A really fascinating image this one, a little bit of research reveals that the picture was taken in Fisherton Street in Salisbury and the bikes are in front of Handel House music shop.
It's obviously a competition event from the competitor number armbands that the riders are sporting and it's early too. Being front on it's hard to see details on the bikes but I don't see a machine there that I would date later than 1910. On the left is a forecar, the forecar format was dropping from favour by 1905 and the last machines were made around 1907. The highest competitor number I can see is on the forecar and is 33, so a fairly large event for the time.
The Motor Cycling Club's Exeter and Lands End Trials both passed through Salisbury, the London-Exeter being first held in 1910 on Boxing day and the London-Lands End began in 1908 over the Easter weekend. Given the size of the event and the clothing the riders are wearing suggesting that it is not the very middle of winter I'm going to speculate that this image is of competitors in one of the very earliest of London Lands End London trials.
Just as an aside on the bikes, note that several have mascots tied on to the handlebars. A reminder - as with almost all images on this blog - the scans are high res, so right click and open the link in a new window and you can see them in all their glory.
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| A very early image of the London Lands End London trial? |
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