Reg Harris
Encyclopedia
Reginald - 'Reg' - Hargreaves Harris OBE (1 March 1920 - 22 June 1992) was a leading English
track racing
cyclist in the 1940s and 1950s. He won the world amateur sprint
title in 1947, two Olympic
silver medals in 1948, and the professional title in 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1954. His ferocious will to win made him a household name in the 1950s, but he also surprised many with a comeback more than 20 years later, winning a British title in 1974 at the age of 54.
, near Bury
, Lancashire
, the son of a musician
who died when he was six. His mother remarried and Reginald took the name of his stepfather, a textile worker called Harris.
Reg Harris left school without qualifications and his first job was as an apprentice motor mechanic in Bury. During this period, at the age of 14, he bought his first bicycle
, and entered a roller-racing competition organised by the Hercules bicycle manufacturing company
. His ability attracted the attention of other cyclists and Harris joined the Cyclists' Touring Club
and then its racing offshoot, the Lancashire
Road Club. In 1935, he won his first race, a half-mile handicap event held on a grass track in Bury, and also started competing in individual time trial
s.
that he felt would pay him enough in the winter to spend the summer training and competing. During 1936, he competed in and won his first events in a proper velodrome
, at Fallowfield Stadium
in Manchester
.
In early 1937, he was confident he could support himself as an athlete and left the paper mill to focus on the summer cycle racing season, returning to the mill the following winter (repeating the process the following year). He continued to win races and attract attention, and by the summer of 1938 was able to beat the existing British sprint
champion. At the end of that season, he joined Manchester Wheelers' Club
, and in 1939 won a major race in Coventry
, leading to his selection for the world championship in Milan
. He travelled to Milan and had familiarised himself with the Velodromo Vigorelli
when World War II
broke out and the British team was recalled to the UK.
Harris joined the 10th Hussars in the North Africa Campaign as a tank
driver but was wounded and invalided out of the services as medically unfit in 1943. Despite the judgment of the army medics, in 1944, he won the 1000 yards (914.4 m), quarter-mile and five-mile (8 km) national cycling championships. He retained the two shorter titles in 1945 and added the half-mile on grass
. He was invited to race in Paris
in 1945 and again impressed the crowds, and he was expected to do well in the 1946 world championships in Zurich
, only to have his chances ruined by an over-enthusiastic pre-race massage
.
By the time Harris won the world amateur sprint
title in Paris in 1947, he was already employed and equipped by bicycle
manufacturer Claud Butler
and was testing the boundaries of amateurism. The cycling world expected that Harris would take three titles in the 1948 Summer Olympics
(sprint, tandem
sprint and kilometre time trial) but three months before the London Games, he fractured two vertebrae in a road accident. After hospitalisation, with a few weeks remaining to the games, training, competing and winning, he fell in a ten-mile (16 km) race at Fallowfield and fractured his elbow. Completing the rest of his preparation in a plaster
cast, he had to be satisfied with two silvers, being beaten by Italian
Mario Ghella
in the final of the sprint, and partnering Alan Bannister to second place in the tandem sprint (timetable constraints meant Harris's place in the kilometre was taken by another rider, Tommy Godwin, who won a bronze medal). Two weeks later, he claimed a bronze medal in the 1948 world championships sprint in Amsterdam
.
under sponsorship of the Raleigh bicycle company and in 1949 won the world professional sprint championship in Copenhagen
- a victory he repeated the following two years in Belgium
and Milan. He then won a fourth and final world professional title in Cologne
in 1954. He was soon earning GBP 12,000 a year as one of the nation's most recognised sportsmen. He won the UK Sports Journalists' Association's accolade of Sportsman of the Year in 1950, and was runner-up in 1949 and 1951.
He retired in 1957 to devote himself to business interests, none of which suited his tastes or abilities. He managed Fallowfield Stadium, renamed the Harris Stadium; he was involved in various abortive ventures associated with Raleigh; and he started a 'Reg Harris' bicycle manufacturing business in Macclesfield
which lasted three years before folding. He then worked in sales promotion for the 'Gannex
' raincoat company, before working for two plastic foam producers.
In 1971, he returned to racing, winning a bronze medal in the British championship in Birmingham after hardly any preparation. With more training behind him, he approached the British championship in Leicester
in 1974 in more confident mood, and beat Trevor Bull to win the title at the age of 54. In 1975, he returned to Leicester, but was narrowly beaten by Bull in the final and had to settle for the silver medal. He continued to cycle almost to his death.
He was married three times. The first two marriages (in 1944 to Florence Stage, then to Dorothy Hadfield) ended in divorce. He married Jennifer Anne Geary in 1970. He died in Macclesfield
of a stroke, survived by his third wife, and was buried at St John's Church in the north Cheshire village of Chelford
.
