Tag: Kennet & Avon

Q&A with a Sustrans Ranger

Posted on by Secretary

SPOKES Secretary Clive Tombs is also a local Sustrans Volunteer Ranger – part of a network of wonderful people who give up their time on a regular basis to help look after the National Cycle Network. He kindly agreed to answer a few questions to provide us with some insights about his role.

So what is a Sustrans Ranger?
Sustrans’ Volunteer Rangers get actively involved in maintaining sections of the National Cycle Network (NCN).  It’s great to get out in the fresh air and to do something positive to maintain and improve paths that get used by people on a daily basis to get to work or college, pop to the shops, or just for leisure.

What section of the NCN do you look after?
The local Ranger team looks after the section of NCN Route 4 from Bedwyn through Newbury and Thatcham, to where we meet the Reading group’s section at Woolhampton canal bridge. It’s quite a long stretch! 

What sort of things do you typically do?
Our main activities are: cycling (or walking) the route section/s to carry out checks; cutting back vegetation that is encroaching on the NCN routes; cleaning, checking and where appropriate replacing signs; and reporting issues to partner organisations such as the Canal & River Trust. 

What is the time commitment for a Ranger?
It’s really as much time as you can give, but the guideline is 3 to 4 hours a month.

Are there other Rangers that help you?
At the moment there’s only a couple of active volunteers, so it would be great to have a few more to help out with maintenance and keeping the route in good shape.  It’s great being able to have a coffee and a chat part way through the day, as well as doing something positive and practical!   Helen, the Sustrans’ regional volunteer co-ordinator, is based in Reading and comes to join us too.

What happens when you find something that you can’t fix?
That depends on what it is and where it is!  If it’s an issue with the condition of the towpath, it gets reported to the Canal & River Trust.  If it’s something on the public roads, it gets reported to West Berkshire Council via their website. We have offered Canal & River Trust the opportunity of some joint work, under their risk assessment, but that offer is yet to be taken up.

If someone is interested in becoming a Ranger, how do they go about it?
Visit the ‘Volunteer with Sustrans’ webpage: sustrans.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer. This will give you more of a flavour of what the large group of volunteers across the country does to maintain the vast network of NCN routes. Alternatively, you can talk to our local volunteer coordinator about the role:

Helen Fisher
Volunteer Coordinator | England South
RISC | 35-39 London Street | Reading | RG1 4PS
07500 833 152 | 0118 958 1712 | @Volcosoutheast

Towpath Works at Colthrop & Thatcham

Posted on by Secretary
  • West of Midgham Lock
  • West of Midgham Lock 2
  • West of Midgham Lock 3
  • Potential to extend works towards Colthrop
  • Thames Water funded works at Thatcham

SPOKES has long been campaigning for the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath surface to be restored between Reading and Marsh Benham. With the exception of sections within Newbury, the surface has not benefited from any significant maintenance since it was originally upgraded 20 years ago to form part of National Cycle Network Route 4.

Grass encroached over time, leaving a deep, narrow rut, while boats pulling on mooring pegs tore chunks out of the bank, which cut into the towpath, creating major hazards for unwary cyclists.

The Canal and River Trust is responsible for maintaining the towpath, but has been unable to fund the extensive works that are required to bring it back up to the required standard. So we decided to help by raising funds to tackle some of the worst sections, starting with the section to the west of Midgham Lock.

We put in £10,000 of our own funds and raised over £100,000 of additional funds through the Good Exchange, including grants from West Berkshire Council, Thatcham Town Council and Englefield Trust, with match funding from Greenham Common Trust.

As with any project like this, there are risks, and an ecology survey carried out just before the works were due to start highlighted the presence of water voles. While it is fantastic news that this endangered species is present on this section of the canal, it did mean that some significant constraints had to be imposed on the scheme’s construction. These included: limiting the depth of excavation, not being able to use timber edging, and not being able to use vibratory rollers when laying the surface.

However, the contractor was able to progress with a scheme and works were completed earlier this month. As you can see from the photos, the towpath is almost unrecognisable when compared to its previous state.

Also, the reduced specification has resulted in a significant under-spend, so we may be able to extend the length of the improvements as part of a second phase of works. We are in discussion with our funders and the Canal and River Trust about this. We will keep you posted on progress!

The other bit of good news is that Thames Water has also funded some improvements to the towpath to the west of Crookham Hill. Although this section does not form part of NCN4, cyclists are still permitted to use this stretch. The improvements have covered exposed tree roots and repaired significant hazards such as dips and holes in the embankment. The result is a more usable route, but one that is still more suited to mountain bikes and hybrids with suspension.

