Sporting Heritage

14/06/2026

Reposted from .be for month

During the first years of the emergence of cycling as a competition sport, typical cycling clothing did not yet exist. But the riders copied just about everything from equestrian sports: (sub)disciplines, competition regulations, race distances, and therefore also the clothing.
Why? Because cycling was a completely new sport and its practitioners were looking for a way to quickly give this new discipline a social foothold. They could achieve this by copying another closely related sports discipline that stood higher on the social ladder.
In the image, we see a French velocipedist wearing riding attire: a cap, blouson, riding breeches, and black leather boots.
The next image shows the participants list of an early cycling race in the UK on April 3, 1869 from Chester to Rock Ferry with the name of the riders, the color of their caps and the names of their iron horse/velocipede (Source: The Cheshire Observer, April 10, 1869, 3.).

12/06/2026

Reposted from

'(Re)fashioning women's leisure: image, material and place, 1850-present'.

🎾Thursday 25 June 2026 - from 9:15 AM - 4:30 PM.

Registration NOW OPEN for this conference led by PhD student, Emmy Sale.

Further details at this link -
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/refashioning-womens-leisure-image-material-and-place-1850-present-tickets-1981423447871?aff=oddtdtcreator

12/06/2026

11/06/2026

We've heard there's some sort of big football competition starting tomorrow but we are much more interested in the history of our own wonderful local Ilfracombe Town AFC! Come and take a peek into their history with our display now on show in the Ilfracombe gallery during June and July.

04/06/2026

Loving this month gem shared by The Hockey Museum. Over to you Dora...

📷 Dashing Dora: shop window or counter display figure. Used to promote the Liberty Bodice designed and made by R & WH Symington, c1920s. Leicestershire Museum Collections

Meet Dashing Dora 🏑👋

Found in the archive of Leicestershire Museum Collections , Dora wears a typical hockey uniform of the 1920s: a pleated gym slip, long stockings, shin pads and a fashionable bob haircut held in place by hairband.

However, she unusually wears her Liberty Bodice, made by R & WH Symington, on top of her tunic to advertise the soft, warm and flexible undergarment originally designed for children. By 1912 adult sizes were available and it was quickly advertised as a suitable undergarment for sportswomen. England International player Mabel Bryant even endorsed it in 1914, calling it “the most comfortable bodice I have ever worn when taking part in games and gymnastics.”

Do you have a Dashing Dora or related object to donate to The Hockey Museum? We would like to acquire a similar object to help our preservation of women’s hockey clothing history.

29/04/2026

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29/04/2026

09/04/2026

Be sure to share your sporting heritage for today's theme of . You never know what connections you might make!

You may remember one of our highlights from last year about the 1908 Reading marathon race that almost didn't happen due to an old byelaw which prohibited running on Berkshire roads. The race went ahead and was won by Lewis Southwell. His granddaughter has recently been in touch with us and shared this lovely photograph of him which has now been added to the article. Give it a read here: https://bit.ly/4eKhJqe

09/04/2026

Loving today's theme of ! A great opportunity to share your sporting heritage, and explore so many fascinating stories too!

Get your trainers on and do some stretching its time for some