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LancsCycleSam

@cyclesam.uk
793 followers 156 following 1.1K posts

The poster formerly known as @MCRCycleSam Walking, Cycling, Urbanism. cyclesam.uk

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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 11/01/2026
My local Lidl removed some well-used cycle stands earlier in the year for an InPost locker. It took me complaining to Lidl who initially did nothing, and then the planning department, but as of today they've finally brought one back in a new, better, location: next to the entrance, on the frontage.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 04/01/2026
Snowy evening in Lancashire
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 03/01/2026
Always impressed by Lancs County Council's extensive gritting network and the gritter comes past every night that is forecast around freezing without fail. They also provide a lot of grit bins for residents to tackle footways and other areas. Always worth giving credit where stuff is done well!
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Jon @jontafkasi.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...
manchestereveningnews.co.uk
'Metal fatigue' bridge to popular beauty spot taken down due to safety concerns
It means a two-mile round trip to get to and from Chorlton Water Park from the 'wrong' side of the River Mersey
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 01/01/2026
I love parkrun - however as usual I was the sole cyclist at the bike parking while the car parks were full to the brim! It does feel like it generates quite a lot of car journeys. I assume a good number do run/walk there though and is hard to see how many.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 27/12/2025
So much wrong with this story. It's an e-motorbike not an e-bike. The standard police method of lifting the rear wheel and giving it full throttle then reading the built in speedo and claiming it can do 100mph when with a person and wind resistance its probably closer to 30-40mph.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 21/12/2025
The East Lancashire railway line is running services every 2 hours on Sundays now, and a large percentage of those appear to get cancelled or run late. I just don't know how you're meant to rely on a rail service with such a joke of a timetable.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 20/12/2025
Anyone familiar with cycling Chorley Road between Chorley and Pleasington? Looks like I can skip some of it using a quiet lane through Wheelton but after that I'm back on the main road from Higher Wheelton and across the M65 at Jct3 - is this section going to be particularly hairy?
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 20/12/2025
A little known feature of the Starling Bikes in Manchester (and Beryl elsewhere) is that you can unlock them simply by texting the bike ID to their number. Great feature for those with dumbphones or simply resent having to have an app for every single service.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 20/12/2025
Nelson High Street many years apart. Hard to believe there were ever 4 lanes running straight through it and the public realm is much better although the current scenario of a mixture of through traffic and people trying to parallel park is still a little problematic.
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The Ranty Highwayman @rantyhighwayman.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
All of these skills built up on the project will be scattered to the winds because we have cancelled a chunk of the project and we're not building any more high speed rail.
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Walk Ride Salford @walkridesalford.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
We have today submitted our formal support for the Peel Green Active Travel Scheme. We are encouraging all our followers to submit their own support (see following post), as drivers are objecting to this scheme based on it adding a mere 70 seconds to their morning drive.
walk ride GM
This submission is on behalf of Walk Ride GM, the campaign for active travel in Greater Manchester.
Walk Ride GM strongly support this traffic order to enable delivery of the Peel Green Active
Travel scheme.
Importance to network
This scheme is a strategically important part of the emerging active travel network, as it is the only highway route connecting communities in the Cadishead and Lower Irlam, Higher Irlam and Peel Green neighbourhood area with the rest of Salford, providing a continuation of the existing A57 shared use route which runs as far as the community stadium.
The proposed scheme provides those wanting to walk/cycle to major trip generators in the area with a safe way to do this, including:
- Visitors to Salford Community Stadium and Barton airport
- Current and future employees at Port Salford's employers, which are planned to expand significantly in coming years as one of GM's designated growth locations
-Children walking/cycling to Barton Moss primary school and Salford City Academy
(~15 min cycle from Higher Irlam)
- Any future Metrolink stop(s) at Port Salford / community stadium
38.4% of households in Peel Green have no cars or vans (2021 Census - Peel Green
MSOA), so providing safe alternatives to driving is essential.
Current safety issues
The scheme will resolve a number of safety issues issues for those currently walking/cycling along this section of highway, with a number of the below issues classed as 'critical' by Active Travel England and in the GM Streets for all design check:
- speed and volume of traffic cyclists are expected to mix with, including proportion of that made up of large vehicles
- areas of inconsistent lane widths throughout the section which don't dissuade close passes
- Narrow sections of shared use path along northern side with lack of marked priority across side roads
- Lack of tactile paving at side roads
Cyclists heading west have to rejoin carriageway immediately after M60 roundabout exit on left han…Unsuitable alternatives
At a recent community meeting and on social media, objectors to this scheme have suggested alternative off-road routes via a recently improved path alongside Peel Green cemetery and Eccles definitive footpath 28.
While this would provide a useful additional leisure route for some, it should be considered a complimentary route rather than an alternative to delivering the scheme along Liverpool Rd.
