FAMILY RIDE FROM CARSINGTON WATER SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER 2015

As a celebration of 20 years of the National Cycle Network, there will be a ride for families starting at Carsington Water at 11 am till about 3 pm, led by our group. There will be a lunch break at a suitable venue. The ride will include at least one of our local traffic-free trails in the Peak District, as well as some quiet roads, and will take in some breathtaking Derbyshire scenery. Meet at 10:45 am for a prompt start at 11:00 outside the Carsington Water Visitor Center and finish back at Carsington around 15:00 or earlier. Please come along and give it your support!

Jim Hudson

It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Jim passed away last Friday, the day of his eightieth birthday.  

Jim was a stalwart member of our White Peak Group. He tackled problems tenaciously and always with meticulous attention to detail. He was always well-organized and his contributions were welcome. On top of all this, he was a thoroughly nice bloke! His presence will be greatly missed. 

Jim first contacted me in connection with a multi-user path in Ashbourne about two years ago: a recalcitrant developer was dragging his heels over building this path and Jim wanted to know what Sustrans knew about this, particularly as it would provide a safer alignment of Route 68 than that which follows the busy A515. Following a discussion about this, I persuaded Jim to join our ranger group, and he subsequently sold his idea to our regional officers. He and I did a couple of signing jobs together on Route 68 between Ashbourne and Etwall, and he also attended most of the group’s other workdays and rides, having planned at least one of the latter earlier this year. He also organized successful meetings and workdays with his fellow rangers in the Ashbourne area. 

Jim was great company on a week-long ride in north-east England in the spring of this year. The last time I saw Jim was during the Tour of Britain event at Matlock less than two weeks ago, an event into which he had put a lot of effort. 

Jim's family have given us the following funeral arrangements: 
2.40 pm on Wednesday 7 October 2015 at the Crematorium in Derby. No black to be worn and no flowers please. There will be a collection for the Air Ambulance - as Jim had the benefit of their service when he had a cycling accident.

Tour of Britain

A few pictures of the TOB going through Matlock

A few

Recording our activities

Hello everyone! Do you all record the activities that you take part in? Let me confess straight away that I have been rather tardy about this myself, but I've just started doing it as it is important to Sustrans. I quote here from the VolNet:

"Recording your activities will help us to improve the support we give you, promote the amazing things all our volunteers do, report back to our funders and seek new funding opportunities. Your volunteer co-ordinator or staff supervisor will view and collate your activity reports." 

Put everything down that you do for Sustrans - workdays (strictly, you should exclude time going to and from the workplace), meetings, events, public rides (but only include our own social rides if they include an element of work on our routes). You will need to log into your Volunteer Net account. Click here to go to there now. Next, go to "record your activity" and add the details. You will find it is very straightforward. You may find that some of your activities have already been logged by me or someone else, since we have to mention rangers that we worked with, so you may have very little extra to put in.

Tour of Britain event, Matlock

Last Friday, on a beautiful sunny day, our group staffed a stand in Hall Leys Park, Matlock, as part of a Tour of Britain celebration organized by Derbyshire Dales District Council. As well as our own members, we were aided by rangers from as far afield as Lichfield and Grantham. Dan Robertson kindly brought a gazebo and the Spin Art bicycle seen in the pictures below, which attracted many members of the public throughout this highly successful day. The Tour came through town shortly before 2 o'clock and was watched by large crowds.

Two important events in September, celebrating the NCN

On Friday 11 September 2015, the White Peak Rangers will be staffing a stand in Hall Leys Park, Matlock, coinciding with the arrival of the Tour of Britain race in the town, and promoting Sustrans, our ranger group and the National Cycle Network, which was 20 years old this year. This is Stage 6 of the ToB, from Stoke on Trent to Nottingham. Come along and give your support. Times 10:00 till 18:00. Please give your availability to Clyde by email, or as a comment below. 

On Saturday 12 September, from 11:00, there will be a ride for the public from Carsington Water, lasting about 2 - 3 hours, with a stop at a suitable venue for lunch and/or a drink. This will be the first of a programme of rides, carrying on into next year. Please give it your support. 

Pedal Peak II update

Hi all

Back in March (http://whitepeakrangers.blogspot.fr/2015/03/update-on-pedal-peak-2-project.html), I mentioned the need to write letters of support for the various phases of the White Peak Loop as they appear on the DCC planning website, before they go to the planning committee. These supporting letters were forthcoming, and eventually numbered over a hundred! In consequence (I would argue), for the section from Matlock to Rowsley, all 3 phases that have been submitted out of 4 have been approved, subject to conditions. However, don’t think that everything else will follow in the wake of these successes. The fourth of these phases, Phase 2: Station Rd, Darley Dale to Church Rd, Churchtown has recently been submitted, and just to demonstrate what can happen when you take your eye off the ball, there were three letters of representation on the website when I last looked – and all three were against the proposals!

So once again, I would ask you to put pen to paper – or finger to keyboard – and please give your support to the latest application, which can be found at:

http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/environment/planning/planning_applications/current_applications/application_details/app-details.asp?AppCode=CD3/0615/46&AppType=2

Following on from this stretch of the White Peak Loop between Matlock and Rowsley, there will be further applications: Phases 5 and 6, linking Rowsley with Coombs Rd, Bakewell, and including the A6 bridge and the Haddon Tunnels - so watch this space! Don't forget - it ain't over till it's over!

Thank you.

Clyde

PS If you don't already receive the Pedal Peak II newsletters, which arrive by email, click here and, on the website, click where it says "Sign up to receive the latest Pedal Peak news direct to your email inbox.” (top right)