FENLAND CLARION CYCLING CLUB

Who are the National Clarion?

A 'true' cycling club, not a federation or an affiliation
20 regional sections throughout the UK
A spirit of fellowship and enjoyment throughout our membership
Our object - to encourage and promote cycling in all its aspects
3 major social events throughout the year for inter-section activities
Racing championships for road-racing
Track championships at the Manchester Velodrome
Cyclo-cross and Hill Climb championships
Grass Track championships
Time-trialling B.A.R. and other championships
A growing National membership of over 500
A forward thinking and democratically run organisation
Two newsletters per year sent direct to all members
National support for the formation of new sections
Get new friends from all over the country
A fun loving cycling club that likes to socialise as hard as it rides

Whether you join us on the road or in the peloton, in the cafe or the pub, whatever you do just join us...

The past
The Clarion Cycling Club was formed in 1894. Although it no longer has any political connections, it shared founder members with the Independent Labour Party and readers of the Clarion Newspaper where this Cycling Club found its name. Indeed it was a club that used the simplest most accessible means of transport, the bicycle, to spread the word to the working classes around the villages and towns of Great Britain. The club's early exploits were regularly reported in the Clarion Newspaper.
Membership of the Clarion grew in the early twentieth century to some 8,300 in 1936 with 233 regional sections of the Clarion.
The Clarion became a byword for outdoor activities and camaraderie but following the second world war membership began a steady decline threatened mainly by the motor car and changes in social climate away from club spirit and fellowship.

The present
Membership decline was halted in the late 1980's by hardworking unpaid officials who refused to let the Clarion fade in a way that many cycling clubs had.
The 'Boots and Spurs' twice annual magazine was started to ensure clear communication with its membership and, to support the youth development of the Clarion, a racing team was created to take the best of section riders and race with a formidable Clarion 'squad'.
Today membership is for the first time since the 30's on a steady incline, whilst a couple of sections struggle to survive, 3 new sections have been formed in the north-east,
north-west and Wales. Total membership throughout the UK is in the region of 550 members with a heavy swing towards teenagers, twenty and thirty somethings.
The Clarion claims to be the biggest all-round cycling club (not an association) in the UK with members participating in road-racing, track, time-trialling, triathlon, mountain-biking, cyclo-cross as well as touring, youth-hostelling and camping.
The Clarion also prides itself on its social life and the fellowship between members which results in an easy going lifestyle of cycling for pleasure and friendship.

The future
Long gone are the banner waving days, this has been replaced by a new feeling of direction that will take the Clarion probably 10 years to evolve into a new style of cycling club. A club without bureaucracy, a club more concerned with the environment and cyclists issues than trying to replace the BCF or CTC. The Clarion will continue as a movement for cyclists who care about each other and the outdoors and the membership will forge this new purpose from within.
The variety of activities within the world of cycling will still be part of the Clarion and so will the unique feeling of fellowship by its members.

Links to other Clarion Web Sites(just click on the Club)

The National Clarion Motto - 'Fellowship is Life'