Local cycling update, April 2016

With the lighter nights, people are starting to cycle more again, though the weather has not fully improved and we still await for summer!

There have been several activities occurring on the cycle network and beyond. As previously mentioned on the blog, we have made some improvements to signage on route 63, we have been attending meetings about events and general infrastructure and most importantly there has been an improvement made to a section of our main route.

Cycling into Burton is still not ideal due to the closure of the ferry bridge but work is progressing and once re-opened, this will improve.

Women's tour and South Derbyshire cycling legacy

The Aviva women's cycling tour is due to pass through Swadlincote on Saturday 18th June. An event is planned to celebrate the tour and more details will  be posted in the near future.   In the meantime, See below article from South Derbyshire District Council which gives more details and also refers to an exciting cycling legacy that we hope to support.

Click here to read the story highlighted above.

Improvement works to NCN 63 in Moira

Not much space either side of the puddles

Two years ago we surveyed the whole of our route and identified many areas where the condition of the path had deteriorated due to the build up of excessive mud. A community payback team worked back from Donisthorpe woodland park towards Moira and improved a significant section of the path.

Very muddy!

Unfortunately, the payback team was then unavailable for sometime before coming back last year. By this time we decided that there were sections of path beyond Donisthorpe church that needed more urgent attention.  As a result there was a small section between Conkers Youth Hostel at Bath Lane and the embankment through Moira that was incomplete and had also deteriorated.

Close up of work done

Enjoying the improved section!

 This year another team has now improved this section and also cleaned up the tarmac section to avoid the same happening to that section in the future.  The pictures were actually taken after a few days of rain.

New Link from Hicks Lodge to Moira

The first part of an off road link from Moira Furnace to Hicks Lodge Cycle centre is now complete.  The path links the existing lakeside loop path and curves through the woods to Newfields Road

The path snaking away from Hicks Lodge

The next section will utilise a new development which is currently under construction, then cross Measham Road before a final section will take the route to the canal bridge at the Furnace.

The new section of path is a good 3m wide section and features a number of a sweeping curves through a pleasant wooded section.

 Progress beyond the section at the moment is on road into the middle of Moira with the best access points back to NCN being via Sarah's Wood to Conkers or at the lock next to the old Fire Station (now a Co-op store).  There is a footpath along this road section.  Once complete it will be another major part of off road cycling infrastructure which will link the attractions of Hicks Lodge and Conkers together.

Moira Furnace on TV

Last night on BBC the program Canals: The making of a nation featured the Ashby Canal by Moira Furnace where NCN63 passes.  It was a very interesting program about the history of people on the canals, specifically families and was good to see the local area featured.  The program is 5/6 in the series and is available (as the article is written) on Iplayer.

Our work around the National Forest

In a welcome break away from the daily cycling commute we have been reviewing signing between Church Gresley and Measham.

This sign in Donisthorpe had faded

Some of our signs were starting to look a little weathered and we have identified gaps in some places.  We have installed some new signs and where possible we have used destination stickers rather than just using arrows.


We feel that using destination stickers is more useful as we can put place names or points of interest on them.  This is of use to the increasing numbers of tourists in the area.  They can also feature distances which people find useful.  They also make junctions easier to sign.

After much perseverance (mainly by Shawn) all four signs were updated. 

One of the areas focused on was the junction between Swainspark Wood and Tunnel Woods where a relatively new cycle-path joins with an existing one.

We have also reviewed the junction on the Conkers circuit where the link to Swadlincote joins the route and will be improving that soon.

New signing in the Swainspark Wood area.

We also have a team working on the Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail near Moira to continue the work done 2 years ago to improve the condition of the path.  We will feature this going forward.

Women's Tour to visit Swadlincote

As you may have read recently there has been some excellent news regarding the Aviva Womens Cycling tour visiting the area this year.

On Saturday 18th June the ride will run a stage from Nottingham through to Stoke on Trent and this route will visit Swadlincote before heading off to Burton and beyond.

Click here to see the Women's tour website and outline of route.  More details about the route will be publicised here in due course.

There will be some activity planned to celebrate this occasion and the event will inspire people to cycle more in the local area.  We will share any information about events planned in the local area.

Click here to see the South Derbyshire District Council announcement

The event has already attracted some local media attention as seen on the links below including a bit of background about how the route was attracted to Swadlincote.

Click here to read how the Women's tour was attracted to Swadlincote

Click here to read news of the tour from a local media perspective.

Looks like it will be a day to remember!

More on Burton commute....

My recent frustration with the cycling commute as previously seen in this blog was recently reported within the local media. I was talking to the journalist who wrote the article at a meeting and he was surprised to hear me speaking of cycling in a non-positive way.

In the interest of balance he contacted Staffordshire County Council for an opinion and as can be seen in the article the response is disappointing. How the Burton Mail reported my frustration.  It is a good article and I welcome the help of the Burton Mail in raising awareness of issues faced.

The response is limited to a statement about keeping pedestrians, cyclists and motorists separate at roadworks.  From my experience of temporoary traffic lights I tend not to cycle with the traffic as you are often lucky if you can get through in a car before the lights change, let alone a cycle.

