Unfortunately due to technical difficulties my Right-to-Ride article did not appear in the latest May to July edition of the Pedal. So instead here it is: RTR Magazine Article -Apr15 V2 .
Category Listing: News
Issues regarding the Meon Valley Trail
There have been several articles in the press and on TV attacking the Meon Valley Trail project. These articles have contained incorrect and misleading information resulting in unfair criticism of the project and those involved including Portsmouth CTC's Jim Weeks and Mike Ashton who provided (and continue to provide) considerable, useful input to the project.
This article corrects some of the false assertions that have been flying around...
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Meon Valley Trail progress
Work is progressing on the Meon Valley Trail. Looks like we'll have a new route come the summer. You can read the latest at:
- David Deane's blog - David is the Cycling Projects Officer associated with the MVT project; click the 'continue' links to see the full blog postings including some fascinating pictures
- The Hampshire CC web site
Hayling Ferry company enters administration
I understand the company that runs the Hayling Ferry has gone into administration. According to the company’s Twitter account, service is closed.
There’s still some hope the service will return if:
- Another company buys the company or some of its assets
- One of the councils takes it on
- An entirely new service is created in place of the old one
That would seem to require renegotiation of either the controversial pontoon fees, a subsidy from Portsmouth City Council (which withdrew its subsidy last year) or both. That leaves little scope for a return in the short term.
That’s sad news because it disrupts National Cycle Network route 2 which relies on the Ferry. The obvious alternate route (across Farlington Marshes and down Eastern Road) by-passes Hayling Island altogether.
Video from the barn dance
Here's some video from the barn dance taken by Roger Carradus.
A reminder of a fun evening - thanks, Roger.
Work started on the Meon Valley Trail
The Meon Valley Trail stretches for 10 miles from Wickham to West Meon. Work on improving the trail and upgrading it to a bridleway/cycle path has now started in earnest.
Work is planned to complete in June.
More details and the latest progress report from the Hampshire CC web site.
Photo competition winners
The winner of the photo competition was Keith Wileman. The runner-up was Pat Mitchell.
The winning photos are reproduced below. Click any image to see a larger version. Note that I have reduced the size of the originals for use on the web.
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Portsmouth: A City to Share
Last Monday I attended the launch meeting of the Portsmouth Cycling Forum cycling strategy for Portsmouth which was well attended by City Counsellors and senior Officers as well as Representatives of British Cycling and other interested parties. Jon Spencer as chairman of the PCF made the launch presentation and emphasised that it had been formulated by the PFC in response to a challenge by Donna Jones the leader of the Council and covered five key action areas: Safety; Transport; Equality; Leisure; and Planning.
You can see the strategy document here.
This is obviously a very important forward move for Cycling in Portsmouth and Donna Jones has responded very favourably and wishes to progress the city policies to incorporate the strategy and will be holing further meetings to this end with John in the near future.
The next meeting of the Portsmouth Cycling Forum, at which the Strategy will be presented, is on the same day as our AGM 13th November. Even so, it would be good if Portsmouth were well represented.
New club night season starts on Thursday
The new season starts on Thursday 9th October at 7:45pm. Everyone is welcome.
Ride and Barbecue - Saturday 16th August 2014
Our first barbecue event for some time is hailed a resounding success when three separate groups of cyclists, starting from The Spring Centre in Havant, converged at Benhams barbecue area in QE Park around 1pm on Saturday 16th August. Many others cycled direct or came by car.
The following short video clip captures the weather, the banter and the party atmosphere on the day.
Finally, many thanks to Alison and Geoff Newman, who made this terrific event so successful with their hard work feeding so many hungry mouths.
You can see Alison's photos from the day here.