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Newcastle Rag Race

Top rider Bill Baty triumphs in a charity road race for Newcastle Rag Week.

Amateur film 1960 9 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for North East Film Archive

Overview

There’s a carnival start to this Newcastle Rag Week 50-mile road race. Local champion cyclists join cheerleaders, bands and men in drag on a parade through the suburbs, before speeding off on the open road. A stalwart of British road racing, Bill Baty from the Tyne Velo club celebrates another win.

The event was documented by amateur filmmaker and cycling fan Milton Newton, who was also a friend of Bill Baty, a top rider who was in the British team for the 1955 Peace Race behind the Iron Curtain, won the Beaumont Trophy in 1958, and the amateur British National Road Race in 1959.