I rode with the Festival in 60 -64 and owned 2 Carpenter frames – a top of the range 23.5”  and a 24″ track frame bought secondhand from a Festival member who was emigrating to Australia ( I cannot remember his name. I sold it to a friend in Kingston who didn’t belong to any club and wanted a bike to get around on. I tried many years ago to contact him again but his parents had moved and a neighbour thought he went to work in Germany.

 

My sister holding my road Carpenter which shows the name just. It was light french blue, White headset,Chrome fork ends, and red, white, blue festival colours on seat tube.

 

 

 

Start, Lingfield Victoria Club. Myself and Paul Burgess of the old Portlians, leaving to start the old Lingfield circuit  Paul was sadly killed in a road accident in his early twenties driving home from work. He was as good as Dave Bonner at one time.

 

 

 

Sprint for 3rd place,. Me finishing 3rd on Carpenter  in the junior divisional road race at Mutton Hill Dormansland  1961/62. Paul Burgess won on his own, second was Malcolm Cross,  5th is Ian Jewel.

 

Paul and I represented the division in the junior Road Race championships in Coventry.  We both finished in the top 10. I got 7th in a mass sprint but the odd thing was Paul was ahead of me at the finish – I always thought 3rd – but they gave him 9th i think we contested it but to no avail, a Conventry rider was given 3rd!

I rode with John and Jim Wheeler and completed in the team pursuit London championships and the National championships. I think in ’63 . I’m pretty sure we finish second to the Old Portlians in the London final and got the bronze medal at the Nationals We were the first team to break 5 mins but only for a very short time because the Old Ports won the gold minutes later and beat our time.
Our team was John Froud, Jim Wheeler, Bob Zannetti, and myself Graham Edwards. John Barclay could confirm this as he drove us up there in his Citroen DS21. We did the 4th fastest time to qualify but were against the Old Ports in the semi finals. That team was Dave Bonner, Paul Burgess, Ian Jewel and ?  I can’t remember who we beat for 3rd place it could have been the Wolverhampton Wheelers?
I mainly rode as a junior and went straight to 2nd cat as a senior but found the distance and class of riders too much, got disheartened and stopped riding, sold the track bike and left the road bike in my parents garden shed. The shed leaked and after 8 years when I got keen I got it out to find water had got down the seat tube which collapsed as I sat on it. It was taken to a cycle builder Mick Coward (Emperor Sports) but every tube connected to B.B. was beyond repair So I had him build me a new EP.
I am talking of many years ago and I don’t even have the bronze medal which somehow along with the other lesser medals got mislaid in house moving
The other riders mentioned did in fact ride in earlier and probably later team pursuits  I joined the Festival in the same year as Tom McCall and knew Chris very well. The picture of the club dinner has me on it. I am the tall guy with glasses at back row under the exit sign
I still ride and do around 2500 miles a year but gave up racing at club level around 20 years ago.

Graham Edwards