Birmingham's Secret Mini Holland

Castle Vale once had a bad reputation as a crime ridden failure of 1960s housing (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Vale).  It was notorious as a sink estate. It comprised of a mix of 8 massive identical tower blocks laid out in two lines together with a further 26 poor quality low rise high density housing blocks in a 'Radburn' layout linked by narrow pedestrian walkways separate from the roads, with large swathes of 'communal grassland' that quickly became green deserts.  The walkways (also used by cyclists)  were the venue for frequent muggings and may be one of the reasons why cycle tracks seem to be associated with crime in the British psyche. It became a no go area for Police in the 1980s, with officers being attacked.

Castle Vale is 6 miles from the city centre in the shadow of an elevated section of the M6 to the south, surrounded on all sides by major roads and railways and yet poorly served by local transport (Castle Bromwich rail station was closed in 1968 just as the new housing was almost completed!).  Birmingham City Centre is accessible only by a lengthy bus journey (and other destinations may require 2 or 3 buses), or if you have a car, by the 'Spine Road', a high speed dual carriageway built to try to regenerate the industrial wastelands in the late 1990s.  Access to employment therefore remains a problem for people without a car.  As part of the Cycle Ambition programme the City Council aims to create a continuous cycle track along the Spine Road from Castle Vale leading into the city centre.

The estate was built to house the skilled manual workers of the automotive and aircraft factories to the east of the city. Mechanisation and the gradual demise of most of the motor industry has taken its toll on this community over several decades, unemployment was up to 40% at the worst point. However, around 15 years ago it was given significant 'placemaking' treatment as part of an overall package of regeneration. The tower blocks were replaced with a mix of private sector and social housing and a new park in the middle of the estate. New jobs have been created in distribution, service and retail on some of the old industrial sites along the Spine Road, and Jaguar Land Rover now build cars on the site of the old Spitfire factory. While it still has its share of social issues, Castle Vale nowadays is a pleasant area with lots of green space, shops, decent schools and remarkably little vandalism compared to similar areas of the city. The regeneration process seems to have strengthened the community and restored pride in the area, for example the Wagtail project to create a nature reserve and footpaths/cycle trails on one edge of the estate was led by a member of the local community and largely delivered by local people.

I first visited Castle Vale around 8 years ago when I was working on regeneration of a neighbouring area. At that time it was still very new and a little bit spartan but now that the trees and shrubs have matured and some of the more garish brightly coloured post-modernist houses have faded a little it looks good.  I had quite forgotten that it has some half-decent cycle facilities that (with minor improvements) could easily be made into something comparable to a suburb in the Netherlands. Here are some key factors that make this a good environment for cycling:

1. Filtered Permeability. There is no useful direct 'through route' for motor traffic, any vehicle entering the area has to take a snaking route through the estate at 20mph on traffic-calmed roads, only to emerge around half a mile from their point of entry. So nobody goes through the residential area unless they want access to somewhere within it.  Its much easier (in a motor vehicle) to go around on adjacent main roads.

Similarly, all streets off the main route through the estate are culs de sac, so the only traffic turning in and out of the side roads is for access to that particular road.

By contrast, virtually every street has connections for pedestrians and cyclists, together with a number of dedicated green routes that run through the middle of the area to form a 'network'. The main distributor road also has continuous cycle lanes.

Additional cycle tracks connect up dead end streets through green spaces

2. Low Speeds. A 20mph limit applies throughout. This is supported by physical traffic calming (horizontal deflections, narrowings, junction treatments and speed humps). The traffic calming is further reinforced by use of textured surfacing on build-outs and by use of block paving on the access only streets to indicate low-speed shared surfaces with no separate footways.

Textured surface block paving, narrow profile, parking arrangements and speed hump at entry and exit keep speeds down within access street

3. Cycle Facilities. There is an 'almost Dutch' roundabout on Tangmere Drive, with fully separate pedestrian footways and cycle tracks, but sadly the cyclists dont get priority crossings (hard to get a decent photo to show it all but look on Google Street View!). This being Birmingham, there are few cyclists, but if numbers were to grow it would be easy to convert the roundabout to cycle/pedestrian priority with some zebra crossings.

Parallel cycle/pedestrian crossing at roundabout. These are set back about 6m from the roundabout exit so could be given priority over the road.  There are few cyclists about however, so giving cyclists priority could actually be more hazardous where drivers are not in the habit of stopping.

There are cycle lanes and tracks along the main distributor road within the estate.

Smooth transition from cycle lane to cycle track at approach to roundabout

In the central part of the development along Tangmere Drive the road narrowings at pedestrian refuges have textured paving on over-run areas for buses and other large vehicles, together with a cycle bypass. These work well.

Point where cycle track merges back to carriageway after a road narrowing is protected by a textured over-run area. Car drivers do not drive over this (buses do).

 

 

Unfortunately on the outer sections such as Park Lane (where more houses were privately owned and therefore didnt get the full regeneration treatment) the design has been copied, but simply by using paint and coloured anti-skid, and every type of vehicle just drives over without slowing down. It is a minor design change and cost saving but has a big impact on the effectiveness of the traffic calming.

