Hourly trains from Congleton north and south

At last, 10 years after losing our hourly service, it's back. Unfortunately the PR event (Santa's visit to celebrate with Saturday shoppers) was derailed by a car on the line a few days previously. But on the plus side, the station has a Christmas tree and fresh paint.

Great not to have to wait for a 2-hourly service, but unfortunately the journey time to Manchester has increased from 30 to 50-odd minutes. Not so many fast trains to connect with from Macclesfield either. Oh well, another 10 years to get some fast trains too?

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Cycle shop gift vouchers from Cheshire Cycleway Online Cycle Shop

Gift vouchers for cycling stuff from leading retailers are now available via the Cheshire Cycleway Cycle Shop. Good for when you can't think of a present, or want something that's easy to post.

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Alderley Edge diversion for Cheshire Cycleway

Urgent. Make any more suggestions/comments on Alderley Edge diversions asap as we are meeting Anna Geroni, Cheshire County Council's cycling officer, on 3rd December to discuss the alternatives. Once the route is decided, the county will signpost it and we will also publish it on our website.

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Online cycle shop added to Cheshire Cycleway site

Finally added an online shop for cycling goodies to the Cheshire Cycleway site, for ease of browsing and comparing goodies from leading retailers including Evans, Wiggle, SBR and Halfords. Happy shopping.

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Updated and simplified 'How to put customised Google maps on a website/Blogger blog'

We've also revised and simplified our How to put customised Google maps on a website/Blogger blog - easily page on the Cheshire Cycleway site.

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How to Draw Google Map Lines to Show Routes

We've now put the info and codes for How to Draw Google Map Lines to Show Routes on the Cheshire Cycleway site. The link we used to direct people to (a Thai university webpage) for drawing lines seems to have come under attack and accessing it has been generating a warning from Google.

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Comment on proposed Cheshire Cycleway diversion

Another route added to the suggested diversions to the Cheshire Cycleway to avoid the Alderley Edge/Nether Alderley bypass roadworks. Work starts in Jan 09, closing Welsh Row until an underpass has been built.

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Cycle security and insurance

New pages on the Cheshire Cycleway site include one on cycle security for tips on reducing the risk of your bike being stolen, and one on cycle insurance.

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Call for comments/suggestions

Urgent - make your comments now on a Cheshire Cycleway diversion to avoid the Alderley Edge/Nether Alderley bypass roadworks. Work starts in Jan 09, closing Welsh Row until an underpass has been built.

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Bypass road works affect Cheshire Cycleway

Possible alternative Cheshire Cycleway routes to avoid the Alderley Edge/Nether Alderley bypass roadworks are up for comments. Work starts in Jan 09, closing Welsh Row until an underpass has been built.

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Cheshire Cycleway - station links

Just added routes from Congleton and Macclesfield railway stations to the Cheshire Cycleway - trains give you quick access to the route, and mean you can skip sections.


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Cycle Manchester Airport - Cheshire Cycleway

Just added the cycle route between Manchester Airport and the Cheshire Cycleway to our Cheshire Cycleway website. For anyone arriving/leaving by plane, or by train via the station there, the Airport's Orbital Route provides a simple way to travel, unlike other airports we've visited.

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Updated map customization link

Fixed the broken link on 'How to put a customised Google map on Blogger or a website' tutorial.

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Put your Cheshire CycleTo information on the map

CycleTo is a new opportunity for businesses, clubs and individuals to make their mark on the Cheshire Cycleway website and route map . Anyone can make a CycleTo marker, free of charge, and there’s a no-obligation free trial subscription for businesses to add their details (text, image, contact details, website link) which will appear on a separate page within the site. Clubs and other not-for-profit organisations can add these extra details free of charge.

Additionally, there are a number of charge-free categories for extra information about places to CycleTo, such as public loos and other vital details for those cycling out and about in Cheshire.


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Congleton Carnival goes green

Little Congleton has a big carnival every other year, but for the first time ever it's going green, so no trucks or cars pumping out fumes over us all this Saturday (19th July 08). For such a small town, its carnival is a great feat, and this year includes a free fun day in the park followed by a (not free) evening of tribute bands.

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Balloonacy

Orange is running an Internet balloon race starting on Monday 23rd June - hence the balloon (well, OK, that racoon) on the left. Just click on it to find out more about the prizes and how to win. Have fun!

