Picnic on the Bridge

Today was the opening of a new link across the Trent, always a barrier for cyclists heading east from Sheffield who aren't comfortable on busy main roads.The Fledborough viaduct, a classic railway structure, is now open for cyclists and walkers. When the associated route is complete it will provide a link through from Clumber Park, itself already on NCN6, to Lincoln, where you can get on NCN1, the Water-rail Way, and head for East Anglia, or indeed north to East Yorkshire and beyond.

I left Sheffield at 9 and followed NCN6 through Rother Valley Country Park to Worksop. My friend Jon, another Sustrans ranger, joined me at Worksop and having stopped at Clumber, where there was a 40's festival going on, made our way along lanes and bridleways to Fledborough. A warm welcome awaited us:-

After the bash we pootled back to Worksop, refreshing ourselves regularly en route, and finished off with a swift couple in the Mallard at Worksop before getting our train home.

Condition of Network

Noted the following issues on the Sheffield section of the NCN/TPT this weekend:- 

(This is a maintenance report for the benefit of the people who keep the trail clean, don't be put off - it's still a great ride! ) 

Sussex St   - tyres dumped, general litter. 

Bowden Housteads woods - general litter & fly-tipping between Parkway bridge & Mosbrough Parkway Bridge. Signage missing - have put up temporary signs but a more robust solution is needed here. The new signs that have been put up in the city centre are not suitable for these remote locations - the one new one that has been put up, at the NCN6/67 junction at Richmond has been vandalised. 

Glass on track at numerous locations between Mosbrough Parkway & Manor Way  - Access points in particular need to receive attention. 

Off-road motorcyclists in the Carbrook Ravine Sheffield Wildlife Trust site.

Fly-tipping on Tinsley Park Road - general litter all the way from Arena to Tinsley Park Rd

Unnecessary "cyclists dismount" sign at south end of cobweb bridge. 

Glass on pavement - East Coast Rd bridge. 

Beighton Tip Site - The new tracks across the landfill site are in much better condition than the old TPT route and a more pleasant ride. However, there are no signs across the site and nowhere to put temporary ones. 

Rear of Sovereign Stainless Fabrications, Attercliffe Rd- fence broken leading to rubbish spilling out on to Five Weirs Walk.  

Broken glass on pavements around Arena Sq

NCN6 Old Penistone Rd Grime & litter at access point returning to shared use pavement, south end. 

Litter bins need to be emptied more often - many of the bins I passed were full to overflowing. 

On the plus side, the new sufaces between Beighton and  Richmond are excellent and make for a safer, faster and smoother ride. 

Elsewhere in the city

Cycle route signs pointing in wrong direction at following locations:-

Glossop Rd/Brunswick St junction. 

Saxon Rd/Chesterfield Rd junction (w. side of railway bridge)

Fly-tipping at Eastern end of Stone Lane. 

Fly-tipping & broken glass on the footpath between Bamforth St & Penistone Rd (nr Vision windows Warehouse)

Barnsley. 

TPT signs have been vandalised on town link  - visible from the train. 

What do we want to see in LTP3?

The Council along with the rest of South Yorkshire is drawing up its plan for transport for the next 5 years. What would we like to see in it? Ideas are being collected at ltp3 One thing's for sure - there won't be any money for large capital projects and small-scale cycling projects represent excellent value for money. 

Not On Network

Sheffield City Council has placed this Motor Traffic Information Sign in the middle of the cycle track on Eyre St. (& widened the cycle track slightly so that when you run into it and are lying on the ground bleeding, you are still on the footway and not inconveniencing any motorists.)  As Sustrans frequently gets the blame for this sort of stupidity I felt it necessary to add a "Not on Network" sticker to it - to it make it plain that it is nothing to do with Sustrans, but also to warn cyclists of the hazard.  Our suggestion was that as the sign is for the benefit of motorists it should have been put in the middle of the carriageway instead.  

Had a quick ridearound with Andy from SCC which was very useful.

The following things might happen:-

Travelodge :-

Take one K-frame out & move to tunnel under Railway. (Ecclesfield)

Other K-frame will have spacers removed, making it easier to get a bike through.

Bridge @ Ecclesfield - remove barrier which has been subject to a botched repair.

(pics below)

Newhall Rd - slant barriers so cyclists are able to pass through slowly.

Chapeltown Greenway - although there has been a funding gap some work will soon commence on the extension to Chapeltown & Tankersley. There may be scope for Sustrans rangers to help with any preparatory work - clearing vegetation etc - as per Beeley Woods.

Ramp from bridge up to green space adjacent to Ecclesfield Rd (which is heavily used for motorcycling) is in very poor condition.

Noted that Sheffield Wildlife Trust are clearing vegetation between Weedon St & Carbrook St, & the retaining wall is being rebuilt along Effingham St which is causing some disruption. Tyres have been dumped at north end of Cobweb Bridge, at Sussex St. Section between Wicker Arches & Blonk St is closed for Environmental Agency work on the river (Diversions have NOT been posted!)

Guerilla Rangering

Me and Richard A. went out to fix an irritating problem this morning:-

This is where the Five Weirs Walk crosses Newhall Rd. It involves a couple of tight u-turns and then someone who clearly isn't a cyclist put in a barrier which necessitates another tight turn. As a result people cut the corner, which has resulted in the earth getting worn down and creating a hazard.

We went out to fix this a few weeks back with some paving stones but the ground was frozen, so we hid them in the bushes and returned this a.m.. A spot of nifty spadework soon had the ground prepared and we put the paving stones in place.

This is what it looks like now :-

Here's Richard trying it out:-

We hope this makes your journey along the Five Weirs Walk a little easier.

Further downstream we found a spawning Spacehopper:-

On the way back we stopped at La Perle Bistro & Patisserie on the Wicker (honest!)

which we can thoroughly recommend.

Beeely Wood update

Rob Stanley from the council sent me this:-

The Beeley Wood route is a project in progress at the present time. The path will be finished off with road planings in the near future, together with top soiling of the verge, and that will wrap up phase 1.

Phase 1 is in effect a footpath improvement, - improving drainage, getting rid of the swampy patches and improving the surface for people
who are frail or use wheelchairs. The route is not yet a cycle route or Bridleway so cannot be signed as such. We anticipate that the route can
be upgraded to a Bridleway (and allow cycle usage and signage) as part of phase 2 around April time 2010. This will hopefully be done with a final surfacing of the main track, which is to be agreed, and a
Bridleway agreement with landowners. Access treatments will also be looked at.

The final surfacing, as part of Phase 2, is subject to consultation with a range of stakeholders, including the Community Assembly, Ramblers Association, Sustrans and landowners. I will be looking to start the ball rolling on this later in November.

Agreements with landowners to upgrade to a Bridleway should be fairly straight forward, provided we have their agreement on surfacing and access management. However, there are four landowners along the course
of the route, one of which we have yet to identify and make contact with (despite trying all obvious means). If we can't identify this particular landowner, we may have to look at doing an Order to legally
achieve the Bridleway, which would take longer and be more costly. We are currently exploring options on this.

I will update you when we have either indentified the remaining
landowner or decided on a course of action to convert the footpath to a Bridleway by legal Order. I will also involve Sustrans' reps in the consultation on the final surfacing later this month.

The crossing of the railway line north of Oughtibridge is the subject of ongoing discussion between Network Rail and the City Council, following
Network Rail's opposition to this. Its not an easy one.