Same design feature but poorly executed using paint and coloured tarmac. This has virtually no traffic calming effect. Track also enables a two-stage right turn into a cycle ttrack crossing at the traffic island as well as bypassing the narrowing.

While Castle Vale might not have the ideal cycling facilities at a detailed level, the overall principles of traffic management measures to reduce the flow of traffic, a blanket 20mph speed limit reinforced by designs that deter speeding and a connected network of direct and attractive routes for pedestrians and cyclists offers a good blueprint for what can be achieved in suburban areas. The Radburn layouts common in many provincial housing estates do at least offer the potential for space for cycling (unlike narrow Victorian streets), having wide grass verges and other open spaces, and with careful architecture and urban design interventions the oppressive walkways that were hemmed in by tall wooden fences can be opened up to be overlooked by the adjacent properties to create attractive traffic free routes.

Birmingham City Centre Site Visit 2

These notes are for the stakeholder site vist. The Cycle Ambition bid and the City Centre Cycling Strategy recognised that there are two quite clear corridors that form a 'cross' in the city. 

South to North Route into the City Centre
The first is that almost all cyclists entering the city centre from the south are funnelled into Hurst St and Hill St and up to Victoria Square. Much of this route is earmarked for public realm improvements as part of the planning gain from New St station redevelopment. It is also affected by the Metro extension which cyclists must cross.  The existing northbound central cycle lane feeder to the advanced stop line at Smallbrook Queensway was designed when almost all motor traffic went left or right and only cycles and taxis and a small number of vehicles went ahead up Hill St. A safer option would be to keep cyclists on the nearside and give them a phase to cross Smallbrook Queensway at the same time as pedestrians (similar to the contraflow on the opposite side), but this would mean cyclists experiencing similar delays to what currently happens on the southbound contraflow.



North to South Route into the City Centre

There is a similar, but less obvious route that could in future be promoted from the north via Newhall St. This would however require a short section of contraflow including works to the signalled junction at Colmore Row. Could these signals be removed and replaced with a table top junction and some zebra crossings for example?



The route would continue south onto Bennetts Hill down to New St station and out to Hill St via Stephenson St. Normally one-way, Bennetts Hill has been operating as a two-way street for the last few months during works on neighbouring Temple St. At present we have drawn up options for segregated and unsegregated contraflow - bearing in mind this is access only and will be 20mph it shouldnt really require major infrastructure.

Bennetts Hill - lower part from New St

 

 

 

 

Bennetts Hill - upper part from Waterloo St to Colmore Row

 

West to East Route across the City Centre
The obvious route is from Five Ways along Broad St. Broad St is not part of Cycle Ambition grant due to construction of Metro in next few years. A 'parallel' route linking Five Ways to Holliday St is therefore included.  There is a discontinuity at Paradise Forum (to be addressed in the Paradise Circus redevelopment) and then its necessary to go along Waterloo St, Temple Row, Bull St and Corporation St to Lancaster Circus. This is a straightforward route if you know it but with frequent changes of direction its far from obvious.  What is the best way to show these routes within a busy city centre?

East to West Route across the City Centre
A number of routes converge at Lancaster Circus. From here the only westbound routes are either around the Queensway (see previous notes) or via Steelhouse Lane. The route from the subway onto Steelhouse Lane is very poorly defined and appears to cross the hospital entrance. There is a temporary discontinuity at Colmore Circus but again the route through the pedestriansed section is unclear. Colmore Row then continues to Victoria Square, Paradise Circus and onwards towards  Broad St via Centenary Square. As with the eastbound route, this is a logical 'straight line' route but difficult to follow on the ground and would not really function if cycling levels were to increase as there would be too much pedestrian/cycle conflict.

Birmingham City Centre - St Chads Circus to Moor St Queensway site visit

Introduction
Please note that any 'proposals' or 'potential routes' mentioned in this note will be subject to any constraints identified in the design development and subject to the outcomes of a full public consultation process. The word 'proposal' therefore refers to the ideas for a cycle route network that were set out in Birmingham's Cycle Ambition Bid.

Looking at movements around the Queensway
The site visit notes refer to potential and existing cycle routes around the Queensway and Park Street between St Chads Circus near Snow Hill and Moor St Queensway. These connections are largely on wide shared footways, typically the footway width is between 3.0m and 6.0m. Most of the footways are surfaced with concrete paving slabs. There are a number of generic issues to be considered:

• How to 'define' that the area is available for cycling (shared footway or create a dedicated cycle track) including surfacing and waymarking.
• If separate cycle tracks and pedestrian facilities are installed, how will the arrangements and connections to other routes work, to what extent can we achieve consistent provision when 'retro-fitting'.
• How to accommodate bus stops and other kerbside activities where pedestrians cross a cycle track.
• Best arrangements at subways and surface crossings where pedestrian and cycle movements have to be safely accommodated.
• The links and transitions to various on-carriageway and off-carriageway cycle routes that meet the Queensway and Park St.
• Can we rearrange any street furniture to minimise hazards and inconvenience for pedestrians and cyclists, including blind and partially sighted users and people using wheelchairs.

