One critic turned to poetry to vent his anger at the behaviour of cyclists in Oxford.

Signing himself “JM, Westcote Barton Manor”, he wrote to Jackson’s Oxford Journal in 1894 protesting at how they dashed around the streets, putting pedestrians in mortal peril.

“JM” is believed to be the Rev Jenner Marshall who lived at the manor – his poem, to be sung to the tune of The Needy Knifegrinder, is published here.

It was uncovered by Peter Bowell of Deancourt Road, Dean Court, Oxford, who, as we reported last week, found interesting snippets in the newspaper about cyclists of yesteryear, many similar to complaints made today.

Police and magistrates at the time cracked down on cyclists who rode on footpaths. The newspaper reported in 1900 that Alexander Leslie Fletcher, described as a lad, of Norham Gardens, Oxford, was fined two shillings with nine shillings costs for riding on the path at Cumnor Hill.

An undergraduate at Balliol College, WF Black, faced a stiffer penalty – 14 shillings – for a similar offence near Botley and police spoke of having cautioned several others.

A year earlier, a councillor complained cyclists were often forced to ride on footpaths because of “potholes”. He suggested that when stones were laid on roads, three feet of unstoned road should be left for cyclists.

He said: “Cyclists have no right even to wheel their machines on footpaths, but a long stretch of newly-stoned road practically forces them to break the law.” His suggestion was rejected.

In 1893 the newspaper entered a debate about whether cyclists should be taxed.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer had dismissed any suggestion “to tax a form of locomotion which has been of such inestimable benefit to young men”.

But the paper reported that at a cycling dinner in Oxford, the idea of a bicycle tax was received with “approbation and applause”.

“In many quarters, the bicyclist is still looked upon as a nuisance; if there is an accident in which he and his machine are involved, the presumption is against him, and he believes that taxation would confer a status upon him which he does not at present possess.”

One reader expressed surprise after seeing a girl in a short skirt pushing her bicycle, writing: “Her well-cut skirt struck me as a little too short for walking purposes in this day of lengthy garments. As I was meditating on the subject, she suddenly mounted in a fashion which startled me – the cycle was of the masculine type with a crossbar.”

Not all reports were critical about cycling. The paper reported how members of the Oxonian Bicycle and Tricycle Club had had a run to Dean Court for a strawberry feast, with music from a banjo band.

“The return journey was commenced at about 9.30, the number of machines was 127, the cyclists including several ladies, and the machines carried Japanese lanterns and other lighted decorations, the appearance of which was as pretty as it was novel.

“Large numbers of people awaited the return of the procession in Botley Road, and along the route to St Giles and Cornmarket Street. We believe that other and similar trips are under consideration.”