Walking and cycling made easy with site refresh
It’s easier than ever to find information about everyday walking and cycling in our borough, no matter what your ability, thanks to an updated , mobile-friendly design here at BwD Connecting East Lancashire.
As part of a wide range of local projects enabling better health for everyone in our community, Blackburn with Darwen Council, together with Connecting East Lancashire, updated the site which helps signpost activity resources, including re:fresh and the Weavers Wheel cycle route.
Blackburn with Darwen’s Executive Member for Wellbeing Cllr Damian Talbot said:
“We all need to be actively more interested in making ‘smarter travel choices’ and choosing healthier, greener ways of travelling including walking, cycling, car sharing and public transport, BwD CEL provides resources that give you practical support to increase skills and confidence. It’s a matter of do what you can, when you can, as little as 10 minutes a day makes a difference.”
Weavers Wheel is a cycle route around Blackburn with a number of spurs and spokes radiating to employment and housing developments and is popular for local bike rides. A Weavers Wheel guide has been developed and divided into three ability categories (beginner, intermediate and advanced) making it easy to choose a trail that suits you and your family’s experience in the saddle.
Weavers Wheel route designer and resident, Kevin Riddehough said:
“As I started to put these routes together, I didn’t realise just how difficult it would prove to be. It wasn’t the actual act of mapping the routes, the really tough task has been deciding which routes to include and harder still, which to leave out!. Whichever route I choose to ride the one thing that I’m sure of finding is an abundance is hills, and lots of them, but don’t let this put you off, the rewards for your efforts are the views that could adorn any of the finest calendars that we buy each year. With a little bit of patience and riding at a pace to suit you, there’s no reason why you can’t begin to enjoy hill climbing as part of your rides.”
The BwD CEL site is a great place to start to find more ways you and your family can be more active every day. By making more journeys car-free in our borough, we can reduce congestion – particularly during the school drop off and pick up run – and improve local air quality.
BwD CEL gives you updates on local walking groups, car sharing schemes, bike hire and cycle training taking place in the borough and across East Lancashire, whatever your ability. Schools can get involved to help parents increase their children’s activity levels and reduce school run congestion. It’s also a good place to start if you want your workplace to engage in better active travel infrastructure, for example, providing bike storage and changing room facilities on site.
BwD Healthy Weight Declaration 2017 was published to address issues of physical inactivity and barriers to sustainable transport in our communities. The Connecting East Lancashire project is formed of two mutually supportive packages including access to skills and employment, and enabling active travel – everyday walking and cycling.