Volume 2: August 2011

16 Aug Group meeting 6pm @ The Bridge End pub, Bedwas

I’m not sure when and where the best time to hold these is. Please could you let me know if you would like to come and when would be convenient for you. 16 Aug Bats and Bikes-Radyr to Trefforest 20 Aug Social ride-Tredegar House 24 Aug Social night-Cardiff group, Owain

Glyndwr @ 7pm 09 Sept Working ride-Newport to Pontypool 13 Sept Workday-Walnut Tree Line, Taffs

Well 17 Sept Social ride-Wetlands, Newport 14 Sept Tour of Britain comes to Caerphilly 30 Sept Working ride-Newport to Crosskeys 04 Oct Workday- Bedwas to Machen 14 Oct Working ride-Newport to Redwick 28 Oct Working ride- Newport Circular

There are lots of other events in Wales, see http://bit.ly/naiDNX for more information and

contact me or Becca if you’d like to attend View our group calendar at

http://bit.ly/GWZ6l

Please drop me a line to let me know you’re still

active in the group. It’s good to publicise all the work we’re doing in the area. New volunteers come with a mix of skills, experience and commitment- here are some of the names of the new and prospective volunteers who are joining the group. Christina Ford runs the new Aber Valley route

Sarah Warwick walks and runs the route in Caerphilly Brian Foster As a civil servant, Brian could be well placed to promote Active Travel within government agencies. As an organisation he could help us tap in to the free volunteer days that civil servants have access to. David Jones Dave’s a commuter using the lanes from Bedwas to Cardiff Gate. His perspective can help us represent the commuters in our area. Sarana Burris lives near the riverwalk in Bedwas and the route to Machen. Raoul Tufnell works outside the area but as a chartered planner. Jon North More on our official photographer overleaf.

I’m sure you’ll join me in welcoming them all to the group!

We’re still looking for people to fill our volunteer roles- could you lead a ride or help with biodiversity awareness on our routes by becoming a Wildlife volunteer? All support given. Information on roles available on Susnet.

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If you notice any problems with the route please report it straight away. This is the process: -

1. Go to Caerphilly.gov.uk 2. Click on Report it on the

right hand side. 3. Go to Highways

Maintenance 4. Complete form

prospective volunteers Jon and Raoul. Please can you let me know whether you can make the next one. It would be great to meet all of you and agree how we should progress as a group. Hope you enjoy the read- see you soon.

Hello and welcome to the August edition. Turnout for our meet up was disappointing. Thanks to Hugh and Dave Jones for turning up as well as well as

Prompt reporting will help authorities fix

problems as quickly as possible Alternatively inform me of the problem and I’ll report it. I’ve set up a Flikr page to allow us to store photos of the route and have started with problems.

Posters are available for us to advertise our routes and for volunteers. Please let me know if you need any.

Route maintenance is the responsibility of the landowner. In the Caerphilly area most of the

route is owned by the local authority and maintenance is provided by one of a couple of local authority departments (Highways and Parks). Route developments within Caerphilly CBC are detailed in the Local Development Plan (LDP). There is a new interactive version of this at http://bit.ly/oVb05s or search the council website.

Glyntaff to Nantgarw This is the only section of our area that fall outside of Caerphilly CBC. I’m yet to have any contact with Rhondda Cynon Taff CBC and I’m not aware of any of us who ride this route regularly so am trying to recruit someone in the area. Aber Valley New route. New volunteers Brian Foster and Christina Ford will monitor this route. I’m yet to get out on it so any feedback on it would be great Caerphilly Although a tricky area for route development, the LDP proposes routes to join the route from St Cenydd School to Route 4. Maesycwmmer to Bedwas The LDP proposes a route adjacent to Pandy lanes along the old railway. There’s no timeframe as yet. This would be great for my commute. Bedwas to Trethomas The local authority have informed that the non-paved areas of this route are due to be paved in the next few months as detailed in the LDP. More information this when I have it. Trethomas to Machen A few people have commented on the Problem of residents allowing their dogs to foul the route where it becomes Route 4 and passes through Lower Graig-y-Rhacca. This part of the route may be wholly owned by Sustrans but if we can keep reporting it through to the local authority we can keep the issue high profile. I meet with Gwyn Smith (Area Manager) on his return from holidays so will find out what more we can do.

A guide on how to route sign can be found on Susnet. After logging in search for route signing Signs available to order online at Susnet or by contacting signs@sustrans.org.uk or 0117 9150238

I met with Gemma,

a senior engineer at Caerphilly CBC with a responsibility for cycle route developments. We reviewed the Local Development Plan (available online at http://bit.ly/oVb05s) and discussed the relationship with the council. Brian Elliott who is still on many of our contact lists has retired and no one person has replaced his role. The need for an audit of our routes was mentioned with a focus on signage and de-cluttering the area of unnecessary signs and signposts, more on that to follow after a meeting with Gwyn. Thanks to Gemma for agreeing to meet up.

