Bits and Bobs

The Pink Bridge
Mavis and Phil Harris have re-painted the Pink Bridge. Colour - pink of course.
Having originally been (accidentally) painted pink, it has become a local landmark and, as such, will always have to be painted pink.

The Friargate Line
This book, written by Mark Higginson and originally published in 1989, is a superb history of the Great Northern Railway, and a valuable source of information for us.
The GNR Railway became the Mickleover Greenway and more recently the Breadsall Greenway. The book is now out of print, and a collectors item, with copies going on Ebay for £100 or so.
Mark is proposing to update the book to include chapters on the conversion from railway to greenway and publication is expected in 2014 (!).
It will make even more interesting reading.
Watch this space for further information, (but not yet awhile).

Community Payback Team
The Community Service Team have been coming to Mickleover to help in cutting back the overgrown vegetation for six weeks now, and have made a significant difference to the appearance of the Greenway, opening up the views of the surrounding countryside, and hopefully improving the local environmemt for the benefit of the glow worm colony and wild flowers.
They are now starting work at Etwall, opening up the Greenway between Sutton Lane Bridge and Old Station Close. On Saturday 28th November they also repaired the horse box at a nearby gate by re-filling it with limestone ballast.
We hope to find further work for them in the run-up to Christmas.

Route 672 Further Progress
We hope to see work on the Breadsall Greenway continue in 2010. Derbyshire County Council should start work on Phase 2, the section from the A608 bridge towards the Morley Tunnel, and Derby City Council should be constructing the off-road path from the Paddock PH to link with the Racecourse Path, which cuts out the section on Old Mansfield Road. Also we hope to see a Toucan crossing installed opposite the Paddock PH, and (possibly) another crossing at Hampshire Road.


New Ranger
We welcome new Ranger Steve Adams of Duffield, who becomes a member of the Breadsall team joining Ian Dent, John Swan, Phil and Adam Harries as custodians of the new Greenway. As usual, all our other Rangers will be assisting.