Had a Raleigh bike for the 3 years I lived in England.... sure put some 'miles' on that thing... rode it all over the place over there... at least by kids standards...think I went thru a pair of tires each year off of it..
it was given to an English neighbor who needed a new bike to ride to work.. his only method of transportation ( which was real common back in the 60s).. he had worn out his old bike...
my parents didn't want to ship it back to the states, so I got a new bike when we got back stateside...
mine was a three speed, which in today's world of 15 and 20 speeds, kinda sounds pretty basic...