What did Denis Johnson green plaque do at 69-75 Long Acre?

The Story

# 69-75 Long Acre: Where the Hobby-Horse Was Born Standing before this modest stretch of Long Acre in Covent Garden, you're standing at the birthplace of British cycling—though Denis Johnson himself might have called it something far less grand. From his workshop nestled among these buildings in 1819, this entrepreneurial craftsman revolutionized personal transport by manufacturing and hawking Britain's first bicycles, known then as hobby-horses: wooden-framed contraptions with two wheels and no pedals, propelled by the rider's feet pushing against the ground. Johnson didn't invent the hobby-horse—a German baron had already created the concept—but he transformed it from curiosity into commodity, recognizing its commercial potential and flooding London's streets with affordable versions that ignited a craze among the city's leisured classes. This workshop wasn't merely a place of production; it was the launchpad for an entirely new industry and a moment when London's bustling commercial heart became the unlikely epicenter of a transportation revolution that would eventually lead, through countless innovations, to the bicycles we ride today.