476 bikes stolen in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in one year

Bikes reported stolen in London over a one year period, listed by London borough:

Waltham Forest 476

See the figures for the other boroughs here.

Every picture tells a story

Radlix Road E10

A Walthamstow blogger looks back over 2010

Loss of the Year

My bike, stolen from my back garden, was a significant loss to me personally

Lock, stand and suspect

A SUSPECTED thief was arrested by police when he was spotted pushing a bike along Leyton High Road with a lock and cycle stand still attached to it.

The man, who was also pushing another bicycle at the time, was seized by officers from Grove Green Safer Neighbourhoods Team (SNT) on Tuesday September 28 and is now on bail, it has emerged.

It was later discovered that a cycle stand outside nearby Leyton Tube station was missing.

A non-cyclist writes

The inconvenience and sheer kerb-biting annoyance of having your wheels pinched is my second biggest reason for not cycling in London, following a safe distance behind fear of certain death.

Front wheel bike thieves

On 9 July I blogged about a wrecked bike which had been abandoned for weeks in the cycle stands by the Arcade site. Someone had evidently nicked the front wheel, at which point the bike’s owner lost interest in her machine.

Bless my soul if the Council wasn’t down there the very next day with a notice requiring the removal of said bicycle within seven days, or else. So somebody out there IS reading my blog!











































I don’t expect the luckless owner of the bike ever went back to look at it. Maybe she packed in cycling altogether. UK research shows that, 17% of cyclists experience bicycle theft. Of these, 24% stop cycling and 66% cycle less often (DTR/TRL 1996)

As you might expect from Waltham Forest Council, since then nothing at all has happened. Nothing at all. Nuffink. Zilch. Rien.

But is it really the case that a council has to apply to a magistrate’s court to remove an obviously abandoned bike from a stand? I would have thought it possessed the powers to remove unauthorised and obstructive street materiel without going through such a cumbersome procedure.

Cycling campaigners are always fretting about the image of cycling. Me, I think prolonged scenes like this send out a very clear message that cycling today is a neglected wreck.

Incidentally the motorbike which is shown locked to the bike stand in my original blog post continues to be parked here (it was there yesterday, for example) even though the parking attendants should be giving it a ticket for footway parking.

Bike stands: the ‘shared use’ principle

Bicycle stands are perfect for motorbikes and wrecked, vandalised bikes. The bike on the right has been there for weeks. It’s an ‘Edinburgh’, which seems strangely apt. (Walthamstow High Street, the Arcade site.)




































And for those who fret about the image of cycling, this vandalised Dutch bike on Coppermill Lane is still there and has been sending out a signal for months.

Bike theft experiment in Oxford

A CYCLIST became so fed up with theft in the city he used boltcutters to steal his own bike to see if anyone would notice. And nobody stopped him. Nine times.

In December, the Oxford Mail revealed bike thefts in the city had risen to their highest level for six years. Police figures showed 1,380 bicycles were stolen since April 1 last year, the equivalent of more than five a day.

Cycle parking in London and and Amsterdam

Never lock your bike up by a wheel seems to be the moral of this sight, on St Mary Road E17, in a central location which lacks any cycle parking, contrary to what the borough’s cycling officer told members of the Greater London Assembly.

And while the LCC gives a prize for the provision of seven cycle stands at Shadwell station, in Amsterdam…

The legendary Fietsfabriek comes to Walthamstow!

And receives a traditional London welcome…

I guess that was somebody’s pride and joy. A gorgeous, sturdy bike, not like the £75 crap mountain bikes you can buy in Halfords. And now the owner has quite possibly given up cycling, because it’s just not worth the hassle.

Locally, I see more and more bikes with their back wheels missing. Is this theft or is someone going round deliberately vandalising bikes?

This wreck can be found outside the public library on Coppermill Lane E17. You know, the one which never had any cycle parking and which is now derelict after the council closed it down against the wishes of local residents.

And in case you didn’t know, The Fietsfabriek is a family business in the centre of Amsterdam.

Bike theft deters cycling

Richard Godwin:

The factor that stops me and, doubtless, many others from cycling, is the inevitability of theft.

I would love to cycle — but after my last bike I was stolen within three days, despite my spending 60 per cent of its value on a lock, I decided another one wasn't worth the outlay.

Bike theft

The back wheel's gone from this bike, which has been in this collapsed, forlorn posture for a couple of weeks now, presumably abandoned by its owner. Outside Queens Road station, Walthamstow. I suppose the thief was a fellow cyclist who couldn't be bothered to buy a new back wheel. As for this bike...
























It might not be the finest of bikes, but you still shouldn't lock it up with nothing more than a flimsy chain. Luckily Waltham Forest Council has dealt with this danger by removing the cycle stand. (Outside Bhs, the Town Square, Walthamstow)

Meanwhile on Mission Grove E17 and Wood Street E17 the council continues to discourage cyclists from leaving their bikes unattended.

Banksy and the Walthamstow cycle stands

Has Banksy passed through Walthamstow lately? This flower has blossomed on the crumbling wall of the Turkish supermarket at the western end of the High Street, by the cycle stands. The style is Banksy's, though I suspect it's the work of an imitator rather than the great man himself.




























