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Spokes History

40th anniversary [2017]

30th anniversary [2007]

Bulletin 98 – see centre page feature

Spokesworker 22.10.07 – contains a few additional historic photos

Poster “30 Years of Toil and Triumph” [pdf]  – includes interesting panel on campaigning lessons and tactics

10th anniversary [1987]

Bulletin 33  – centre page anniversary feature

Other Spokes history sources

See our Spokes Bulletins page.  All issues are online from issue 89 onwards (2004), and few earlier issues.  However there is also a full set of page 1’s covering issues 1-100.

See also our Spokes Maps, History section.  This includes comprehensive articles describing the history of the Edinburgh and the Lothians Spokes maps.

Year-by-year description 1991-2001 [doc] largely extracted from Bulletins

Ancient graphics

Probably the first ever Spokes badge [Spokes was based at Ainslie Place for max 2 or 3 years from our origins in 1977]

Early Spokes cartoons, mainly by Jerry Neville

Early Spokes badges, adapted from JN cartoons by DdF, using ‘Letraset’

Ancient pictures

[Ross Hendry] Spokes events/rides 1985-86  Includes political rallies, lock-smashing contest, cycling games…
[Ross Hendry] Spokes Weekend rallies & rides, 1985-1992  Mainly social events

Ancient documents [1970s and early 80s]

Please remember the totally different context to the present day.  These campaigns were at a time when only 1% of Edinburgh commuting was by bike, cycling as a means of urban transport was widely considered rather eccentric and outdated, and until the then recent formation of Spokes the Council’s transport strategy documents had failed even to mention cycling.

Old websites & archives

Many Spokes webpages subsequent to 1999 are stored on the Internet Archive, Wayback Machine. Additionally, many of the links on these pages appear also to accessible.  The first page stored is this from 1.11.99.   The full collection of pages stored can be accessed here by date. Not sure how they get selected by the wayback machine?

Unfortunately the links below no longer work, but retained here in case we can revive them at some point.

[up to 2003] http://www.spokes.org.uk/oldsite
[up to 2004] http://www.spokes.org.uk/oldsite/index.htm

Old links
http://www.spokes.org.uk/oldsite/links.htm
http://www.spokes.org.uk/oldsite/links2.htm

Old Safe Routes to School…
http://www.spokes.org.uk/oldsite/sr2shome.htm
http://www.spokes.org.uk/oldsite/sr2snews.htm