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CYCLETALK
The Newsletter of CTC ScotlandNumber 32: Apr/May 2004 Editor of this issue:
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What happened to No.31? It was written, but not printed. The printer (in London) that we have used for years ceased to trade in December, and while some staff moved to another firm, others remained to clear up the former business. The copy was sent to them, but not received, and the first we knew of this was an email a few hours before the distributor’s deadline for insertion into Cycle - too late to get copies printed and delivered in time.
If you missed it, you can click here to read it in HTML format, or download and print the PDF version.
The 150 or so who have opted to be notified of an electronic edition of Cycle Talk did of course receive their copies. You could be one of these by sending your email address and membership number to the Editor .
For your convenience No.32 repeats a few of the items from No.31.
We have now entered the final stage of consultation regarding the Scottish Countryside Outdoor Access Code. The Proposed code has been published and is to be laid before the Scottish Ministers who will decide either to adopt the code, amend it or instruct SNH to re-write it. We would urge cyclists to write to their MSPs encouraging adoption. At the consultation of the Draft Code, by far the largest class of respondents were individual landowners. Although there still remain some contentious issues, in the main our concerns have been allayed as far as possible under the Act. The code can only go so far as to give advice on how access rights will be enjoyed and how land managers should act so that access rights can be enjoyed. Where access rights are to be enjoyed is written in the Act. So although farmyards are excluded from access rights, we find the code gives a very strong message to farm managers that preventing passage should be considered only if absolutely necessary. The advice given on the extent of curtilage (the amount of space someone needs to protect their privacy) is very sensible and very intuitive (and doesn’t rely on specific distances which should be observed).
The next step in this process (which seems to be forever drawn out) is for cyclists to get representation on Access Forums across Scotland. Core Path Networks are to be developed. Many access related disputes will be resolved by these forums.
Now is the time to start making this legislation work for us. I have put effort into this legislation because I want people to have cycling opportunities (which they regard as ‘safe’ and can enjoy with full confidence that they are not breaking the law) from their door. I want to see families cycling on tracks in their local area. This may encourage them to think of cycling as an everyday activity, not something they can only do once a month if they drive 50 miles or more to visit a cycling ‘hotspot’ (like the Trossachs or Tentsmuir Forrest). And finally they may be able to view cycling as an everyday part of life and become less reliant on the car for short journeys.
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| “Scottish Passport” presenter Bryan Burnett at the launch of Cycling Scotland on Feb 24th |
The RtR email group has been having a lot of correspondence recently about marking cycle tracks on OS maps. John Taylor and Mike Harrison attended a half-day meeting hosted by Scottish Natural Heritage which was attended by two Ordnance Survey staff. Their main point was that they are intending to mark paths on the 25thou maps (but make no changes on the 50thou ones). They intend to mark paths which are on the Core Paths List (once that has been compiled by each Local Authority!) not ones which are on the Core Path Plan only (a gleam in the eye). Others as well as cyclists indicated that in Scotland most walkers as well as cyclists and horse-riders use the 50thou maps rather than the 25thou ones (perhaps Scottish walkers cover a greater area in their walks than English walkers). We – the users – also agreed that just indicating that a path was a Core Path was not really useful information. Some way of indicating who could usefully use it would be much better. However, we had to agree that there was no way of marking the 16 different grades of path on a map!
The complexity of the situation can be gathered by reading this extract from a contribution to the email group from Chris Juden, the CTC’s Technical Officer.
Sustrans do depict other paths [sc. than NCN] on their mapping, but not very consistently. The upshot of the meeting with them and OS was that they would tell OS about ALL the surfaced cyclepaths they know about (not just waymarked ones), and that cyclists would tell Sustrans about all the paths we know about, Sustrans check with their local Rangers, add them to their database and pass the info on to OS, who would use the green dash symbol to depict them on Landranger.
