Unsurpassed: the story of Tommy Godwin, the world's greatest distance cyclist

The challenge, laid down by a cycling magazine in 1910, was simple: who could ride a bicycle the greatest distance in a calendar year? This is the true story of Tommy Godwin, a 27 year old cyclist from Stoke-on-Trent, who responded to that challenge and who set the standard so high that his record remains unsurpassed after over seventy years. He became and remains the 'Greatest Long Distance Cyclist in the World'.

A Bit of an All-rounder

For 40 years John Coulson combined his love of cycling with a profound interest in photography. As a club cyclist his racing achievements were somewhat ordinary (he did once finish 5th in the Wessex 24-hour time trial); as a photographer, however, they were exceptional. At first it was no more than a matter of selling individual action shots to competitors in local races for little more than the cost of printing them, but within a short time came demand for his work from professional publishers. Over a period of more than two decades his photographs and frequently his accompanying articles graced the pages of Cycling, International Cycle Sport and a variety of other leisure and sports journals.

COME YEW ON, TERGETHER!

Keith Skipper, at the heart of local life for half-a-century as journalist, broadcaster and entertainer, hit the book-publishing trail in the mid-1980s with three volumes of dialect broadcasts he made as 'Old Barney', BBC Radio Norfolk's rural correspondent. Now he brings together the largest number of dialect scribes and supporters ever assembled under one Norfolk roof.