Minsters ...
Meadows ...
Outlaws ...
Country lanes ...
Rosehips ...
Pubs ...
& bicycles ... of course!
... now hanging out for famous Bramley Apple Festival next weekend!!!
It's all here in Southwell!
Australians return home as Vanuatu rescues continue
13 hours ago
A contrast to view from Australia at present. Pubs and bikes mix well R xxx
ReplyDeleteTrue - very worrying re the fires xx
DeleteWhat a pretty country town. Beautiful cathedral. The Bramley apple!
ReplyDeleteI also see that like many other places, it was once served by railway, and now has nothing but bus/coach services... Destruction of the railway is another facet of carcentric policy.
And another Industrial Revolution institution, the workhouse, one of the major prototypes in Southwell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Workhouse,_Southwell
The world's cyclists think of the Raleigh hearing "Nottingham", but sadly, that once emblematic brand is no longer produced there.
Totally agree with you, Lagatta, re your 'car-centric' views - I walked by the old station the other day - so sad to see it mothballed ...
Delete... and re Raleigh and Nottingham, a friend was telling me only yesterday about the connection as he had a go on the new 'Raleigh' I've acquired for my time here in the UK - we all had Raleighs when we were growing up!!!!
Hi Lagatta,
ReplyDeleteYou wrote about carcentric policy. I think the cart is before the horse here. In Australia, at least, carcentric policy was driven by the public, who started buying cars in the early 1900s even before they were particularly affordable. Take a look at the graphs in this article:
http://www.atrf11.unisa.edu.au/Assets/Papers/ATRF11_0030_final.pdf
Figure 6 has some telling trends: since even before motor cars have been relatively affordable the motor vehicles has supplanted public transport, horse riding, walking and cycling as a mode of transport.
Figure 7 is even more stark. The motor vehicle is the preferred mode of travel in Australia and, apart from a blip in WW2 and in 2005 has been growing since they have been commercially available.
Alternative transport modes will not be popular in Australia until motor vehicle travel is unsustainable, presumably by energy cost.
The sad truth is that people love the convenience of motor vehicles and urban policy and design has met that preference.
Reversing this trend is Australia's massive urban infrastructure challenge, especially as energy costs rise (and they will). The people who will suffer are those stranded in the outer suburbs, paying the price for bad policy decisions over the last 60 years.
unfortunately in Australia the prevailing conservative mindset will see any attempt to encourage driver out of cars and onto public transport, into pedestrianism or onto bikes as 'nanny-stateism'. recently, any proactive public health policy in Australia, especially one that threatens the status quo or entrenched interest groups, is seen as coercion from the nanny state - much as you might see MHLs, I suppose.
regards,
seamus
Seamus, yes, I think that mentality is also very common in Western Canada, especially Alberta. Bit different here in Québec. Actually, with respect to this post, I was talking about the UK, though carcentrism is a - lethal - global problem.
ReplyDeleteMore on Oz: http://road.cc/content/news/96884-levels-cycling-falling-australia-according-national-survey
Cycling in asustralia has appeared to have plateaud after (up to) a 30-50% rise in commuter participation since 2006.
DeleteStatistics are always interesting to me:
Proportion of adults in the UK who cycle at least once per week:
10%
Proportion of adults in Australia who cycle at least once per week:
9.5%
Not much difference.
Cycling to work rate in Australia (as of 2009): 1.5%
UK (as of 2013) 2%
Both very low.
http://chartingtransport.com/2012/10/30/trends-in-journey-to-work-mode-shares-in-australian-cities-to-2011/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/walking-and-cycling-statistics
Cambridge is hardly representative of the UK as a whole as the proportion of adults who cycle once a week in Cambridge is 47%, comnpared to the national average of 10%.
regards,
seamus
... but it is lovely though, Seamus, and we can only but dream - and also, I can't think of anywhere so delightfully unrepresentative (in Australia) that could be held up as an equivalent to Cambridge ... I'm afraid you'll just have to admit it, that the poms are all over us in the cycling stakes!
DeleteHi Sue,
Deleteyep I've been to cambridge a couple of times - nice city. it would be great if people in Australia had the human-centric ethos that some European residents display towards their cyclists and pedestrians. Absolutely.
regards,
seamus
Sue, we all had Raleighs too. I think kids in the States often had Schwinns.
ReplyDelete