St Chads Circus Connections: This area connects routes coming in along Soho Road at Constitution Hill plus a parallel route from Newtown that enters via Summer Lane and an access to the canal towpath. For the most confident fast cyclists coming from Soho Road, Snow Hill Queensway leads straight into the city centre and is now closed to traffic except bus, taxi and cycles but the gradient and road width at the multi-lane junction is challenging and not a safe environment to mix with motor traffic, so doesn't presently cater for most people. There is also a signed cycle route on Lionel St off Constitution Hill that leads towards Paradise Circus.  As part of the Birmingham Cycle Revolution (BCR) canal route works, the link from the canal towpath access at Cliveland St to the subways under the Queensway at Little Shadwell St (in the 'Gun Quarter') and Loveday St (leading to Lancaster Circus) will be signed.  The subway by little Shadwell St provides a grade separated crossing of Queensway and access to Steelhouse Lane via Whitall St, leading towards the Childrens hospital and Law Courts.

St Chads Circus requires cyclists to cross two lanes of traffic to go from Constitution Hill into the city and vice versa.

 

It would make sense to permit shared use on all of the wide footways between Lionel St, St Chads circus, and Lancaster Circus to offer connections between all of the routes and local attractors. The area between St Chads and Lancaster Circus is generally not busy with pedestrians although there are two hotels, the Salvation Army Hostel and St Chads Cathedral all of which generate some pedestrian traffic throughout the day. The main issue in this section therefore is less about managing conflicts and more about making coherent routes and waymarking that is easy for pedestrians and cyclists to follow. Street furniture effectively halves the width of the available footway in places, and there is a bus stand layby (not a bus stop). A 'half height' or hybrid cycle track could be constructed here if street furniture was moved, but this may be more tempting for drivers to use as a place to stop, and would need to be discontinued and revert to shared surface by the subways and other localised narrowings. This arrangement could add significantly to street clutter and maintenance costs in terms of additional signs and tactile paving compared to a simple shared footway.

Sign posts, lamp columns and advertising poles within the wide footway on St Chads Queensway near Lancaster Circus.

 

Footway width reduces on the approach to Lancaster Circus subway although none of the adjacent buildings has entrances onto this footway.

 

 

Lancaster Circus Connections: Lancaster Circus forms a 'gateway' to the city centre for pedestrians and cyclists by providing grade separation at the intersection of the A38, A34 and the Queensway. Links to the canal towpath at Newtown Row and Corporation St are being improved as part of BCR. There is some existing provision for cyclists along the A34 Newtown Row in the form of shared footway, cycle lanes and bus lanes and a toucan crossing. Routes along Corporation St are proposed to be improved as part of the BCR 'Lichfield Road' corridor. A 'parallel' route is proposed to come into the city via Lister St and through the Aston campus to Aston St. The proposed main cross-city centre cycle route towards Paradise Circus and Broad St uses Steelhouse Lane (and Corporation St for the reverse).  There is an existing busy toucan crossing of James Watt Queensway (from BCU to Steelhouse Lane).

Issues to consider around Lancaster Circus and James Watt Queensway:

• There are some busy bus stops in this area close to the University where space is most constrained.
• The air ambulance stops outside the Childrens Hospital.
• Connections between the carriageway and Lancaster Circus subways are not well defined for cyclists.
• The footways along James Watt Queensway are 'shared use' but not well connected - for example no clear route to/from Dale End which has a pedestrian only crossing, no surface markings to indicate shared areas.
• Two-way cycling is required on both sides of James Watt Queensway (to link to Dale End and Jennens Rd) so any dedicated space for cycling would need to be wide enough to accommodate this.
• There is a lot of pedestrian activity on this section, although the pedestrian movements along the road generally coincide with direction of travel of cyclists and there are few frontages direct onto the footway so not as much potential for conflict apart from at bus stops.

 

This toucan crossing at James Watt Queensway near Steelhouse Lane and Corporation St is often busy with pedestrians and cyclists in term time. Further along towards Dale End, there is a lot of street furniture and an unused bus layby, and the shared surface terminates with no connection into Dale End. There is no priority for pedestrians and cyclists at the exit from Corporation St onto the Queensway although the flows probably significantly outnumber motor traffic.

 

 

Dale End to Jennens Road and Curzon St Connections: Dale End leads to the High St shopping area of the city centre. There is an entrance to the University campus (Coleshill St) with a toucan crossing of the Queensway immediately south-east of Dale End. The main road route to Nechells Parkway starts at Jennens Road. It is proposed to upgrade crossings of the ring road around Curzon Circle to toucan crossings and to improve links to Landor St as parts of the parallel route network. there is a link to the canal towpath off Curzon St. There is a shared pedestrian/cycle path in Eastside Park leading to Curzon St and existing toucan crossing of Park St.

