visit the Vestry House Museum by bike

After many years of supplying no bike stands at all at its local museum (home to the oldest British-built petrol driven car), the progressive and cycling-friendly London Borough of Waltham Forest recently got round to installing lavish bicycle parking facilities to meet the surge in demand from London’s cycling revolution.

But sadly old habits die hard and some people still insist on locking their bikes to the railings in the street outside.

Others lock up their bikes in the forecourt.

It’s a shame no one is bothering to use the magnificent new cycle parking infrastructure.

Organic Bike Stand Obstruction

This green bike with a board advertising the Sunday farmers’ market in the Town Square has been parked here for about six months now. I wouldn’t care if it was locked to the nearby railings but I do object to it obstructing a bike stand on a permanent basis. This obstruction is occurring at one of the most prominent locations in the borough and it demonstrates how even at the most parochial level, Waltham Forest Council doesn’t give a toss about cycling.

The farmers’ market also puts up notices on street furniture all over central Walthamstow, which is flyposting. The Council is very tough on enforcing by-laws when it comes to people putting up a stall in the Town Square inviting residents to sign a petition against the infamous Chris Robbins regime (QV. ‘Rotten Boroughs’ in Private Eye), and it has in the past threatened a resident with legal action for sticking up a ‘have you seen my missing cat?’ notice on a lamp post. But others, it seems, can plaster the neighbourhood with their signs and no action will be taken.

(Above) Hoe Street. The sign is attached to a zebra crossing pole. Note the cycling-friendly conditions in the background, on this major north-south route across the borough.

(Below) A sign in the High Street

Cycle parking: there is always room for improvement

When the William Morris Gallery re-opened in the first week of August, after an expensive refurbishment, it was a delight to discover that the Gallery now has new cycle stands. They are close to the entrance to the Gallery and are in a very visible position, helping to deter bike thieves.

However, there is no room for complacency. In the Netherlands, in their perpetual quest to make cycling even more attractive than it already is, they think nothing of moving a canal sideways for the benefit of cyclists.

Here, too, in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, the improvements for cyclists never end. When I took the above photograph on 4 August it never occurred to me that these bike stands could possibly be enhanced, let alone in just a couple of months. How wrong I was!

What I had overlooked was that the entrance to the Gallery is on Forest Road, also known as the A 503, a major east-west route through the borough. Anyone who cycles to the Gallery will therefore have to endure cycling among heavy goods vehicles, white vans, minicabs, buses etc., which means there is always the possibility of experiencing moments of extreme terror and stress. This may result in an involuntary loosening of the bowels.

Also it is now autumn and the days are turning chillier. By the time a cyclist has arrived at the William Morris Gallery it is possible that some pressure on the bladder may be felt.

In short, how best should a responsible local authority meet the challenge of an incontinent cyclist in urgent need of relief?

Here in Waltham Forest a progressive Council has signed up to a Toilet Facility Hierarchy of Provision, which puts the cyclist in first place. The convenience of the cyclist who, having parked her or his bicycle, requires urgent relief, simply cannot be bettered than here at the Gallery, where a first class bike parking facility has now been imaginatively enhanced in a way that surely sets the gold standard for all other local authorities to follow.

Well done Waltham Forest!

Return to sender

On the one hand there’s shared use and on the other there are some examples which will make your blood run cold.

The postperson who locked their cart to this bike stand on Westbury Road E17 has now struck again, on Erskine Road E17.

It looks like it's a habit.

69 uses for a Waltham Forest bike stand # 41

As hardly anybody round here cycles it’s always good to see the Royal Mail making practical use of local bike stands.

Westbury Road E17, yesterday.

A rubbish bike stand

Old Church Road E4

Gift-Wrapped

Truro Road, Walthamstow

A chilling example of cycle stand obstruction

Vernon Road E17, just off the High Street.

Beautiful Waltham Forest – Gateway to the Olympics

The borough’s fame continues to spread.

On Pretoria Avenue E17 things can only get, er, worse. That’s now not one but two cycle stands obstructed.



























