In 1904, Louisa Llewellin from Holloway, north London, invented a rather alarming item of protective clothing. Her lady's glove had sharp steel talons fitted at the end of the fingers for "self defence and other purposes and more especially for the use of ladies who travel alone and are therefore liable to be assailed by thieves and others".Inventiveness and smart ideas abounded, yet many of the women responsible for them are not remembered. Thomas Cook might have invented the notion of travel for all so that he could get people to temperance meetings, but here was another intoxicating leap forward for female independence. Manuals began to appear especially for the travelling woman, with titles such as A Few Words of Advice on Travelling and its Requirements: Addressed to Ladies by a Lady. Women might be out and about, but there was no need to end up looking a fright.They say that travel broadens the mind, and the building of the railways was another significant factor in women's emancipation. The trouble with the bicycle is that it got women out, it made them physically fitter and stronger, and they began loosening their clothes to feel more comfortable.

Thundering articles in the press warned these "loose women" of the path of destruction they were pedalling along. Refusal to hold themselves in with corsetry, and the mere act of their feet being in motion, would lead catastrophically to a generation of small, sickly babies, said the men who professed to know about such things. Each revolution of a bicycle wheel threatened the very evolution of the human race.Too exhilarated by bouncing across cobbled streets to care, the women pedalled on. Indeed, they even came up with ideas to make cycling more comfortable. Determined to travel in all weathers and to all places, Clarissa Jay of Adelaide, Australia patented an umbrella that attached to the handlebars of her bike. Lady Mabel Lindsay from Abingdon invented a cycle rack that enabled seven bikes to be transported at once. Not only did she want the freedom to pedal, she wanted to take her friends along for the ride Of course, it wasn't entirely without feminine frippery.

Clara Moore from Yorkshire, who described herself as a "professional hair curler", came up with a band of fake curls that could be worn under a hat in case your own hair became dishevelled in the wind. Their tight corsets and long skirts hampered any freedom of movement and discouraged them from leaving home and hearth. They earnt more money than their husbands, which made them highly independent and, I'm afraid, a rather vociferous group. I can't go through Luton today without symbolically tipping my hat to them.For men, the invention of the bicycle in the 1880s almost proved too much. Until then, women had been restricted not just socially and legally, but physically too.