Cyclists celebrated the famous Pedersen bicycle in Dursley on Saturday wehen riders from the Veteran-Cycle Club, founded in 1955, arrived at the Market Place in Dursley Gloucestershire. Danish inventor and engineer Mikael Pedersen is one of Dursley's most famous names. His unique invention, the Pedersen bicycle, gathered a devoted following and modern variations are still made to this day. Many fascinating machines and their owners in period costume attended the annual event, including Philip Walters from Minchinhampton and the replica stunning blue bike he made of the 1883 prototype. The Veteran-Cycle Club promotes riding and conserving older cycles. Mikael Pedersen (1855 to 1929) was a Danish inventor much associated with the English town of Dursley. He is chiefly known today for the highly distinctive Pedersen bicycle. His story is one of rags to riches and back again, and he was largely forgotten in his native country, but fans of the Pedersen bicycle arranged for him to be reburied and a memorial erected at Dursley. Before cycle's Pedersen invented and patented a novel corn thresher capable of separating corn from chaff, a transmission system, a gear system for horse drawn mills and a braking system for waggons, among other ideas. He was also musical; he was listed as a musician in the 1890 census. Pedersen was involved in the development of a continuous centrifuge for the churning and separation of cream and butter from milk, that is, one which did not need to be stopped to remove the cream. This separator was patented in 1878. Pedersen's involvement was not noted, a matter which angered him. Pedersen subsequently worked on further refinements, leading to patents and considerable income. His refined version of the centrifuge is still in use today. The rights were bought by Koefoed and Hauberg in Copenhagen, and as part of an export drive they made contact with R A Lister and Company, of Dursley in Gloucestershire, England. Pederson also received a patent in the United Kingdom for his bicycle in the early 1890s and constructed the first model out of wood. He formed the Pedersen Cycle Frame Co Ltd and when that fell into financial difficulties, production was continued by the Dursley Pedersen Cycle Co. The design was also licensed to other manufacturers and approximately 30,000 units were produced by the early 1920s, but the design never really caught on. In 1978, Jesper Sølling resumed production in Copenhagen and has been followed by others.
Copyright of all pictures in this gallery belong to R Kelsey.