'HAS anyone heard of the Bolton Wheelers?, asked Mr Albert Winstanley, of Bradshaw Brow, Bradshaw, on Saturday.

He told of how he had received a letter from an old friend, asking if he could be of help regarding a medal rewarded to her mother in 1927, which had the initials 'B.W.' on it.

Mr Winstanley, a keen cyclist since 1930, thought it might refer to the Bolton Wheelers, but he does not recall the club, or of even having heard of it. So he asked through Looking Back for more information.

As usually happens, readers have come up with the answer. First, a letter from Mr Clifford Stockton, of Woodburn Drive, Smithills, who tells me that there was indeed a Bolton Wheelers cycling club, and in his collection he has a badge with a pair of wings sprouting from the hub, and 'Bolton Wheelers' in blue enamel above and beneath the wings. 'My guess is that the badge is pre- first world war, but I have no information on the subject.'

This was followed by a letter from Mrs Amy McLarty, of Meriden Grove, Lostock, hon. secretary of Bolton Clarion club. She tells me that the Bolton Clarion have a beautiful cup which originates from Bolton Wheelers. Dates engraved on the cup of past winners end around 1923, which indicates that the club closed at that time.

'The cup was found many years later in a safe at a monumental masons in Bolton, and presented to the Clarion,' she tells me.

'It was awarded until the 1960s, and then disappeared again only to reappear in the 1990s minus the lid, the handle of which was a figure of a cyclist. It seems that the cup spent some time in Canada before being returned the last time.'

So there you are, Mr Winstanley. Yes, there was a Bolton Wheelers cycling Club, but it seems as though it came to an end in about 1923.