Work on the Clays of Rastrick has been set back a little by the acquisition of RootsMagic 8. The program is a major upgade on 7 and is taking some getting used to. But today a search for more Clay information turned up a totally unexpected and curious connection between a female Belgian cyclist and Filey’s own “wheel world” champion.

The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer of 29 September 1910 carried a report on flights made at Burton Aerodrome. Present in the crowd were Mr A J CLAY, managing director of Bass & Company (the Brewers), and Wilfred and Arthur Clay. The Rastrick and Filey Clays were in a quite different line of business and I don’t think the two families are connected. (Rastrick is over ninety miles north of Burton upon Trent.)

It was not until twenty minutes past three that Mdlle. Dutrieu’s Farman biplane was wheeled out of the hangars, and shortly afterwards M. de Lesseps entered the arena with his beautiful Bleriot racer, his appearance being signalled by a cheer.

Miss Dutrieu had a long life filled with adventure, excitement and achievement – but this is minimally represented on the FamilySearch Shared Tree. You will learn more about her at the Smithsonian, and more still here.

In 1895, Helene “gained the women’s world record for distance cycled in one hour”, thirteen years after Filey-born Herbert Liddell CORTIS was the first man to cycle over twenty miles in sixty minutes.

A couple of months before the Girl Hawk soared over Burton, Robert BLACKBURN opened his Flying School at Filey. I wonder if she visited the town.

Metal 18 · Arndale Piles