Profiles

Despite being arguably the greatest woman cyclist ever, Beryl Burton, remains little known outside of Yorkshire and the cycling fraternity. She was a formidable athlete and able to compete with many of her male peers.

Born Beryl Charnock in Leeds in 1937, she was a sickly child. She suffered from St Vitus' Dance and rheumatic fever, which her spend a large amount of time in hospitals and convalescent homes. She had difficulty with her speech and was temporarily paralysed down one side of her body. All this affected her education and she left school at 15 and went to work.

It was working in the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle (an area encompassing Morley, Rothwell and other villages towards Wakefield famed for its rhubarb production) that she met Charlie Burton, her future husband. He introduced her to serious cycling, quickly spotting her potential and giving up his own competitive targets to act as her trainer. They married in 1955 when she was just 17. In 1957 she came second in the national 100-mile championship, announcing herself to the world of competitive cycling in no uncertain terms. Two years later she won the first of her five gold medals for the 3,000 metres individual pursuit, a feat repeated in 1960, 1962, 1963 and 1966. In addition she won a further three silver and three bronze medals in this event.

Beryl Burton

Even though technology and professional training has improved over the intervening years, no woman has ridden faster than Burton over distances of 25, 50 and 100 miles and she is still the holder of the 12 hour record (277.25 miles, set in 1967). Her 1967 assault on the 12-hour time trial was the more remarkable for the fact that she was pitted against men, and the distance she covered in that time was 5 3/4 miles further than the British men's record at that time. Cycling folklore has it that as she passed the leading man she offered him a stick of liquorice as "the poor dear seemed to be struggling a bit".

Beryl Burton was appointed MBE in 1964 and advanced to OBE in 1968. In 1978 she was seriously injured when she was knocked off her bicycle and broke her right leg and shoulder blade as well as suffering lacerations to her face which needed 56 stitches. However it wasn't long before Beryl was back in the saddle.

By 1984 Burton was 47 but age hadn't put her off from competing in the inaugural Women's Tour de France introduced that year. Unfortunately for her, cycling's ruling body in the UK decided she didn't have any road racing qualifications for that year (she'd limited herself to time trials) they blocked her entry. Later a selected rider dropped out and Beryl was asked, at the last minute, to step in. Using typical Yorkshire bluffness she told the authorities just what they could do with the belated offer!

The individual time trial is a relatively recent addition to Olympic & World Championship cycling. If Burton had been given that opportunity then her impressive haul of seven World Championships could have been many more, not to mention the possible Olympic honours.

Burton won the British Womens' Best All Rounder competition 25 consecutive years from 1959 to 1984. That impressive tally is dwarfed though, by the 122 National Championships won by Burton.

One story about Beryl sums her up the best. Later in her career she rode for Knaresborough CC, and would head up to the North Yorkshire town for celebratory dinners (usually to pick up a trophy or two) and at the end would change from her evening wear into her cycling gear to cycle back to Morley!

Her daughter, Denise, was also a top female cyclist. Indeed, mother and daughter were both selected to represent Great Britain in the 1972 world championship. Official British recognition of her sporting achievements included an MBE in 1964 and an OBE in 1968. Burton also won UK cycling's top accolade, the Bidlake Memorial Prize, a record three times, in 1959, 1960 and 1967.

Beryl Burton died of heart failure during a training ride shortly before her 59th birthday in 1996. Two years later Morley honoured its favourite daughter with an impressive mural in her own memorial garden, just off Queen Street.