Soon after the armistice was declared in 1918, race walking got back into its stride, but it
was not until 1921 that the distance men got their chance to qualify for membership of the Centurions, the event once again being the Brighton & Back. Unlike the 1913 event, this time it was held in heat wave conditions. Of the 12 who started, 3 were to complete, the winner being Edgar Horton (not related to H.W. Horton).
One of those who failed to
complete was A.A. Stiff who, on his return journey, took a wrong turning at Redhill and proceeded towards Dorking on the A24, instead of Croydon on the A23. It is believed that he found himself a bed and slept off his exertions. In his report on the race, Henry Colldén of Surrey Walking Club expressed severe misgivings about the future of this event due to the heavy traffic on the Brighton Road, and his concern for the safety of walkers. He had counted 98 charabancs (coaches) during his travels up and down this famous road. In February 1922 the 3 qualifiers from 1921 were officially elected to membership of the Centurions, and Charles J. Culling was elected Secretary, the start of his 33 year term of office.
The Stiff and Makeham Affair
In February 1924, a saga which was to last 4 months began. As was the custom in those days, A.A. Stiff and O.F. Makeham applied for membership of the Centurions, (membership never was and never has been automatic) following their separate efforts in May and August 1923. Their time trials, which were held on the Brighton & Back route, were adjudicated by the Garratt Walking Club, and therefore started from the G.W.C. headquarters at Mitcham. After 3 months of correspondence and discussion, a section of the route from Mitcham to Coulsdon, plus a loop circuit in Coulsdon was re-measured. It was found that the distance, after several re-calculations, was approximately 1 miles short of the 100. Stiff had completed with only 1 minute 20 seconds in hand, Makeham may have had enough time in hand, but his time on that occasion has not been discovered. They did not actually complete 100 miles and therefore it was decided at a meeting held on 23rd June 1924 that they could not be elected as Centurions. This was not all that would be heard of Stiff or Makeham as readers of this handbook will discover. In June 1926, the first death of a Centurion was officially recorded in the minute book. By
a strange quirk of fate, (or was it yet another coincidence?) it was E.R. Gillespie, the man who first had the idea of forming the Centurions, that had passed away.
It is known that he
was not the first, but was the first to be recorded. Later in that month the Brighton & Back was on again. The road surface had been greatly improved, and so the burning question of the day was, would Tom Hammond’s record from 1907 remain intact? 14 men completed the event, 3 of them being existing Centurions, 2 from the 1921 event, the other being E. Hailstone who had qualified in the 1909 track race. The winner was W.F. ‘Billy’ Baker in a remarkable time of 18 hours 5 minutes 51 seconds. Hammond’s record of 19 years was beaten, and once again the questions were asked, how long would this new record stand? and was there anyone who could beat the 18 hours for the Brighton & Back? Of the 10 new Centurions, apart from Billy Baker, 2 must be mentioned.
One is Oscar Makeham,
mentioned above, the second is Donato Pavesi, an Italian by birth. He was not the first ‘non- British’ walker to qualify for membership of the Centurions, but was the first to be accepted with full rights. The last man to complete the event was A.A. Stiff in a time of 25 hours 25 minutes 26 seconds, but he was outside the 24 hour mark at 100 miles. In November 1928, Oscar Makeham wrote to the secretary suggesting that the Centurions should write to George Lind. Makeham had noticed that Lind had never been at any
12
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100