Campaigners are calling for the government to make good on its promises for better cycle provisions on trains, as the latest Integrated Rail announcement failed to outline how cycle-rail targets will be met. Meanwhile, parts of the rail industry are looking to provide for growing signs of a resurgence in the leisure rail market.
The Shapps-Williams review, launched in May, set out a vision for the future of rail in Britain, including a new Great British Railways body to reverse the trend of declining on-board cycle space, “increasing space on existing trains wherever practically possible, including on popular leisure routes.” It added: “All future train fleets will need to include more bike spaces relevant to the markets served.” However, there are scant details on how this will be achieved.
Rail ridership remains at 41.6% of pre-pandemic levels, while the industry is anticipating a long-term increase in leisure travel demand as people are encouraged to leave cars at home. Cycle-rail journeys are already part of a long-term trend, with journeys where a bicycle is parked at the station increasing by 75% in the decade pre-pandemic.

Simon_Macmichael Nov 26, 2021

At the edges of the village though, and in the wider, wilder countryside beyond, a lot more life is to be found. Red squirrels are emboldened by the reduced traffic, the red deer rut is just coming to an end. Dan Brown and Rachael Iveson-Brown, owners of Wild Discovery, are at a similar stage of life: busy preparing for winter and renewal next year.
I’m heading out with the couple to experience their new electric bike safari around a scenic part of Aberdeenshire. The autumn colours are aflame, the River Dee, appearing like polished steel, imperfectly mirrors the infernos above.

In a prehistoric bog where iguanodons once roamed and the early Britons first smelted ore into iron, what looks like a tiny orange candle peeps through the mire. It sends my companion into a paroxysm of joy.
“That’s good! That’s new!”
The candle belongs to a luminous fungus, Mitrula paludosa, otherwise known as bog beacon that is thinly scattered in the swampy habitat of the Sussex Weald. The exclamation – accompanied by an expletive – belongs to Dave Bangs, who, at 70, is perhaps Britain’s most enduring guerrilla botanist.
The find is one of many illicit discoveries documented by Bangs. For nearly six decades he has scoured the Sussex countryside for hidden ecological treasures, unearthing the neglected and endangered flora behind its fences. His field surveys have culminated in three books, a video and, in July, the basis of one of the largest mass trespasses in the UK in recent years.

Easy pace, suitable for children. Anticipated duration is about an hour and a half. Meet 10:45am for 11am departure.
This ride is supported by Hammersmith & Fulham Cycling which is part of the London Cycling Campaign.