A Kirkstall Road cycle shop has commissioned a life-sized mural of Beryl Burton OBE, the Leeds-born champion racing cyclist.
Her image, along with husband Charlie and daughter, Denise, can be seen on the gable end of Woodrup Cycle’s Kirkstall Road shop.
The stencilled street art mural was created by Bristol-based artist, Stewy. In 2014 Stewy produced a set of murals to celebrate the Tour de France’s Yorkshire Grand Depart. His work can be seen in towns and cities in both the UK and Europe.
Tony Woodrup, who heads the family-run business, said:
“We were delighted when Stewy first approached us. It’s an honour.
“Beryl was an all-time great. If she’d been born a few decades later everyone would know her name. In the early days of her career, my dad built a number of racing frames for her, so it’s great to have that link with the shop renewed.
“And of course the street art will be seen by thousands of people every day, helping to perpetuate the name of an outstanding – and often overlooked – champion Yorkshire cyclist.”
Beryl Burton was born in Halton in 1937. Despite being diagnosed with a heart defect and told not to exercise, she took up cycling in her teens. She combined being a working mum with training and, competing both at home and abroad, pedalled her way to 90 domestic and seven world titles.
Beryl regularly beat male competitors at the top of their game. Her 12-hour record, set in 1967, of 227.25 miles, remains unbroken.
Established for over 60 years, Woodups is a family-run business now into its third generation under the management of father and son team, Steve and Anthony.
Based on Kirkstall Road, their shop, which covers every aspect of cycling, was hit by the Boxing Day floods in 2015.
As reported by The Disptch last Tuesday, Woodrups recently completed the purchase of the vacant premises next door and have submitted plans to extend their downstairs showroom in Burley and make further internal modifications to create additional sales space upstairs.
The expansion work will cost £250,000 and increase retail space by a third.
Woodrups aims to create a cycling hub offering more than just sales and repairs. A portion of the new space will offer static bike ‘smart’ trainers which enable users to ride up some of the Tour de France’s major climbs – while still in Burley.
Tony added:
“This is not just a major vote of confidence for their own business, it’s also a shot in the arm for the Kirkstall Road commercial area, where many businesses are still recovering from the 2015 Boxing Day floods.”
Nice to see a business I have known for many still flourishing.
One small point – Beryl Burton’s 12 hour record is 277.25 miles.