CYCLING UK Teesside CTC has revived a historic tradition by erecting a CTC (Cycle Touring Club) winged plaque at the Duke of Wellington pub in Welbury.

The club said it is very grateful to the pub and its licensee Cheryl Gill for their help. Traditionally these signs were erected to highlight that the cycling community could use the facilities with confidence. The winged plaques were first used in the 1890s and only two original examples are known to exist in the area.

The CTC was formed in Harrogate in 1878 to promote the interests of the first cyclists, and in 1879, it began rating hotels and inns for their friendliness towards cyclists.

In 1888 it began placing 2ft diameter cast iron circular plaques on establishments that had its seal of approval.

If the CTC struck a very good deal with an establishment, it was proclaimed the club’s “quarters”, and the word was added to the top of the plaque.

There are only nine “quarters” plaques that survive in the country, with two in our region – one on the Half Moon in Lazenby, offering cyclists a drink on their way to the seaside at Saltburn, and the other on the Blackwell Ox at Carlton-in-Cleveland.