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Catie's lazy ride for a summer
evening...
(Catie Smith from Nottingham city is a keen cyclist)
Nottingham’s got loads of great places to ride, and living in
the city means that you can go straight along the canal to greener
places like the Beeston Weir and Attenborough Nature Reserve. It’s
my kind of ride because there’s no hills and there’s pubs
at the beginning and the end!
Starting at Castle Marina, if you follow the canal it leads straight
to Beeston Weir and at my speed (slow) only takes about 45 minutes.
It’s a nice place to hang out and always smells of fresh rain.
If you go over the bridge next to the lock it leads you to Beeston
Marina. There’s a pub here and on a nice day it’s lush to
sit next to the river and watch all the narrow boats go past. If it
all sounds a bit too lazy for you, right after the Beeston Marina
is the Attenborourgh nature reserve where you can cycle around the
woody areas which leads onto Trent Lock and Sawley Marina.
If you come back in late afternoon the canal’s really serene
at sunset, but there’s one place that can get a bit spooky as
the sun goes down - as you pass all the neat gardens there’s
a mooring packed full of old pub blackboards, papier mache masks,
and there’s even a cardboard cut out of a naked man! Well worth
a look.
| Catie's
route Summary |
Start
at Castle Marina...
1. Follow the canal under Clifton Boulevard
2. Along Beeston Canal
3. Over the bridge to Beeston Rylands
4. To Beeston Marina
5. To the pub, then back again.
Spooky mooring is 1/3 along the canal! |
| Map
>> |
Dave's 38 mile workout...
(Dave Clarke from The Meadows is a member of Pedals, the cycling campaign
group)
My favourite ride will keep you occupied all day with loads of places
to stop off and see! This route takes you through some of the most
beautiful parts of Nottinghamshire, along Grantham Canal, past old
churches and sleepy villages. There's loads of interesting things
to see, like Tollerton airport, Holme Pierrepont Watersports Centre
and Colston Bassett’s cheese factory - where you can go and buy
some stinky cheese straight from the dairy!
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| Dave Clarke - on his bike! |
One of the best places to stop is at Old Hill Farm
in Redmile, which offers not only a café but also a back room
with all sorts of essentials, from puncture repair kits to spare clothing
for anyone who’s been caught in the rain!
I’ve been going there for years and still remember how Margaret
would serve up the best beans on toast I’ve ever had - door step
size toast smothered with a whole tin of beans and a huge mug of tea
– all for 50p! Needless to say it’s gone up a bit now though.
It’s a real Mecca for cyclists, with its walls adorned with bits
of bikes and cartoons of cyclists and there’s always a friendly
face to chat about routes with.
The whole route is 38 miles long so be ready to spend a whole day
on it!
Hugh's
ride to work
(Hugh McClintock from West Bridgford is the Chairman of Pedals,
the cycling campaign group)
Getting to work doesn’t mean you have
to sit in a stuffy car stuck in rush hour traffic. I zip past the
queues and on to some of Nottingham’s beauty spots.
Riding to and from work is hardly likely
to be anyone’s favourite journey, but if you do have to cycle
in the morning rush hour, it does help to have a route which is
fairly quiet and attractive, as I am lucky to do.
My regular ride takes me from West Bridgford
to Nottingham University on a route that includes several useful
cycle facilities and quiet bits of road.
The first of these is the Suspension Bridge
over the Trent between Welbeck Road, West Bridgford and the Victoria
Embankment, a bridge that, for some years now, has been available
to cyclists as well as pedestrians and which offers excellent views
along the Trent in both directions. There is almost always something
to watch like boats on the Trent, especially in summer.
The tree-lined Victoria Embankment also offers
views of the Trent and other nearby green areas, towards The Meadows
and Wilford and is also generally pleasant except on the few days
in the year you get a strong head wind!
Later on my route I enjoy the traffic-free
cycle path alongside the River Leen and the old Royal Ordnance Factory
site towards Lenton, a ‘toucan’ crossing to help me cycle
safely across Abbey Street, Lenton, and some very helpful bits of
cycle path in the Dunkirk area.
| Hugh's
route Summary |
From
West Bridgeford...
1. Over the suspension bridge
2. Along Victoria Embankment
3. Towards The Meadows.
4. Along the River Leen
5. Pass the Royal Ordinance Factory
6. Towards Lenton
7. Cross Abby Street and to Nottingham University |
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