T.G. Hall Memorial Cup

T.G. Hall Memorial Cup

In 1903 a certain Mr Thomas Grainger Hall joined the club. T.G.Hall was and, in the minds of a lot of people, still is a name synonymous with cycling in Gloucester. He started cycling in 1887 at Shrewsbury school where his father was senior master. He was a life member of the Cyclists Touring Club and kept a record of every mile ridden starting with twelve in his first year. He covered about 285,000 miles in his lifetime. He also kept a record of every road that he cycled and he cycled in every county in England.

Mr.Hall’s other interests were fishing and photography; he was also a noted weather expert. He started to drive in the early 1900s but would rarely use a car, preferring to cycle.

An ardent club rider, he took part in time trials, hill climbs, club rides, tours, anything where he could ride his bike. He was voted on to the general committee in 1905 and made a delegate for the National Cyclists Union (N.C.U.). He became a vice president 1908 and remained so until his death in 1957. In 1922 he held the position of assistant club secretary when, along with Reg Newman, he was credited for rescuing the Gloucester City from the slump in membership that occurred after the Great War. He was the club’s treasurer in 1930, made a life member in 1933 and became president in 1953 to 1956.

On 2nd May 1957 Mr. Hall was cycling along St. Oswald’s Road at the junction with Priory Road at 5.45pm when he was hit from behind by a motorcyclist and suffered a severe head injury from which he died shortly after. He was 79. At the inquest a verdict of accidental death was given.

It is T.G.Hall’s cycle shop that he opened first in 1903 (where Eastgate Cycles are now) then moving across the road to the premises at 25 Barton Street in 1914 that most people will remember. The shop had a large, rather dingy interior with plenty of room to display bikes, tandems and the odd tricycle. (He also sold Meccano and Hornby railways) The rear of the shop was where he used to store his vast collection of veteran cycles. There was a 1867 boneshaker complete with steel tyres and a little woodworm, two penny farthings, a Coventry rotary c.1880, a Crypto Bantam c.1896, a Chater Lea tandem c.1910, a Triplet c.1900 a Rudge Whitworth racer with bamboo rims c.1910, a Dursley Pedersen c.1904 a Sunbeam tricycle c.1900, as well as others the details of which escape me. Gloucester City members were allowed to ride these wonderful machines in the city carnival procession and in the Benson Veteran Cycle Rally (in period costume) until the collection were sold off around 1985.The first floor was the living space and would also be used for slide shows on club nights. The shop would also host sit down feeds for long distance events such as 12 and 24 hour races that would come through the city in the 1930s and 40s. For more on the shop, see the Spring 2014 edition of Spokespiece here.

Mr Hall also had a business in Stroud from 1933-57 where he dealt in motor cars as well as bicycles.

In 1912 Mr. Hall gave two silver cups to the club. The first cup was awarded to Mr. Ewart Bick for the best aggregate time for the two 25 mile time trials that the club held during that year. This cup is now known as the T.G.Hall Clubman trophy. The second cup was for many years thought lost. However, in 2018 T.G.Hall’s grandson, Will, contacted the Club to say that in 2013 he had inherited it from his father.

It is inscribed:

“Presented to the Gloucester City Cycle Club by William Truscott as a perpetual trophy 1905”

and

“Presented to T. G. Hall by the Club on his 5th consecutive win 1910”

There are also five shields on the base – 1905 W. B. Gibb, 1906 T. G. Hall, 1907 T. G. Hall, 1908 T. G. Hall, 1909 T. G. Hall. It is believed that Mr. Hall in his turn presented it to to founder member Mr Felix Oehl for timekeeping and that it was in due course returned to the Hall family.

The T.G.Hall Memorial Trophy was presented to the club by Mrs. Hall and their son George to be awarded in perpetuity to the winner of the T.G.Hall Memorial 25 Mile Time Trial. This was first run in 1959 and has taken place every year since. The T.G.Hall Handicap Cup was also given to the club by the family to be awarded to the best rider on handicap from the Speedwell Bicycle Club, (Tommy Hall’s old club) or Gloucester City C.C.

Mrs. Daisy Hall was an interesting character in her own right. She headed the Gloucester Association to Aid Refugees and in that capacity wrote multiple letters to London, to the Bishop of Gloucester and to the Mayor in support of refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Two of those refugees, Dr. Paul and Mrs. Edith Arnstein, came to Gloucester where they ran the Boys’ Refugee Hostel, which from 1939 to 1941 housed ten boys at 10, Alexandra Road, Gloucester. It closed in December 1941 after foster parents had been found for all the boys.

The club is grateful to the Arnsteins’ grandson, Tim, and his wife Jane for this information, gleaned from Gloucestershire Archives. They note their debt to Mrs Hall, without whose tenacity, patience and kind-hardheartedness Tim, his brother, and their families would not be here today. More information is here

YearWinnerTime
2023Tim Wood 56m 46sTeam Echelon
2022Event cancelled
2021Chris Gibbard52:15Bynea CC
2020Event cancelled
2019Felix Wilkninson54:49CC Montpelier
2018D. Janes52:40Wheels of Dorset/Aero
2017D.Janes54:09Veloton
2016B. Anstie56:15
2015M. Burden53:27
2014R. Pears54:33
2013T. Pettinger51:20Sri Chimnoy CT
2012R. Coomber43:21Cadence RT
2011R. Pears55:29Bath CC
2010R. Pears56:29Bath CC
2009D. Robson56:47Somerset RC
2008D. Kiddell57:33
2007D. Rudland56:30
2006M. Wareham56:36
2005G. Butler1:16:00
2004S. Marchant54:31
2003P. Osbourne1:08:00LUK Coombes Racing
2002D. Smethan1:07:4430 miles
2001A. Griffith1:06:0430 miles
2000M. Hutchinson1:03:23IT series 29.14 miles
1999S. Hulme55:10
1998L. Davis56:40
1997J. Bohin58:41
1996P. Hogsflesh59:18
1995A. Scott55:11
1994J. Pritchard55:04
1993R.S. Walker55:50
1992J. Barnes57:24
1991G. Giddings55:16
1990M. Hinton58:28
1989L. Morris56:06
1988N. Brookes58:00
1987R. Thorne58:10Bristol South RC
1986D. Rogers58:08
1985D. Hill59:15
1984R. Collins58:12Bristol South RC
1983R. Collins57:00Bristol South RC
1982M. Fagg56:50
1981P.S. Danckwardt54:94Cheltenham & County CC
1980J. Pritchard57:34Ystrad CC
1979J. Pritchard1:00:31Ystrad CC
1978W.J.Howells1:00:51Salisbury RC
1977C. Brooks1:00:09Frome & Dist.
1976D. Holliday
1975V. Ncholson59:49
1974J. HIll56:171973J. Green58:28
1972D. Cottington54:591971R. Harris56:58
1970J. Tooby55:30 Coventry CC1969T.E. May59:33
1968A. Taylor56:111967T.E. May58:42
1966E. Moody59:041965B. Hayes58:40
1964M. Minor59:141963D. Bonner55:52
1962J.B. Allen16??1961R.Woolley59:55
1960J. Smith1:00:321959 J. Smith58:19