Autumn Update

 As the leaves start to drop it seems like the extremely hot temperatures of summer were a long time ago.  Fortunately, the weather is still decent for a nice bit of cycling.

Link to Country Park from new estate near Stanton

We’ve recently noted the ongoing progress between Swadlincote and Burton via the new housing developments and the Urban and Country Parks. 

We hope to be able to be report on further progress next year to promote new routes as well as old.  We will do this through the normal social media and blog ways but also hopefully with the support of others.

One of those is the Tourist Information Centre in Swadlincote which has recently re-opened in New Premises on the Delph near the town hall.  The TIC and Gail in particular have been very supportive of our work locally and I am very pleased to see the TIC back in Swadlincote.  The shop open from Tuesday to Saturday currently and not all services are available just now.  Already there are a good number of cycling leaflets on the new display wall.  We wish the TIC team good luck in their new premises and hope to be able to provide more cycling based information over the coming months.  

Already a decent range of leaflets.

I’d also shown concern about a number of articles about the new cycling infrastructure along the A444 within the local press.  Articles noted that the new section was confusing and also concerns about money being wasted and inconvenience caused by the roadworks required for the work to happen.

New TiC opposite the Delph in Swadlincote

Whilst the articles had valid points and I sympathise with drivers being held up in and out of Burton (a key reason I commute by bike) I felt the positivity of the work had been overlooked and there were a lot of comments that were ill informed. 

I am grateful to Samuel from the Burton Mail for taking the time to listen and write a more positive article which can be accessed by clicking here.

What I really wanted to get across was that the section will be part of something much bigger and will be complimented by more links.

As the primarily off-road route between the 2 towns develops it will hopefully lead to an increase in cycling. It is therefore important that the sections along the A444 are improved.

I also wanted to highlight that the imperfections with this particular section were common with most cycling infrastructure - no onward connection and a rejoining of the road.

The point of funding was well mentioned.  It is important to stress how hard funding is to come by and how much competition there is when it is available, so it was important to credit those who secured it and also the team that carried out the work.

I hope that as the routes develop around Burton & South Derbyshire that we can engage more with Samuel and the Burton Mail to spread the more positive aspects of cycling and walking.