February 2015

Sustrans West Midlands Volunteers Newsletter

The National Cycle Network is 20 this year, and we want to celebrate!

Help us celebrate 20 years of the National Cycle Network, the catalyst for a

walking and cycling revolution. These 14,000 miles of traffic-free and quiet

on-road walking and cycling routes have transformed the way people in the UK

travel, making it easier for them to get around by foot and bike. Now, nearly five

million people make the most of this

incredible Network every year, and it’s

made governments take walking and

cycling seriously. We’re so proud of what

the Network’s achieved and we couldn’t

have done it without our fantastic

volunteers. But we know there is still so

much more to do.

Between March and October this year we

are hoping you'll get involved in helping us

celebrate.

It could be something on a small scale

or part of a bigger event.

If you haven’t already why not add this

to the agenda of your next group

meeting. I can also come along to see

local groups too.

We’d like to know your creative ideas

and suggestions for how to celebrate the National Cycle Network, raise its

profile to new audiences and advocate for more investment. Maybe you can

hold an anniversary party on the path, led ride, butterfly walk, bling your bike,

treasure hunt, pop-up stall or something special on the National Cycle Network

in 2015? Please get in touch if you need any support!

Mike Barr, Group Coordinator from

the Stoke group had the great idea

to find out what the 20th wedding

anniversary symbol was and it

turned out to be China. This is

especially fitting for Stoke and its

potteries. Mike thought this would

be the perfect theme for a NCN20

ride.

a) a led public "I rode to China"

ride using one of our existing ride

routes that is an 8 mile loop ride

passing a lot of pottery related

locations - factory visits, galleries,

museums, and bottle ovens.

b) a "China trail" leaflet for this ride

(which could also link to the

Brompton Dock bike hire at Stoke

Station).

Mike is currently approaching

organisations who might want to

fund the leaflets. Well done Mike!

If you want to organise a NCN20

walk or ride check out the latest

resources www.sustrans.org.uk/

volunteer/volunteer-net/activities-

resources/go-explore-sustrans

NCN 20th Anniversary year

Well done to Paul Boston for

all his hard work, logging

over 100 hours and winning

this year’s West Midlands

Volunteer Award.

February 2015 Page 2

Sustrans West Midlands Volunteers Newsletter

November was… clearing leaves

Festive workday

Thank you to all the volunteers who

followed the November theme

suggestion of clearing leaves off the

National Cycle Network. Lawrence

Lee, Redditch Ranger is pictured

below.

It feels like a long time ago now but

well done to the Redditch group for

organising this festive themed ride!

A big thank you to Paul Elwell and

the South Warwickshire

volunteers who were busy over

the Christmas holidays on a

workday with a dozen volunteers

eager to work off a bit of

Christmas excess. The weather

was thankfully both sunny and not

too cold.

The main purpose of this workday

was to clear back grass and

weeds that have started to creep

across the path, in some places

up to a foot or more each

side. Not only does this reduce

the width of a very popular route,

but will also dramatically reduce

the life of the tarmacked surface

once roots get a foothold. With a

lot of hard work we managed to

make quite a difference, although

unfortunately we didn't finish the

last stretch just before Cryfield

Grange Road, so we agreed that I

would organise another workday

in February to finish the job.

Thank you everyone for all your

hard work!

Canal and River Trust workday

Bob MacQueen joined the Canal and

River Trust recently to undertake

towpath improvements through Leam-

ington Spa. This was the first session

with another 4 days scheduled for the

end of January beginning of February.

There were 4 days from 10am through

to 3pm on each day. We managed to

do three or four hours on each day.

There was a very large turnout of

volunteers, 15 on Monday and up to

20 on the weekend. They were a

mixture of CRT volunteers, local

residents and two of us from Sustrans.

First task was to cut back hedging

and dugout to widen the towpath from

its narrow overgrown state that just

about allowed one person to

get through to about 2 metres. then

much borrowing of the surface

dressing which was tamped down with

the vibrator.

Canal and River Trust workday

We’d love to hear from you…

We value your stories, comments and suggestions so please contact Lisa on

0121 633 5517, or email lisa.hartley@sustrans.org.uk or contact Yvonne,

Edward or Henry in the West Midlands team on 0121 633 5500.

We laid about 20 tonnes of surface

material. Well done! You can see the

difference below:

Christmas rides

February 2015 Page 3 West Midlands

Sustrans West Midlands Volunteers Newsletter

If you are planning or supporting

volunteer activities this year, it’s

essential to be familiar with our

new incident reporting volunteer

guidance note on VolunteerNet. This

outlines the right reporting procedure

for all types of incident scenarios, as

well as including information on our

new Out of Hours emergency phone

service.

This year we’ve got two new

funded routes (Stratford upon

Avon & Kenilworth Greenway

pictured below) as part of the

Greener Greenways project to

improve wildlife on our greenways.

There has been lots of interest so

far with ten new wildlife

champions already recruited. The

wildlife champions will be carrying

out wildlife surveys from Feb—

Sept which will inform the habitat

management plans for each route.

Later in the year there will be more

opportunities for practical habitat

creation and management

activities such as scrub clearance

and tree thinning. We will also be

working with local organisations

and groups. If you would like to

find about more or get involved

please get in touch.

As part of the Greener Greenways

project we have funding for two

containers this year. One for the

Walsall—Brownhills route and the

other for the Lias Line in South

Warwickshire. This will serve as a

tool and event material store so

wildllfe champions can carry out

practical tasks and access event

materials. Watch this space!