(Below) Empty as usual. Cyclists either aren't aware these stands exist (hidden from view of the High Street, round the corner by the car park), or they don't like using stands where a bike thief can get cutting with little chance of anyone walking past.

Leytonstone Bike Shed: empty

A cutting edge cycle parking facility in a busy London suburb - completely empty on a Saturday morning (today). Apart from the enduring remnants of two abandoned bikes.

Leytonstone Bike Shed is an eloquent testimony to something horribly wrong with the local culture of cycling.

What’s wrong with Leytonstone Bike Shed?

Waltham Forest to benefit as Mayor unveils £10bn investment programme to transform Londons transport network

was the press release from Transport for London back in October 2004.

The menu of improvements included

installation of secure bike sheds at Walthamstow Central station and Leytonstone Underground station.

That’s right, the Walthamstow Bike Shed, which had an early user tribute here but which I would now argue is suppressing cycling.

The Leytonstone Bike Shed opened on 20 May 2005 and I last wrote about it here.

Today the shed contained just three bikes, as well as the remains of two stolen/vandalised ones which have been there for months.

Cycling isn’t flourishing in Leytonstone but the scale of that failure isn't registered because no cycle counts are ever taken in the area. The Leytonstone Bike Shed is a failure probably because it is an insecure facility with a history of bike thefts, because it is located some distance from the station at a site which can be lonely and threatening at night, and because the streets of Leytonstone are not pleasant places to cycle, crammed as they are with parked cars on both sides of the street, one-way systems designed to 'ease traffic flow', bike lanes which put the user between parking bays and overtaking traffic, and streets full of drivers chatting on mobile phones.






















(Below) Every cycle farcility must, by the universal law of crap cycling, contain at least one bollard. And where better to put a bollard than right in front of the door to the Bike Shed? Note that the entrance to the shed involves a step. But London cyclists are a tough breed, who don't need namby-pamby stuff like smooth surfaces.

Lily Cole’s bicycle has been stolen!

I have no idea who Lily Cole is but she must be important because it is national news that her bicycle has been stolen

Bike thefts rocket in Oxford

BIKE thefts in Oxford have risen to their highest level for six years.

New figures show 1,380 bicycles have been stolen in the city since April 1, the equivalent of more than five a day.

PC Plod has been out with words of advice. Because there were other problems, apart from bike thieves:

“There were cyclists without helmets and they also took the advice on board.

Cycle parking in Bury St Edmunds

This magnificent facility for two bicycles includes all the essential features of classic British cycle parking.

The facility is not signed. Cyclists looking for somewhere to park can enjoy the thrill of the chase as they search in vain the streets of an advanced industrial society for one of those rare and legendary ‘cycle stands’. Finally, when you least expect it, there they are!– conveniently located in the rear corner of a car park.

In tribute to the fitness of cyclists, this facility is placed as far away as possible both from the buildings it serves and the town centre. Car parking bays are located much nearer, but that is because drivers are often overweight and only able to walk very short distances.

The only illumination provided is from a streetlamp in the street the other side of the wall. At night, the ensuing pool of darkness helps to maintain a cyclist’s dexterity as she struggles to find the keyhole of her D-lock. The lonely secluded location also provides a valuable test zone for bike thieves with bolt cutters, ensuring that cyclists can do their bit to help bring Britain out of recession by buying a new bike to replace the one that got stolen.

Finally, admire the simple, classic features of British cycle parking design at its very finest. The siting of those roof supports is particularly impressive.

The Leytonstone Bike Shed

(Above) The gleaming new Bike Shed in 2005, with a green bollard thoughtfully sited right in front of the entrance and an imaginatively located tree.

‘The Bike Shed’ serving Leytonstone tube station opened in 2005, amid much fanfare. Using a smartcard entry system ( a smartcard costs £5, providing unlimited use) it offered secure and sheltered parking for 48 bikes. It remains one of the jewels in the crown of the London Borough of Waltham Forest’s ostensible commitment to cycling. The Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign is proud of its achievement in lobbying for cutting-edge cycle parking, and the Council identifies the Bike Shed as evidence of its cycle-friendly policies.

On a sunny October weekday at 11 a.m. (last week ) there were just seven bikes parked there (or eight, if you want to count the one which lacked both wheels). Cyclists appear to be shunning this facility. Why might that be?

The Bike Shed is located by two car parks, in a relatively isolated spot, ideal for a bike thief. There is no cycle lane leading up to it. To get to it you stop by the entrance to the car park and lift your bike over the kerb (no dropped kerb, obviously - mustn't make things too easy).

A mildewed sheet of A4 taped to the inside of the shed welcomes new cyclists and tells them where to go to buy a smartcard. It is twinned with a CRIMESTOPPERS notice warning that there have been bike thefts from the shed. An illegible number is supplied, should you be able to assist local police with their enquiries.

It's a mystery why this magnificent facility attracts only seven cyclists after five years, particularly since cycling has substantially increased over that period.

(below) Welcome to the Bike Shed - instructions on where to go to buy a smartcard. And the promise of CCTV at some point in the future, to deter theft.



























(Below) ‘recently there have been a few thefts of bicycles from this bike shed’

'Have you locked your bike?'

And would it make a blind bit of difference if you had?























(Below) Probably not a good idea to lock your bike to the next wonky stand either. Outside Walthamstow Library.