Bits and Bobs

Some good news and some bad news, in random order.

There has been a spate of vandalism on the Breadsall Greenway.
Fencing, gates, signs and display boards have been attacked.
Most of this damage will be repaired by Derbyshire County County Council using tax payer's money which would have been much better spent elsewhere.
We have repaired the sign which was pulled off the signal box building, and also removed graffiti from the brickwork at Racecourse Siding.

A grant of £50 from Action Earth has been approved to fund a third seat on R672 at Breadsall. This will be installed on June 1st, just in time for our Public Ride and BBQ there on 6th June. The following Sunday we have another BBQ at the new Etwall Leisure Centre. Both events will boost our local funds. We are also collaborating with the Friends of Sinfin Moor Park on 11th July, with their Cycle Ride and BBQ. We will lead the ride which goes from the Park, which lies adjacent to RR66 (Sinfin Moor Lane), to Cloud Quarry along NCN6.


The residents of Breadsall are setting up a protest group which will lobby DCC about the ever increasing problem of traffic in and around the village. One proposal, of particular interest to us, is for a pedestrian crossing on the A61 trunk road between the Abbey Hill/Little Eaton roundabout and the Pektron roundabout. This would effectively join NCN 54 to NCN 672 via Croft Lane.

Derby City Council have started work on the installation of a cycle path between Darley Abbey (Evans Mill Bridge) and South Avenue, as an off-shoot from RR66, the Derby Orbital Route. This may eventually link with a proposal for a cycle route from Duffield to Derby.

Work has started on the re-surfacing of the path through Darley Fields between City Road and Folly Road, this being part of NCN54, the Derby to Little Eaton branch.

We have replaced some of the signage on NCN 54 between Etwall and Egginton, which had deteriorated due to weathering and some vandalism. Also on this stretch we are in the process of repairing some seats where the wooden tops were rotting.
Having located a good source of bespoke signs, we have plans for more, but will hold back on further signing of the Breadsall Greenway until the current spate of vandalsim dies down.

The Community Payback Team continue to help us with ground clearance in the Etwall area, but this work will cease shortly due to the onset of the bird nesting season. However, we hope to find other useful work for them to do.

We have acquired two sets of display boards which will greatly improve our exhibition capability for forthcoming public events. There are two such events at Markeaton Park and another in Long Eaton. The boards will also be used at our BBQs.

Derby City Council have plans to put a pedestrian crossing close by the Paddock PH, enabling cyclists and pedestrians to cross Mansfield Road from the Racecourse Path to the Breadsall Greenway.

Sad news regarding a proposed new path though Darley Park from Darley Abbey village to NCN 54 at Handysides Bridge. The proposal was rejected by a single vote at the DCC Planning Committee. Objections were that having a tarmac surface it was intrusive (perhaps), and that it would be used by motorcyclists (balderdash!).

A new path at Hilton, funded and constructed by local housing developers as a condition of planning approval, is well advanced, but not yet opened. Recent arson attacks on lorries parked in the vicinity may be the reason for a reluctance to open this area (adjacent to the Hilton Business Park) to public access.

Erewash Council have installed three additional waste bins on the approaches to the Breadsall Greenway, and this should help in countering the dog fouling problem.
This is the fastest reaction I have ever seen by a public body, so well done them.