Bike-Rail at Dore & Bamford

Being on strike yesterday as I was and not being one for the picket line, took the opportunity for a bit of bike-rail. 

The new Park and Ride site at Dore is full and people are starting to park on verges and local side roads, but the bike racks aren't quite (yet) So, time to encourage a bit of walking, cycling and use of PT to get to the site?

Here are some things that could be done to make it easier to get there sustainably.

There's a bridleway up to Cavendish Rd in Dore that could be upgraded and signed linking into a bike route. A footpath continues up to the village centre - too narrow for cyling but could be better signed as a walking route, with a bike route around the quiet residential streets.

The bridleways through Ecclesall Woods, my favourite route to Dore station from Greystones, could be signed as a route to Dore Station and some sensitive improvements made to make cycling a bit easier.

The no. 70 bus to Dore should be extended down to the station, at least at peak times - maybe the 505, that goes as far as Millhouses as well?

Cycling along Abbeydale Road along this busy stretch is horrible and an off-road alternative is badly needed.

 Car parked on expensively laid grass verges at Dore P+R. How about fining these vandals?

 Still some space in the bike racks.

I fell foul of the gap in the Hope Valley train schedule, arriving for the non-existent 11:14, so pedalled out to Bamford for my next stop. There have been some improvements here: A "Harrington Hump" has been installed, which makes it easier for disabled people to get and off the train (Not cyclists sadly, as the cycle space is at the other end of the train usually)

A ramp has been installed for access to the westbound platform, making it easier for both cyclists and disabled people to use the trains. I'm not sure when this was done but it has weathered in superbly, making it look as though it was part of the original Victorian construction. 

 

There was a well-provisioned information board as well. 
 

I got the train to Marple, forced my way up the hill to the canal (it's steep!)  and pedalled along to Romiley where I got on Route 55, making my way via the Connect2 bridge over the Goyt back to Marple. The intention was to check out an alignment for NCN6 through the town - a link to the Middlewood Way at Rose Hill seems the most viable.Made my way back along the Peak Forest canal, through Bugsworth Basin, and the train home from Chinley where there is no assistance for you to get your bike across the bridge to the platform. Not that strenuous a day but I was knackered when I got home!

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so" - Mark Twain

Pickles is Revolting

This is in response to Eric Pickles latest drive to destroy our towns and cities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24291467

I find Eric Pickles revolting in every sense - to look at, and I think his opinions and actions are revolting as well. I'm not exactly Mr. Thin either but at least I try to balance out the beer & pies with a bit of physical activity. I can't think of a former "Communities Minister" who was so intent on destroying communities (& the environment - see http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jul/12/ancient-woodland-kent-quarry-site-hermitage - if it goes to appeal I'm sure he will allow Smithy Wood to be turned into a motorway service as well.) Mind you we knew what was coming - he made his name destroying Bradford as a civic entity when he was council leader there, which it has taken the city at least ten years to recover from.

He's obviously not stupid though  -he is playing a crafty political game of starving councils of funds, particularly Labour ones, and criticising them when they raise funds through other means to gain and electoral advantage. His systematic destruction of local authority systems also means that other governments departments can offer local authorities funds for initiatives that they are simple incapable of taking up because they do not have the resources to manage the projects and leave them to be publicly humiliated.

Working with local authorities can be very frustrating and there is no doubt that they are in need of reform, but this is not the way to do it. 

The tour, OK - but what is North Yorkshire really doing to promote cycling?

Much is being made of the Tour coming to Yorkshire next year - but campaigners have been saying that N. Yorks isn't doing enough to promote cycling for some time. Well you might say, the county is basically a huge field, criss-crossed with country lanes and a few picturesque towns, does anything really need doing?

Here are a couple of things that could be done reasonable cheaply:

The old Wensleydale railway alignment  runs from Hawes to Garsdale on a level gradient - why not convert this into a cycle track? The Wensleydale Railway may have ambitions to run to Garsdale but this is going to take a long time and there should be room for both.

The current alternative involves dropping down into the Dale on a busy road and climbing up again - hardly conducive to leisure cycling. Most of the cyclists you will see in the Dales National park are of the lycra-clad variety, either roadies or MTB'ers - there isn't anywhere for cycling softies. Hawes meanwhile is clogged with traffic on a summer's day.

Then, there's Wharfedale - a stunning river valley running from above Hawes down to Ilkley and beyond. There is a network of quiet roads you can use for a ride up or down the Dale - but the sting in the tail is, when you get to the back of Bolton Abbey there's a very stiff climb that drops you off on a fast trunk road. A footpath with a stern "no cycling sign" takes a more level route. Meanwhile the main road on the other side of the valley carries the visitors to Bolton Abbey and is not at all cycle-friendly.

How about a a family cycling route along the Wharfe? This could even start at Ilkley, making use of the alignment of the former Ilkley - Skipton railway, partly used by the Embsay steam railway, but severed by the main road - another of lack of concern about saving roads for more sustainable modes of transport.

Notably neither N. Yorks nor the Dales applied for the recent Government funding round, suggesting that despite the buzz around the TdeF cycling isn't really on their radar.  

