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""The Clarion Cyclist is a Socialist utilising his cycle for the combined purposes of pleasure and propaganda."
"So wrote Tom Groom, who, with six other Labour Church members, formed the first Clarion Cycling Club in Birmingham over a century ago, and lived long enough to celebrate the 50-Year Jubilee of The National Clarion.
"In the cycle-crazy 1890s Tom and his comrades linked the coming of the Safety Bicycle with the founding of the popular Socialist weekly The Clarion, starting a movement which swept the country in the years before the First World War.
"Cycling offered ordinary men and women an escape from the world of long working hours and poor living conditions. The 'magic wheel' also gave them an enjoyable way of spreading the message that Socialism could change that world.
"As well as the week-end rides, holiday tours,concerts and dances, Clarionettes supported the horse-drawn caravans which carried Socialist ideas and organisation all over Britain. There were Clarion Cyclists' Clubhouses (holiday-homes in the country), Clarion Choirs and Dramatic Societies, Handicraft and Photographic Guilds, Field and Rambling Clubs - all with a Socialist purpose, and together providing a whole way of life.
"Between the wars many members took up cycle-racing. Clarion teams travelled abroad to compete in Workers' Olympiads under the slogan 'Peace Through Sport'.
"The paper, the Vans, and most of the rest have long since faded away - but the National Clarion Cycling Club has survived to celebrate its centenary.
"Fellowship is Life is the story of a Cycling Club unlike any other, told by writer who believes with Ivan Illich that "Socialism will only come riding on a bicycle"."
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