Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week pre-dates social distancing by some 95 years - those cyclists are far too close together for comfort. My first submission also breaks the current rules for social distancing: which is inevitable when you are dealing with a tandem. The photograph features my mother and father: Albert and Gladys Burnett, and it must have been taken in the early 1960s. Albert and Gladys had been seasoned tandem riders in the 1930s, but the machine they are riding in this photograph belonged to my brother Roger. The picture was taken in the back garden of their house in Northowram.
My second submission - this is a tandem of a Sepia Saturday post - goes from two wheels to three: and features my brother Roger on a tricycle. It must have been taken fifteen or so years before the first one: that is clearly the drive at Albert and Gladys's house in Bradford in the photograph.
Whilst the theme image features three people on six wheels, my two submissions, in total, feature three people on five wheels, which probably means I win a prize!
To see more Sepia Saturday posts go to the Sepia Saturday Blog and follow the links.
The tandem in the first picture is a short wheel base Claude Butler which never really took off. It was designed for racing rather than touring.
ReplyDeleteHowever, ten years later, a restored Sun tandem dating from the 1930's carried my wife Norma, our two year old daughter Diana and me on a seven day journey from Yorkshire to Kent with full camping gear. With all that weight aboard, on a down-hill stretch we could overtake trucks and buses!
Very sturdy machines. There's a sense of glee in those smiles too.
ReplyDeleteOh these are great photos of family members on wheels. And thanks Roger, for the comment about you own touring on a tandem bike. Whow!
ReplyDeleteA fun post. I rode a tandem bike only once and didn't like it because I wasn't 'in charge'. Perhaps if I'd been in front and in control I would have felt better about it. Your brother's remark about overtaking trucks and buses going downhill on a tandem bike with three people and camping gear sounds a bit scary!!!
ReplyDeleteA fun approach to the Sepia Saturday prompt.
ReplyDeleteI always thought it would be fun to ride a tandem but have never had the chance. I'm probably better suited to the big tricycle.
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