The issues I have raised are about the lack of planning of an alternative route following the enforced closure of a critical part of the National Cycle Network, i.e. a route that a 14 year old child should be able to cycle confidently on.

Cycling over St Peters Bridge in the morning rush hour feels about as far away from safe as you can get but SCC don't seem to have any concerns over this.  I am aware that funding at that level is scarce and have genuine sympathy for those who are trying to do a decent job in difficult circumstances but these concerns must be raised.

Talking of St Peters bridge, there has been talk recently of putting a 3rd lane in.  Personally I find this approach staggering for a number of reasons:

Click here to read about the outline plans for a 3rd lane across St Peters Bridge.

The provision of a 3rd lane would in effect give the bridge a slight increase in capacity, but how will this traffic flow increase at either end?  Surely the bodies mentioned need to be looking at some form of simulation software based on improving the flow at either end of the bridge.  Perhaps changing the pedestrian crossings to subways may work out better.

A huge concern is the talk of not having any pedestrian access on the newly expanded bridge - let's hope the Ferrybridge is actually reopened!

The cost of the work itself would be very expensive and the true benefits will not be known until the Drakelow crossing comes to fruition.  If using funding from developments I would imagine the scale of the development itself would lead to increased traffic anyway.  Hopefully this would take away a major chunk of the traffic for those who need to drive through Burton to access the A38 rather than drive into Burton.

With through traffic partially taken care of most people then have business to attend to in Burton itself.  Assuming, unlike the person in Stapenhill featured in the article, they do not need to drive into town, then the authorities could look to put ways of alternative transport forward and actually encourage people to do something different.

I'm not necessarily talking about walking or cycling here (although it would be great if more people did so).  I'm referring to using the bus.  Train fare rises seem to attract headlines yet bus fares / subsidies don't and from my experience of recent years bus fares have gone up but the level of service (certainly from Church Gresley, due to Arriva cutting routes) has not improved!  Sadly the Ivanhoe line does not look likely at any point soon.

It is also interesting how much better the flow of traffic improves around school holidays, so the impact of trends on traffic, and the potential understanding around these should be further looked into.

Another alternative to the issues which is certainly cheaper for the authorities was reported in the link below.  Whilst this seems to take a more pragmatic approach to the problem I would imagine motorist may have an issue with this and it is still looking at it from a vehicular point of view.

Click here to read the Burton Mail report on a possible one way system solution.

What I would say to those proposing these schemes is to look at the issue outside the box rather than think of cars alone.  The approach to the Ferrybridge works and these schemes indicate worryingly that alternative methods of transport are still a long way down the list in the Burton area.  I'd encourage those proposing the extra lane to cycle into Burton in that area, particularly while the Ferrybridge is out of use.  The phrase Genchi Genbutsu refers to the Toyota system of going to see the situation to understand the problem and I think this would be of benefit to those mentioned above.

One approach would be to turn the tables completely and mimic the bridge being closed due to the work involved.  During this time, keep it open only to pedestrians, cycles buses and emergency vehicles and monitor how people adapt........

Launch of the Derbyshire Sport Cycling Plan

On Tuesday 19th January the Derbyshire Sport Cycling Plan was launched at Derby Arena.  The event followed a consultation period as previously shared in this blog.

The strategy proposes to make Derbyshire the most connected county for cycling in the country and is ambitious, whilst acknowledging current constraints.

The event was held at Derby Arena which was an ideal place to launch the plan from.  It was my first visit to the arena and I was impressed.

The Arena is situated in Pride Park next to the IPro stadium,
home of Derby County, just off NCN route 6.

 Only a 15  minute walk from the Railway station, and a very quick detour from NCN 6 the arena features a velodrome as well as other sporting facilities within, including a gym and multi-use sports courts in the middle.

The event itself started with some demonstrations of stunt cycling and also some of the Derby Track League cyclists on the velodrome track itself before the formal part of the evening was held in the main seating area.

A mix of cycling styles - the trickery of stunt biking in the foreground with
the speed of track cycling in the background.

 The formal part of the launch featured several speakers including representatives from  somne of the key organisations who will be crucial to the success of the plan, namely Derbyshire Sport, D2N2 (the local enterprise Partnership for Derby and Nottingham), Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council.  Each speaker spoke very positively about the aims of the plan, the benefits the plan will bring economically, socially, environmentally as well as the huge health benefits (stated as £18 million per year in Derby city alone).

The speeches, like the plan itself, acknowledged the size of the task ahead and also the current restrictions due to severe government cuts.  However, as is the case with all such projects, it is key to have a good strategy to maximise the chance of winning the funding bids.

The main theme of the speeches on the night was about getting " bums on bike seats!" and one of the main themes of the plan is a multi-level approach to promoting the plan, from the top of the organistations mentioned to champions at a local level.  Click here to see the Derbyshire Cycling Plan webpage

As well as the speeches by members of the key organisations there was a further speech by young paracyclist Katie Toft about how cycling had benefitted her which was very inspiring.  Click here to read a review of the launch in the Derby Telegraph

Once the formal part of the evening was over there was a networking session around several stands providing relevant information including organisations such as Sustrans, Derbyshire County Council, Derbyshire Police, National Forest Company, Peak District, Derby Cycling Group amongst others.