Cyclists can see if Sustrans already know about a cyclepath by looking on Sustrans website. However: Sustrans web maps do not differentiate between properly surfaced paths (that can be ridden with any type of bicycle at any time of year) and those that are sub-standard (need a mountain-bike esp. in winter). I feel this problem needs to be addressed by Sustrans before the project can go any further as there is no point in adding sub-standard paths to the OS map and pretending they are cyclepaths.
This is what has happened in the past with the little red bike symbols. These were used to depict locally promoted cycle routes, but were sometimes little more than wishful thinking by the local cycling officer that led cyclists down horribly muddy unimproved bridleways, who complained strongly to OS. You have to remember that OS maps are used by visiting European cyclists, who know what a cyclepath is supposed to be like! So OS abandoned those symbols and that’s why they won’t now trust local authorities to provide cyclepath information - that and the fact that most local authorities do not even know what paths they have!
I am waiting to hear back from [Sustrans] about this enhancement of their website maps before informing our members. Otherwise I’m afraid that Sustrans will simply be inundated by instructions to take this or that path off their map because it is not properly surfaced. I think it is useful nonetheless for sub-standard paths to be depicted in some way on Sustrans mapping - for the benefit of those who don’t mind getting dirty and so we can see what we might have if only it were improved. On Landranger we would expect to see these sub-standard paths depicted, when apart from roads, using the symbol appropriate to “other paths and tracks”.
The depiction of Scottish Rights of Way is an entirely separate issue. Trying to combine it with cyclepaths only serves to confuse. Presumably some of these new Scottish ROWs, some core paths, will be cyclepaths, just as some footpaths in England & Wales sometimes get upgraded to cycletracks. In that case they should be depicted by the cyclepath symbol (thick green dashes) rather than the footpath symbol, since it may safely be presumed that one may also walk wherever there is a cyclepath (if not actually on it then immediately adjacent). However, I’m afraid that where cyclepath and bridlepath coincide in E&W, OS give precedence to the bridlepath symbol since the same cannot be presumed for horseriding. So we still will not know if a bridlepath is cyclable, not unless it has been adopted as part of a Sustrans route, in which case the superimposed route highlighting (green blobs) will give a clue that this bridleway probably does have a decent surface. But it’s still not completely reliable, since Sustrans seem to accept rather a low standard of surfacing for the sake of completing the network.
Details & booking forms for the KM, Scottish Vets & Grampian Rally – read and download from front page
At CTC Scotland’s AGM, Ron Harrow’s period as Chair came to an end and he was thanked for his services. However the meeting failed to find a new Chair, and each meeting will have to nominate someone to control the meeting. The Chair however also has another function - to speak for CTC Scotland, and to represent it at various meetings. If there is any member out there who thinks they could usefully fill these roles, please contact the Secretary.
The National AGM & Dinner will be in Edinburgh at the Holyrood Hotel (almost next to the new Parliament building) on April 24th. The booking form for the Dinner was in the Feb “Cycle”. We would like a good Scottish representation at the event. If there are any Edinburgh members willing to offer overnight accommodation to visiting members either from Scotland or other parts of the UK, or any visitors needing accommodation, please contact Mike Harrison; +44 131 554 7773).
In February, Clare Little started as part-time Project Officer followed in March by Carol de Klerk as Project Assistant. The office is at the Outdoor Shop, 97 East High Street, Forfar, DD8 The telephone number is 01307 469880, low rate 0845 456923 and the email address is cycling-at-onetel.com.
The aims are to to encourage people in Tayside to take up or return to cycling as a healthy form of exercise. Cycle for a Healthy Heart can work with individuals, or groups of people, who have never ridden a bike before and wish to try, or who used to be cyclists and now need some support and encouragement to get back on their bike again. In addition, users may need some bike maintenance, to practice cycling in traffic again, or help in finding a safe route to work, or be taken on a ride round the Angus countryside. Bikes will be available for those who do not have one.
Initially, the project will be working in the Angus area so if you are interested in being involved as a volunteer or know of someone who would like to take part, please do get in touch.
