Ride on the new MUP Thursday 30 June 2016

Today six of us met (slight oversimplification) at Matlock railway station to investigate progress on the multi-user path from Matlock to Rowsley, and to ride over as much of it as possible. Work was being carried out on Phase 1: the building of a wall at the end of the railway path near Old Rd. The guys working there kindly let us go by and gave us the information that the next stage of this - a path over a field adjacent to Old Rd - will start next week, which is great news. Going over the level crossing at this point, we eventually found our way out onto Old Rd near the Red House carriage museum. Phase 2 goes through the Whitworth Institute gardens, where we saw a heron which has been resident there for a few weeks now. A section of path within the grounds was started some weeks ago but left incomplete, waiting for the tenant farmer who rents this piece of land to give his blessing to the project! We rode over Phase 3, completed a few months ago, where some workers were putting final touches to the fencing by the side of Peak Rail's Rowsley South station car park, to the recycling center and from there over Phase 4 though the woods to Rowsley. We chatted to the guy in charge of the building of the boardwalk and he gave us a lot of useful information about this and the MUP generally. In his estimation, the boardwalk should be finished in about 2.5 weeks (more good news!) In Rowsley, we visted briefly the church and then walked over the railway viaduct over the Derwent, which hopefully one day will be used to carry the cycle path towards the Monsal Trail. After lunch at Caudwell Mill in Rowsley, we returned by much the same route. Pics show (L2R): Melody, Ian and Mavis/me, Catherine and David at the 'Arc' level crossing. Thanks everyone for coming!

MONSAL TRAIL CYCLE RIDE SUNDAY 3 JULY 2016

A reminder that the second led public ride of 2016 will take place on the Monsal Trail on Sunday 3 July. This will be similar to our last ride, on the Manifold Valley Trail, and will be a leisurely ride of approximately 3 hours, guided by members of our own group. 

It will be suitable for cyclists of all ages and abilities, and will include a number of stops with explanations given on the history and heritage associated with the trail by our own volunteers. 

This is a "there-and-back" ride of easy cycling along the former Midland Railway line, passing through the 4 long, lit tunnels (bring bike lights if you have them) that were re-opened in 2011, 2 shorter tunnels, and including a number of stations, as well as some stunning scenery.

The route is mostly flat and traffic free. Cycle hire is available at Hassop station. Light refreshments are available at Hassop station, Millers Dale station and Blackwell Mill cycle hire.

Meet at Hassop station car park at 10:15 for a 10:30 start. Return by 13:30.

Women's Tour of Britain comes to Derbyshire on 17 June

Stage 3 of the Women's Tour of Britain this year is from Ashbourne to Chesterfield, a distance of 112.6 km with a total ascent of 1999m. We will be staffing a Sustrans stand at Ashbourne similar to the one we operated during the 2015 Men's Tour last September in Hall Leys Park, Matlock. We had a good turnout then, so please come along and support this fantastic event. Meet at 08:30 on the Market Square.

The boardwalk has arrived!

I haven't posted anything on the new multi-user path since 9 March. This is an update. As I reported before, Phase 4 of the multi-user path consists of two stretches though a wood near the recycling plant at Rowsley South which had their final surface a few months ago, but between which there is a swamp. We were informed by Claire O'Reilly, DCC project manager, at a meeting in April that this swamp would be bridged by a section of boardwalk (I can hear the Drifters' 1964 hit as I write this ... "Under the boardwalk out of the sun, Under the boardwalk we'll be havin some fun ... ") Enough! I am pleased to announce that 50-odd metres of this has arrived (see pics above). Hopefully this whole section will be completed soon.

Phase 3 from Churchtown to Rowsley South is now complete and rideable, and is having some boundary fences erected.

Phase 1 from the level crossing near Arc Leisure towards Old Rd has had its base laid for several hundreds of metres but awaits its final surface. It still does not extend to Old Rd, although much of this has been dug out, and the final bit of this which is to pass through a field alongside Old Rd has not been started yet. We are advised not to ride this yet.

The section which shows the least progress is Phase 2, although a path is being constructed in a field adjacent to the Whitworth Institute park, which I presume is related to the greenway.

Don't forget to pencil in the ride on Thursday 30 June. No doubt more progress will have been made by then, and we will be able to see the latest developments and ride much of the path. Details later.