Lucas recently chanced upon a wealth of bicycle-themed photos and drawings from the Historic England archive, and he combed through them to put together this gallery of the most intriguing works. Find around a dozen of his favorites and a link to discover the full collection for yourself here…

I can’t recall how I first stumbled upon a small series of old photos of high-wheeler bicycles in the Historic England archive several months back, but I’ve loved taking a deep dive into the archive of more than nine million photos in the time since, and I’m excited to share a handful of them here today.

The photographs and illustrations I’ve gathered span more than a century and depict the humble bicycle being called upon for a broad range of duties and uses, from transportation to recreation to exploration. Zooming out a bit, these images also provide some evidence of how the world has changed since the early days of modern bicycles, including fashion, architecture, and culture. And, on the contrary, they also offer a reminder that some things have stayed almost exactly the same. In no particular order, you can find a hand-picked selection of my favorites below.

A photographer taking a photograph of two men posed on the bank of the River Thames beside a penny farthing bicycle (1890). Photographer: William O. Field.

A man on a bicycle looking up at the sign marking the location of Caxton Gibbet, Cambridgeshire (1892-1933). Artist: Charles George Harper.

Two bicycles propped against a stone wall in Somerset (1950s). Photographer: John Gay.

General View Of Lady With Dog And Bicycle, Buckinghamshire (May 1904).

View of three men, two with bicycles, on a country lane in Warwickshire (1906-1908).

A woman reading the newspaper, sitting on a folding chair with her feet resting on the saddle of a child’s bicycle, in front of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, with groups of people in the background (1960-1970). Photographer: John Gay.

A man with a bicycle sitting beneath a tree in the grounds of Polesden Lacey, Surrey (1892-1933). Artist: Charles George Harper.

A woman pushing a bike up the cobbled Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset (Late 1950s). Photographer: John Gay.

Portrait of eight men in club kit posed for the camera with their penny farthing bicycles (1890). Photographer: William O. Field.

General View Showing Man Standing Beside Bicycle With Agricultural Buildlings In Background Probably In Hillesden Steeple Claydon Or Buckingham (1896-1920). Photographer: David Birks.

A man pushing a bicycle past the entrance to a cave in the quarry beneath St Paul’s Church, with the church tower visible in the background, Leicestershire (1892-1933). Artist: Charles George Harper.

Group Of Three Miss Bromleys Posed With Bikes On Roadside (September 1904). Photographer: David Birks.

View looking south along a snow covered High Street in Brackley, showing a boy riding a bicycle in the foreground (1950s-1960s). Photographer: John Gay.

Local postmen and post office workers posing outside the village post office, a stone building with a tiled roof, with their bikes, Oxfordshire (1915). Photographer: Frederick Ault

You can search by keyword and browse the full collection of images in the Historic England archive over at HistoricEngland.co.uk. Please let us know if you find anything to share!

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