Towpath Fund-Raising Update

Posted on by Secretary

The SPOKES committee has been busy over the last few months, submitting bids and liaising with various interested parties to work towards our goal of upgrading the worst sections of National Cycle Network Route 4 (NCN4) along the Kennet & Avon Canal towpath between Thatcham and Reading.

The project involves complete reconstruction of a 1.1km section of NCN4 to the east of Colthrop. The original crushed aggregate path had a design life of around 12 years, but nearly 20 years on, it has deteriorated considerably, with grass encroaching to such an extent that the path is now almost unusable by cyclists and wheelchairs. Originally 1.5 – 2m wide, it is now less than 0.3m in places.

The cost of restoring this short section has been estimated at £219,000. At the beginning of March, we submitted a bid to the Good Exchange, which matches the grant makers and donors that have money to give, with the charities and community groups that need money. We were subsequently delighted to learn that we had been successful in securing a match-funding offer from Greenham Common Trust up to the value of £50,000, which can be matched by individual donations and external funding.

Since this is one of our top priorities, the SPOKES committee has elected to put almost all of its funding towards the project, allocating £10,000. Also, Sustrans has recently indicated that it can put £100,000 towards cycling projects in Newbury and Thatcham. Although it cannot directly fund the towpath improvements, it would potentially allow West Berkshire Council to allocate funds from the A4 cycle route to the towpath, which it helps maintain as a public right of way.

The final element of the funding jigsaw is a £59,000 bid to the Veolia Environmental Trust, which awards Landfill Tax Grant to eligible community projects. The bid has successfully passed Stage 1, and we will find out if we have been successful in June. If all goes according to plan, then we hope that construction can start in the autumn.

In the meantime, we will continue to seek additional funding with the aim of maximising the length of towpath that can be upgraded. If you would like to donate money to the project, then we would be most grateful. To do this, please visit the Kennet & Avon Towpath page on the Good Exchange website.

Campaign to Maintain Kennet & Avon Towpath

Posted on by Secretary

Here at Spokes, we’ve become increasingly concerned about the sustained lack of maintenance of the Kennet and Avon Towpath, particularly the rural stretches out towards Marsh Benham and to the east of Colthrop. Despite forming part of National Cycle Network Route 4, the path has been left to degrade to such an extent that we now consider it to be inherently unsafe.

When the path was originally constructed it was 1.5 – 2m wide for most of its length, even in the more rural areas. However, the grass has encroached to such an extent that it is now less than 0.3m wide in places, with a pronounced lip on either side. This makes it virtually unusable by anyone on a bike, since it is very easy for a wheel to catch the lip and unseat the rider. We have spoken to several people who indicated that they or a member of their party had fallen off on these sections.

The path also suffers from poor drainage. Given that it is nothing more than a rut in the grassy bank, it is not surprising that it fills with water whenever it rains. This conceals the true extent of the hazard and leaves a muddy, slippery mess as it dries, which makes it even more difficult to navigate on a bike. What’s more, there are several sections where large notches have been eroded in the bank and cut into the path.  If you are not looking for them, then it would be very easy to ride into one and fall straight into the canal.

This is completely unacceptable. If this was a road, it would not be allowed to fall into such disrepair. Cyclists should expect similar maintenance standards of maintenance to be applied to ensure their safety on these sections of the National Cycle Network, which is popular with leisure cyclists and families.

We are aware that developer contributions have just been made available from the Newbury Racecourse development to improve the section of the towpath between Newbury and Thatcham, which is very welcome and we look forward to these sections being repaired and upgraded.  However, this should not be allowed to distract from maintenance liabilities on the other sections of route.

We appreciate that funding and resources may be tight, but the Canal and River Trust still have a duty of care to the users of their towpath, including cyclists. We have contacted the Waterway Manager for the Kennet & Avon to highlight the problem and to ask that they take urgent action. We have also suggested that they could pool resources with Sustrans and West Berkshire Council. The Council has been very responsive with Cllr Ardagh-Walter inviting the Waterway Manager to the next meeting of the Cycle Forum in December and suggesting that we could undertake a more detailed audit of the route to help the Trust.

If you would like to add your voice to the campaign, we would suggest that you contact the Canal & River Trust directly by emailing: enquiries.kennetavon@canalrivertrust.org.uk