Aside from the fact only the new section of path is actually passable on a cycle, routing those walking and cycling through an unlit isolated area with a lack of passive surveillance will render this route unusable for many, particularly women, especially at night, and would undermine the scheme's objectives of enabling modal shift for everyday trips:
- In 2024, only 44% of women (vs 67% of men) were satisfied with their personal safety at night while walking. (draft 2050 GM Transport Strategy, 2025)
- In 2024, only 48% of GM residents were satisfied with their personal security while cycling at night (GMA active travel annual report, 2024)
- "Targets for increased numbers of sustainable journeys on our public transport network and through active travel are non-achievable if the fundamental issue of feeling safe is not addressed." (In Her Shoes, GMCA 2025)
Validity of petition
We are also aware that a change.org petition is being circulated as part of objections to this scheme. We would like to highlight that there is no validation that the signatures on this petition are from those within Salford or even Greater Manchester. The petition was circulated on a number of anti-cycling social media accounts and it is clear that it will include signatures from those who have no connection to the local area, with some even openly declaring they live as far afield as Scotland.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 19/12/2025
Been a while since I sketched one of these. What Whitewalls Roundabout, Colne could look like as a Dutch Style roundabout giving priority and safety to people walking and cycling.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 19/12/2025
Been a while since I sketched one of these. What Whitewalls Roundabout, Colne could look like as a Dutch Style roundabout giving priority and safety to people walking and cycling.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 18/12/2025
Cycle tracks in Nelson coming along. Some of the details aren't quite there and there are a fair few gaps in protection/segregation from pedestrians but generally the road space has been reallocated and that's what matters.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 15/12/2025
Driver inattentiveness likely played a big part here but these killer junctions all need replacing with something safer therantyhighwayman.blogspot.com/2021/02/voor...
therantyhighwayman.blogspot.com
Voorrangsplein! Part 1
My trip to the Netherlands in 2017 seems a long way in the past and I'm itching to go on another visit. I have no idea when it will be possi...
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 10/12/2025
East Londoners, I understand some of the stratford greenway is closed currently - is Google Maps giving the most up to date closures and diversions from the greenway to CS2? Is it signposted and easy to follow? Or should I just sack it off and just use CS3 as I usually would?
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 10/12/2025
Lancashire remains on a Level 2. As far as I can tell the County Council propose some good schemes and then the local councils have a lot of say whether they go ahead or not.Some great stuff going ahead in Preston and Nelson, decent stuff for Burnley, & everything good for Colne has been cancelled.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 09/12/2025
Going to go against the grain here and say it looks pretty good. Its replacing some nicer liveries but its replacing a lot of worse ones too. Will be nice to have the trains more uniformly branded, although I guess Merseyrail and Bee Network etc will have their own? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Branding and logo for Great British Railways unveiled
The new red, white and blue branding mirrors the colours of the Union Flag, and will start to appear from next year.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 08/12/2025
A week's shopping, for two, easily fits in the back of my cargo bike. Pushed it a little bit this week though!
a longtail cargo bike with large panniers full of shopping in a supermarket car park.
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Walk Ride GM @walkridegm.org.uk · 07/12/2025
The 2025 Walk Ride GM Awards celebrated council, local volunteer and community efforts to progress active travel across Greater Manchester.
Man speaking next to a TV screen
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 03/12/2025
I was in Manchester yesterday and caught a very pleasant and punctual train there and then pedaled about the city with no delays. Driving into the city during Christmas Market season is absolutely mental. Even if you have no direct train service, use the many park and rides.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 02/12/2025
Loved riding along the brand new Chapel Street cycle track in Salford today. Lovely public realm, sustainable drainage, nice smooth cycle tracks, continuous footways across side roads, and Greater Manchester's first "cycle gate" junction.
chapel street in salford. a nice wide block paved footway in the foreground, a smooth attractive wide red cycle track, sustainable drainage with planting, and a much narrower and resurfaced roadway. A railway viaduct in the background
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 02/12/2025
Loved riding along the brand new Chapel Street cycle track in Salford today. Lovely public realm, sustainable drainage, nice smooth cycle tracks, continuous footways across side roads, and Greater Manchester's first "cycle gate" junction.
chapel street in salford. a nice wide block paved footway in the foreground, a smooth attractive wide red cycle track, sustainable drainage with planting, and a much narrower and resurfaced roadway. A railway viaduct in the background
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Owler Nook @owlernook.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Deeply chuffed to have won People's Active Travel Champion at the 2025 Walk Ride GM Awards. Thank you to everyone who voted for me!
An award from the 2025 Walk Ride GM Awards for People's Active Travel Champion
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 29/11/2025
"Not everyone likes investing" Its sensible to be risk averse with cash you need in the next couple of years like a house deposit but keeping life savings in a cash ISA just guarantees they at very best stay the same value or at worst actually decrease in value versus inflation.
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Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Just as you thought food delivery companies couldn't inflict any more misery on society: Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 26/11/2025
My thoughts on the salary sacrifice change in the budget is that by setting it to come in in 2029, it's never actually supposed to come into effect and is just an accounting trick to make the books balance until then, like how fuel duty is apparently going to rise next year but definitely won't...
