The National Cycle Network is 20 years old this year! On the Longest Day (21 June) 2000, as a new ranger, I had the pleasure of leading a group from Derby to Lichfield on the new Route 54. This was just one part of a celebration of the opening of the first 5000 miles of the Network, and similar rides were taking place all the country. How it has grown in 15 years! Now there are nearly three times that distance, and one-half of the UK's population lives within one mile of the Network. Yesterday, we played our part in celebrating this 20th anniversary of the National Cycle Network by riding 22 miles over four different routes: 68, 548, 54 and 547. Starting at Tissington car park, we rode up the Tissington Trail to Biggin 'crossroads', took Route 548 to where it joins the High Peak Trail (NCR54) at Minninglow, continued on the HPT to Hopton Bottom, and then Route 547 to Carsington, where we had refreshments; a mixture of trail, road and bridleway. I left at that point, but the rest of the group continued back to Tissington. The weather stayed fine, we had some stunning views, saw a bit of snow from a few days ago, found time to do a small amount of signing and were in great company! We also welcomed established ranger, Robin, as a new member of the group. Thanks to everyone for coming along and to Jim for suggesting this interesting and varied route. I'm anticipating more rides this year to celebrate the NCN's 20 years! Pic shows (from L2R) Jim, Catherine, David, Robin and Paul W behind the granite Kugel Stone at Carsington Water visitors' center.
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