The bicycle & courting
> The bicycle has been called the greatest contribution to the health of the working classes ever: it allowed courting outside the home village for the first time
This is a myth, according to Prof. Kevin Schurer (University of Essex Dept. of History) who knows far more about these things than any normal person should!
People married outside their village plenty in the Tudor period - there were exceptions of course, in particular communities, but in most places people would commonly marry up to 100 miles away... although rarely in the NEXT-DOOR village, oddly - presumably because of local rivalries!
(Have summed-up years of Prof. Schurer's research in a few lines - hope I haven't misrepresented it too much!)