February is the last month for

scrub clearance before the nesting

season so this is the ideal time to

tackle any heavy scrub. Risk

assessments can be found on

volnet. www.sustrans.org.uk/

volunteer/volunteer-net

Greener Greenways

Thank you to Bob Cooper, Tim

Kitchen and Jean Hughes for

carrying out scrub clearance at

Clayhanger as part of the Greener

Greenways project. They created

scallops (semi circles of cleared

scrub) to allow other species to

come through and not just be

dominated by scrub.

You can see the difference below. It

isn’t just good for wildlife, but as

you can see will also make it easier

for walkers and cyclists to go

through. February is… scrub clearance

Incident Reporting, out of hours Greener Greenways

Activity Log

Since the last newsletter 33

volunteers have logged 416 hours.

Massive thank you to Geoff Shinner

and the Telford & Wrekin group

clocking up over 120 hours this

quarter, with almost 100% of the

group logging activities! Only one

person hasn’t yet. Amazing. Every

log counts and the more

recognition and funding we can get

for our volunteer programme the

more work we can do. Thank you

to everyone who has logged their

hours so far.

Bespoke signs

Potential workdays

Well done to Tony Norgrove, Group

Coordinator Bridgnorth—

Kidderminster who contacted Jane

Chapman (signs@sustrans.org.uk) to

get this bespoke water hazard sign

made. If you spot an opportunity for

a bespoke sign especially where it

could be used to prevent accidents

please get in touch.

Container News

On a recent ride on the Lias Line we

spotted that one of the cycle ramps

could do with a clean. This would

be an easy task and will make a real

difference so it’s always worth

considering the route with a fresh

pair of eyes. If you had never been

on the route what would you think

and where could you improve it?

Walk Leader

Thank you to Paul Boston, Bob

MacQueen, Tony Norgrove, Mike &

Maggie Loveless, Mike Barr,

Lawrence Lee, Paul Elwell, Bob

Cooper for your contribution to the

Feb newsletter and for everyone

else who has volunteered and

logged their hours this quarter.

By Mike & Maggie Loveless

Over 100 cyclists, aged seven to

seventy, turned out on a beautiful

autumn morning for the first ever Tour

of Gnosall. This family cycle ride took a

circuit around Gnosall before heading

out east along the Stafford to Newport

Greenway. At the Millenium Green in

Derrington riders were given welcome

refreshments and delicious home-

made cakes by members of the Green

committee before heading the 5k back

to Gnosall.

Heading up the ride was professional

racer for the Madison Genesis team,

Liam Holohan, who was joined by

members of Staffordshire Police.

Once back at Gnosall Parish Council’s

Grosvenor Centre car park, cyclists

were given free cycle immobiliser tags

by Staffordshire Police officers,

together with advice on keeping their

bikes safe during the forthcoming dark

winter months. The Greenway is part of

Sustrans’ National Cycle Network

Route 55, which runs from Telford to

Preston. Sustrans has been

instrumental in promoting the

improvement of the Greenway to this

standard. Both Sustrans volunteers

and Staffordshire County Council’s

INTO (Inspiring New Travel Options)

team provided information on local

routes for cyclists, information on

safety and also local courses available

to help cyclists keep safe.

February 2015 Page 4

Sustrans West Midlands Volunteers Newsletter

Paul Robinson kindly volunteered to

put the Discovery trail plaques on the

Cole Valley in East Birmingham ready

for the launch of the Discovery trail.

The trail runs between Stechford and

Babbs Mill on a surfaced path. You

can start either end of the trial with

clues from Hoppy the frog and

Bubbles the fish. You can see a

photo from the launch below.

Cole Valley Discovery Trail

Big Lunch extras

In October 2014 I trained 12

parents from local East

Birmingham schools to enable

them to lead family friendly walks

in their local area. They were really

keen to offer something to local

parents that was both active and

social. Parents from Starbank,

Oasis Academy and Bordesley

Green are now looking forward to

planning some walks. If you are

interested in organising some local

walks please get in touch.

Paul Boston described how he

was delighted that so many

cyclists had attended and had

enjoyed themselves. He thanked

all the agencies and volunteers

involved. ‘We will be organising

an event in the spring to mark the

completion of the final remedial

work between Newport and

Gnosall, which will complete this

route. We hope that everyone

who uses the line from all the

villages between Newport and

Stafford will join us to celebrate

the completion of the route and

this great facility.’

Well done everyone!

Big Lunch Extras is a three year

programme helping individuals

across the UK to create positive

change within their communities.

As part of this programme, the

charity is hosting a series of

events (camps) across the UK

throughout 2015. These 3-day

camps are designed to bring

people together who are trying to

encourage positive change in

their local area, building their

confidence and giving them the

skills they need to create change.

These camps are a fantastic

opportunity and participants can

choose from a range of

workshops and practical

activities, as well as receiving

expert advice and being able to

network with others who are

trying to evoke positive change in

their area too.

For more information about these

camps, go to

www.biglunchextras.com/events

Tour de Gnosall

We’d love to hear from you…

We value your stories, comments and suggestions so please contact Lisa on

0121 633 5517, or email lisa.hartley@sustrans.org.uk or contact Yvonne,

Edward or Henry in the West Midlands team on 0121 633 5500.