Calling all Shropshire cycling businesses!
Shropshire Council is currently developing a new website: www.travelshropshire.co.uk due to go live at the end of April 2012.
As part of the new website, we would like to expand our existing Cycle Shrewsbury discount card to become a Shropshire wide cycling discount card.
We sent out letters inviting Shropshire cycling businesses to join the scheme on 8 February 2012. However, we want to ensure that all cycling businesses in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin are given the opportunity to sign up to the discount card scheme. Therefore, if you operate a cycling business in Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin, please visit the Cycle Shrewsbury website to see the full list of businesses invited to join the scheme and contact us if you are not listed so that we may send you details of the scheme.
Free training
Cycle Shrewsbury is currently offering several free training courses as outlined below.
Basic cycle maintenance
A two-hour class to show you how to mend a puncture and keep your bike in good running order. The class will be followed by a short social ride (optional).
Dates: Wednesday 21 March or 18 April 10am -12pm free.
Where: Radbrook Community Centre, Bank Farm Road, Shrewsbury.
Learn to lead a social ride
Leading a group is not quite the same as going out with two or three friends; especially if some of the group lack confidence about their cycling skills or their fitness levels. If you are a confident cyclist and would like to help other people enjoy social, easy paced rides please join us for this training where we will cover all the practicalities including planning the route.
Date: Saturday 24 March 9am - 4.30pm free.
Where: The Lantern, Meadow Farm Drive, Shrewsbury SY1 4NG.
Adult cycle training
Whether you are a complete beginner, or have not been on a bike for a while and are nervous in traffic, one-to-one cycle training is available anywhere in Shropshire and it's free for the first 2 hours. Time and place are decided to suit the trainer and trainee; and all previous trainees have rated the training as excellent.
To book a place on any of the training please email cycle.shrewsbury@shropshire.gov.uk or phone 01743 255435. Visit the Cycle Shrewsbury website via the link on this page for more information about these training courses.
Cycle Shrewsbury is moving on
You will soon be able to find us at the Travel Shropshire website. This new website will be a one-stop shop for any information about travel in Shropshire, for local people and visitors. The website address will remain the same and all the useful information from Cycle Shrewsbury will be there, as well as news about new cycling projects in Oswestry and Ludlow, and events across Shropshire.
Regular social rides in Shrewsbury
There is no need to book for these, you can just turn up.
- Women's rides on the first Sunday of every month: meet at Porthill Bridge in the Quarry at 10.30am
- Rides from Radbrook surgery on the third Friday of every month: meet outside the surgery at 10.15am
Social rides in Oswestry
A group of people in Oswestry have recently started social rides open to all. Their first rides have been in December and January, and each time over 30 people of all ages have enjoyed a sociable ride on quiet lanes.
Infrastructure
Look out for public consultation in March on plans for the Shrewsbury station area. This work will be the next step after the recent work on Smithfield Road; and will make it easier for people on bicycles and on foot to move through the heavily-trafficked area around the station.
Also in Shrewsbury, look out for the "no entry except cyclists" sign; a common sight in other European countries but new to Shrewsbury. This is a long-awaited improvement to make it easier to cycle through the town centre. There is a list of streets on the Cycle Shrewsbury website.
Bike It
The very successful Sustrans Bike It programme will run in Shropshire for three more years 2012-5. Kim Williams will continue her work in Shrewsbury schools and will start working in colleges; and a new Bike It officer will work mainly in Oswestry schools and colleges. Find out more about Bike It on the Cycle Shrewsbury website.
Route 81 closure
Porthill Bridge in Shrewsbury will be closed for essential maintenance from April to July. Diversions will be signposted; but this may cause a problem for the hundreds of people who cross this bridge on foot or with a bicycle every day. It seems there are plans for a ferry service and we hope it will take bicycles – information will be added to this website as soon as we have it.
We hope to celebrate its reopening with a mass ringing of bells on Friday 27 July. This will be part of a national event. Visit the All the Bells website for more information.
It would be good to get groups of cyclists together all across the county to join in and ring their bells on that day. Please contact us if you would like to get involved, or if you have any other suggestions or questions.
Email cycle.shrewsbury@shropshire.gov.uk or call 01743 253008.
New cycle leaflets for Shropshire
Three new cycle leaflets are now available:
- Oswestry walking and cycling map
- Ludlow walking and cycling map
- Ludlow family friendly rides: Lady Halton Loop
Follow the links on this page to find out more about these leaflets.
Shrewsbury Town Centre improvements complete
A new scheme to improve walking and cycling connections in Shrewsbury town centre, completed as part of the improvement works at the Raven Meadows junction of Smithfield Road, officially opened on Wednesday 30 November 2011.
As well as better access for walkers and cyclists travelling across the town, these improvements will also result in quicker access to the bus station for bus traffic, straighter traffic lanes through the junction when travelling towards the rail station, and improved traffic signal control to help reduce congestion.
The work, a joint initiative from Shropshire Council and Sustrans, is part of a wider Connect2 project in the town connecting communities to the west and north of the town centre, providing safe and direct walking and cycling routes linking to schools, workplaces, shops, and the railway and bus stations.
Shropshire Council awarded £5 million to promote sustainable transport
On 5 July 2011 the Department for Transport announced that it will award Shropshire Council £4.99 million between 2011 and 2015 to spend on a wide range of sustainable transport measures which meet the objectives of supporting and boosting the local economy and cutting carbon emissions.
This will include building on the successful work of the Cycle Shrewsbury campaign; setting up similar projects in Oswestry and Ludlow; and promoting initiatives such as car-sharing, car clubs and hydrogen-powered cars.
Follow the link on this page to find out more about the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and how you can get involved.
The National Cycle Museum, Llandrindod Wells
The National Cycle Museum in Llandrindod Wells, Powys, is keen to work with schools and community groups in Shropshire.
To find out more about what the museum has to offer, to book your visit or to arrange for museum staff to visit your school, please follow the link on this page.
Have your say
If you want to get involved in the development of cycling schemes in Shropshire, why not come along to the Shropshire Cycle Forum? This group is open to local cyclists and has an evening meeting every three months at the Shirehall in Shrewsbury. Follow the link on this page for further details of future meetings.