Penny-farthing the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport. Eugène Meyer of Paris, France is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle by the International Cycling History Conference in place of James Starley. Meyer patented a wire-spoke tension wheel with individually adjustable spokes in 1869. They were called "spider" wheels in Britain when introduced there. Meyer produced a classic high bicycle design during the 1880s. James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes and the mounting step to his famous bicycle
Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food into the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. All departments were given their own Secretaries of State. In May 2002, the Local Government and the Regions portfolios were separated from Transport and given to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which in turn became the Department for Communities and Local Government in May 2006. From 1997 to 2001, the Ministers of State with responsibility for Transport were: John Reid attended cabinet meetings, but was not formally a member of the cabinet, whereas Gavin Strang was given a seat in the