"A field scores 2" Was the original comment
If a job's worth doing its worth doing well, so..
This is the perfect example of what we all do wrong regarding cycle provision.
Me: Why oh why did I even start on the project of assessing WMDC's cycle provision in the first place? It was obvious from the very first cycle route I ever looked at, that Wakefield Met do not give the slightest credence to what any objective and intelligent person understands is an absolutely fantastic solution, i.e. cycling, to one of the major problems in modern society, i.e. transport.
When I first visited this 'route' in 1990, it was rubbish. An absolute non-starter as a cycle route, a line drawn on a map with a felt pen by Kevin Broadbent which represented a footpath through a field. Not that it was an unpleasant footpath, I returned there with my daughter to see the wild deer that lived in the field, but nevertheless, no more a cycle route than any of a million fields in England. Me bad!
So why I why did I ever go back two days ago (September 2015)? Like I'd expected it to change? Yes, the surrounding area has changed, several millions of pounds has been spent building motorway that replicates the motorway right next to it that has encroached into the field, a pond has been made to cope with the run-off from the motorway, I would imagine the deer have been erradicated (always hard to prove a negative), the noise is now much greater, and there is no alternative return route for the walker, but it is still just a shit(tier) route, from nowhere to nowhere with no aspect of any kind to encourage anything but the most diehard off road cyclist.
WMDC:In the late 80s Wakefield met published a map, it was a joke map, indicating 'cycle routes' in the Wakefield area. Now this has been replaced by a set of 'routes' which have replaced the felt pen lines drawn on a map with felt pen circles. Yes "Cyclists must dismount here" is part of Wakefield's current cycling strategy.
Wakefield District Cycle Forum: Should I be angry that this group cite themselves as partners of Wakefield met, receive funding and largesse from the council that is largely wasted on 'meetings', organised cycle 'drop ins', exhortations to cycle for health and fun, and any amount of things bar taking our lazy, duplicitous, inefficient, untruthful, uncaring engineers to task about their complete subservience to vested interests, motor transport and the feathering of their own nests? Should I be angry that I, arguably the person most committed to cycling and rational transport provision for miles around, and probably the best qualified to understand it, cannot post on their FaceBook group (Wakefield District Cycle Forum, 13th September 2015 "This content is currently unavailable")? Should I be angry that I spend months assessing objectively and recording WMDC cycling provision for it to be dismissed by a bloke called Sandy Clarke (The Forum president/chair/dictator, I am not sure what) as somehow not good enough? Can you understand my frustration at being told by said Uncle Tom, that WMDC has done stuff for cyclists in my area, when the fact is they have only made things worse?
Damn right I should be angry, and I hope you understand
| Length | 0.5 km | Rating | Walk |
| Authority | WMDC | Surface | 0 |
| OS Sheet | 105 | Width | 0 |
| Between | A 645 | Traffic | 2 |
| OS Ref. | 447930, 423015 | Stops | 0 |
| and | A1 | Danger | 0 |
| OS Ref. | 448313, 422935 | Navigability | 0 |
| Date | 9th Spetember, 2015 | Route | 0 |
| Author | Steve Kidd | Score | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| By Rail | Knottingley 1 km | ||
| How to find | On the south side of the A645 opposite the Turnpike Motel, in between the A1 and the M62 | ||
| Connection | Knottingley | ||
Knottigley 'cycle routes' 1999 / Knottingley Shilling Hill 2015