MEMORIES has received interesting information regarding the Westgate Wheelers Cycling Club which operated in Barnsley from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Nora Eastwood, of Monk Bretton, had earlier told us that her grandfather Albert Edward Froggett, who was born in North Pavement, Barnsley in 1905, was a member of the club."

Following an appeal in Memories , we received a letter from Julia Carnevale who said her father Joe was also a member.

It was formed and run by keen cyclist Walt Berry."The cyclists met in the cellar kitchen of a house near the Black Boy pub in School Street. One member worked at the Ceag and made the club badges.

Another member was Edwin Hessey who later worked at Barnsley Brewery. Cycling trips were to Cleethorpes, Tadcaster, Edwinstowe, and other interesting places.

Sometimes as many as 20 riders would set out in pairs. The lead and last rider had whistles and they used signals to indicate various needs eg: toilet stops, punctures, traffic hazards and picnic spots etc. Joe had a Rudge Whitworth bike. The cream of cycles used at the time were by Claude Butler. Girls were also welcomed as members.

"It isn't until you get a bit older that you realise the sacrifice Walt Berry gave to the club as after meetings he would then go off to the pit for the night shift."

Joe is now 91 years of age, but he still remembers his days with Westgate Wheelers with affection. We also heard from Sylvia Jenkinson (nee Andrews) whose family lived in School Street. Her older sister and brother, Walter and Alice, were members of Westgate Wheelers. She said

Walt Berry had a son and daughter, Johnny and Marion. "The members would go off for days, weekends and even full weeks. I remember getting up early to wave them off and was allowed to stay up late to welcome them back home."

Alice married Harry Atherton another club member. Mrs Jenkinson has loaned a photograph of her sister and two of her cycling friends. They are left to right: Marion Berry, Mary (surname not known) and Alice Andrews.

Ralph Mallinson who lives in London told us he lived at No 23 North Pavement and, although a young boy at the time, remembered Johnny Berry and his friend Tom Clarke, both members of Westgate Wheelers. They enlisted in the Irish Guards in the late 1930s.Tom was killed in Norway during the Second World War and Johnny taken prisoner of war.

Billy Froggett served in the Coldstream Guards and Mr Mallinson in the Grenadier Guards. "Sadly, the Westgate Wheelers did not survive the war," he said. Mrs Eastwood said she was "absolutely delighted" at the response to the Westgate Wheelers' appeal. "I would like to thank everyone who contacted the Chronicle."