A New Star is Born
(A Brief History of the Gemini Bicycle Club.)
By Alan Else
The Gemini B.C. started life as two distinctly separate clubs, the Eltham Paragon C.C. and the Mercury C.C. Both of which were founded in the 1930s.
In 1970, Derek Williams and Frank Beadle, the respective chairmen of the Eltham Paragon Cycling Club and the Mercury Cycling Club, agreed to amalgamate the two, to form a club with strong riders and well connected officials operating within the British Cycling Federation. A six man negotiating group, three from each club, was formed.
The Eltham Paragon was represented by Alan Else, Frank Ingram and Maurice Barry, and The Mercury by Ray Harrad, Bert Strong and Derek Lamb.... Agreement was reached in December 1970 to form the new club.
The Eltham Paragon had enjoyed good support from the London Borough of Greenwich, and the Mercury had links with the London Borough of Bexley, with Ray Harrad sitting on the Bexley Sports Council.
t was proposed that the new club be called ‘Greenwich and Bexley Cyclists’ and the acronym GBC soon caught on, being the name of an Italian pro team at the time. However, neither Greenwich or Bexley were keen with their joint names being included, so a new name to fit GBC was sought.
Literally after leafing through the dictionary, the name Gemini popped up and seemed very appropriate due to it’s links with twinning and the stars..... So Gemini Bicycle Club was duly adopted, with the two major stars of the Gemini constellation, Castor and Pollux, representing the two joined clubs.
The new club wore plain orange jerseys in 1971 until the new orange and black design was available. The orange and black influence came from the Eltham Paragon’s link with Halfweg S.C. de Bataaf, a top club in Holland that produced Olympic champions and Tour De France professional riders.
The link had come from English riders returning from their National Service in Gerrmany, Eltham Paragon twinning first with Schwalbe Monchengladbach and then Viersen Blitz and also HSC de Bataaf in Holland in 1965. Teams from these two clubs came over to ride the Brian Robinson Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, which was being organised by Derek Williams. Dutchmen Jan Buis and Marcel Pennings won the race in 1965 and 1968 respectively.
A three way exchange evolved with English riders going to Holland and Germany, and Dutch and German teams coming to England, being accommodated in members homes. Later we had contacts with clubs in Pas-De-Calais.
The exchange continued until well into the 1990’s with Dutch and German riders competing in Folkestone-London, Folkestone-Charing-Folkestone and the Eurotunnel Grand Prix, all organised by Gemini B.C., notable winners being Paul Sherwen, Sean Yates and Dave Rayner.
Eltham/Gemini members and guests went to Holland and Germany to ride in the Felix- Bonzo Six Day, Omloop Haarlemmemeer, Ronde von Lurip, Rund Um Kaisers, and many other races. David Akam won in Witten, Paul Dennis won the Junior Rund Um Kaisers, and Chris Cook and Martin Kelly won in France.
Derek Williams and Alan Else are still in contact with their Continental friends from these exchanges.
Below - Alan Else, Ray Harrad & Derek Williams.
The Gemini B.C. started life as two distinctly separate clubs, the Eltham Paragon C.C. and the Mercury C.C. Both of which were founded in the 1930s.
In 1970, Derek Williams and Frank Beadle, the respective chairmen of the Eltham Paragon Cycling Club and the Mercury Cycling Club, agreed to amalgamate the two, to form a club with strong riders and well connected officials operating within the British Cycling Federation. A six man negotiating group, three from each club, was formed.
The Eltham Paragon was represented by Alan Else, Frank Ingram and Maurice Barry, and The Mercury by Ray Harrad, Bert Strong and Derek Lamb.... Agreement was reached in December 1970 to form the new club.
The Eltham Paragon had enjoyed good support from the London Borough of Greenwich, and the Mercury had links with the London Borough of Bexley, with Ray Harrad sitting on the Bexley Sports Council.
t was proposed that the new club be called ‘Greenwich and Bexley Cyclists’ and the acronym GBC soon caught on, being the name of an Italian pro team at the time. However, neither Greenwich or Bexley were keen with their joint names being included, so a new name to fit GBC was sought.
Literally after leafing through the dictionary, the name Gemini popped up and seemed very appropriate due to it’s links with twinning and the stars..... So Gemini Bicycle Club was duly adopted, with the two major stars of the Gemini constellation, Castor and Pollux, representing the two joined clubs.
The new club wore plain orange jerseys in 1971 until the new orange and black design was available. The orange and black influence came from the Eltham Paragon’s link with Halfweg S.C. de Bataaf, a top club in Holland that produced Olympic champions and Tour De France professional riders.
The link had come from English riders returning from their National Service in Gerrmany, Eltham Paragon twinning first with Schwalbe Monchengladbach and then Viersen Blitz and also HSC de Bataaf in Holland in 1965. Teams from these two clubs came over to ride the Brian Robinson Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, which was being organised by Derek Williams. Dutchmen Jan Buis and Marcel Pennings won the race in 1965 and 1968 respectively.
A three way exchange evolved with English riders going to Holland and Germany, and Dutch and German teams coming to England, being accommodated in members homes. Later we had contacts with clubs in Pas-De-Calais.
The exchange continued until well into the 1990’s with Dutch and German riders competing in Folkestone-London, Folkestone-Charing-Folkestone and the Eurotunnel Grand Prix, all organised by Gemini B.C., notable winners being Paul Sherwen, Sean Yates and Dave Rayner.
Eltham/Gemini members and guests went to Holland and Germany to ride in the Felix- Bonzo Six Day, Omloop Haarlemmemeer, Ronde von Lurip, Rund Um Kaisers, and many other races. David Akam won in Witten, Paul Dennis won the Junior Rund Um Kaisers, and Chris Cook and Martin Kelly won in France.
Derek Williams and Alan Else are still in contact with their Continental friends from these exchanges.
Below - Alan Else, Ray Harrad & Derek Williams.
Below are a selection of flyers and a few images from some of the prolific club events and road races mentioned above. The group presentation picture is from the Brian Robinson GP, where a young Ray Harrad can just be seen at the back, dead centre.
There is also a flyer and results sheet for the 1977 Folkestone - London, notably won that year by Paul Sherwen, who after the finish promptly got on a ferry to start his international career with the legendary French club ACBB.