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Retired reporter’s bike to be featured in museum

An aging bicycle used in reporting on some of the south coast’s biggest stories is being preserved for posterity, after a retired journalist donated it to a local museum.

Veteran reporter Adam Trimingham, who became known as the ‘Sage of Sussex’ for his work at The Argus in Brighton, bought the Carlton cycle for just £50 in 1975 and rode it to and from breaking news stories and other jobs until the day he retired.

It will now form part of an engineering exhibition at the British Engineerium in Hove, along with a life-size model of the highly-respected journalist.

Adam said that whereas he was the only cycling reporter in the 70s, when his colleagues preferred cars, Brighton is now a “cycling city.”

Said Adam:  “My colleagues could not believe it when I turned up on the bike, often dripping wet. This was before cycle lanes so it’s a lot easier and safer now.

“I’m bemused, totally bemused by it all. I’m not sure about people coming from far and wide to see me – maybe near and close might just cover it.”

This historic bike, used by veteran Argus reporter Adam Trimingham, will be featured in a Brighton museum

Adam retired in 2007 at the age of 61, having worked at the paper for 30 years and in journalism for 44 years. He was declared an honorary freeman of Brighton and Hove in recognition of his services to journalism and the city, and was congratulated in Parliament upon his departure after 14 MPs signed an Early Day Motion praising his “highest standards of professional integrity”.

The exhibition, which will form a small part of the Grade II listed museum, will also feature a story board of tales from Adam’s career, created using laser technology.

Among the stories will be how he once spent an entire day cycling the 30-mile round trip for a story, only to discover the person was not at home.

The bike was also used when he reported on the bombing of The Grand in 1984, and when he weaved his way to work between fallen trees after the Great Storm in 1987.

“I never actually crashed it but it got backed into once by a car and again by a bus,” Adam added.

“I also deliberately let it go rusty to put people off from stealing it.”

The British Engineerium is due to open permanently in two years.

Businessman Mike Holland, who is behind the plans, said the museum aimed to celebrate British engineering and Brighton and Hove’s contribution to it.

“Adam Trimingham has played a large part in recent history and the present as to what goes on in the city,” he said.