A memorial to his achievements can be found in the Manchester Velodrome
(the National Cycling Centre).
awarded him his own page in the Golden Book of Cycling
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
track racing
Track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....
cyclist in the 1940s and 1950s. He won the world amateur sprint
Sprint (cycling)
The sprint or match sprint is a track cycling event involving between 2 and 4 riders, though they are usually run as a one-on-one match race between opponents who, unlike in the individual pursuit, start next to each other.- Racing style :...
title in 1947, two Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
silver medals in 1948, and the professional title in 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1954. His ferocious will to win made him a household name in the 1950s, but he also surprised many with a comeback more than 20 years later, winning a British title in 1974 at the age of 54.
Early life
Reginald Hargreaves was born in the hamlet of BirtleBirtle, Greater Manchester
Birtle is a hamlet within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in the Cheesden Valley, set amongst the Pennines....
, near Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, the son of a musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
who died when he was six. His mother remarried and Reginald took the name of his stepfather, a textile worker called Harris.
Reg Harris left school without qualifications and his first job was as an apprentice motor mechanic in Bury. During this period, at the age of 14, he bought his first bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
, and entered a roller-racing competition organised by the Hercules bicycle manufacturing company
Hercules Cycle and Motor Company
For the German Bicycle and Motorcycle manufacturer see: Hercules Fahrrad GmbH & CoThe Hercules Cycle and Motor Company Limited was a British bicycle manufacturer founded on 9 September 1910 in Aston in England....
. His ability attracted the attention of other cyclists and Harris joined the Cyclists' Touring Club
Cyclists' Touring Club
CTC and the UK's national cyclists' organisation are the trading names of the Cyclists' Touring Club.CTC is the United Kingdom's largest cycling membership organisation. It also has member groups in the Republic of Ireland...
and then its racing offshoot, the Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
Road Club. In 1935, he won his first race, a half-mile handicap event held on a grass track in Bury, and also started competing in individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
s.
Amateur cycling career
Harris moved from the motor mechanics job to a slipper factory, then, in early 1936, found a position in a paper millPaper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
that he felt would pay him enough in the winter to spend the summer training and competing. During 1936, he competed in and won his first events in a proper velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
, at Fallowfield Stadium
Fallowfield Stadium
Fallowfield Stadium was an athletics stadium and velodrome in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. It opened in May 1892 as the home of Manchester Athletics Club after it was forced to move from its home next to Old Trafford Cricket Ground...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
In early 1937, he was confident he could support himself as an athlete and left the paper mill to focus on the summer cycle racing season, returning to the mill the following winter (repeating the process the following year). He continued to win races and attract attention, and by the summer of 1938 was able to beat the existing British sprint
Sprint (cycling)
The sprint or match sprint is a track cycling event involving between 2 and 4 riders, though they are usually run as a one-on-one match race between opponents who, unlike in the individual pursuit, start next to each other.- Racing style :...
champion. At the end of that season, he joined Manchester Wheelers' Club
Manchester Wheelers' Club
-Formation and early history:The club was formed on 7 July 1883, as Manchester Athletic Bicycle Club, the name being changed to Manchester Wheelers' Club in 1890.The Manchester Wheelers are the most successful cycling club in Britain having produced countless international riders and several World...
, and in 1939 won a major race in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
, leading to his selection for the world championship in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. He travelled to Milan and had familiarised himself with the Velodromo Vigorelli
Velodromo Vigorelli
Velodromo Vigorelli is a velodrome in Milan, Italy. It is currently used mostlyfor American football events. The stadium holds 9,000 people and was built in 1935 by 'Vigorelli Cycles'....
when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out and the British team was recalled to the UK.
Harris joined the 10th Hussars in the North Africa Campaign as a tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
driver but was wounded and invalided out of the services as medically unfit in 1943. Despite the judgment of the army medics, in 1944, he won the 1000 yards (914.4 m), quarter-mile and five-mile (8 km) national cycling championships. He retained the two shorter titles in 1945 and added the half-mile on grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
. He was invited to race in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1945 and again impressed the crowds, and he was expected to do well in the 1946 world championships in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, only to have his chances ruined by an over-enthusiastic pre-race massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
.
