Walter Greaves (cyclist)

Walter William Greaves (April–June 1907– 1987) was a British cyclist who set the world record for distance ridden in a year - despite having only one arm and falling off numerous times. Greaves rode 45,383 miles (73,037 km) in 1936.

Personal life

Greaves was born in 1907, his birth was registered in the North Bierley district, Yorkshire. He lived with his mother in Newlands Place, Undercliffe, Bradford. He lost an arm in a road accident when he was 14. One account says his father owned a car with running boards. His father was driving after drinking and Greaves opened the door, stood on the running board ready to jump, but was hit by a tram. His arm was so damaged that it was amputated below the elbow. Other accounts said that he had hung the arm out of a train window.

He developed an interest in communism which did little to help him find work as an engineer. According to the historian John Naylor, Greaves was unemployed and according to some, almost destitute. Unemployment in Bradford was high but "his reputation as a lefty troublemaker made employers reluctant to take him on". Tim Teale, a Leeds cyclist who knew Greaves said "Walter tried to make you sign up for the young communists but nobody took much notice".

Walter Greaves

Walter Greaves may refer to:

Walter Greaves (artist)

Walter Greaves (4 July 1846 – 28 November 1930) was a British painter, etcher and topographical draftsman.

Biography

The son of Charles William Greaves, a Chelsea boat builder and waterman, and his wife, Elizabeth Greenway, Greaves was born in 1846 at 31 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. His father had been J. M. W. Turner's boatman. Greaves and one of his brothers, Henry Greaves (1844–1904), met Whistler in 1863, introducing him to the sights of the River Thames, and becoming his studio assistants, pupils and close friends for over 20 years. The American painter later used these Thames expeditions for inspiration when painting his ‘nocturne’ views of the river at night. "He taught us to paint", Walter Greaves said, "and we taught him the waterman's jerk". Walter Greaves had initially trained as a shipwright and boatman.

The most famous of Greaves' paintings is Hammersmith Bridge on Boat-Race Day, a naïve masterpiece which he claimed to have painted when he was aged sixteen in 1862; however, since he was unreliable over dates, its history has never been settled. The Greaves brothers accompanied Whistler to life class and Walter Greaves attempted to paint portraits, some of his most successful being of their neighbour Thomas Carlyle, whom Whistler also painted. Greaves also drew and painted Whistler, sometimes in caricature, in Chelsea settings and in characteristic moods. In 1876 the Greaves brothers helped Whistler decorate the Peacock Room (now in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), for the shipowner Frederick Leyland.