Pat Harrow
Anyone who manages a budget in the public sector knows the way one can suddenly be told that there is £x available, but it has to be spent within the next y weeks. The wise person always has a little list to which these funds can be applied. Last year Sustrans in Scotland received about £1.4m with very short notice, and used this largely to surface and upgrade paths in the West of Scotland. This year, the Scottish Executive being so impressed with their efficient management and action, has almost doubled the amount (to £2.5m), and Sustrans, being well-prepared, has a much wider range of projects ready. It’s more spread geographically and in the type of work – from lighting the cycle path on the railway bridge at Invershin to building a footbridge at Newton Stewart, from personal safety improvements on the Partick to Yoker Cycleway to tarmac and vegetation management on the Musselburgh River Esk path. Some are on paths which are owned by Sustrans, others are parts of the National Cycle Network where the paths are owned by District Councils.
Two issues of Cycle Talk have reported on the Sustrans Trailblazing Ride Round the Forth. Sustrans has now produced project proposals for the Round the Forth Cycling and Walking Route which sets out the high-level vision for the project and identifies key benefits and opportunities, as well as outlining the proposed route and infrastructure requirements. These are to be regarded as initial proposals and as the document is a discussion one feedback is welcomed.
The purpose of the document is to secure funding to take the project forward and Sustrans will be approaching appropriate organisations over the course of the next few months.
It will be good if anyone living in the project area could become involved and give their views.
Copies of the project can be obtained from Katherine Taylor. Her phone number is 0131-554 1795. Email katht@sustrans.org.uk
It’s Tri-Vets year again. To get the certificate you need to be over 50 and do the 100 miles, but we would like supporters, and also welcome those who are nearly 50 and want to practice for the future. CTC Scotland has also decided to do an alternative route which is only 50 miles and even one of 50k. There’s subsidised coffee, and also an evening meal available. All 3 rides are registered as DATC events. Details at www.CTCScotland.org.uk or from Peter Hawkins (118/1 Stenhouse Cresc., Edinburgh, EH11 3HU – please send him an SAE if you are writing).
The second Grampian Rally will be held from 20th to 25th August at Templar’s Park, Maryculter nr Aberdeen. There will be four days of cycling and rides of 20, 40 & 60 ml with leaders and route cards will be offered each day, through Grampian’s varied countryside and quiet roads. Socials will be arranged on site each evening and there will be a Ceilidh Supper at The Old Mill Inn on the last evening. Accommodation will be mainly camping or caravanning at Templar’s or nearby Deeside Caravan Park but there is limited B & B accommodation nearby.
Application forms by sending a S.A.E. to Cindy Blackmore, 57 Leslie Rd, Aberdeen; 01224 484891
Forms are at: www.ctcgrampian.org.uk
The Forestry Commission has a regular news section (you can subscribe): www.forestry.gov.uk/news
CTC is now producing a weekly email newsletter. It fills in news in the long gaps between the issues of Cycling.
As a sample here are some extracts from the issue of Dec 19th:
Mind the paintwork – Britain’s first valet parking service for bicycles has opened in Cambridge (reports the Daily Telegraph this week). For £1.50 a day, bikes are collected at the railway station and locked in a depot.
CTC launches cycle helmet hotline – In response to concerns from cycling postal workers who are now forced to wear helmets by Royal Mail, CTC has this week launched an information and support line. CTC is calling on Royal Mail to justify its actions by producing the report which led them to adopt the new rule, and in the meantime would like to hear about how it is working in practice from postal workers themselves. The support and information line telephone number is 01483 520 756. Or email postal.workers@ctc.org.uk
A penny fir your thoughts – if you have an opinion about your forests, the Scottish Executive wants to hear about it. The consultation is part of a review of the 667,000 hectares of forests managed by Forestry Commission Scotland. Details can be downloaded from www.forestry.gov.uk/consultations or email kenny.murray@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
If you are not currently receiving the newsletter directly and would like to, send your name, membership number and email address in the subject box of an email to yannick.read@ctc.org.uk
Copy for next issue to CycleTalk Editor by 1st May
CycleTalk 32 compiled and edited by Mike Harrison
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