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 26/11/2025
I see we're still playing the game. Apparently fuel duty will start increasing again from Sept 26. Wonder which date they'll say "lol jk" this time.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 25/11/2025
UK Govt pretending they'll put up fuel duty every year and everyone pretending to believe them and then going "oh lol no we won't" at the last minute as if anyone thought they actually would is the funniest* thing ever. *most infuriating and unserious
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 25/11/2025
Quotes for a full house heat pump with Octopus and Aira respectively. This is for a relatively well insulated relatively modern house and after the £7.5k government grant is deducted. Meaning the total install costs are £11.5-£14.5k. Madness.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 25/11/2025
Quotes for a full house heat pump with Octopus and Aira respectively. This is for a relatively well insulated relatively modern house and after the £7.5k government grant is deducted. Meaning the total install costs are £11.5-£14.5k. Madness.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 23/11/2025
Good news although its quite bad optics especially if the fuel duty freeze is finally ended (which I'm in favour of) as it's seen at the Govt subsidising mostly SE/London rail commuters at the cost of everyone else who drives. But at the end of the day we have to tax for the behaviour we want.
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Dom Cycling @domcycling.com · 22/11/2025
Talbot Rd, since the installation of those concrete blocks, cars now parking further up the road 🤬
Concrete blocks to stop parkingCara parking on the vergesCars parking on the verges
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 21/11/2025
Always thought a downside of the pegasus crossing was that cyclists and pedestrians had to share a crossing.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 21/11/2025
We had these in Manchester and they were fantastic but were permanently removed after just a year. Such a shame.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 21/11/2025
This is an absolutely insane screenshot: two really important crossings of the Thames in East London and the lifts have shocking availability, one of which has been broken for over three years!
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 19/11/2025
Outdoor temperature here has been chilly all day and now approaching -4 degrees C. The heat pump has used a measly 4.2kWh of electricity to keep the downstairs at a toasty 20 degrees C all day. Heat pumps keep you lovely and warm at extreme temps, despite what GB News would have you believe.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 18/11/2025
I have a really radical idea: Drivers shouldn't be able to drive through a damn park. www.burnleyexpress.net/news/politic...
burnleyexpress.net
Drivers hit 78mph in Towneley Park as council moves to bring in calming measures
Motorists using the roads through Towneley Park as a ‘rat run’ short cut have reached 78mph.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 18/11/2025
Lots of complaining on the local facebook groups about roadworks. Some are for gas mains works and some are to improve public realm and walking/cycling. Been going on for months and are, for the most part, entirely optional. The town is bypassed by a motorway and there are plenty of other routes.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 17/11/2025
Just a £25 gas bill, 350kWh, (of which £9 was standing charge) for 15 Oct - 15 Nov. This is mostly hot water and the hob since the heating hasn't been on too much. Partially thanks to the relatively mild weather (although it's been chillier up North than elsewhere) but also this heat pump.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 17/11/2025
Gritter has just been past for the first time this season (I live on an infrequent bus route) Expecting snow tomorrow!
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 15/11/2025
Continuing the decarbonisation journey, I've found a new induction hob that will be a drop in replacement for our gas hob - even the same size cutout - for £50! That's less than what it'll cost me to get the gas man out to disconnect the old hob!
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 14/11/2025
I recently self installed a mini split AC/Heat pump to my house and I'm amazed by the results. I can now renewably heat the living room at over 400% efficiency, which is comparable to gas prices even with daytime electric prices: overnight electric prices beat gas by a factor of 3 or 4.
An indoor air conditioning unit over a TVan outdoor AC/heat pump unit mounted on a stone wall with the refrigerant pipes running through a rainwater downpipean outdoor AC/heat pump unit mounted on a stone wall with a vacuum pump and manifold pulling a vacuum for install
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 14/11/2025
The media running "income tax rises scrapped" headlines then saying the tax band thresholds will be reduced in the first sentence. That's literally an income tax rise, surely they're not going to get away with that so easily?
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 14/11/2025
Only 6% of purchases on C2W are done by people earning over 100k and only 6% are on bikes over £2k. So what changes do they actually want to make? It'll barely save any money either way, while removing one of the only benefits that workers aren't means tested out of.
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 09/11/2025
No trains running today so just a casual 50km back from Manchester to Pendle. Only took 2h30 which I thought was quite good. Thank god for eBikes!
Old style signpost om a road with destinations such as Bury, Burnley and nearbyMap showing route from Manchester to Pendle
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 09/11/2025
Was nice to see this pleasant cycling Junction in Bury as a respite from the other 50km of car centric roads I rode along today.
A junction with wide red cycle tracks and crossings
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 08/11/2025
Can anyone experienced with North Manchester/East Lancs cycling help me with a rough route from the city centre to Burnley? No trains tomorrow...
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LancsCycleSam @cyclesam.uk · 08/11/2025
My first time using the Deansgate lane. Bloody brilliant. This used to be a 4 lane traffic sewer.
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