Are 2 wheels better than 4?

Did you hear in the news this week that Yorkshire wants to become the 'European Capital of Cycling'?  Apparently plans are afoot for all the councils across Yorkshire to work together to capitalise on next year's Tour de France visit to the region and create a lasting 'legacy'.

Celebrations marked the announcement of the Tour de France route through Yorkshire
Image courtesy of www.yorkshirepost.co.uk 

Apart from my general concern at the overuse of the 'legacy' word for anything and everything, the news did get me thinking.  I also received a nice email from someone a few weeks ago who had been reading the blog who said...

"In your campaign I urge you to consider the huge potential benefits of encouraging more use of the bicycle and less reliance on the motor vehicle to access the town centre for shopping. This is not some pro-cycling, anti-motoring “rose-tinted” dream, but has been shown to be very realistic, very achievable, and to to make real economic sense, breathing new life and sustainability into town centres."

So I have indeed been thinking.  Wondering about what benefits there might be to towns if people did cycle more. And wondering about why I don't cycle myself.

I can see that some of the pro-cycling arguments - reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality - apply wherever there is an increase in cycling.  But I guess it's really more than that.  Maybe it's about making sure that our towns and cities are safe, welcoming places for people to just be.  Then they will be more likely to come = more successful and thriving town centres.  We're so lucky in Beverley to have a large pedestrianised area that contributes towards that but I guess other towns are not so fortunate.

Countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands have a cycling culture we can only dream about - resulting in whole families taking to their bikes.

Photo by Flickr user Amsterdamize

(By the way, how cute are those kids?)

But it turns out that there are also lots of misconceptions about biking and the local economy.  Most people (me included) assume that people who come to the town by car spend more money.  But in fact, according to Bristol City Council (now a cycling city), the evidence actually shows the contrary - that people travelling other than by car (including by foot, bicycle & public transport) are more likely to support local town centres and local shops and spend as much money as car users.

It also seems that we shop-keepers and traders might be guilty of jumping to conclusions, wrongly assuming that most of our customers arrive by car.  In a study in Graz, Austria, traders reported that 58% of their customers arrived by car and only 42% by other sustainable modes of transport.  When objective data was collected, it turned out that in fact only 32% of customers arrived by car and a whopping 68% by other means of transport.  All interesting stuff.

When I stopped to think about why I haven't got on a bike for a LOT of years despite the obvious health benefits, I came up with 3 things that may well be true for other people too.

First and foremost, I wouldn't feel very safe.  Could that be an argument for more cycle lanes?  I never did my cycling proficiency so where exactly I should be on the road at any given time as a cyclist is something of a mystery to me.  On the road training for adult cyclists seems like it would be a good idea.  Maybe there's a business opportunity there for some entrepreneurial person (apologies if you're already out there doing it and it's just somehow passed me by).  Anyhow, sign me up for that!

Secondly, who wants to look stupid?  I know, I know, vanity is not an attractive quality and generally I wouldn't say it's one of my biggest failings.  But on the other hand, I had a very un-cool bike when I was a young teenager (it's a long story) and I really wouldn't want to relive that :-)

But oh, if only I could have one of these.  Just looking them makes me feel a little faint with joy...

Image from http://zuzikrasno.blogspot.co.uk

It's a Pashley - England's longest established bicycle manufacturer, founded in 1926 - and ones just as beautiful as this are available from our very own Minster Cycles on Norwood.

In my case (shortest attention span in the world ever), I think I may need to prove to myself that I'm going to cycle for longer than a week before going out and re-mortgaging the house to buy one of these beauties.

My third big reason for not cycling is that I always seem to have SO MUCH STUFF.  Seriously, I think it must breed.  Laptop, notebooks, shopping (yes, still doing most of our shopping little & local).  How would I ever manage to get it on a bike and still be able to steer it?  Can you tell that I've already got an answer?  How excited was I to stumble on this....

It's called the Donky Bike and bills itself as a new utility vehicle.  At 500 quid, it doesn't exactly come cheap but it's so cool, I love it anyway.  It's been designed to transfer the weight down through the frame of the bike, leaving the steering light and easy to manage.  Maybe it doesn't have quite the finesse of the Pashley but how can you not love a bike that will let you transport 12 bottles of wine plus your grocery shopping?

