Few 200-year-old hobby horses have survived. So replicas were built by cycle enthusiasts to enjoy the sensations that would have been experienced by the original pioneers. There were no pedals in those days. To move forwards, the rider sat astride of the machine and walked it along, and then coasted once they had built up sufficient speed. It was known as ‘Swift-walking’.
This hobby horse was built by Bill Haylor of Copthorne, East Sussex in the 1970s. Bill is now in a care home, aged 96, and I bought it from a friend of his daughter.
It’s in excellent all round condition and ready to ride (actually to ‘swift walk’). You can see me taking it for a spin in the video further down the page. While it might not be the type of machine you would think of using to pop down to Tesco or to the pub to watch the football, once you put on a top hat and propel it along the street you’d be amazed how well received it is by other road users…
View in the Online Bicycle Museum
BICYCLE COLLECTORS CURATED ONLINE AUCTION, Summer 2026
This Timed Auction is live. Highest bid wins.
NO BUYERS or SELLERS PREMIUM.
THE RESERVE IS THE START PRICE + BUY-IT-NOW OPTION.
INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY: NO PACKING FEES.
BIDDING INCREMENTS: Up to £1000 = £10. Over £1000 = £50. Over £2000 = £100
IT’S A CURATED AUCTION – Colin is the auctioneer and is available to chat to you personally during the auction (or before) by email, text message, phone call, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
