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the greatest. the times and life of beryl burton. william fotheringham youcaxton press hardback. 286pp illus. £20

the greatest - will fotheringham

in 2011, a chap by the name of david levine, concerned that female drummers were distinctly underserved by the percussion industry, launched an annual contest under the heading 'hit like a girl'. leaving aside my perennial contention that drums ought to be played, not hit, this seems a perceived case of negative reinforcement. the phrase 'hit like a girl' would more usually be used as an admonishment aimed at particularly weak males. it certainly has few positive connotations.

yet, in the realm of the drumset, it has proved something of an unqualified success, this year's contest having been successfully completed in spring of this year. it has proved something that should have been recognised all along; that girls can play drums every bit as well as blokes. and in many cases, a darned sight better.

cycling has yet to have it's 'ride like a girl' moment, though there's little argument against the notion that women's cycling has gained a higher profile in recent years. however, we're still some way short of there being simply 'cycling', an activity practised by both genders on equal footing. and if ever you were in doubt that there are female cyclists capable of leaving their male counterparts trailing in their wake, you'd best read will fotheringham's superb appreciation of the times and life of beryl burton.

in fact, the evidence is available on the inside flap of the dustjacket.

"17 September 1967, approx 5.20pm: Beryl Burton overtakes Mike Mcnamara to clinch victory in the 12 hour race at Otley, Yorkshire. [...] Unsure of what to do, or say, she offers him a liquorice allsort from her pocket."

viewed in our modern-day, allegedly enlightened times, this might seem something of an innocuous point of record, but in 1967 it was a 'big deal'. mcnamara was regarded as the chris boardman or graeme obree of his day; being overtaken by a mere woman in such a long-distance event would scarcely have been viewed as an ego boost.

that beryl burton could hit every bit as hard as a man, can be seen by her seven page palmares published towards the back of mr fotheringham's latest publication. it displays an enviable consistency throughout the thirty years of her competitive life, including a whole panoply of national championships, best-all-rounder victories, top road race placings and time-trial records, many of which have stood for decades. yet, unlike today's support system offered by cycling clubs and british cycling, burton achieved pretty much all the above through her own efforts and the unquestioning support of husband charlie.

born in 1937, and brought up 'sternly' as beryl charnock, she was, by her own admission, a somewhat stubborn, competitive child."Indeed, one of Beryl Charnock's teachers described her to her face as 'a stubborn little mule'. Fotheringham's narrative lays the 'blame' for her future single-mindedness on having failed the infamous eleven-plus exam, an assessment that all british schoolchildren were required to undertake in order to provide the eduation authorities with a ranking system of sorts. those who passed were elegible to attend grammar school, while those who failed completed their education through the state system.

"Beryl Charnock had no fear going into the exam: she had worked hard and was well prepared. But her experience on the day was one familiar to many students: 'I completely froze'." her failure led to a lengthy period of illness, going down with rheumatic fever and subsequently sydenham's chorea. she "was unable to speak, and was paralysed down one side." hardly the ideal apprenticeship for a future record holder.

rheumatic fever is notorious for causing heart damage in about half of all cases, as a result of which doctors advised beryl not to cycle "...but if she did get on a bike, that she should walk up the hills."

charles burton met his future wife in the mid 1950s, while working at montague burton (no relation). he was already a cyclist and, not long after their meeting, she gave up swimming and became a cyclist too. she claimed to have preferred swimming, having wanted to become a top swimmer, however, charles was afraid of water, obscuring the possibility of their becoming buddies in the water. "I became a bike rider because of Charlie." he was seven years older than beryl, an age gap that the author asserts would have made him seem more like a father figure. however, any notions of grandeur that charlie might have held regarding his own cycling career were consigned to his saddlebag, as he altruistically placed himself in the service of the career of his new wife.

it's a role he seems to have accepted gracefully. when he and beryl attended a cycling club dinner in essex at which beryl was principal guest, the organisers realised that the speakers' table had been laid two places short. "It doesn't matter', Charlie replied. 'I will have a kip in the van outside, as we are driving home tonight.'

however, there was still the need to earn a living. "Time trialling remained a strictly amateur sport, a status which the Road Time Trials Council guarded fiercely..." most of burton's income came from working at nim (norman) carline's rhubarb farm. not exactly living the dream, but the physical labour entailed by such an occupation undoubtedly added to burton's physical strength, surely put to good use during the sort of twelve-hour rides that included offering sweets to the men she passed on the road.

will fotheringham has written a marvellous testament to one of britain's finest ever cyclists, male or female. burton's own autobiography was a very dry, dispassionate affair, citing mostly details of travel to and from each event, accompanied by finishing times and placings, but precious little else. 'the greatest' presents a far more enjoyable and readable book, putting flesh on the bones, and offering a superb testament to one of the sport's true greats. and even though many within the sport will have already gained a knowledge and appreciation of burton's exploits, will fotheringham has produced a compelling account of her extraordinary life and accomplishments.

your cycling bookshelf may already contain tomes on the greats of the sport: coppi, bartali, anquetil, hinault et al, but i can assure you, it will never become a complete collection until it features 'the greatest'.

in ending, i hope might be allowed a typographical observation that has nothing to do with either beryl burton or author will fotheringham. ligatures are craftily fashioned adjuncts to letters that allow them better to merge with those adjacent. as an example, in many italics, the stroke on the letter 'f' avoids collision with the dot above the letter 'i' by means of a noticeable gap. there is, therefore, a ligature available to join the two together for more pleasing text. unfortunately, the typesetter of the greatest has failed to implement this, meaning that the italicised footnotes annoyed the living daylights out of me.
just saying.

p>copies of 'the greatest' are available now, from either islay bikes, or prendas ciclismo

saturday 31 august 2019

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................