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Machen to Bassaleg Trethomas to Machen Maesycwmmer to Bedwas Bedwas to Trethomas Caerphilly to Bedwas Aber Valley Caerphilly Nantgarw to Caerphilly Glyntaff to Nantgarw

The intention here is to breakdown our area to allow us to focus on different areas. For more accurate mapping visit http://bit.ly/oUQT1C

the routes to run, especially route 47 in Penallta Park. Other hobbies: I’m passionate about rugby and photography. I cover the Dragons games

Volunteer profile Name: Jonathan North Age: 26 Work: J North Photography Role: Volunteer Ranger Volunteer since: 2011 Favourite bike: I have an old mountain bike but prefer to use

Sustrans held a ‘micro festival’ at this year’s Big Cheese and were allocated a large area to promote our work. The area aside from the main event in Dafydd Williams Park was centred around the stone circle. The weather held out and we all had a great weekend in the sun. I’m not sure what the visitor numbers were but the main organisers were expecting an increase on the 80,000 who turned up last year. Organisers Angela and Ami did an impressive job creating a fun but relaxing atmosphere whilst maintaining a unique and distinctive brand image for Sustrans. Some suggested originally

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that being out of the main area meant we missed out on large crowds. I’m not sure this was even the case. The main area was thick with people and people found uncomfortable to walk around in the humidity. Visitors to our area were given a better atmosphere and environment to relax and absorb our message, in my view. Let me know what you think at: - caerphillysustrans@gmail.com.

Attractions included a wide selection of live music on our vintage bandstand which contributed to the relaxed and eclectic feel of the area, bike inspired magic tricks and optical illusions by the Luke Jugglestruck .

In the main tent there were art workshops (where participants made their own ‘journey flags’ which will join hundreds of others on an endless garland that will be unveiled next year at a special event) and an exclusive vintage bike exhibition by the National Bike Museum.

There was of course the main Sustrans information stand offering all the latest information on the National Cycle Network in Wales and hints and tips on Active Commuting.

Visitors were also given the opportunity to vote for the winners of our Valleys Cycle Network Sights, Camera, Action photography competition, a competition which asked people to take photos on the National Cycle Network in the valleys. I look forward to seeing who the winners are. l Café and their fabulous pedal powered bubble machine The pedal-powered smoothie maker (above right and below) proved a big success.

We went through all the fruit and had to keep replenishing from local shops. The simple recipe made quite a refreshing drink on what turned out to be a really warm weekend. Visitors were invited to pedal to help make the smoothie and invited to donate £1 for the drink. We’ll wait to find out how much we raised!

Pedal Café brought their pedal powered bubble machine which attracted lots of people to the area. Those of you who didn’t visit missed out on a great weekend! Bring on 2012.

Social media We’re continuing to develop our web presence. With the internet increasingly accessible this is a very effective (and quick) way of communicating not just with volunteers but with prospective volunteers, Sustrans outside of the group and the general public. Facebook- we have a group, latest updates and photos will be posted here. Just search Caerphilly Sustrans. Twitter- we tweet under the username @cphillysustrans. We follow other organisations like Sustrans itself and the local authority to keep up to date on events and news that may affect routes in our area. Flickr- is a photo storage portal allowing us to store photos of the route to direct people to especially in the event of route problems to provide other people on where and what the problems are.

Bats and Bikes is an exciting new pilot study for monitoring bats, developed in partnership with the Valleys bat group and Sustrans and funded by the National Lottery. The project aims to survey bats on the National Cycle Network, of which there are approximately 1,200 miles across Wales alone. They will be focussing at a local level and surveying the Taff trail sections between Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff Bay. 16th August - Radyr to Trefforest; Meet at Radyr Train station and cycle north to Trefforest station. An Anabat detector and a GPS will be used to record what bats are encountered and where and also other bat detectors on loudspeaker (but not recording) so members of the group can hear the bats as they cycle along. Each ride will be around 8 miles, or 16 miles if you join for the full circular route. Please let me or Becca know if you’re interested. Lights are needed! www.sewbrec.org.uk/valleys-bat-group.page

Loops and Links also known as the Mid Valleys Rural Village Strategy is a Project which helps people using the cycle routes to more easily access the facilities in local towns and villages. I’m grateful to Ryland Llewellyn for showing me his presentation of the work done. This gave me an insight into how funding

Sustrans Sustrans.org.uk Calendar: http://bit.ly/GWZ6l Intranet: Susnet.sustrans.org.uk Routes: http://bit.ly/oUQT1C Proposed routes: http://bit.ly/oVb05s Photographer: jnorthphoto.com

Group Co-ordinator- Lewis John 07540 693341, lewisjohn78@gmail.com, facebook.com/lewisjohn78Volunteer Co-ordinator- Rebecca Smith 029 20650602,volunteers-cymru@sustrans.org.uk Search Caerphilly Sustrans on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr

Active Travel is a Sustrans programme that works with communities and partner organisations to enable more people to walk and cycle. In this way I hope we can work together as a group and work with major employers in Caerphilly to help promote the National Cycle Network, the benefits of walking or cycling to work and maybe through that, encourage new volunteers. We’re meeting with DS Smith Recycling this month and with the help of new volunteer Brian, hope to do some work in the government agencies based in the borough. If anyone has any link to an organisation you think could help or benefit please let me know. More information available as always online at: www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/active-travel

Caerphilly Sustrans Events We need our own events as a group. None of the events on the Wales calendar are ours so we need ideas and volunteers to lead some events. Please get in touch if you can help. Sustrans Campaigns We can organise Fresh Air miles which are advertised by Sustrans as free, family friendly bike rides and walks on the National Cycle Network. Anyone of us can organise these with the support of Sustrans. For more information: -www.sustrans.org.uk/sustrans-near-you/events/fresh-air-miles Free range kids is a brand new campaign to help children have the confidence to play near their homes through mandatory speed limits and more investment in safe routes and measures to encourage children to travel actively. At the very least go online and sign their pledge!

More events needed to help promote the Celtic Trail in our area

is achieved and applied and also the successes of this project. With more funding it would be good to see it replicated across the borough. caerphilly.gov.uk/loopsandlinks