Issues to consider in this section:

• The north-east footway of Queensway is shared use (part of the 'City Ring' signed route). There is a toucan crossing over Jennens Road.
• There is a gap in the cycle route between Jennens Road and Eastside Park (near Bartholomew Row). i.e. it is legal to cycle as its part of the shared use but the space is physically not well arranged.
• Park St/Masshouse Lane/Moor St Queensway form a gyratory system. Cyclists using the carriageway need to move into the offside lanes in busy/fast traffic for some manouevres - for example to go from from Moor st Queensway to Jennens Road.
• The route is not very legible, apart from the toucan crossings it just uses the original footways with a few blue signs.
• There are a few physical pinch points where cyclists and pedestrians are funnelled together around the toucan crossings.

 

The shared footway from James Watt Queensway to Jennens Road has lots of sign poles. The number of cable ducts visible in the photograph may indicate that construction of a new path to provide dedicated space for cycling could be expensive.

 

 

A 'gap' in the shared footway between Jennens Road and Eastside Park.

Paving slab symbol used to supplement upright signs at Eastside Park



Park Street to Moor St Queensway Connections: The cycle route from Eastside Park continues over Park St on a toucan crossing, crosses Masshouse Lane and round in front of La Tour hotel up the pedestrianised section of Albert St to link to Moor St Queensway.  There are toucan crossings on Moor St Queensway, one between Albert St and Masshouse Lane and one just west of Albert St. Albert St leads to the High St and Bullring shopping centre. Signed cycle routes from Digbeth enter the city centre at Fazeley St (includes the Ward End Route, links to Bordesley, the Stratford Road Parallel and links to the Rea Valley route via Digbeth). there is also a link to the Grand Union Canal towpath.  Moor St station, New St station and the proposed HS2 terminal at Curzon St are all in the vicinity.

Issues to consider in this section:

• The route between Eastside Park and Albert St is discontinuous and hazardous at the crossing of Masshouse Lane and in front of the hotel entrance.
• The junction of Fazeley St and Park St is hazardous.
• Speed of traffic on the park St gyratory system is intimidating for pedestrians and cyclists.
• There is poor visibility at some of the informal pedestrian crossings on Park St and at the zebra crossing on Fazeley St.
• There is no clear route between Albert St (on the city centre side) and the toucan crossings.
• There are conflicting movements between pedestrians and cyclists on Moor St Queensway due to access from car parks and bus stops.
• Inadequate waymarking to and from the city centre.

 

No clear route to Albert St past the door of the La Tour hotel

 

Visibility at dropped kerb crossing of Park St is obscured by street furniture and bus shelter

 

No defined space for cyclists along Moor St Queensway

 

Moor St Queensway footway gets very busy near bus stops and car park

 

 

Considerations: Good practice guidance would suggest that all routes offer separate pedestrian/cycle facilities rather than shared use. Would this work around bus stops? Are subways or surface crossings better? Should we replace all paving slabs with tarmac or does the uneven ride help remind cyclists to slow down within the central area? Can we take sufficient space from carriageway for two-way cycling where necessary? Can/should we replace 'toucan' crossings with parallel ped/ cycle crossings? If we can't have road sign poles within footway/cycle track how do we accommodate them? To what extent can we reduce the street furniture - what can we remove? 

 

 

Easy Riding in the Lake District - thanks to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund

Occasionally a ‘must win’ brief drops through the letter box. In 2012 I received an invitation to tender from the Lake District National Park – ‘The consultant must be prepared to cycle all on and off road routes in the study area during the month of March’.
 
The Lake District National Park (in partnership with Cumbria Tourism and Cumbria County Council) received money from the DfT Local Sustainable Transport Fund to encourage healthy and sustainable travel and tourism within the area. Our job was to try to identify some circular cycle routes that would appeal to a wide variety of users. We set out to 'grade' the routes to give an indication of difficulty (based on gradient, traffic danger, technical trails or remote areas) and also to improve the signing. This was to help eliminate confusion over terms such as 'permitted path', 'bridleway', 'byway' etc that don't give a good indication of what users are allowed on which paths.

Simplified and consistent signing of off-road routes was co-ordinated with standard highway signs


One of the problems of the area (from a cycling perspective) is that it tends to be extreme; extreme gradients, difficult off-road technical trails, and extreme levels of traffic on some roads. At first glance, the cycling offer only appeals to real enthusiasts. However, take a closer look and there are many roads, paths and trails that largely run along the flatter lake sides and valleys. These routes, in combination with taking a bike on ferry services and bike-buses enables a circular trip that doesn’t involve busy roads, and the views from the ferry or the bus are excellent.

The car traffic associated with tourism is responsible for the majority of carbon dioxide and other air pollution in UK National Parks. Over 90% of visitors typically arrive by car, however this is not the major problem, and with relatively poor rail connections it would be difficult to alter this. The main issue is the short local journeys that occur within the National Park during a visit, sometimes in combination with inconsiderate parking on local roads.

People often move from one attraction to another, spending just 20-30 minutes in each place before moving on. Congestion can quickly build on narrow roads, and towns and villages become clogged as drivers look for a parking space. To save money, many day visitors bring a car full of food from home, so a day visitor brings relatively little money into the local economy.  Considerable expense is required to build and maintain the roads and car parks, as well as hidden costs of environmental damage and road accidents.