A Summer of cycling in pix

Just a few pix from the summer of cycling - no particular point to them! 

Signing the interim NCN6 route across Burbage and into the Hope Valley. Funding has now been announced to make this a permanent route 

 The new-ish cycle parking at Sheffield Station

 A spectacular display on Burbage Moor

 Setting off for Wentworth on the re-opened Cobweb Bridge...

 ..and further along the Five Weirs Walk...

 ...and having made it there!

 A tram-train at Nantes. Tram-trains are coming to Sheffield soon - but not carrying bikes. (This one didn't either, as far as I could see)

 Sables D'Olonne. The corniche has been made one-way, with half the carriageway given over to bikes. 

 Enthusiasm for bikes in the French countryside

 A Greenway in Limousin - former railway. Greenways have sprung up all over France  - proper ones with hard surfaces. 

 Sustrans Ranger ride in July

 A new crossing of Blonk St taking shape. 

 David Bocking tackles the Heart-Burster, Bingham Park

New signage at Rother Valley - part of the Connect2 scheme. 

Pix from the Grand Prix

 A lone rider heads for the start line

The men's race kicks off

In Praise of Late Trains

View Langley Mill to Ingleby Wild Swimming Spot in a larger map

Well if it hadn't been for the tardiness of certain trains yesterday my day out would have been a lot less convenient. Having left the house a little too late for the 11:03 Nottingham train, and hurtled down the hill at quite possibly my fastest time ever, notwithstanding a road closure on Psalter Lane, I was relieved to find on getting to the station footbridge that the train was not even waiting on the platform, not to mention just setting off towards the station throat in that annoying way they have. So I had time to catch my breath and gulp some water before it ambled in.

My destination was Langley Mill - now why on earth would you go there, I hear you say? Well, Northern services to Nottingham will be terminating there over the summer, while the Lace City's station is rebuilt and remodelled, so I thought I would check out the cycling options. Many years ago I enjoyed a ride up the Erewash Canal, so I thought I would see how it has fared since then.

Disembarking at Langley Mill, the first thing to note is that there are some pretty steep step to get out of the station, so you need to be able to carry your bike down. There is a ramp on the Northbound side, although the National Rail site says there isn't.

The road below the station is pretty busy, but just about cyclable, and the canal basin is a few hundred yards to the east past a giant ASDA. There is this rather nice houseboat in the basin which is for sale.





The Erewash canal is a truncated section of the Cromford canal, which you can pick up again at Ambergate to go up to Cromford - a slightly more scenic section of the cut. I don't know whether the filled-in section is negotiable by cycle but I suspect not easily.

To head south from the basin bump down the steps under the road bridge and away you go. The first part is not in particularly good condition but it improves as you head south - it's part of the Erewash valley trail and NCN67 comes in north of Sandiacre at which point it gets really good (I haven't tried that bit of 67 which goes up to Shipley Country Park, but plan to some day - 67 of course passes through Sheffield on it's way to Chesterfield, but there's a missing link south of the Twisted Spire)




Further south the path takes to the flood wall for a section.






At Sandiacre there's a handsome mill that has been converted into apartments



At Long Eaton NCN67 leaves the canal to commune with NCN6, but it's worthwhile continuing down to the canal to Trent Junction, a remarkable place where the Trent, the Derwent and a couple of canals converge while the railway passes over. There is a pub and cafe here and you can take river cruises.



I retraced my pedals and came off at Long Eaton, crossing the canal and taking NCN6 towards Derby.
This passes through a large park, which the first time I went through was looking rather derelict and forlorn, but now looks very well kept up and well used. I reflected that a bit of civic pride can go a long way towards restoring the morale of a population - sadly the current government sets no store by such things and we can expect another decline in the urban landscape as civic budgets are cut.

I followed the route of 6, passing a fund-raiser for the restoration of the disused canal along which the bike route passes, before negotiating the "tricky section" around Borrowash and getting onto the banks of the  Derwent  for the run into Derby. Bypassing the centre I turned south for the route  towards Leicester, using this for the trip to Ingleby I had planned. I can't praise the bike routes in Derby enough - nice wide paths, good surfaces, well maintained and no barriers to speak of. There is evidence of past misdemeanours but these have been well cleaned up.

My destination was a wild swimming place that was mentioned in the Observer recently. I didn't go in but it is certainly a bucolic spot




& the caves, which have religious connotations, are interesting:-




Leaving this tarnished paradise at 4, I gave myself 2 1/2 hours to get back to Langley Mill. Things didn't quite go as planned - I made good time through Derby but got slightly lost on the way past Breadsall Priory - I wanted Heanor & Langley Mill, but every sign I passed said Ripley, and despite my best efforts that's where I ended up! There are three valleys between Derby and the Erewash if you go the direct route so I was starting to flag. When I ended up on Street Lane I knew at least where I was, on the good old Icknield Way, so I bowed to the inevitable headed into Ripley and hence to Alfreton. The last bit turned into a mad dash to get to the station, but my luck was in again and the train was that vital few minutes lates, so there was no need for an hour's overlay at Alfreton, a prospect I wasn't relishing. So let's hear it for late trains!

