Arthur Cocksedge

A member of the Northampton Polytechnic Institute, Arthur Cocksedge was part of their successful Adams Shield team in the 1920s for the National Team Championship. Additionally, Cocksedge was the individual British champion in 1920 and was therefore selected for the Antwerpen Olympics that year. He won the Metropolis and Southern Counties (M&SC) Championship in 1922, when he won all disciplines except the horizontal bar, which, ironically, was the piece of apparatus he was best at.

Cocksedge was selected for the 1924 Paris Olympics but, along with Northampton team-mate Bill Bolt, Birmingham’s Ted Warren, and A. B. Smith of Swansea, the four did not compete. He was, however, that year elected as a representative on to the M&SC. Cocksedge had a clever knowledge of the sport and was very fit, and continued giving displays with the Northampton team into his late-30s.