But not to worry. Mattresses are placed on every street for those who want to pause, relax, and enjoy life under a Council which is passionate about a clutter-free public realm.

Spot the cycle stand

Can YOU spot the cycle stand in this picture? Just mark with an ‘X’ where you think the cycle stand might be and send to Cllr Chris Robbins, leader of Waltham Forest council, the Town Hall, Walthamstow.

The first person to send in the correct answer will receive a FREE complete set of the London Borough of Waltham Forest Local Development Framework strategies and options together with a framed, signed copy of the statement that The quality of the public realm and the streetscene is crucial to creating a successful place where people enjoy walking and cycling.

(Pretoria Avenue E17, this morning.)

Waltham Forest – it’s happening here.

You’ve heard of the big society

Now meet the Lidl society. (Blackhorse Road E17. Today.)

Cycling during an exciting time for cycling

Spot the bike logo in the cycle lane


This is an exciting time for cycling. It is at the heart of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS) and some London boroughs are already leading the way by improving conditions for cycling and promoting its benefits.

There is growing public enthusiasm for cycling in Outer London. More people are seeing the bike as a viable and attractive alternative to the car. In a recent survey, 58 per cent of Outer Londoners said they are considering cycling more over the coming year.

Clearly outer London will not be like the rest of Britain, where recent research by the Department for Transport indicated that For every three respondents who had tried cycling to work, two had reverted back to using their car.

It’s a mystery why some novices lose their enthusiasm for cycling. The full version of Delivering the benefits of cycling in Outer London is packed with photographs of happy cyclists (although many of them evidently feel the need to wear helmets, which is odd when you consider that cycling in motor traffic is very, very safe). And let’s face it, what could be more relevant to cycling in an Outer London borough like Waltham Forest than pics of people cycling on a sunny day through Hyde Park?

I have been out on my bike today and, yes, as you can see, this is an exciting time for cycling.

(below) one-metre wide cycle lane with left-turning bus. Selborne Road E17.































(below) Walthamstow High Street cycle stand

another reason why Cllr Clyde Loakes should go

I am now into my fourth year of recording the regular obstruction of cycle stands by rubbish sacks, something which the council shows no interest at all in preventing – hardly surprising when staff employed by its contractor Kier are persistent offenders.

This example was outside The World of Catering, 684-692 Lea Bridge Road, yesterday.

Footnote

Obviously the folk at Truth Will Out don’t read this blog. They say

Only a year ago local newspaper comments pages, bloggers (many suspected to be Labour supporters) and Labour leaflets were attacking the man responsible for our streets, former Lib Dem Cllr Bob Belam, for the alleged poor refuse collection and street sweeping services.

Truth Will Out point outs, reasonably enough, that things are no better under the new Labour council, but grumbles that there are now No bloggers complaining of dirty streets

Not true! Take a look here, here and here.

Nothing can stop them

Waltham Forest Council has been one of the leading local authorities in London in its commitment to introducing cycling facilities and has won five awards over the past decade.

I am pleased to give the council a sixth award, the prestigious Krapp Cycling Institute Award for Repeated Obstruction of Cycle Stands by Sacks of Rubbish Put There By the Council’s Own Contractors. What’s more this is the fourth year in a row the Council has been given this award.

This is the stand on Hoe Street by the junction with Gaywood Road E17. Yesterday.

Cycle stands: the ‘shared use’ principle

Haven’t I always said that cycling in this country is going to the dogs?

Waltham Forest council’s ‘approved contractor’ obstructs more bike stands

Spot the cycle stand.

The roadworks firm JB Riney has previously come to the attention of this blog as a result of its dynamic engagement with cycling infrastructure which allows cyclists to test their skills.

JB Riney has been made the council’s official roads contractor, which is a very lucrative arrangement (such a shame it isn’t a local business). What the borough gets out of the arrangement isn’t clear, though together with legendary Kier and something called the Good Impressions design consultancy (a ‘graphic design consultancy’ based in Canary Wharf – another non-local business) Riney assist in the sponsorship of the council’s awesome Love Your Borough awards.

