Hugh Porter Given Freedom of the City (Wolverhampton)

Story posted May 2

Wolverhampton’s TV and event commentator and former world champion cyclist, Hugh Porter, was formally presented with his ornate casket and scroll marking his receipt of the Freedom of the City in a ceremony in the mayor’s parlour recently. The presentation was made by the Mayor, Councillor Christine Mills, who outlined Hugh’s many triumphs as a multiple world cycling champion, and as a commentator on the sport since 1984.


Above: Hugh gets his freedom of the City! Photo: Wolverhampton City Council.

The civic lunch which celebrated Hugh’s many achievements was attended by representatives of all the council’s political parties, the council’s chief executive, Richard Carr, local MPs, Lord Bilston, and Hugh’s many friends from the cycling fraternity. Hugh was accompanied at the lunch by his wife, the former Olympic gold medallist swimmer Anita Lonsbrough, and by members of his family.

“I am incredibly proud of my Wolverhampton roots,” said Hugh. “And I tell you what, I’ll never, ever leave the area. I can also tell you that Anita and I have been having a friendly competition for years about the number of honours which we’ve shared since our competitive sporting days. She has a block of flats named after her in Huddersfield, and I’ve got the entry road to Aldersley Village named after me, but we’re both agreed that my being made a Freeman of Wolverhampton is the supreme honour out of the whole lot. Nothing could possibly match it.”

Past recipients of the Freedom of the City include Olympic gold medallist athlete Denise Lewis in 2000, Wolverhampton Wanderers owner Sir Jack Hayward in 2003, and Lord Bilston in 2006. Eligibility for the honour is confined to “persons of distinction and any persons who have rendered eminent services to the city.”