Marjorie Cottle

Miss Marjorie Cottle (1900 - 1987) was an English professional motorcycle racer. Her greatest success was the International Six Days Trial of 1927, in which the British Ladies' Team won the International Silver Vase. The trials were held in the Lake District, and attracted a large number of competitors.

Motorsport bicycle maker Raleigh Bicycle Company, which was still manufacturing motorcycles during the 1920s, provided a lightweight machine to Marjorie Cottle, a leading motorcycle sports rider and then probably Britain's best known female motorcyclist, to use on a well-publicized 1,400 mile journey around the country. One retailer’s journal, The Garage and Motor Agent, was particularly enthusiastic about Miss Cottle's promotional activities on behalf of the motorcycle industry. She was, it declared, “undoubtedly one of the trade's most useful propagandists.” Not only did she demonstrate that physical strength was not crucial for operating a motorcycle but this magazine was especially impressed with “the fact that Miss Cottle always manages to look nice when engaged in her exploits, and not the least like a professional motor cyclist.” In that way she “produces the best possible impression on the public” (Jones 532). Marjory (or Marjorie) Cottle was one of Britain's best known motorcyclists in the 1920s. She competed regularly in races and reliability trials, and was considered to be one of the best riders in the country – male or female. According to a recent article by motorcycling journalist Steve Koerner:

Auto Cycle Union selects as British B squad for the International Six Days Trial (ISDT) the team of female riders Marjorie Cottle, Louise MacLean and Edyth Foley. Because of the 1925 ban on road events, sand-track racing develops popularity in the UK (continued until 1939).

In August 1927, the News of the World carried a picture of Cottle, Edyth Foley, Miss Louise MacLean and two other leading female motorcyclists, Mrs M Grenfell and the appropriately named Mrs Spokes. The five were described as "the British ladies who triumphed in the International Trials" on 20 August. This was presumably the International Six Days' Trial of 1927, in which the British Ladies' Team won the International Silver Vase. The trials were held in the Lake District, and attracted a large number of competitors

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