Bicycle blues of yesteryear a far cry from lenience today

I was a policeman in Shrewsbury in the 1950s. At this time the Royal Salop Infirmary (RSH) was situated behind St Mary’s Church and the borough police station was in Swan Hill.

I can recall parading at 5.45am one morning for the 6am shift. The parade was told by the patrol sergeant that it had come to his notice that men going into work at the RSH and coming up the Wyle Cop were pushing their bicycles up Dogpole to avoid having to ride them along the High Street and up Pride Hill. This he reminded us was against the law which stated that it was an offence to propel any vehicle the definition of which included any hand cart, wheelbarrow or bicycle against the designated flow of traffic.

He instructed the officer who was on that beat to report for summons anyone caught pushing their bicycle up Dogpole. I thought that this was ridiculous. I could see the thinking behind the law. Someone pushing a cart or barrow up Pride Hill, High Street or Dogpole when the traffic was heavy could cause problems, it could be dangerous and one could see why the law should be enforced in those circumstances.

But at 5.45am in those days there was nothing about in Dogpole and the application of the law in the circumstances which prevailed at that time of the day did not make sense. But the law was the law and in those days it was enforced.

I often think about those days when I see cyclists riding the wrong way in a one-way street on a crowded footpath. It seems that things have gone from one extreme to the other.

S Rowlands, Shrewsbury