Sustainable transport solutions developed for the LSTF aim to replace some of those short local trips by more time spent on bicycles or on foot, so the car stays in one place for longer, easing congestion and minimising its impact. At the same time, because people are travelling more slowly they explore in greater detail and spend more money in local businesses. Cycle routes themselves can be a catalyst for new business and employment in catering, accommodation and cycle hire, often in quieter locations that are away from the main ‘honeypot’ attractions.

Advantages of more people cycling and walking in rural areas include:

·    Greater numbers of people able to access ‘hot spots’ such as Beatrix Potter’s house, where car parking capacity is limited.

·    Cars spend more time in one place, reducing the number of short car trips during the day, as their occupants explore the area by bike instead. This is better for pollution and congestion.

·    People travelling on foot and by bike tend to spend more money locally on refreshments and accommodation.

·    Organised activities such as cycling and walking festivals can be promoted around the infrastructure to extend the visitor season and to attract mid week visitors.

·    Cycle routes can be a way to attract visitors into quieter parts of the National Park that don’t have so much traffic.

A couple of weeks ago I pedalled up to the Lake District one afternoon along the Lancashire/Yorkshire border, sampling local delicacies along the way....

 

Lancashire Lunch - butter pie and eccles cakes

and next day went to the 'grand opening' of one of the improved routes, where Wiggo and Cav were on hand to do the honours!

Wiggo and Cav wave us off

 

 

VIP ribbon cutting!

The route from Ambleside to Langdale is typical of the issues that we tried to address within the study. The first problem is getting out of Ambleside, which is seemingly surrounded by busy main roads. However, there is a ‘secret’ quiet lane called Under Loughrigg at the far side of the village park. From here it’s possible to access bridleways leading to Rydal and Grasmere (currently being improved for cycling), or in our case, to turn onto a short section of cycle track alongside the A593 towards Coniston. Where topography constrains the road into a narrow corridor, cycle lanes on the carriageway have been provided. A short track over an attractive old footbridge leads into Bog Lane, a very quiet road that links to Skelwith Bridge.

At Skelwith Bridge we entered into the National Trust land across Elterwater meadow and alongside the river to Elterwater village. Here the path has been widened, resurfaced and realigned to help prevent flooding. The new flatter, smoother surface is also more accessible to both pushchairs and wheelchair users and others who would struggle to cope on uneven surfaces. This is increasingly important as a high proportion of existing visitors are older people who still want to be able to access the countryside, and the National Park also wishes to broaden its appeal to attract more young families with children, as well as younger people with a sense of adventure. This kind of easy access with a spectacular view is exactly what we were aiming to achieve within the project.

 

The lovely widened, level path through Elterwater meadow

The route continues along minor roads and tracks to The 'Wainwright Bridge' which connects to a new section which gets a bit more hilly, with a deviation up the side of the hill to the quarry, before skirting along the hillside and dropping back across the fields to the  Stickle Barn.

 

Exhilerating swoop down the fell side before crossing the meadows to the Stickle Barn pub for lunch.


Identifying the route was of course the easy part. The hard work has subsequently been done by the Lake District National Park in partnership with the Cumbria Tourism, National Trust, Cumbria Council and the local land owners, to negotiate, design and construct the trail. The project costs were about £100,000 to create the new paths and upgrade existing paths. A substantial amount of the money stayed within the local economy. The stone and surfacing for the paths was sourced from the Elterwater Quarry (Burlington Stone, owners of the quarry, also permitted the route to run through their land) and some of the construction was undertaken by a local farmer following a successful tendering process. In addition to creating local employment, local contractors bring substantial practical experience of creating paths that can withstand the extreme weather. Particularly dealing with the volume of water coming off the hillsides which must pass beneath the path if possible to avoid the  surface being washed away.

The path to Langdale is just one of many routes being developed. Along with the physical infrastructure other innovations in the overall 'Go Lakes Travel' programme include bike-carrying buses, an electric bike hire scheme and a range of promotional maps and events to highlight the routes and the attractions that they serve. Exploring the area by bike for the study has certainly changed my perception and, with the route improvements, it is now possible to visit one of the country's busiest national parks and yet spend many hours virtually traffic free either on or off-road. For more information about cycling in the area visit the  Go Lakes Travel and  Lake District National Park  websites.

 

 

 

 

 

Le Tour Legacy

As I sit here the rain is washing away the exotic names and fun decorations that have been chalked across the roads for the visit of Le Tour to Calderdale. It has been interesting to watch the build up. When Yorkshire's successful bid for Le Tour was announced, I was recovering from neurosurgery at Leeds General Infirmary, watching preparations for the formal announcement ceremony at the Civic Square from my hospital bed. I used the enforced rest to start my blog and the first article I wrote was about my own 'journey' into cycling after watching the Milk Race follow a similar route to Le Tour in the 1970s ( how watching a bike race changed my life ).