By the time Harris won the world amateur sprint
Sprint (cycling)
The sprint or match sprint is a track cycling event involving between 2 and 4 riders, though they are usually run as a one-on-one match race between opponents who, unlike in the individual pursuit, start next to each other.- Racing style :...
title in Paris in 1947, he was already employed and equipped by bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
manufacturer Claud Butler
Claud Butler
Claud Butler was a flamboyantLondon cycle dealer and frame-builder who from 1928 created a chain of branches in London and the Midlands. His company was one of the most successful of the inter-war era but failed after the second world war. The name was bought by other companies. Butler died on 2...
and was testing the boundaries of amateurism. The cycling world expected that Harris would take three titles in the 1948 Summer Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
(sprint, tandem
Tandem
Tandem is an arrangement where a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction....
sprint and kilometre time trial) but three months before the London Games, he fractured two vertebrae in a road accident. After hospitalisation, with a few weeks remaining to the games, training, competing and winning, he fell in a ten-mile (16 km) race at Fallowfield and fractured his elbow. Completing the rest of his preparation in a plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
cast, he had to be satisfied with two silvers, being beaten by Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Mario Ghella
Mario Ghella
Mario Ghella is an Italian racing cyclist and olympic champion in track cycling.He received a gold medal in individual sprint at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.-References:...
in the final of the sprint, and partnering Alan Bannister to second place in the tandem sprint (timetable constraints meant Harris's place in the kilometre was taken by another rider, Tommy Godwin, who won a bronze medal). Two weeks later, he claimed a bronze medal in the 1948 world championships sprint in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
Professional cycling career
On his return from Amsterdam, Harris turned professionalProfessional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
under sponsorship of the Raleigh bicycle company and in 1949 won the world professional sprint championship in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
- a victory he repeated the following two years in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Milan. He then won a fourth and final world professional title in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
in 1954. He was soon earning GBP 12,000 a year as one of the nation's most recognised sportsmen. He won the UK Sports Journalists' Association's accolade of Sportsman of the Year in 1950, and was runner-up in 1949 and 1951.
He retired in 1957 to devote himself to business interests, none of which suited his tastes or abilities. He managed Fallowfield Stadium, renamed the Harris Stadium; he was involved in various abortive ventures associated with Raleigh; and he started a 'Reg Harris' bicycle manufacturing business in Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
which lasted three years before folding. He then worked in sales promotion for the 'Gannex
Gannex
Gannex is a waterproof fabric invented in 1951 by Joseph Kagan, a British industrialist and the founder of Kagan Textiles, of Elland, which made raincoats...
' raincoat company, before working for two plastic foam producers.
In 1971, he returned to racing, winning a bronze medal in the British championship in Birmingham after hardly any preparation. With more training behind him, he approached the British championship in Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
in 1974 in more confident mood, and beat Trevor Bull to win the title at the age of 54. In 1975, he returned to Leicester, but was narrowly beaten by Bull in the final and had to settle for the silver medal. He continued to cycle almost to his death.
He was married three times. The first two marriages (in 1944 to Florence Stage, then to Dorothy Hadfield) ended in divorce. He married Jennifer Anne Geary in 1970. He died in Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
of a stroke, survived by his third wife, and was buried at St John's Church in the north Cheshire village of Chelford
Chelford
Chelford is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is near to the junction of the A537 and A535 roads, about six miles west of Macclesfield, and six miles south-east of Knutsford. It is served by a small railway...
.
A memorial to his achievements can be found in the Manchester Velodrome
Manchester Velodrome
Manchester Velodrome is an indoor cycle-racing track or velodrome in Manchester, northwest England. It opened in September 1994 and is the leading indoor Olympic-standard track in the United Kingdom. It houses the National Cycling Centre and British Cycling...
(the National Cycling Centre).
Honours
- OBEOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(1958) - Harris won the Bidlake Memorial PrizeFrederick Thomas BidlakeFrederick Thomas Bidlake was an English racing cyclist of the late 19th century who became one of the most notable administrators of British road bicycle racing during the early 20th century. The annual Bidlake Memorial Prize, was instituted in his memory...
in 1947 and 1949. - The Reg Harris StadiumFallowfield StadiumFallowfield Stadium was an athletics stadium and velodrome in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. It opened in May 1892 as the home of Manchester Athletics Club after it was forced to move from its home next to Old Trafford Cricket Ground...
in FallowfieldFallowfieldLadybarn is the part of Fallowfield to the south-east. Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre is used by the University of Manchester: it was built by Edward Walters for Sir Joseph Whitworth, as were the Firs Botanical Grounds.-Religion:...
, ManchesterManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
was named after him. - He was named sportsman of the year by a poll in Sporting Record in 1949, winning by 7,000 votes over the soccer player, Billy Liddell.
The Golden Book
Reg Harris's amateur world championship achievements were celebrated in 1947 when Cycling WeeklyCycling Weekly
Cycling Weekly is a British cycling magazine. It is published by IPC Media and is devoted to the sport and past-time of cycling. It is affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".-History:...
awarded him his own page in the Golden Book of Cycling
Golden Book of Cycling
The Golden Book of Cycling was created in 1932 by Cycling, a British cycling magazine,to celebrate "the Sport and Pastime of Cycling by recording the outstanding rides, deeds and accomplishments of cyclists, officials and administrators." There exists only a single copy of this compendium of...
.
External links
- Mason, T. "Harris, Reginald Hargreaves (1920-1992)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- Manchester Wheelers' Club