Local rangers partake in Ride Leader Training

On Tuesday 11th March a selection of Sustrans staff and volunteer rangers met in Nottingham for Ride Leader training.

The course taught several key points that enable us to lead rides safely though a further stage is required to lead large rides in built up areas.

The course was a good mixture of classroom based learning and practical ride training in the surrounding area.  We were given the chance to lead rides.  There will be more details of rides to follow.

It was also a good opportunity to network with staff who are involved in a number of different activities including school engagement projects and also with fellow rangers from Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

We attended via the park & ride on Queens drive following a frustrating journey into Nottingham.  The ride into the Meadows area down the Big Track was a much more pleasant experience.

The training took place at a community garden which looked to be a great community facility and also in the surrounding area alongside the River Trent in the near shadow of the 2 football grounds and Trent Bridge Cricket ground.

On the way back I chose to go via Beeston and take the train back to Burton. I enjoyed the ride out of Nottingham along the Trent and am encouraged to do so again. The train experience was ok but with an increase in cycling I do think there will be issues for those using non folding bikes going forward.

All in all it was another great day.

The pictures below were taken by a Sustrans colleague from Northampton.

Training in progress!

A brief break for the Swad 2 and friends

Smiles all round at the end.

New Link from Swainspark to Castle Gresley

The new link from Swainspark through Tunnel Woods to Castle Gresley is now rideable and virtually complete, including a link along Mountpleasant Road to the A444 where a new gate has been installed.

This is the first phase of an aspirational link to Rosliston Forestry Centre.  We will continue to monitor progress of this route as it currently ends in Castle Gresley between the A444 subway and the footbridge over the railway line.

This section makes an ideal extension of the Conkers Circuit and is also a good access point for those living in Castle Gresley and Castleton Park.

This new path has already been signed showing the way to NCN63 and is ideal for families - certainly downward!

Here are some pictures.

This is looking back from Tunnel Woods to Swainspark Wood at the highest point.

This is looking from Tunnel Woods towards the Mountpleasant Road section at the highest point.

The downhill stretch with Castleton Park, Church Gresley on the Horizon and the A444 bypass. The Shobnall Maltings tower in Burton can be seen from here too.  Drainage channels have been dug alongside the path to avoid any flooding issues.

Looking back up the hill from near the former Gresley Railway Station site.

Looking towards the current end of the track near the old Gresley Railway Station and new A gate.

The link to cycle-ways on Castleton Park is sadly obstructed by the footbridge.  Options around this are under discussion.

New Year Update

Visitors to our blog may have noticed that there have not been any updates for a while.  I can assure you we have been busy in the meantime.  Since our last update, as well as the day to day issues on the National Cycle Network, we have been doing the following:

• We have reviewed our re-signing in Burton town centre with the help of West Midlands staff and now completed this task. 
• Involved in the above was a new ranger recruited in Burton; a most welcome addition.
• We continue to monitor the effect of the work done on NCN63 in the Moira / Donisthorpe area last year and look to gain funding for those parts not yet repaired.
• We are glad to note that a new path has been built from Swainspark Wood to Castle Gresley via Tunnel Woods (see separate post).
• We have attended the Healthier South Derbyshire Event in Swadlincote on 25th January.
• Some work has been done with a local school to assess the potential to improve cycling to school.
• A series of cycle rides are being planned for the commemoration of the First World War and we have some input to this.
• We are looking into the resources we use when running a stall to see if we have a suitable mix of materials.  Any feedback is appreciated.

The Healthier South Derbyshire Event once again provided a useful forum for promoting cycling in the area.  We had some very positive feedback and had some good questions. We are grateful to the Safer South Derbyshire Partnership for sharing their hi-viz equipment with us to distribute.

This year the event was attended by myself and Robert, our group coordinator as unfortunately Shawn was at work.  We missed his repartee but as you can see we still enjoyed ourselves!

New Page

If you look on the right hand side at our list of pages you will notice a new page - Other Local Volunteering and Community Links.

This page has been set up to list other volunteering groups that work around our routes either directly or indirectly.

Like the rest of the blog, it is always being developed and more links will appear as time goes by.

We have also updated other pages with new details including the addition of women's cycling rides through Breeze.  This can be found in the Useful Information section.

Friends of Day at Hicks Lodge

On Sunday 21st July the National Forest Cycle Centre at Hicks Lodge hosted a "Friends of" day to bring together all of the groups who use Hicks Lodge.

Despite the end of the recent good weather there was a very healthy turnout and a varied crowd along with the usual cyclists.

This was further swelled by several horse riders who were taking part in the Ride for Life raising money for Cancer Research.

Several Stalls were set up including Dr Bike, Forestry Commission Volunteers, British Cycling and Breeze (the women's cycling part of British Cycling).  There were also a number of displays including an owl and the dog sledding.

More details can be seen on Hicks Lodge Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/hickslodgecyclingcentre

Both myself and Shawn had a ride up and mingled with those present as it was a good chance to network with other volunteers in the area, and obviously used the rather nice cafe as normal.

Our roles explained - sign maintenance.

As part of our roles in maintaining routes, we need to monitor signing.  A misplaced sign can be very misleading to those who are are following the route for the first time and depend on our signage.

Generally people tend to use GPS software now and know where they are going, but the old fashioned ways are the best.

In the case below, the sign pointing the way out of Burton had been moved (by someone considerably tall).  Whilst these signs were put up by the County Council (Staffordshire in this case) it is often quicker for us to make amends where possible.

Then again, if it was left alone as intended we wouldn't need to do it at all!

Before 

After - signs now pointing correctly

South Derbyshire Festival of Leisure 2013

The final weekend of June was a bit of a scorcher in South Derbyshire - especially at Maurice Lea Park in Church Gresley.

Among the estimated 5000 people on the park on Sunday were local Sustrans Rangers Shawn and Ben.  Our main aim was to continue to raise the profile of Sustrans and the local cycle routes whilst also give a bit more of an insight into our work locally and more information on Route 63.

We spoke to a good number of people and had some very encouraging talks and took on board some useful feedback.

The main focus coming out of the event was the number of people asking or commenting about the missing link between Swadlincote and Burton on Route 63.  Any updates to this will be posted but this is something we are pushing at every opportunity.

Another point that arose was giving information about how close people are to the National Cycle Network.  When time allows, we intend to put a new section about how to access the cycle network from places in South Derbyshire - watch this space.

For those unable to attend, below are a few photographs from over the weekend.  Unfortunately we did not get a chance to take more pictures on Sunday as we were busy and battling with the wind!

In the main arena on Saturday - dog skills!

This gravity defying act was well worth watching !

Promoting a slightly more sedate form of 2 wheeled transport!

Our view and entertainment - a bandstand doing what it does best - and very well!