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Wakefield District Cycle Forum
Promoting and Campaigning for Cyclists

WDCF Newsletter Winter 2024/25

Edition No 68

In This Edition

Winter rides
Winter events
Who thought A-frames were a good idea?
Fitzwilliam plans
Pontefract road consultations
Rycroft Event
Workdays
– Path clearing and Plans
– Work on the Trans Pennine Trail
Cycle clothing (2)

Winter rides

The current erratic weather extremes make it doubly important to check our Facebook page before you set off for a programmed ride, in case it has been cancelled, postponed or moved.

The temperature changes with the terrain, so a sunny start does not guarantee a warm ride. You should be prepared to wrap up well to avoid frozen fingers or a chilly chest.

Although nearly all our rides include a café stop, you may want to bring a warm flask just in case.

Autumn meant crunchy cycle rides under clear chilly skies. Leaf fall brought views of lines of russet trees in the distance and not a myriad of mushrooms but a plethora of fungi of pleasing variety. Winter, on the other hand, brought winds whipping up blasts of icy rain.

The weather for November’s Easy Ride from Queen’s Mill Castleford was crisp and clear, with bright blue skies and cheerful, well-wrapped cyclists.

However, the Santa Ride from Nostell NT had to be cancelled due to the appalling weather. Fear of further falling trees had led to Nostell NT closing for the day. As a result, the ride was moved to the following weekend and met up with Ryhill’s Easy ride on the 17th November at the beautifully decorated Woodlands Café Anglers Country Park, where hot drinks and mince pies were provided. Riders from the steady ride from Thornes called in too to join the festivities.

Queen’s Mill Santa ride went ahead as planned the next weekend, following a route chosen to avoid hazardous wet and muddy paths as much as possible. Castleford Greenway provided a secure, sheltered route with limited time on the road but gave pedestrians a chance to admire the Christmas jumpers and Santa costumes. Mince pies and coffees were supplied at Huggamug on Pontefract racecourse.

Winter Events

In appreciation of our hard work over the past year in putting on a busy programme of guided rides and our involvement with the Big WoW, Louise Galloway, Physical Activity Programme Manager at Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, invited WDCF ride leaders, back markers and others involved to a festive thank-you lunch at the Create Café Wakefield.

Work commitments and holidays precluded some from coming but a fair number were able to attend a delicious meal in friendly company. It was good to see people from across the district and to relax without the need to keep an eye on the bikes!

After Lou’s lunch came Sharon’s shenanigans at Galway Girl in Pontefract.  The venue was packed and incredibly noisy.  Unexpectedly and uncharacteristically, one couldn’t hear Sharon speak.  Unfazed, Sharon had a word with someone and we finished up downstairs with the strongroom to ourselves, seated cosily in seclusion with pizzas. The stalwarts of the party are shown as some of us needed to get up in the morning!  Thanks are due to Sharon for organising this and to Lisa for the photo.

Who though A-frames are a good idea?

You’ll have seen many comments about pernicious A-frames in past newsletters and other cycling journals.They’re not good for cycles, whether that be standard bikes, tandems, tricycles, cargo bikes or handcycles, nor prams, pushchairs, wheelchairs, horses or mobility scooters.Strangely, motorbikes seem to find it easy to get round them.I thought you might like a couple of cartoons demonstrating who, it is believed, these Machiavellian structures were actually designed for.

Fitzwilliam Plans

Wakefield Council is proposing to bring a new bike skills trail to Fitzwilliam Country Park.  The trail is designed to introduce more people to off-road mountain biking, while challenging more experienced riders. A planning application has been submitted for the new skills trail, with a decision expected in February 2025. If approved, work will begin later in the year.

The scheme is supported by Councillor Michael Graham, the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Growth  and Councillor Jack Hemingway,

Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change. The Black Hills Project, in partnership with our friends Reverse the Cycle, are championing the project. Once the new skills trail is complete, they aim to provide support to encourage young people of all abilities to try off-road cycling and highlight environmental responsibilities amongst riders. The project is being funded by the Town Centre Regeneration fund and is supported by local district councillors.

In light of these developments and the upgrading of Dando Way’s route from Ackworth Moor Top to Fitzwilliam station, WDCF is introducing a new easy ride to the Fitzwilliam area from Hemsworth Water Park in March.  Details will appear on the 2025 Rides leaflet.

