onionbagblog

Battery Bicycles

“If we had a list of the top 10 things that would boost cycling rates in London, the plan to fund electric bikes would be number 11.”

Ouch.

Cycling should be inclusive, especially so in London. Boris Bikes need to be at the centre of this access for all.

But do you really need a hybrid of a bicycle / hairdryer of a ride to get around, even in the hilly surrounds of Ham and High?

Of course you could always just not visit the hilly surrounds of Ham and High, which kinda relegates the inclusiveness argument, Comrades.

I have an irrational feat of electirfied bicycling. It is a misnoma on par with mountain biking. The purist form of pedal power is exactly that. It is (wo) / man and machine, joined together in glorious pursuit of science and the human soul.

At least that’s what I like to tell myself when I take on Vauxhall Cross or the last remaining Elephant roundabout.

As Whitelegg so eloquently describes in his Graun piece, London cycling is far from an easy ride. Sure, we’ve come a long way over the past decade or so, but pandering to the hilly surrounds of Ham and High reeks of a political gimmick, and not a solution to help keep the cycling momentum rolling in the city.

Now then - about Vauxhall Cross and that last remaining Elephant roundabout…

Sink or Swim

“The main aims, as set out in their terms of reference, are protecting, restoring and operating historic pools, preserving architectural features, promoting and managing older pools, bidding for and securing grant-aid and effective partnership working.”

@jennylandreth on the Historic Pools Network.

“I can multi-care. I don’t care more about pools than libraries; I care about both.”

My shared map of the Hidden Swimming Pools of Lambeth still does the business in the daily top ten stats for m’blog. Folk are actively looking for this data.

Plus there’s the *ahem* Place Station and the online mapping of Assets of Community Value. The Tynemouth Outdoor Pool is a campaign that we helped to push with The Place Station. The partner organisation of Locality has also published a doc offering guidance for community owned and managed swimming pools.

Which all sounds a little like *shhh* a co-operative way of working.

uh-oh.

And whatever did happen to Free Swimming for Every Resident, Comrades?

Reading material: Great Lengths, published under the BRILLIANT Played in Britain banner, is the perfect accompaniment to Janet Smith’s outdoor Liquid Assets.