It’s the end of the road for March Vintage and Veteran Cycle Club as it closes after 40 years

Age has finally caught up with a local cycling club as its founder has announced it has run its course and has been forced to close.

The March Veteran and Vintage Cycle Club has been part of the local scene for over 40 years, with members and their collectible machines attending hundreds of events.

But founder and club chair Colin Bedford has finally called it a day blaming a lack of new younger members and the age of existing members for his decision.

Colin, who is a well-known figure in March thanks to his many hobbies including badminton – he is recognised as the oldest coach for the game in the country at the age of 87 – and also his love for vintage and veteran cars and his collection of wartime and other memorabilia.

He launched the club in 1980 as a group for his family and friends, but in 1983 it became open to all and at its height had over 90 members some of them from as far afield as Scotland.

Sadly the numbers have dwindled over the years and those that remain are largely in their 80s now, and Colin said without younger blood joining the club he has no choice but to close the club.

“It has been a sad decision, but we are all 80 plus now and that means we are less able to get out and about doing things,” said Colin, who has had a life-long fascination with cycles and cycling.

In fact, he still owns the bike he had as a child in his collection of over 100 machines and counting.

As a teenager he joined the March Wheelers, a cycling club, that met for weekly rides on Sundays to places like Wicksteed Park in Kettering, Hunstanton, and even completing the 160-mile round trip to Great Yarmouth and back in one day.

Colin’s biggest boost to his cycle collection came in the early 1960s when he bought a garage belonging to Horace Rose – now known as the Penny Farthing garage at the top of St Peter’s Road.

Horace had taken over the garage from his father Henry who founded it in 1896. He was a blacksmith and an agricultural engineer and also specialised in cycles and later motorcycles.

Horace was a champion motorcyclist competing in the TT racing with his partner and fellow March businessman Sam Marshall – who set up Marshalls the former sports shop in Broad Street – in the sidecar.

Colin bought the garage and in turn specialised in cycles and motorbikes and was an agent for all the big names including Norton, BSA, Triumph, and Honda. In fact, at one time he was the most successful Honda agent in the country winning a holiday to Spain for having the top sales nationally for the hugely popular Honda PC50 – a motorised pedal bike.

“I was selling at least eight or nine of them a week at one time,” said Colin.

An investigation of the garage loft not long after taking it over led Colin to a discovery that would be one of the highlights of his collecting career.

“I couldn’t believe it when we opened the loft – it probably hadn’t been opened for decades – because we found over 30 cycles dating to the 1900s,” said Colin. “It would seem old Mr Rose had taken them in part exchange for newer bicycles with the plan to do them up and sell them, but he never did anything with them and there they all were.”

Colin’s collection boasts a Pennyfarthing, which he used to regularly ride on club adventures including the March Downhill Challenge, held annually on the first Sunday after the New Year until Covid struck.

His age means he is now unable to get on board the machine, but it is still one of his favourites.

He also has a Hobby Horse – one of the oldest cycles ever made that dates to 1820, a Bone Shaker, and a Velocipede which dates to 1855 and was made in Fakenham. He rode both of those during his recent 100-mile cycle challenge for charity in February, when he raised £4,000 for Hinchingbrooke Hospital’s sunflower eye clinic

Colin said: “The club has taken part in so many events over the years, we have met royalty, we have led the Tour De France in their warm-up on four occasions, and also done the same for the Tour of Britain. We have taken part in local galas and fairs and we have had a lot of fun. I have enjoyed every minute of it and made a lot of friends along the way.”

The club’s demise may be a sad loss to its members, but numerous local charities have benefitted from the decision with Colin sharing its £3,000 of funds to various good causes.

These include the air ambulance, the RSPCA, the March Museum, and also the annual March Armed Forces Fair – all receiving £250.