That first post was read by Gary Verity and Peter Dodd (the successful bidders) and I was duly summoned to the Welcome to Yorkshire HQ for a meeting with them. At that point they were mainly concerned about finding sufficient funding to host Le Tour in the light of government indifference and the logistics of hosting a major spectator event in a region that is not blessed with the greatest transport infrastructure. My employers were able to offer some 'crowd mapping' and access work based on experience of doing similar for London 2012. Thankfully it seems to have all worked reasonably as predicted, albeit with long queues for trains simply because the ancient infrastructure has limited scope to provide longer or more frequent trains.

My efforts to steer the conversation towards legacy were perhaps a bit premature, but to me its every bit as important as the race. However, the headline legacy item was that 'every child in Yorkshire should have access to a bike'. Not a bad aspiration, so long as those bikes don't rot in a shed because parents are afraid to let them out! My last official work duty before the start of Le Tour in Yorkshire was to meet up with Chris Boardman at the Headrow in Leeds to share the work I've been doing to illustrate British Cycling's vision Headrow vision of what a more 'people friendly' street could look like as a part of a lasting legacy for the Tour of £10 per head per annum investment in cycling.

Will this be Le Tour legacy for a more cycle-friendly Leeds?

Over the past few weeks I've ridden most of the roads on the Yorkshire stages, all marked by copious bunting, yellow bikes and ever more creative shop window displays. I've had people clap and cheer me on the climbs and been accosted in cafes and on trains by complete strangers wanting to 'talk cycling'. It has been distinctly odd compared to past experiences of ridicule and hostility from the non-cycling public.

The road I use most frequently is Cragg Vale. It has a gentle gradient, ideal for interval training and the scenery is stunning, particularly in the morning or evening sunlight when I do most of my cycling. It can be a lonely place on the moors, but nowadays its not unusual to see anything up to 50 other cyclists during a typical 20 - 30 minute ascent.

100 days to Le Tour and we got a visit from Bernard Hinault

The village of Cragg Vale is a good microcosm of the Yorkshire experience of Le Tour. Its a small linear village that sits half way up the longest continuous climb in England. In common with many of the villages on the hilltops around Hebden Bridge it has a great alliance of stalwart 'locals' and 'incomers' that bind the community together through numerous networks and activities.  Much of this takes place via social media supplemented by the pubs, churches and events that offer frequent opportuinities to meet up.

The Robin Hood pub is a focus for local cycling (and other community activities)

As a village the 'selling point' for Le Tour is the theme of 'The Longest'. Soon after the route was announced the villagers and wider community set out to create the world's longest line of bunting, stretching over 10km. This is typically British quirkiness at its best, and also wonderfully inclusive, virtually every household, school, community group and organisation in the upper Calder valley has contributed to the effort during the last year. Everybody feels a sense of ownership of this bit of Le Tour.

A week to Le Tour and the bunting goes up - a huge community effort

Bunting is all very well, but if you really want British eccentricity, how about cycling a grand piano 5 miles uphill. Well, this happened in April! Truly bonkers but so many people took part as part of the relay of cyclists and just following along in the crowd.

Pedalling a grand piano - well that's just daft

Last month, on my birthday as it happens, we had the 'Alpe de Cragg' a 24 hour event to ride the longest hill on the longest day. It started on the Friday evening with mainly club riders and MAMILs eager to ride through the night (chapeau to Dave Haygarth with 23 ascents!), but by saturday afternoon the hillside was full of families with cycle trailers and primary school age kids wobbling up and down the hill with barbie bikes and BMXs.  Our joint (and beautifully pointless) objective was to collect enough lego bricks (one per ascent) to build a giant bike!

As I was sitting having a pint after my own efforts (7 bricks!), a group of elderly ladies came down the hill after their one ascent, brimming with the satisfaction of achievement and fun, swearing to do another ride soon. For all but one of them, it was the first time on a bike for years. The roads weren't closed for this event, but the sheer volume of people forced a change in driving behaviour as children took to the road en masse.

 One of the ironies of the massive support and enthusiasm for Le Tour from the local primary school kids and their parents is that it is one of the few schools in Calderdale that is ineligible for Bikeability cycle skills training. The reason being that the hilly road through the village is too dangerous to teach children to cycle on! Of course, 'the road' is not dangerous. The road users create the danger through their own selfish and thoughtless driving. If we can't even teach children to cycle within their own community on roads they use every day, what realistic hope is there for the legacy?

Cragg Vale School - decorated for Le Tour

 Yesterday Cragg Vale was transformed into a linear street party. As I cycled up in the morning, children were playing in the street, drawing with chalk all over the road. The road was massively busy, much more so than usual. People were travelling, spending money, enjoying themselves, just not by car.  Over 20,000 people arrived on the hillside during the course of a few hours and yet there were people from toddlers through to tottering old men walking, cycling and playing all over the road. My own 'peleton' for the day included two elite team GB riders and a selection of 'fat dads' and hangers on. Also spotted on the day were local girl and paralympian, Karen Darke, on her hand cycle, one of our 75 year old neighbours, recovering from a heart bypass on his old Colnago and an ex colleague pedalling steadily upwards with children in tow, one on a trailer bike and a 7 year old on his own bike. It was truly cycling for everybody. This area is not easy for cycling going uphill requires effort and coming down requires some skill, but that didn't put people off. For one day, Calderdale resembled the Netherlands.

