Huntingdonshire Cyclists

[Sonofacqms]

I have just bought a Huntingdonshire Cyclists cap badge in silver with brooch fitting (pin missing) and a spike at the top which is currently bent.

At first I thought this was a G/M cap badge which had been silvered either by plating or paint applied, it seems happily that I was wrong on both counts and that it looks to be an officers badge, it came with a heavily polished G/M cap badge and a enamelled sweetheart

Any ideas and thoughts welcomed.

Rob

[Sonofacqms]

Over seventy views and no comments, are there no Huntingdonshire Cyclists collectors out there?

Rob

[Luke H]

The picture is so poor it looks magnolia illuminated by an amber traffic light - I’m not sure how anyone could determine what metal it is? Not to mention it’s also out of focus.

[Sonofacqms]

I'm afraid the battery on the bike has packed up

I will try and post better pics.

Rob

[Sonofacqms]

Revised pics with pin replaced.

Rob

[denis pannett]

Looks to be a very nice rare badge to me that I would happily have in my collection - had not seen an officers silver one before. Denis

[Sonofacqms]

Originally Posted by denis pannett

Looks to be a very nice rare badge to me that I would happily have in my collection - had not seen an officers silver one before. Denis

I saw this among a lot of sweetheart badges and my initial thoughts were an Other ranks badge that had been brooched and painted, however, this is not so. I replaced the pin and straightened the spike at the top which is something I have never found on British badges and it will adorn my Hunts cyclist section.

Thanks for your observation.

Rob

[magpie]

The spike was probably a hook to hold the top of the badge as the pin at the bottom would be practically useless on its own.

[Jelly Terror]

If intended as a brooch, do you think the top pin might originally have been bent over/hooked? Wouldn't fancy that sticking in me.

Rob BCMBF.jpg

JT

[leigh kitchen]

Presumably it was bent to form a hook following the line of the antler as in the original photos.
If produced as a brooch rather than a cap badge I've thought just a single, vertical pin may have been thought more practical ?

[Alan O]

Or it had a keeper on the end as do modern FAD badges.

[magpie]

It's a tapered spike not a clutch pin.

[Sonofacqms]

This badge came with other Hunts Cyclist items, the OR/S has been polished to oblivion, the sweetheart, based on a RH collar badge is perfect.

Quite why this badge in silver/white metal was produced with a brooch fitting which I think is original as opposed to being made into a sweetheart brooch is something I think rarely encountered, possibly a specially ordered officers badge, but the fittings of brooch and spike are unusual.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

Rob

PS apologies for the photography

[manchesters]

Rob,

Th brooch looks like an after market fitting to me and the whole combination of fittings just doesnt look right or like anything I have ever seen before on a badge of that period.

I am confident that whatever it started life as then it isnt the same now.

In WW1 they didnt go further than the East Coast of England so there was no reason for an officer to procure such a fandangled rear fstening on his cap.

best wishes

[Sonofacqms]

Simon, many thanks for your thoughts on this item, as you say the Hunts Cyclist never served as a unit overseas, more a home defence and training unit, many of their number went on to serve with the Northamptonshire Regt.

These items came locally with Huntingdonshire now part of Cambridshire I am confident they are original items as opposed to something that has been produced recently, this is why I have put this up on the forum as to my mind the three items do not add up.

Yes, the over polished G/M badge could well have been worn by the husband/girlfriend of the sweetheart brooch, but who wore the silvered badge?

Did the O/R get promotion and ordered the aforementioned badge in silver as a special item for himself?

Was it a special "sweetheart" complete with spike? (she probably had the one shown)

This is the great thing about badge collecting and the forum and something that has kept me interested all these years.

Rob