Published by the Ilkeston and District Local History Society, 108 pages. Paperback (N7953)
Ilkeston is a small town situated on the banks of the River Erewash in Derbyshire, and it lies a couple of miles from the very western edge of the city of Nottingham, and this book tells the history of the cycle trade in the town in the last years of the 19th century.
From the rear side cover: In the final two decades of the nineteenth century the growing Ilkeston cycling communitywas served by a surprising number of retailers, repairers and manufacturers. There were even a few inventors. This period was short-lived as mass production began to dominate the cycle trade. This book offers a complete 'Who Was Who' of everyone involved in the local trade in the 1880s and 1890s. The story of the rise and fall of the cycle business in Ilkeston is told through the career of Joseph Hollis - 'our local genius' - who tried his hand at retailing,
manufacturing, inventing and big business.
The condition of the book is generally very good. The covers are clean and bright, the spine is intact, and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound.