CCPCC Cycling

Rare film of an exciting sprint and cycle racing event just after the war, capturing most of the large expectant crowd and many competitors.

This is an extremely intriguing film about which nothing is known: what the event is, or where it took place or when, possibly 1947. All we know is that it was filmed by Sheffield teacher William Gregory. The initials on the flag for the event, CCPCC, are equally obscure. It shows a well-attended athletics and cycling event – with wonderful close up shots of the athletes, cyclists and spectators – which clearly attracted participants, male and female, from many cycling clubs.

William Gordon Gregory – so named after the famous organiser of the Gordon Riots who died shortly before his birth – taught Chemistry at Sheffield Senior Technical School (where he had the nickname “Pop”). He made a large number of films, some during the war period, as in this case, and many after the war, mainly in colour, and later left teaching to devote more time to putting on film shows. At this time the National Cyclists Union, which officially ran the sport, didn’t allow road racing, and so track racing was more common (although road racing was being organised by The British League of Racing Cyclists, formed in 1942).