An assortment of cycling medals belonging to Nellie Rodgers, the accomplished Yorkshire cyclist and her family, are going under the hammer in Tennants Auctioneers’ Toys, Sporting & Collectables Sale on 9th December.
The collection is estimated at £2,000-3,000 (excluding buyer’s premium) and includes notable medals such as the Yorkshire Road Club Record gold medal inscribed "Miss N Rodgers 359 miles 24 hours Tandem (unpaced) 1910", two Yorkshire Road Club "Life Member" badges, and two files of assorted newspaper cuttings and other paperwork relating to the Rodgers' exploits including the Yorkshire Road Club Rules 1909.
Nellie Rodgers was the daughter of J.T. Rodgers who ran a bicycle shop in Castleford. The Rodgers were closely associated with Ellis Briggs, the oldest custom steel frame builders of bicycles in the UK who were founded in 1936 by Leonard Ellis and Thomas Briggs. Ellis Briggs became famous in the cycling world when in 1952 Ken Russell won the 14-day Daily Express ‘Tour of Britain’ riding for Ellis-Briggs as a sole rider.
The collection celebrates Rodgers’ cycling career, as well as shining a fascinating light on the history of women’s cycling. Indeed, the history of women’s cycling dates to the First World War when in 1916 military conscription and increased industrial activity saw almost half the workforce now made up of women with many cycling to work. Thereon, cycling became a sport increasingly unbound to gender roles. By 1936 there was a visible growth in female cyclists, with more than 10% of the Cyclist’s Touring Club’s 38,000 members being women. However, it was in the late 19th century when the trailblazing Nellie Rodgers and her fellow female members of the Yorkshire Road Club would cycle in 12-hour time trails, and in 1908, after only a few weeks since leaving hospital for an operation, Nellie Rodgers cycled 356 miles in 24 hours – a huge feat of endurance.
A reporter wrote in June 1930 that, “Those rides by Miss Nellie Rodgers, of Leeds, both in 1908, are not to be lightly dismissed” in the history of women’s cycling.
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