cycleSheffield

cycling in the parks

After some recent incidents between cyclists and pedestrians (and dogs) in Sheffield Parks,  are there any comments on using the following sign  at the park entrances?

parks sign

Cyclist Give Way Sign for Sheffield Parks

Holme Moss ride - postponed by a week

We seem to have some very grim weather coming our way so I’ve decided to postpone the Holme Moss ride by a week till Saturday 23rd of May.

There will be a ride of some description this coming  Saturday afternoon between the showers.

Rides coming in thick and fast - Urban Extremists’ ride on May 31st

Just received an update from Trevor Francis over at the Urban Extremists

http://www.urbanextremistuk.co.uk/1.html

He says….

quick shout to let you guys know that our first club run of the 2009 summer season is on Sunday May 31st. Meeting at the Wicker Arches at 10.00am, riding to Rotherham and back. Please spread the word and I hope that you can make it, Trev

From their web site the ride is going to be easy pace along the 5 weirs walk with a picnic in Carlton Park in Rotherham

The Next Friday Night ride - change of date - now May 29th

Mick Nott informs us that the next FNR is moved to May 29th

Sorry have had to change the date - I can’t make May 22.  Its now the Friday of the Bank Holiday weekend May 29

Advance Notice

Sheffield FridayNightRide

War and Peace

Friday May 29 2009

NB not May 22 as originally planned

Meet at Castle Market,

corner of Waingate and Exchange St,

6-6.30 for a 6.45 start

Bring lights and locks!

Sheffield’s connections with war and peace are manifold.  Sheffielders have fought, and died, in wars, Sheffield steel has been an instrument of war and the arms trade contributed significantly to the city’s wealth, Sheffielders culture of non-conformism and dissent have stimulated peace initiatives, and Sheffielders have been welcoming to refugees and asylum seekers from wars.

This ride touches on some aspects of war and peace and Sheffield.  I hope its a time for reflection and discussion as well as the usual pleasant company getting to know each other and their city.  Not all the notable locations could be visited in one ride so we could revisit the theme another time or on another ride..

For film clip of Picasso in Sheffield at a 1950 Peace Conference see http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//Bpathe/1950/11/16/X16115001/

Heads up! This is a ride on roads or well-metalled paths and should suit all types of bike.   I’ve tried to keep it ‘lower’ down compared to the last ride and starts and finishes in the heart of the city.  It covers many roads we have travelled before but maybe in a different direction or arriving and leaving in a different direction!  Total distance is 13 miles

Map at

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108285123450551660446.000468acdde43122a1c81&z=13

Route - see the map for more details about the sites and history

We start at the corner of the site of Sheffield Castle, which was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War and later destroyed by Parliamentarians, and then we follow the TPT to the Wybourn, turn off through Manor Park and enter the City Cemetery from Manor Fields.  There we can ride past a military cemetery, the mass grave from the Sheffield Blitz, a panel of remembrance and a memorial to Belgians who took refuge in Sheffield during WW1. We’ll then head for the west of the city, down through Norfolk Park across Queen’s Rd, past an old TA barracks, and on through Sharrow to Ecclesall Rd where there is still clear evidence of bomb damage from nearly 70 years ago.  Then we go down through Endcliffe Park, riding past the memorial to a USAAF bomber that crashlanded there, and out back to Hunters Bar where we will ride down, past the Polish Club which was started by refugees, to Collegiate Hall which was a hospital in WWI and has the remains of WWII air raid shelters on the lawn.  There will then be a gentle climb up to Weston Park where we can look at the impressive war memorials and work out where the one from the Boer War has gone(!).  The we cut back through the University, site of some of the meetings for the 1950 Peace Conference and we’ll go across the inner ring road at Broomspring Lane and up to the TA Somme barracks on Glossop Rd, and down into the center along Portobello, Trippet Lane, Campo Lane where we’ll ride into town to view some of the sites that were devastated in the Sheffield Blitz, to the Town Hall to ride past the memorial to Sheffielders who saw action in the Spansih Civil War, out past Barkers Pool and the City Hall, Sheffield’s main memorial to WWI, and then across Devonshire Green (cleared by WWII bombing) to the Bath Inn on Victoria St.

Mick
sheffieldfridaynightride@blueyonder.co.uk
079 49 59 67 02
“We have nothing to lose but our chains!”

Bike Week Schedule

View the Bike Week Schedule for Sheffield Here

View the poster here

Western Circular - with a twist

This Thursday night (May 7th) we will start the Western circular as usual, 7pm from the University but include a slight detour from the usual route out via Hathersage, Grindleford and Frogatt Village, calling in for some refreshments a the Grouse Inn.