Latest news

April 2019

During the past year we have made some great progress on the East Lancashire Strategic Cycleway below are a few of the highlights:

2018 saw us trialling a new type of surfacing called Nu-flex

This was in response to public consultation and in particular to address some of the issues raised by horse riders about tarmac. Nu-flex is a mixture of recycled tyres and aggregate held together with a binder. It is porous so water does not sit on it which is great in winter as sheet ice doesn't form on it easily. It has great levels of grip so no more horse's hooves slipping and it has a slight give to it so runners love it. It does provide a nice smooth surface similar to tarmac so it is also great to ride a bike on or push a wheel chair along.  Our initial trial of the material and feedback from users has been excellent so we are using this type of surfacing where ever we can on the rest of the cycleway project.

One of the main sections of trail we used Nu-flex on last year was Britannia Greenway and during our opening event we made a short video which tells you a bit more about the surfacing and local users give some feedback on what they think of the surfacing.

Work Started on restoration of the old railway tunnels at Stacksteads

Work started early 2019 on the opening up and restoration of two disused railway tunnels known as Thrutch1 and Thrutch 2. Due to bats using the tunnels all of the works is being carried out under licence from Natural England and is being closely supervised by a bat ecologist.  This is an exciting section of the overall route though and will provide a great off road alternative to the busy A681. 

Thrutch tunnel No 1 has been bricked up for many years, this has been opened up and it has been found to be in very good condition. Repairs and waterproofing are currently underway in both tunnels watched closely by our bat ecologist. Once the fabric of the tunnels have been repaired lighting will be installed and a new surface will be put down. At the same time work has started on the construction of a new cycleway bridge to take people over the river.  The hope is to have all this work completed by August 2019 and we look forward to opening the tunnels up to the public at the end of the summer.

Massey Croft to the Rochdale border

In March 2019 we started work on resurfacing about 1km of trail between Masseycroft in Whitworth and the border with Rochdale. This path is popular with local users as a gateway to the Healey Dell Nature Reserve but for much of the year was quite muddy and difficult to use especially for people with mobility issues or with a push chair. The before and after photographs below show the improvements that have already been made. We hope to finish work on this section by the end of April 2019.

Swinnel Brook National Cycle Route 6

During March we resurfaced a section of track leading from Swinnel Brook up to the Helmshore viaduct just above the textile museum. As you can see from the photos below there has been a great improvement to the surface of the track again allowing access for all. We do intend to carry on over the viaduct but in order to do so we require listed building consent and a licence from Natural England due to bats using the structure.