June Raw (Pitchford), 1941-2024

Some of you may already have seen on social media that June Raw (June Pitchford prior to her second marriage) has sadly died. For those who don’t know much about June, here’s a brief explainer:

June was a very significant figure in the club’s history, one of the most talented racing cyclists to have worn our colours. Indeed, she was probably amongst the best racing cyclists this country has produced, who had the competitive misfortune of having a career that overlapped with that of Beryl Burton. Beryl was rather like Eddy Merckx; if you came second in anything during the years that Beryl was competing, you were as good as a champion in any other era. Placed in that context, June’s ‘palmares’ is truly outstanding (see the end of this post for details).

June wasn’t just an excellent racing cyclist, though. She was a lovely person. In fact, I suspect that if she’d been a bit nastier, a bit more selfish and ruthless, she’d have won even more than she did. From the stories she told, I had a strong sense that, important though winning undoubtedly was to June, it was merely part of a much broader goal: to enjoy everything that cycling had to offer. She loved to go touring, and when she wasn’t away, she would ride all day with friends – not doing hard or structured training miles, just enjoying herself, exploring the countryside and whiling away time sitting in the grass. She loved to chat, and could see the bright or funny side of almost any situation. She was generous in her encouragement of others, taking real pleasure in the shared dimension of team successes. And the only time I heard June speak negatively about a rival was because that person had been cold or unkind to someone else.

June was twenty years or more my senior, and she left the Beacon before I joined. So I didn’t know her in her prime. However, I met her a number of times later on. When I was working on our 75th anniversary souvenir booklet, I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon sitting in the sun outside a café (that she’d ridden to, of course, at the age of almost eighty) listening to her reminisce about her cycling career. If you’d like to read the outcome of that interview, you’ll find it on page 15 of the booklet, available in PDF form here.

I’ve made an attempt to compile June’s palmares, but I may very well have missed a few things out. Most of her wins were achieved when she wasn’t a Beacon member, but all the team titles and a handful of the individual titles were secured in red, white and green, and she was always a great friend to the club, even when riding for clubs closer to home.

– 3 times women’s British Best All-Rounder (the ‘league championship’ of time-trialling)
– 2 times women’s national 50-mile champion
– 6 times women’s national 100-mile champion
– 3 times women’s national 25-mile team champion
– 3 times women’s national 50-mile team champion
– 3 times women’s national 100-mile team champion
– 3 times women’s team BBAR
– 1 time women’s competition record-breaker at 10 miles
– 1 time women’s competition record-breaker at 15 miles
– 1 time women’s tandem competition record-breaker at 30 miles
– 2 times women’s team competition record-breaker at 10 miles
– 2 times women’s team competition record-breaker at 30 miles
– 1 time women’s team competition record-breaker at 50 miles

So long and farewell, June. A life well lived.

George Barker, Beacon RCC President, 30 August 2024

June’s funeral will take place on 27 September at Fladbury. If you would like to attend, please contact for full details and so that George can pass on information on numbers to June’s family. Donations to the RNLI are welcome on the day or online here.