing it up the many Somerset Hills.

But it was a taste of freedom, & as I'd recently taken up fishing I would cycle & push it to Priddy Pools, further laden with my fishing gear. Rod strapped to the frame, reels & tack in the back bag & an old army surplus steel framed rucksack &/or gasmask holder.
I was often accompanied by my elder brother, Colin, who would vanish to drink Wadworth 6X or scrumpy at the Hunter's Lodge Inn. The Pool was - I was told - home to pike, roach & tench. I never hooked anything bigger than a Minnow or Stickleback, & when I was doing some research for this memory found only those & Perch mentioned.

The ride back was more down than up hill, & my heavy old clunker went quite fast with the aid of gravity - too fast for the brakes, & more than once I ended up in a hedge. The heap shrugged it off, & I bounced better in those days than I do now.
Later on I progressed to a BSA with Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub gears & cable brakes - luxury!

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