Riding High

Claude Dampier is now long forgotten.He used to play rather gormless characters.He had a substantial career on the music halls and in radio.Probably best remembered on screen for his role in Boys will be Boys starring Will Hay.Here he is actually one of the leading characters.The film is set in Victorian Times when bicycling had become all the rage.John Garrick is the village blacksmith who has invented and built a new kind of bike to enter in a race.His competitors will stop at nothing to prevent him competing in the race,firstly destroying the bike then objecting to his riding as he is an artisan.So Dampier steps in and rides the bike.The race resembles something out of a Will Hay or George Formby film.Generally quite entertaining.