Pontefract Road consultation

A select group from the Forum visited Pontefract Racecourse to look at proposals for cycling and walking improvements on the A639 – Park Road, Pontefract.

The following plans are being developed by Wakefield Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority: 

  • Widening the carriageway to add an extra lane in each direction   
  • A new 3 metre wide shared and segregated cycle and walking pathways between Park Lane junction and Princes Drive via the improved roundabout
  • Improved bus signal priority for northbound traffic on the A639 Park Road
  • Improved cycle route between Park Lane Junction and Glasshoughton Station/Retail Park/Xscape
  • A new toucan crossing on Beechnut Lane Although it’s now too late for you to add your comments, you can find out more about the proposals by visiting www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/A639parkroad where you can view the plans online.

Rycroft Event

On Sunday 19th January, Wakefield District Cycle Forum, in conjunction with Rycroft Leisure and British Triathlon, is holding a Bike Hub event at Rycroft Leisure Centre between 10am and 1pm.

This will feature: –

  • Bike Doctor sessions in half hourly slots for which booking is essential – where Malcolm Morris will be acting as Bike Doctor
  • Bike Care and Puncture Repair group presentations lasting around an hour and a half  – hosted by Neville Andrews
  • Bike Registration where Louise Galloway of WDCF will be security marking bikes and registering them on the Police National Database
  • Fun skills course run by a 3rd party, Harry Wood

This is the first of 4 sessions that we hope to run during the year in January, April, July and October. These will be advertised on our website and Facebook.

Workdays

Path clearing and Plans

Having completed the worst of the paths in Nostell, we are going to restart repair works to the trail from Waterton Park Golf Club to Wintersett in the New Year when conditions allow. Wakefield have dropped a load of planings for us and have committed to providing edging timbers and pegs to complete the work. It will be a low key operation in order to minimise impact to trail users so will be ongoing for some time.

A small workgroup consisting of me, Geoff Banks, Neville and Meg Andrews spent a morning recently clearing leaves from a section of the Trans Pennine Trail,

a useful project appreciated by those who walked or cycled past us that morning. 


If you are keen to help, keep your eye on Facebook as we will post an event when Workdays are to be held.
Cheers 

Andy Beecroft.

Work on the Trans Pennine Trail

A long-term problem on the Trans Pennine Trail in Wakefield has now been tackled. Work has taken place on a section of the Trail for all users between Heath and Stanley. The section in question follows a public bridleway down a steep slope between Kirkthorpe Lane and The Half Moon.
The bridleway is prone to being scoured and damaged at times of heavy rain. Over the years, repairs have only lasted until the next significant wet weather event, and the problem has been repeated. On the last occasion severe damage was caused to the path. When this was investigated, it was apparent that the highway drainage on Kirkthorpe Lane had backed up and caused water to flow directly down the slope causing a lot of damage to the surface of the path.
Wakefield Council has made use of grant funding from The West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s, City Region Sustainable Travel Fund (CRSTS), to carryout repairs to the path. A sealed surface with the addition of a suitable surface treatment for use by horses was considered at first. There were however some concerns over the steepness of the slope and overhanging vegetation potentially causing the surface to become slippery over time.
Initial works on site and investigations into the drainage systems revealed a connection from the highway drains running under the bridleway to an outfall at the bottom of the slope. This was found to be blocked in several places, contributing to the problems of water flowing onto the path. Work was undertaken to clear and restore the drain between the road and the outfall. The path was then resurfaced and graded with recycled stone. Water should now pass through the restored drainage system during heavy rain. An additional soakaway at the top of the slope was also created to prevent surface water flowing directly onto the path if the drainage exceeds capacity. A field gate and adjacent access to the path was also removed, repainted and replaced.
This work should provide a long-term solution to this problem and prevent the path from being washed away again.

David Holdsworth -Public Rights of Way Officer, Wakefield Council

Cycle Clothing (2)

In our previous newsletter, I did promise to pass on any suggestions I received for efficient wet weather gear or warm winter clothing. Andrew Welch kindly responded, recommending the Brisker 100% hydromatic waterproof gloves.  I told him I’d try them and report back. 

When I found the gloves on-line, they were highly recommended but sadly not produced for small female hands like mine.  Clearly washing up gloves should be sufficient for us! 😉

Newsflash

At last- the final WoW display board has been erected at Sandal Castle.  Thanks for your hard work, David.