Portrait Bench Opening Rearranged

The opening of the new portrait bench at Albert Village lake to commemorate the completion of the Connect 2 part of the Conkers Circuit will now take place at 12pm on Saturday May 11th.

New link on Facebook

In order to make our activities more accessible we have created a new Facebook page which will link in with the blog.

This will replace our old group page which was less accessible.  the link is:

Swadlincote & Beyond Sustrans Rangers

Update on signing in Burton & Milepost Check

Our geographic position means our area covers not only parts of Derbyshire but also Leicestershire and East Staffordshire, which covers Burton-on-Trent.  Whilst the traffic in Burton crawls around the town due to the roadworks, a small project is currently taking place to improve signing in Burton on Trent.

National Cycle Network (NCN) 63 is currently signed from the Derbyshire border in Stanton through to the junction of New Street and Orchard Street in Burton, then the signing stops.

We feel it is important to give our routes a definitive start and end so we debated whether to sign the route to Burton Station or to NCN64 by the Trent and Mersey Canal at Shobnall.  In the end we have chosen the latter option, with links to and from the railway station.

These links were trialled on a risk assessment ride and the preferred route was to use Milton Street rather than Mosley Street due to better visibility at the turn in point.

There are still a few signs to be replaced, but the project is nearly finished.  Once this is done we will contact the mapping department to ensure that the online mapping function is updated.

There are some pictures below to indicate some of the new signing along with photos of the 2 mileposts that have to be checked every 2 years.

For more on mileposts, see the below link on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cycle_Network#Mileposts

Update on NCN63 - Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail

On Monday 8th April work started on NCN63 on the edge of Donisthorpe Woodland Park.  As previously reported the surface has become covered over recent years and has turned muddy when wet.

Just 3 weeks into the project it is clear that the Community payback team are making a great job.  The surface of the path has been skimmed and the vegetation on the sides has been cut back.  Some materials may be required to fill in gaps but we are confident that the problems caused by the wet weather should be avoided this year.

Updates will follow....

Typical state in Spring 2013 after dry weather

State of NCN63 near Moira in early 2013

First Section after work by payback team

Further section after work

Looking back towards Donisthorpe after work

Latest News - 25th March

Portrait Bench Opening Postponed

Due to the inclement weather on Saturday, the opening of the Conkers Circuit Connect 2 portrait bench was postponed.  Hopefully the weather will be much improved when this event is rescheduled.

Work on NCN Route 63 on the Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail

After 2 successive poor years of weather, some of our sections of cycle path have taken something of a battering and are not in the condition that we aspire to.  Whilst great for mountain bikers, it is not a great standard for family cycling.  There are several areas between Moira and Measham that require attention.

This is part of our remit as rangers to monitor the condition of our section of route.  The problems indicated are not untypical throughout the whole network.  The good news is that we have liaised with several other bodies to find a solution and work is going to start within a couple of weeks.  More details to come soon, and hopefully some "after" photos to show against the before picture below.

Healthier South Derbyshire Day

We had a great day today at the Healthier South Derbyshire Event at the Greenbank Leisure Centre in Swadlincote.  Thanks to all the staff who worked hard to make the event possible.

We had some excellent feedback from the public and managed to raise the profile of Sustrans and our work in the local area a little further.

Cycling Maps as always were popular so we're glad we bought a few.  Thanks to Robert for coming over from Leicestershire and helping us out.

Some of the feedback / questions  today included the following:

• Access to all female cycling groups
• Facilities for disabled cyclists
• Links to other cycling groups
• Potential to further work on cycling to schools
• Inclusion on our blog of the popular "routes within 15 miles of Swadlincote display"

Hopefully, we'll be able to update some of the points above and also include some pictures of the event.

Some links have been added related to cycling for the disabled and also to some cycle ride groups (see Useful information page).

Come and see us at Healthier South Derbyshire Event - Saturday 2nd March

Sustrans Rangers Shawn, Robert and Ben will be manning a stall at the Healthier South Derbyshire Day at Green Bank Leisure Centre on Saturday 2nd March from 10am-2pm.

We will be providing information about Sustrans including leaflets on our local routes.

We'll also have some questionnaires to fill in as well.

Looking forward to a busy and vibrant event.

Please see the following link:

http://www.south-derbys.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_news/february/news_items/fun_and_games_at_healthier_south_derbyshire_day.asp