The building looks imposing both during the day and at night.

Click here to go directly to a link for the PDF document of the plan

It was also good to meet up with several other delegates including those from South Derbyshire District Council, Amber Valley District Council, British Cycling, Breeze and, as always, it was good to meet up with fellow Sustrans Rangers.

Part of the speeches mentioned how the plan aims to increase
 numbers partaking  in cycling rather than middle aged men in
lycra - in case you didn't know what that looked like......

Once the event had finished there was cycling entertainment provided by the Derby Track league.  This was followed by a walk back to Derby Station, a train ride to Burton and a ride back home which, in parts, highlighted the need for the plan including collusion with neighbouring authorities.

I am very much looking forward to supporting this plan and hope that those reading this are too.

A Year in the Saddle - A new record in the making??

The women's world record for most miles cycled in a year stands at 29,603 and was set 77 years ago by Betty Tovey (later Fleming) on a 3 speed bike -impressive! On 1st Jan 2016, Nottingham based Kajsa Tylen sets out to break that record. Kajsa's mission is "to get adults active and to feel good about themselves, in order to set a good example for the next generation."  You can find out more about Kajsa's world record attempt here: http://www.ayearinthesaddle.com/

The attempt starts on New Years day and is due to call in on Stoke Golding, near Nuneaton, on its first day.

Good luck to Kajsa on your record attempt.

For those who would like to work off the excess of Christmas but to a lesser extent, then check out our local rides in another section of the blog!!

Concerns over funding and current cycling in Burton

Those who regularly read the blog will be aware that I always try to portray cycling in a very positive light and encourage people to partake.  I do this as part of my work for Sustrans.  I would like to point out that this article consists of my own views and is not necessarily representative of Sustrans.

Over recent weeks I have become a little disenchanted with my commute into Burton and have tried to address these issues with relevant authorities.  The original lack of response angered me slightly but it appears that the problems around Burton are symptomatic of a larger issue.

Several roads around Burton have been either closed or subject to roadworks over recent weeks and months and this has had an effect on the level of traffic on the A444.  During the summer I found it easier to take a 3 mile detour through Drakelow, Rosliston and Linton because queues of traffic have made it difficult to cycle during the traditional rush hour times.

The above issues have been compounded by the closure of the Ferry Bridge over the river Trent; a key part of the cycling infrastructure into Burton.

The event had been planned for some time so there was ample time to plan and sign a diversion that was suitable for pedestrians and cyclists.  I had requested information on the proposed diversion and had no reply.  On the afternoon the bridge was closed to cyclists and pedestrians some signage was placed for a diversion route.

No way through! 

The diversion route is only suitable for pedestrians as it actually uses an area where there is a no cycling byelaw and the rest is on footpaths that are not signed as shared use.  None of the NCN signs have been changed to reflect the change.  Quite simply cyclists have been ignored.

The work on the Ferry Bridge is essential and I fully appreciate that it has to be completely taken out of action, though query why the bridge has been allowed to deteriorate so much.  I also would like to point out the excellent Facebook Group called Friends of the Ferry bridge who have been posting regular updates

With safety of cyclists and pedestrians a key concern of mine, I have been looking into improving the situation and had a Sustrans area manager come to Burton and look into the situation and liaise with the County Council.

As part of the study of the Ferry Bridge diversion we also looked at the section that links NCN 63 from the Ferry Bridge area towards the Derbyshire Border where I have concerns over safety too, especially at rush hour.

Part of NCN63 uses the A444 from Bretlands Way to Saxon Street.  I have expressed concern to Staffordshire County Council over safety during busy periods and egress from the 2 streets mentioned. I am unable to say if they have any plans to improve the section as I have not had a reply.  This is frustrating as the nearby Brizlincote mini roundabout was re-profiled recently at a cost of around £65k.

A444 during morning rush hour - this is actually on the Nation Cycle Network.

My frustration with situation was matched by a lack of response from the authority in question but this frustration has subsided more into concern over the reason for the lack of response which might be due to the fact that there are a lack of officers responsible for sustainable transport within Staffordshire. I would have liked an officer to ride the route with me to see sights like the above and ask if it was appropriate for 14 year old youngsters to ride.

I am happy to report that the Sustrans area manager had some very sensible suggestions to utilise existing paths and look at the section as a whole rather than address little parts individually.

Of course any improvements will require funding which is becoming a subject of concern.  Outside of London it is becoming increasingly difficult to come across funding.

The below article is written by the Shadow Transport Minister.  It is written with a degree of criticism of the government but is also accurate regarding the ending of various funding streams and is well worth a read.

https://www.politicshome.com/transport/articles/opinion/house-commons/daniel-zeichner-mp-will-government-break-its-promise-and

Whilst the above link is not something that is particularly endorsed by Sustrans, the next link most certainly is.  With cycling funding facing something of a cliff edge it is imperative that this is challenged through parliament.  Please write to your local MP using the following link.

http://action.sustrans.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1877&ea.campaign.id=44273