You’d think a council would set certain standards for its approved contractor, such as for example requiring its work force not to wilfully obstruct cycle stands or leave contractor's clutter littering the streets weeks after a job has been completed. But then again this is Waltham Forest Council, so obviously not. Indeed, so great are our local traditions that they have given birth to a completely new verb, a dazzling gift to the English language: to Walthamize.

These photographs were all taken yesterday. The one above shows a cycle stand on Mission Grove E17, and below is the one next to it. The final pic was taken in The Town Square by the children’s playground. There was no work going on around these cycle stands. To JB Riney’s not very bright workers, cycle stands are simply convenient places to store plastic fencing and other equipment.

Cycle parking doesn’t get any greener than this

Outside 633 High Road Leytonstone, yesterday. You can’t miss this bike stand – it’s just across the road from Leytonstone police station!

Cycle parking & apples: episode two

In the Netherlands an ‘apple’ is synonymous with cycle parking. And, hey, it’s just the same in the London Borough of Waltham Forest!



























Walthamstow High Street, 6 October.

Hey, me old fruit – let’s pedal down memory lane.

This blog can see into the future!

At the beginning of the year this blog made an amazing prediction.

And it’s been coming true throughout 2010!

The most recent example was last Sunday and Monday in the Town Square (an obscure location easily missed by the three councillors who were elected to represent High Street ward ).

Barriers to cycling: yesterday’s crop

The barriers to cycling are sometimes quite literal, as these photographs, all taken yesterday, illustrate. The sign above, which is mysteriously blank, has been placed in the cycle lane on Selborne Road E17.

It’s bad enough that the entire London cycling establishment is committed to the failed strategy of vehicular cycling (by ‘cycling establishment’ I refer to the London Cycling Campaign, Sustrans, London Councils and Transport for London), a policy fully supported by London’s leading Green Party transport campaigner Jenny Jones who asserts:

There is a culture of cycling which says that people should get on their bikes, take to the road and be treated with the same respect as any other vehicle. Taking this simple step is therefore a symbol of cyclists reclaiming their place on the roads.

Sadly, Jenny is breezily indifferent to the reality that this ‘culture’ is of no interest to the 98 per cent of Londoners who would rather choose to make their journeys by anything except riding a bicycle, for the simple reason that London’s roads are too cluttered by motor vehicles to make cycling remotely attractive except to a tiny minority. No amount of fiddling with the vehicular cycling infrastructure and making ‘improvements’ is ever going to change that.

And in the real world, even where the car-choked streets of London have had their margins ‘reclaimed’ for vehicular cycling infrastructure, the result is a farce. London’s cycling establishment and campaign groups are incapable of even defending and protecting the crap vehicular cycling infrastructure that currently exists. Crap cycle lanes are obstructed by thick contractors and cycle stands continue to be treated as rubbish collection points. That’s why I can’t bear this kind of institutional fantasy.

(Below) Another sign placed in the one-metre wide cycle lane on Selborne Road E17.




























(Below) 'Roadworks ahead' sign placed in the cycle lane on Hoe Street E17 (A112). And note the death trap railings.

























(Below) This roadworks sign has been attached to the cycle stand outside 243 Wood Street by contractors working for the London Borough of Waltham Forest.






























(Below) Who are the crap contractors who obstruct cycle stands like this? Look closely and you will see that on the sign is the word Kenson.




























(Below) Rubbish piled for collection by the cycle stand outside 565 High Road Leytonstone.































(Below) More rubbish sacks piled for collection by the cycle stand outside 745 High Road Leytonstone.

































(Below) Cycle lane on High Road Leytonstone, close to the junction with Cathall Road.




























(Below) Note how the cash machine sign, which is illegally displayed on the footway, protrudes over the kerb into the cycle lane.





























(Below) Another rubbish collection point. A112, corner of Downsell Road E15.