Exciting biking times for Pete and Dawn

At the summit of the new aqueduct access ramp

Another milestone has been achieved from our wish list. The really great thing about this milestone is that we didn't have to spend a penny and we didn't really have to break a sweat. Until last week anyone living at Halton and cycling into Lancaster who wanted to access the tow path either had to brave the main road as far as the canal bridge or get off at the aqueduct and carry their bike up about eighty steps from the river side cycle track. British Waterways has now built a ramp joining the cycle track (which passes our Cohousing development on the other side of the Lune and goes from Caton to the town centre) to the canal towpath. This gives another off road cycle/walking route with easy access to Freehold, the Gregson, Dukes, Town Hall, Whale Tail, White Cross and points South ie to the University. Dawn and I tried it out, there's quite a slope to it but we found it easy enough to cycle up without stopping. There is a bit of a temptation to whizz down at top speed so they have installed some of those zig zaggy fence chicanes to slow you down. The bank on the uphill side is bordered and secured with what looks like very environmentally friendly coir matting. On the downhill side the fence looks very sturdy and part of it is set on top of some very impressive gabions. A few trees had to be felled during construction but British Waterways have made sure that more have been planted to replace them, so not only is the ramp just perfect for our purposes, but very environmentally friendly to boot.
Pete

Me and my new bike near the footings of my new house

Moving from the Peak District to Lancaster to be part of cohousing has been momentous in many ways. One of the transformational leaps is the fact that I am now confident to get my pushbike out of hiding and cycle everywhere I feasibly can. Because Lancaster is such a bike friendly town I’m pretty much cycling everywhere and this has had a huge impact on my health and my attitude to life in general. The new ramp is further icing on my cake.
I passed another milestone yesterday by walking to work in the spring sunshine. We are renting in Halton for this interim build period and my homeopathic practice is at Dacrelands Natural Health Clinic at Skerton. It only took me 40 minutes to get there. So my choices have increased. I generally cycle or I could catch the bus. Now I have added walking to work to my repertoire and it’s only another half a mile to the centre of town. Rarely these days does the vehicle get an airing and I have cut my fuel bills down by at least half.
And we move into our house in August. Oh joy of joys!
Dawn
www.lancastercohousing.org.uk