We said we couldn’t find the picture of the spirited cyclists who went on a long-distance ride for their hospital, but it has now come to light.

Oxford Mail photographer Chris Love captured the intrepid group as they set off from the Churchill Hospital at Headington in 1985.

As we reported (Memory Lane, September 15), 30 hospital staff and friends took to the roads to cycle 50 miles to Henley and back.

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There may have been plenty of hills, potholes and other hazards to contend with on the way, but they all managed to complete the challenge.

By the end of the journey, they were £1,000 nearer buying an infusion pump for the Osler Chest Unit, leaving just £200 to find.

Staff nurse Bridget Organ told the Oxford Mail afterwards: “Hopefully, we should be able to make up the rest of the money from the wards’ funds.

“The response we had from sponsors was absolutely magnificent. Some cyclists were getting up to £70 each.

“Some people hadn’t ridden a bike for years and I think all of us suffered for it afterwards.”

The cyclists included nurses, a doctor, two physiotherapists, boyfriends, husbands and friends.

The infusion pump, which they planned to buy with the money, was used to control the amount of drugs fed into the blood stream of patients.

The Churchill Hospital is a centre of excellence for cancer services and other specialties, including renal services and transplant, clinical and medical oncology, dermatology, haemophilia, chest medicine and palliative care.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.