Darwin took the best part of 20 years to publish his ideas on natural selection. There has been a lot of speculation as to why he took so long. We here at the Sandwalk have some ideas….
Although bicycles, as we know them, were still a decade or two off, in the early 1850s there were various forms of velocipedes with experimental modes for generating movement. Darwin may have come across some. Presumably, if bikes had been around at this time he would have been a mountain-biker, going off the beaten tracks to investigate bits of natural history. The Sandwalk, where Darwin liked to amble and ponder over his ideas, would have made for a nice place to warm up. Add in some jumps and stream crossings and it would be ideal.
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