Sunderland stalwart hangs up saddle after 42 years of Kelly's Cycles in Chester Road

But, at 77-years-old, great-grandma Dot Ratcliffe has finally decided to retire and close the doors of Kelly’s Cycles in Chester Road.

There’s few shopkeepers in the city who can lay claim to serving three generations of the same family, but Dot has become a much-loved character on the local high street, still doing all the bike repairs herself, sometimes with the same tools she’s used for four decades.

It was on May 13, 1981 that Dot and her husband Luke Kelly Ratcliffe, whose middle name inspired the name of the shop, opened their cycle retail and repair shop on the bottom of Chester Road.

Luke passed away in 2000, but Dot was determined to keep the family business going and utilised the precise skills passed on to her by her bike enthusiast husband who ran the Kelly’s Heroes BMX Club in the 80s.

Such is her reputation, that many call Dot “Kelly”, people bring her presents of bike trinkets they’ve seen out and about which line the shelf in the shop and she even gets spotted on holiday, once doing someone’s gears in Ibiza after someone recognised her.

Dot said: “We had a shop around the corner for a year at first and it became more and more popular. My husband saw that cycling was a thing of the future and we bought the shop on Chester Road. Back then, there was a real community of shops at the bottom of Chester Road, it was like a little family, but now there’s only Raymond from Oriental Experience and Scolli’s left from back then.”

She added: “Cycling has really grown over the years, people don’t use them to just cycle to work anymore, they use them for pleasure. My husband was so passionate about bikes and people would say ‘there’s no repair Luke can’t do’.”

Luke passed on everything he knew to his wife.

"People come and say where’s the man who fixes the bike and I say ‘you’re looking at him’,” said Dot.

There’s been a wave of well wishes since Dot decided to hang up her tyre levers and announce her retirement with customers filling in her retirement book and bringing in presents.

"It’s mixed emotions,” says Dot. “I only do four days a week now but I love being here, it’s really homely and people come in and have a proper chat. I think people like that I explain what needs doing and we’re not overpriced.”

Kelly’s Cycles’ last day of trading was on Wednesday, September 6.

She’s now planning to spend more time with her children, Sharon, Julie, Ann and Thomas, grandchildren Ashleigh, Luke, Kelly and Eli and great grandchildren Halle, Ava and Alfie. Though no doubt she’ll still be asked to do the odd repair every now and then.