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The Library is the idea of Ron Kitching, a stalwart of the British bike trade since the end of WWII. Ron is 84 in April and has a huge collection of magazines and books on cycling. Rather than let them fester away with no public access he has been seeking a permanent home for his collection for the past two years.
No suitable venue could be found in Kitching1s home town of Harrogate, so he approached Otley Cycling Club who have a club house on the outskirts of Otley. He provided funds for a refurbishment of the top floor of the club house and, by the Spring, it will become the National Cycling Library.
"It’s good to read about the past," Kitching told BikeBiz today. "Where you’ve come from tells you a lot about where you’re going."
The Kitching collection includes bound copies of Cycling Weekly and the CTC Gazette from the turn of the century through to modern times; a large photographic archive; a wide selection of books and other memorabilia.
BikeBiz is going to donate a collection of videos, books and magazines sent in for review purposes. Anybody with similar collections should write to Ron Kitching at 6 Mount Parade, Harrogate HG1 1BX.
