The Missing Bicycles of Dorset

Since I have been here I haven’t seen a single bicycle. Perhaps they haven’t been invented here yet. Although I suppose it would be quite reckless to ride a bicycle through all this long grass. There only seems to be one street and that would not be the place for a bicycle. There might not be a car for ages then suddenly one comes along at great speed and if there were a cyclist on the road she wouldn’t stand a chance.

At home, I never go out past the front gate because of the bicycles. I only ever go out through the back fence and even then I have to be on the lookout because they make the same noise as a bird stuck up a tree.

From the top window I can see part of a large building. It’s not a house because there are no windows. It might be that there were once bicycles in Dorset but because of the aforementioned hazards they were stored out of sight in the big buildings. It certainly makes sense to keep bicycles locked away.  There's always the risk of some foolhardy soul riding off with one only to be found the next day in a roadside bush crying and wishing he’d never even seen a bicycle.

The London bicycles have little bells but that wouldn’t be much use here. By the time anyone heard the bell it would already be too late. People seem to hear things a lot slower here.  Even if a bicycle surprised me in the grass a bell would be useless because the bicycle shouldn’t be there in the first place, so it’s very unlikely that a cyclist would dare to use one and risk getting caught. And we can’t be forever having to get out of the way of things.

Yesterday, I followed Walter up the side of a tree but I only got a little way before I had to fall off. I think it’s probably where Walter goes when Dorothy doesn’t know where he is. Poor Walter, he is my brother after all, and this morning I’m not even sure he remembered me.

Now if someone cycled into a tree, that would be something! Especially if Walter was up the tree at the time!

At the top you can see a picture kindly given to me by Dorothy.  It's from one of her books and is, she says, to show you what it’s really like in Dorset for bicycles. However, having no evidence whatsoever for their existence here, I will use this to illustrate the London bicycles. In fact I don’t think the book is about Dorset at all. London ladies can climb trees and struggle out of hedges with the best of them.  Although I dare not think what the poor dears would make of the Dorset cobwebs.

Thanks all the same, Dorothy.