About

‘One of the biggest attractions to being a despatch rider, is simply the magic of London. Getting to know it in every way: roads, buildings, people, drama. You saw it all like very few other professions.’ (Former motorcycle courier, personal correspondence, 7 Feb 2023)

This PhD emerged from regularly riding pillion on a motorbike, hastily weaving its way through the arteries of London, to an active pursuit retrieving and uncovering the world and experiences of motorcycle despatch riders. This study will focus on the motorcycle courier industry in London, a precursor to the gig economy, from the late 1970s to 2000, a boom period for the same-day delivery service (Lomas and Worth, 2020). There is an urgency in recording the lived experiences of riders still around who can recall their ‘halcyon days’ on the front line in an industry and city that has now changed beyond recognition: the London despatch rider is a ‘dying breed’.

The work of the courier is predominantly situated within the urban environment, navigating road systems, traffic, and pedestrians, involving the movement of people and goods. As forms of personal and collective expression, urban mobilities display forms of cultural identity and meaning (Jensen, 2009) but studies in this field to date have largely ignored the role of the motorcycle, focusing predominantly on the car and bicycle. As the rider above illustrates, motorcycle despatchers were more than just an occupational subcultural movement (Stewart et al, 2020) but witnesses of and contributors to London’s urban history.

The project will use a distinct methodology encompassing mobile methods, oral histories, and material culture analysis. The project outcomes will include a body of material constituting an archive to be deposited with a suitable, publicly accessible collection; and an interactive digital story map co-created with consenting research participants.