Reposted by Helen Todd
We're off to Roy Bridge for our next trip 9-12 October, a regular return. The weather has often been mixed on our trips, but we've had a good time anyway. Lots of hills to enjoy in the area, plus trains, cafes, gondolas to visit if too wet.
We have monthly weekend trips and welcome non/new members.
![1. ‘Spokes & Me’ – our 2026 summer competition – please enter!!
Spokes will be 50 in 2027! So, for our 2026 summer competition we’d like to hear any way in which you have benefitted from Spokes being around – recently, ages ago, or through the years
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Maybe you bought one of our super maps and used it to devise a great commuter route, or for a brilliant weekend bike ride
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Maybe you cycle across the Meadows every day, enjoying the car-freeness and the cherry blossom, not even knowing that it was illegal until an arduous years-long Spokes campaign way back in the last century!
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Or maybe you are a dedicated campaigner who has been involved in loads of Spokes activities in the past – or now – and helped make a small contribution to a better world
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Whatever your connection, big or small, Spokes member or not, if you are reading this, we’d love you to enter!
For full details and how to enter, see the Spokes website 8 July 2026 blog
PRIZES – Note that this is the 2025 prizelist. The new 2026 list, with a few differences, will be published soon
Top prizewinner gets first choice of prizes, and so on till all prizes allocated. Runner-up entries which don’t win a prize will get to choose a free Spokes map or buff
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Museum of Scottish Railways (Bo’Ness) Family annual pass to the extensive museum
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Bo’Ness & Kinneil Steam Railway Family ticket for one return trip
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Lanterne Rouge bike cafe, Gifford £20 voucher + Blue/white no-plastic Africap from Sierra Leone
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Edinburgh Festival of Cycling Urban Arrow Cargo-bike day hire
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Ember Bus [takes 2 bikes] £50 bus tickets credit Laidback Bikes Recumbent tour or cargobike hire
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Edinburgh Bicycle £50 voucher Rosebean cafe or Dower House cafe £10 voucher
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Camera Obscura Family ticket Cameo Picturehouse Tickets for 2
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Harts Cyclery One-week ebike hireSpokes Set of all 4 Spokes maps
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Spokes £1000 voucher* towards a cargo-bikeSpokes £200 voucher* towards e-bike purchase](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2ood4k4wojq5jku2zl3myqco/bafkreifencnqyxgsmkgmytyzcvmbkmmvtvpjjatobbg3dgd3hrzndhwgu4)
![Powderhall railway path campaign..
3.3 Powderhall railway path ?
A campaign has been launched to put new momentum behind plans to convert the disused Powderhall rail line into a walk/ wheel/ cycle path between Lochend Park and St Marks Park, linking East Edinburgh into the North Edinburgh network.
At the Holyrood election, surprisingly, the SNP put support for this very local scheme into their Scotland manifesto. However, although local SNP MSP Ben Macpherson has expressed support for the scheme, and for the new campaign, there is no sign of new government funding. Council funding is probably unlikely in the near term, as the path would be competing with other active travel projects. There is also the slight possibility of volunteer work to do a basic (non-tarmac) initial conversion – as Spokes did long ago for the 1km ‘Pilton Path.’
The other holdup is ownership – Network Rail owns the land. However, they have confirmed in a FOI response to the new campaign that there are no intentions to reinstate rail use, and that they are “in discussion with Edinburgh Council about a sale for an Active travel project.”
If you live in Ben Macpherson’s constituency [Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith] please contact him to ask what he is doing to ensure the negotiations are completed soon, and that government funding will be available, given support for the project in the SNP Holyrood manifesto. Note: Ben is only likely to follow up if you are a constituent.
If you live elsewhere, but would use the route, do email your own MSPs.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2ood4k4wojq5jku2zl3myqco/bafkreidbxsjumiigapbfle2xt7uhrh5d46bkvshulcaknm2ru546lz6o3m)
