11. Penny Farthing

This morning I noticed that someone had written a message, in chalk, on the path which runs along the waterfront in Sandgate. These messages often appear in different locations close to the pier and are always uplifting, containing thoughtful words. The person who writes them must get up very early, because they’re there for all of us to see when we start our own walks at around 6 a.m.

The message this morning was “everyone is equal”. It was beautifully written and is basically, I suppose, how the people who are here in the early morning feel about each other. We seem to engage with each other as equals and as friends, caring about each other and no longer being concerned about status, gender, race, religion or politics.

To illustrate this, one of the good things about meeting people early in the day is that the usual greeting, “How are you?”, often elicits a longer response than the usual few words, “Not too bad, thank you”. The greetings exchanged can often develop into a discussion about the weather, the environment, other people, or recent events or occasions. Early in the morning, in this kind of environment, we tend to be ready to listen and to talk. Is it possible that greater tolerance and understanding not only arrive with old age but also develop through early morning walking, when we feel more relaxed and refreshed?

This morning I was talking with my friend Molly about our fellow walker, Viv, who is a care worker and who contracted Covid several weeks ago.  Molly told me that he had seen Viv yesterday and that he had still not been well enough to resume his morning walks. To my surprise, however, I met Viv later in the morning, just as I was about to finish my own walk. He was smiling and obviously happy to be back. In his own words, he had suffered “an injury on the battlefield” and I think that that is not a bad characterisation of what aged care work has been like during the Covid years.

It turns out that Viv wasn’t my only surprise meeting. I also ran into nothing less than a “Penny Farthing”. The man who was riding it had just got off it when I crossed paths with him and he was happy to talk with me for a while. He told me that he usually rides on Sundays and that he belongs to a group of riders who share the same interest. I learned later that there is actually a Queensland “Penny Farthing and Historical Cycle Club”, which, until a few years ago, held an annual event right here in Sandgate, called “Pennies by the Sea”.

I think most Sandgate residents would already be familiar with the “Pennies by the Sea” event, which included bike races as well as slower rides where many of those taking part dressed up in traditional clothing for the occasion. Covid restrictions caused the annual event to be postponed but I gather that it may, hopefully, come back again in the future.

Cycling on a Penny Farthing doesn’t look to me to be an activity for the faint-hearted. I was told that it’s difficult, at first, to keep your balance. Also, that it is very easy to have a bad fall because of the fact that the high centre of gravity is on the large front wheel. Any small obstacle can apparently cause the rider to topple forward.

The Penny Farthing was popular in the 1870s and 1880s and obtained its name from the penny and farthing coins which were in use at the time. I think that “bespoke handmade Penny Farthing bicycles” are still being advertised today. They are apparently built in Australia and then offered for shipment world-wide.

My two grandfathers were born in 1876 and 1879 respectively, when the Penny Farthings were in use everywhere in Holland. This was the time when Queen Victoria reigned in the United Kingdom and when she was still Empress of India and the time when King William III was on the throne in Holland. It was a period of great industrial and social change. A very different world from the world we know today!

It’s good to know that the Penny Farthings are still around after so many years.  Not only have they survived but they were, until recently, still being celebrated right here in Sandgate.

Let’s look forward to “Pennies by the Sea” coming back again soon to our wonderful town of Sandgate on beautiful Moreton Bay.

To finish, for some light entertainment, let me tell you about the reaction to my story from two young boys, who shall remain nameless! When I mentioned, in my Dutch accent, the words “Penny Farthing”, I had them rolling on the floor with mirth. Yes, I’ve always had trouble correctly pronouncing the “th”.

O.P.

P.S. The title of next Sunday’s post is: “Stingrays Everywhere!” You will also meet my son, Mark, and his Dutch family.