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Make your mark on our Cheshire Cycleway map

To make our Cheshire Cycleway site as useful as possible, people can now add their 'CycleTo' marker to our map, free. This way we can create a great cycle-flavoured resource for Cheshire residents and visitors alike. So if you know of somewhere interesting or useful in Cheshire, or you have a business to promote (especially but not exclusively cycle-related), register now and make your mark.

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Even the Middle East is going green

When oil producing Abu Dhabi can see the writing on the wall, and begins work on sustainable technologies, it's time for the UK government to wake up too. Abu Dhabi's green campus housing an energy and technology community covers six square kilometres and will be up and running by 2009. (Thanks Ecogeek for the news item.)

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Micro-generation of energy - you know it makes sense, but does the Government?

Today's Independent on Sunday leader is all about microgeneration of energy - which makes so much sense, reducing the nation's dependence on just a few power stations, vulnerable to terrorist attack, vagaries of imports, or a plain and simple fault (as happened last week with two power stations out at the same time). Oh, and cut back on carbon dioxide output too. There's an idea. Our traditional boiler is packing up and we'd love to switch to something sensible. Perhaps Govt will listen to its own advisors for once and start giving out the grants again? A linked article gives us a personal view of green life in Germany. New Scientist (24th May 08 issue) has an interview with Hermann Scheer,who drove the solar revolution there.

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Cycling books

More books - this time practical and inspirational reads for cyclists - lot of 'how to' plus some armchair cycle travel.

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Top 10 gardening books borrowed from UK libraries

We've listed the UK's top gardening lends on Gardening Masterclass using info from Public Lending Right. It's all Titchmarsh and home-grown veg.

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A green website host

Guilt-free sustainable web hosting! 1 and 1's European operation is now powered solely by renewable energy. A green host is just right for our cycling and gardening sites; the domain name prices are mostly under a tenner a year, and there are lots of extras to help developing your site, plus good support. We've been using them for years and can recommend them heartily.

Invaluable resource: cycle to live - the facts

There are stacks of 'facts' on the web about cycling and health, but are they true? We've written 'Cycle to live - the facts' as a springboard for you if you've got an essay or project to produce, an article to write, or someone to persuade, and you need ideas, facts, figures and, crucially, the sources. Or if you're just interested in the studies that produced the statistics.

Great cycling links bookmarked on Cheshire Cycleway website

We've bookmarked some great cycle-related links. They are all informative and/or provide entertaining reads. Including safety stats and tips, and practical cycling and travel info. Enjoy!

Sustainable mobility - Amsterdam leads

Amsterdam (the one in The Netherlands) is the world’s top cycling city with 60% of trips in the city centre made by bicycle. It wants to become the world’s centre of expertise on sustainable mobility - there's more in a report by Jack Oortwijn for Bike Europe.

Let's hope the UK learns some lessons from this. It could be soooo good here with just a few tweaks to the law. The first one could be an obligatory wide berth for cyclists as in France, where the law dictates a 1.5 metre space.

Scoff as much as you like and cycle it off!

Cycling burns off at least 5 calories a minute, even for the least fit. So say Nick Cavell and Dr Adrian Davis in their 2007 report 'Cycling & Health. What's the Evidence?'. (We've put together some more info on Eat and lose weight, easily.)

So that's how I lost 7 lbs without trying last summer. Just gently cycled along the Moselle/Mosel river for a couple of weeks and ate what I wanted to.

Cycling really is good news for those a tad overweight (or more than a tad), and for those who like their food but are worried that they might become too heavy. The answer is simply to just hop on a bike and carry on munching (but perhaps not at the same time...).

Gardens along the Cheshire Cycleway - 2008 update

Just published the updated gardens listing so you can plan your cafe stops along the Cheshire Cycleway. We've amended the opening times and admission fee details for 2008. Enjoy those cream teas...

How to easily put a customised Google map on Blogger or a website

Test my jargon-lite tutorial 'My quick 'n' easy way to put Google maps on Blogger postings and websites'. It's different because I display one map on many pages, but only have to edit one file. Let me know if it's useful.

Here's an example of a map on Blogger, which is also on the Congleton Cycling Campaign site:

Cheshire Cycleway gardens to visit

Gardens mean cafes! So for the hungry and thirsty, as well as those who like gardens, we've added this info to the route map. More descriptions are on Gardening Masterclass 'Gardens to Visit'.

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