Little and Local goes to Rye

Hello!  So sorry we didn't post last week but we were away having some fun.  We've been down to the rainy and grey south coast (oh why couldn't it have been today's BEAUTIFUL sunshine?) for some R&R and we've come back with a completely renewed passion for all things little and local.  We thought we'd share a little of what inspired us...

If you've never heard of it, the little town of Rye is in East Sussex, just a short way up the coast from Hastings and somewhere between Folkestone and Eastbourne.  And it is oh so very pretty.  Even by Beverley's high standards.  Only the very hardest of hearts could fail to be drawn in by its ancient buildings...

.... cobbled streets...

Image courtesy of Mermaid Cottage, Rye

... and quirky houses.

And although it wasn't really the weather for enjoying the seaside on this trip, Rye is just a few miles away from the stunningly beautiful Camber Sands.

Image from Too Busy To...

Rye is also packed with little and local businesses - restaurants, cafes, shops.  Some are so beautiful that I just wanted to move in, some are twee and touristy, some are London-on-sea personified, some are quirky, some are practical.  But the brilliant thing is that they're all there, pressed up against one another.  Collectively they fight off the scourge of sameness that you often experience when you go somewhere new.  The same high street shops, the same chain restaurants.  We saw a Boots in Rye but that was about it.

And all this got me thinking about independent businesses and what exactly it is that they add to any community.  I think it could be about 3 things - 

people - who have a real investment (personal and financial) in their community - after all it's their livelihood.  

place - making somewhere feel like its own special spot in the world.  So that when you're in Rye if feels like Rye not Newcastle or Penzance or any other place.

possibility - the possibility that you'll see or experience something new.  An alternative to the safe and familiar.

We experienced all of these things on this trip.  My favourite shop was the wonderful Merchant & Mills.

A truly unique shop that's about all things sewing - their strapline is Made for Makers.  Well sadly, I'm not much of a maker but it's the most wonderful shop to spend time in. The lovely guy we chatted to was so positive about the town that we left feeling very chirpy despite the rain.

We stopped for tea here at The Cobbles Tea Room...

and had the best brew I've had in ages.  Proper leaves.  And what we decided must be a local take on carrot cake - delicious but more like bread pudding in texture.  If anyone could have squeezed it in, we'd have been tempted to stop for a second afternoon tea here too...

Image from coolplaces.co.uk

What's not to love about a shop called Simon the Pieman?

We called in at Pale and Interesting where we bought some mugs which I hadn't seen before.  Designed by Pale & Interesting and made in the UK by our friends at the Big Tomato Company.  I'm so in love with them, I've hardly used another mug all week.

We had a mooch round Green & Present (great prints including some from the talented Mark and Hannah at Coulson Macleod)....

... and we finally bought ourselves some new scales from the brilliantly named Ironmongers Extraordinary.  

I really wanted the vintage shop scales I spotted in one of the Antiques Shops at Strand Quay...

... but sense (and finances) prevailed. 

By the way, that's Antony looking very interested in his phone.  Could it be that he wasn't as riveted by kitchen scales and vintage utensils as me?  Impossible!

What else can I tell you about the joys of this lovely town?  Well, we splashed out on a stay at the The George in Rye and lucked into a room upgrade.  A blissful night's sleep on a super comfy bed.  Even the twinge of guilt we felt that our friends arrived 5 minutes after us and didn't get the same upgrade wasn't enough to keep us awake ;-)

Each room is decorated with care and the public rooms are warm and inviting.  I wish I could have stayed all week.

Drinks in the bar and dinner in the restaurant were eventful.  I won't bore you with the tale of broken crockery and the lack of food - because it all turned out OK in the end.  When our food finally arrived it was excellent.  And I was left thinking that they really over-compensated us for the inconvenience by completely wiping out our not inconsiderable drinks bill.  True, the service should have been better in the first place but sometimes things just go wrong.  I wonder if a big hotel chain would have been so willing to make amends?  In the days of Trip Advisor, there must be huge pressure for small hotels to get it right or suffer the impact of bad reviews.  So, I give The George a thumbs up and we'll definitely go back.

If you fancy a holiday in a town where little and local reigns supreme, you could definitely do worse than Rye.  Brighton's only a couple of hours up the coast and you can get to London on the train in an hour and a quarter.  Just look at those happy faces.  

Hangover?  What hangover...?