UNDER DEVELOPMENT - PLEASE RETURN
JIMMIE'S CYCLING TOUR OF GERMANY - 1937
JIMMIE - THE INTREPID CYCLIST
A GOOD FEW YEARS AFTER HIS ACHIEVEMENT |
 HIS DIARY SHOWING SIZE
COMPARED WITH A PENNY COIN SEE TINY WRITING |
 JIMMIE'S SON - JIM PREFERS BOATING & GOLF TO CYCLING |
INTRODUCTION FROM SON JIM
When my father died in 1979 I fell heir to a diary, written by him, which I then stored away in a cardboard box to be looked at later. The diary was compiled in very small handwritten characters, so much so that I had to use a magnifying glass to read them. I am obviously a guy that does things quickly as it has only taken me over 40 years to read and transcribe them into a readable format. I have found it fascinating that my father would decide to go to Germany in 1937 with the prospects of war looming in the not so distant future. The fact that he chose a cycling holiday and covered nearly 600 miles means that he must have been adventurous and really physically fit.
There are indications on his trip that Germany was preparing for military action due to the number of soldiers he saw, and comments relating to the plight of the Jews was also mentioned.
In true Stewart tradition he did the odd daft thing like cycling up what sounds like the forerunner of the modern autobahn and thinking he was having to share his bed with rats on one occasion.
He seemed to receive only kindness and assistance from the Germans and was quite impressed with the cleanliness of most German towns. As a snippet of history from a bygone time I am so glad our family can now learn about his epic trip.