 

Some of our 'international' contingent of Brummies and Scots

Cragg Vale in 2014 has been a real hub of cycling for all ages and abilities. It will continue to attract the local racers challenging themselves to get up as fast as possible, but how many of those children will I see on the road the next time I ride by? Can we harness the same community focus and energy for the legacy of creating a place where street parties, and children and elderly people cycling become a part of every day life?

Thank You Dougie Mansfield

There are a few people you meet in life that really change your life and take it off in a new direction. I met Dougie when I was 11. He had just taken on the shop and was still being 'shadowed' by the previous owner, making sure he didn't bugger it up! I had rescued my dad's aging 3 speed sit up an beg bike from the shed and with the help of a library book I spent the summer holidays restoring it to rideable condition. It was a beast of a machine that I could only just manage to climb on with great care - my dad is 6 ft 4 and I'm 5ft 8!

I'd been playing up in Hardcastle Crags and the 30 year old perished Dunlop White Sprite tyres had not survived the outing. I went to buy a puncture repair kit but he took the time to look at the tyre and suggested I might need to replace it. That evening I struggled with spoons, spanners and screwdrivers to free the tyre from the rim. Needless to say I was back down at Dougies the next day to buy tyre levers, an inner tube and a tyre........

That bike had some curious and extremely fragile rubber/cork handlebar grips. They were lovely to hold but in wet weather and on steep hills they would suddenly fly off, leaving you hanging on to nothing but fresh air, or worse still, smashing your face into the stem. So that was my next purchase. Dougie took the time to explain to me how to fit the new plastic grips, using washing up liquid to lubricate them into place.

When the rubber pedals fell apart, I upgraded to steel 'rat trap' pedals. But first there was the problem of how to remove the old ones, which were cemented in place with decades of rust. Dougie scuttled out into the back room and reappeared with the biggest spanner I had ever seen."Use this" he said. "Bring it back in when you're done." The right one came off easy enough but try as I might the left was stuck solid. It was Dougie who explained to me about left hand and right hand threads!

A year or so later I had scraped together £85 from my paper round and birthday money to buy a brand new Raleigh Europa from Dougies shop. It was in Raleigh team colours, a replica of the professional bike. For me this was my entry into club cycling. I could finally keep up with everybody else on the Cragg Vale climb. Once again Dougie was ever generous with the 'Big Spanner' and a freewheel remover every time I wore out the chain and sprockets, and taught me how to true the wheels when I broke a spoke. When a proper lightweight Denton racing bike was traded in, he made sure I could afford it and kept it for me until I was able to pay him. This meant that I could start racing and that year I won the schoolboys hill climb cnampionship, as Malcolm Elliot took the junior trophy.

This kind of thing went on and on, he was ever patient with me and my friends as we traipsed back and forth to his shop having wrecked some other part of a bike or run out of airgun pellets. A few years ago when my daughter (AKA 'The Cycling Goth') wanted her first pair of Dr Martens, we knew that Dougie would provide! The week before he retired he was showing me round, laughing at some of the stock that was still there from the days of his predecessor 'Arthur Jimmy'.

When I went for my first job, Dougie gave me a good reference. I still have it. One way or another, I've made my living from cycling ever since the 1980s, but that would never have happened without the patient, ever smiling presence of Dougie during my teenage years. Thank you Dougie Mansfield, you will be greatly missed!

Small Towns, Big Ideas for Cycling

Last year I accidentally went on holiday to the Netherlands. It was accidental in the sense that I intended to meet somebody in Amsterdam for work, my teenage daughters had intimated that they might still be prepared to cycle, but only if it was in Holland  (they have suffered too many wet and hilly UK cycle holidays!). In the end the kids pulled out and so just me and Mrs Lordonabike made the trip. I thought a bit about the infrastructure compared to the UK - more of which is in a previous blog Proof of the Appelgebakken

I have been to the Netherlands many times but always to conferences, study tours and work meetings in the bigger cities. I didn't know what to expect from the countryside. We spent a couple of days wandering north through the dunes up the coast from the Hook of Holland before heading inland towards the Utrecht Ridge and the Hooge Veluwe National Park and then followed the great rivers towards west, with a long weekend in the coastal province of Zeeland before catching the boat to Hull.

At the risk of upsetting the Dutch I have to say that the scenery was pleasant enough but not spectacular. The agricultural heartlands of the Netherlands are just that; agriculture on an industrial scale. In the south and east however, the countryside gets better as it starts to undulate into more varied heathlands, forests, vineyards, meadows and valleys leading to the Rhine and other great rivers.

Well kept urban areas add significantly to the beauty of the Netherlands. The rivers carry huge freight containers, the coast has massive concrete barages to keep the tides at bay and the whole country is a network of canals and dykes. There are few 'wild' places. Perhaps the Dutch take more care with the built environment because their countryside is not so great!

