A photo of a procession (“St James 1887” says the banner, though of course that’s no indication as to the date of the event) but it is more interesting in another way. Note the bicycles and the sign you can’t read on the brick building, which indicated bicycle parking. Readers wrote in and said that this was West Street, Congleton, taken on the steps of what is now Timothy A Brown (someone suggested the Lion and Swan, too). The modern age of cycling dates closely from about then, with the coming into availability of the “Roadster” design at affordable prices, such as the two examples seen on the left. Use of such cycles became popular very quickly and became a means by which young men and women of courting age could meet much more easily. In particular, cycling was a great improvement in the liberation of respectable young women to be away from the constraints of home for a few hours. Maskery’s Café (on Swan Bank) spotted the commercial potential and provided some off-street accommodation for parking cycles to attract custom. While to women the bike offered freedom, to men (as often) it was a threat. Long dresses and bikes did not mix and the idea of a bicycle suit (basically bloomers) disturbed some men. “In particular, they saw these bicycle costumes as a physical representation of women stealing men’s characteristics, thereby blurring the lines between femininity and masculinity and what is socially acceptable for each group,” says Wikipedia. People also thought cycling would be injurious to health, not least via “bicycle face”, an expression of constant weariness and pale skin; middle-aged men could also be affected. Doctors believed that the bicycle saddle taught masturbation to women and girls, who of course never did any such thing before, and Wikipedia quotes a doctor who had spent entirely too long thinking about this. And obviously, if riding a bike is sexually arousing, the last thing parents want their daughter doing is riding off to meet a man! So much social history in one photo!