Route map:
http://gb.mapometer.com/cycling/route_3161246.html

Lincoln to Sheffield

By Easter Monday the wife and me were getting a bit bored with doing stuff around the house and waiting for the weather to warm up. So we headed  to the station and boarded the 09:44 to Lincoln with our bikes. The train was lightly loaded - a few folk had clearly bought cheap tickets to London via Retford  - so there was no problem getting the bikes on. An hour and a bit later we pulled into Lincoln central and were ready for the adventure of cycling home.

The bike routes out of Lincoln are easy to find - turn left out of the station, head for Brayford Pool and you're there.  Avoiding the chain restaurants, soon we were heading out of town along the Fossdyke navigation with the chilly wind behind us - with it pushing along we didn't feel the cold and the cycling warmed us up. In fact we were enjoying it so much we missed our turn-off and continued all the way to Saxilby - however it was easy to find out way south and get back on the bike route, a rail trail heading for Fledborough. Before we knew it we were over the Trent - Patrice asked "when do we go over the viaduct?"  "We just did" I responded. We bumped along a green lane for the pleasure of being buzzed by the many bird boxes that had been placed along it, and then a very gentle climb took us to Tuxford - an interesting place somewhat blighted by having the A1 running through it. The bike route waggles around to avoid some busy roads and a nasty hill, an then you find yourself winding your way through some pleasant country lanes. The bike route (NCN647) makes use of an access road through a former mine sites - sadly blighted by fly tipping, duly reported - and then a busy but short stretch along a B road before a short climb through Bothamsall, and down to the turn off for Clumber Park which has three interesting features - an oil well, a house with an unusual-looking outhouse and a House of Many cats. There is a signalled if scruffy crossing of the A614 and you find yourself on the path through Clumber Park, which has been improved recently. THe route now takes you along the firnges of the park before joining NCN6, which takes you down to Clumber Bridge past some of the most impressve older trees in the Park. The signage through the park is also much improved and it is easy to find your way down to the outskirts of Worksop, through the Manton estate and onto the Chesterfield canal, which you more-or-less follow through to Shireoaks.

We were hoping for tea and home-made cakes at Nonna's but she's not opening until the 1st of May so we pressed on towards Rother Valley. The road takes you up to Thorpe Salvin where we could see the snow-covered wastes of Derbyshire beyond.

As we turned off to take the track over to Wales, we were astonished to find ourselves wading through enormous snowdrifts! As you can see the fields on either side of the track were practically clear. 

We made our way through however, and soon were riding round the lake at Rother Valley country park and heading for Sheffield. The bike route in from this direction is depressingly tatty (even more depressing for me as I'm one of the Rangers who are supposed to be looking after it) but functional and it takes an hour or so to get back to town. We had cheated and left the car in town - getting up to our house after a long ride is hard work - so before too long we were enjoying a well deserved pint of Strong Ale in the local!.

Here we go roundabout...

Had an email in from Eamonn Ward, a local Green Party candidate:

He said:

I was knocking on doors near Hunters Bar yesterday and someone mentioned difficulties geetting round that roundabout for cyclists and that some cyclists get off or use the pavement (which may add to issues there). We also talked about similar, if magnified,issues at University roundabout which must be a nightmare for cyclists.

 

I wondered if cycle campaigners have ever identified any ways in which Highways could make improvements to allow cyclists to get round these roundabouts safely. And if they have been put to Highways and what the response was. 

Here's my response. 

Hi Eamonn, 

Roundabouts have always been an issue for cyclists. On Hunters Bar, we put in a long list of requests for changes along Ecclesall Rd as part of the Smart Routes consultation: see http://www.cyclesheffield.org.uk/coreprinciples/ecclesall-rd-smartroutes-consultation/

On reviewing this I see we didn't address Hunters Bar directly but we did suggest some improvements in the approaches. I believe the council would like to take some space from the Alms Houses frontage to allow a cycle route round to Brocco Bank and Endcliffe park entrance, This might not be popular with all residents though. 

With Brook Hill, this was nominated as one of the most dangerous roundabouts for cyclists in the UK - see http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3392986.ece

Personally I cross Hunters Bar most days and don't find it too problematic: The inbound bus lane on Ecclesall Rd, which the council wants to remove, makes it a lot easier. 

As a result of this campaign the Government made some funding available to fix the most dangerous locations in the UK and a group of activists went with Les Sturch to look at the problem. Sheffield City Council did not put in a bid for any of this money. 

I personally don't think that there is any 'fix' for large roundabouts  - the best thing is to find alternative traffic-free routes. With Brook Hill for example the University concourses offer an alternative. Hunters Bar is more problematic 

Cycle training can help cyclists negotiate roundabouts safely - the free two-hours sessions offered by Pedal Ready are an excellent starting point. 

http://www.pedalready.co.uk/

Lastly, if people would like to see safer cycling in Sheffield they should support cyclesheffield, their local campaign group by joining - 

. 

http://www.cyclesheffield.org.uk/join-us-google-form/