There is very little specific 'cycle infrastructure' within villages and smaller towns. There are some obvious differences to the UK, mainly that nearly every pub, cafe, supermarket etc has more bike parking spaces than car parking spaces. The main difference is the extensive use of cobbles and block paving as road surfacing. This is almost universal in older villages and towns, but also widely used in newer settlements. For drivers this gives an audible and visual cue to slow down to the speed limit (usually 30 kmh). It is a simple thing, but it helps reduce the need for speed humps, chicanes etc (although these are also used) and seems to help make drivers more willing to give way to cyclists and pedestrians.

Main coastal road within a town centre, Zeeland

In April I visited Chris Boardman's home town of West Kirby on the Wirral peninsula. It is an attractive and quite genteel place with a lovely promenade, sandy beaches and a central shopping area dating from Victorian times. The only transport 'problem' in the town is the busy main road that effectively slices the place in two and makes it too dangerous for children to travel independently, and leaves everybody else scurrying across. Its the usual vicious circle where many people drive short distances because walking and cycling has become hazardous and unpleasant. Chris's challenge was: How would we 'Cycle Proof' a typical small town?

Boardman in transport planner mode

West Kirby is not a huge place and you don't have to be Chris Boardman to cycle from one end to the other in under ten minutes, in fact most of the built up area is within a ten minute walk of the centre. You can read more about what I recommended at British Cycling Tour of West Kirby

Visualisation of the main road through West Kirby

When we were walking back to the station we bumped into an attractive woman. 'That's Daniel Craig's sister.' Said Chris Boardman. My day was beginning to feel like an episode of Stellar Street. 'We thought Daniel was a ponce at school with all that acting crap, but he's doing alright now isnt he?!'  Lots of people in West Kirby recognised Chris (and he recognised them), not just because he's famous, but also because he's local, and regularly walks and cycles to the cafe and the pub. When we met again a few weeks later, I too was welcomed back in the station cafe, and I'm not famous.

It's a small thing but I have noticed that even a quiet person like me gets to meet a lot of people when on foot or bike. Consequently I rarely feel threatened by 'society' because almost without exception the young or old, rich or poor of our country are pretty friendly. Some of my friends who drive everywhere seem perpetually worried about crime, mugging, teenagers, or indeed anyone who is 'different' to them. I lived in the same house in Birmingham for ten years but there were some people in our street that I just never met because they only ever walked from their front door to the car. I dont know if there's any research to back this up, but I'm sure you just get to know more (and more varied) people if you walk and cycle a lot. If you just hang out with people like yourself, such as work colleagues (or even other cyclists!), that probably is a bit unhealthy in shaping your view of the world. It's good to meet people who challenge your beliefs and live different lives. There is an oft quoted piece of research by Donald Appleyard that showed how the amount of traffic had a dramatic impact on social connections in a street:

In the late 1960s Appleyard conducted a renowned study on livable streets, comparing three residential streets in San Francisco which on the surface did not differ on much else but their levels of traffic. The 2,000 vehicles per day street was considered Light Street, 8,000 traveled on Medium Street and 16,000 vehicles passing down Heavy Street. His research showed that residents of Light Street had three more friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on Heavy Street.

Appleyard's diagrammatic image of social connections in streets

The other flipside about cycling is illustrated in Chris's mate Ned Boulting's book 'On the Road Bike' where he describes what happened when a cycle repair shop opened up next door to his local barber, Ahmet (I've abridged his original prose):

"Suddenly in the summer of 2012 there was the confluence of two events. The first was an almighty traffic jam, it took him an hour to drive the 3 miles from home. The second was that a bike repair shop opened next door. Ahmet took notice and bought a bike. The bike shop owner told him there was a cycle path almost all the way from his house to the shop, through a park and along a river. Ahmet now rides to work with pride and delight every day, and no trip to the barber is complete without a discussion on cycling.

He's had new bike racks installed outside the shop. He recommends Marks bike shop to his customers and Mark has brought new customers to Ahmet, middle-class men who would normally never have considered the Village Barber's at the end of the road."

Ask any successful business where they get most customers from and they will invariably say 'personal recommendations'. Small businesses need local custom to generate that kind of marketing and can't survive so easily in a car-based society.

We don't often think about these fringe benefits (yes, awful pun) when making the case for investment in cycling. It's hard to prove with any certainty that walking and cycling foster social cohesion and mental well being by providing more human contact. It's hard to argue that small towns and villages where people currently live largely car dependent lives will suddenly transform into 'better places' if we restrict rather than facilitate car use. By definition, towns and villages are geographically small, so they should lend themselves to walking and cycling. If people shop locally, jobs and services in the towns are more easily preserved as money spent locally stays within the local economy, and the poorest and most vulnerable don't have additional travel costs to find work, education or healthcare. When people meet and interact with their fellow villagers in the pub, cafes, streets and shops they may not always agree with one another, but problems such as crime and extremism are less likely. We need to give the same priority to non-motorised transport in smaller settlements that we do in the great cities, not only to address traffic issues, but to ensure a healthy population and sustainable economy.