Author Archives: Alec'n'Val

Flowery cycle racks

What’s not to like about this bike rack – much more attractive than the usual toast racks so they’d look good in a garden as well as outside the shops. They’re called Plant Locks and are available in red or green from Front Yard Company.

More regular cyclists to school

Sustrans has just announced that, last week, leading up to Team Green Britain Bike Week, over half the youngsters (127) at Belvidere Primary School, Shrewsbury, cycled to school every day. The school’s head teacher also made his 30 mile commute on two wheels. Parent governor Debbie Clee cycled in with her two children and [...]

Trafford: First Connect2 scheme in England completed

Sale-Stretford pedestrians and cyclists have a newly surfaced route thanks to lottery money. The Bridgewater Way scheme has been opened after a week of events along the canal. This new route provides a practical and accessible path for commuting and for leisure, highlighting the use of the historic canal towpath as a sustainable travel [...]

Street art

What’s not to like about this street art? Take a look at Carlton Reid’s May blog entry.

Missing your mangetout? Grow your own.

Missing your mange tout because of that volcano stopping flights? Try growing your own with mangetout growing tips from Gardening Masterclass. OK the flights might begin before you’re ready to harvest, but much better to eat food fresh from the garden, in season (altho’ you can freeze mange tout), and save on all [...]

A world without planes

The Icelandic volcanoes are giving us practice at living without planes – a useful rehearsal for life after oil? Alain de Botton muses on ‘A world without planes’ for BBC Radio 4. Meanwhile in Cheshire we’re enjoying blue blue skies uninterrupted by vapour trails.

Cycle/cycling insurance review

We’ve ploughed through policies and squinted at small print to compare cycle and cycling cover for ourselves, so we thought we’d share the information in an insurance review. There’s info for you to compare specialist cycle and cyclist policies for everyday, holiday, commuter, leisure, triathlon and other competitive riding, for theft, damage, personal accident [...]

Frog frenzy in our garden pond

The spring spawning began a bit later this year, mid-March. The ice must have slowed them down! Here are some of the frogs frolicking in our pond. The pond has a 5-foot diameter, and has around 60 frogs visible at any one time.

Cheshire Cycleway video

If you want to see what the countryside is like on or near the Cheshire Cycleway, have a look at the following video. The Cheshire Cycleway (regional cycle route 70) is a signed circuit, using mostly back roads to travel 175 miles through the best countryside in Cheshire. See for yourself from the video.

In the [...]

Recycling prices for mobiles

There are so many different places to cash in your old mobile that we’ve added a quick comparison page.