Bash the Barriers

Do you happen to have numbers for road traffic?

I can't find a count point on the Govt website.

Good for accessible travel in Manchester ... eventually.

The Best School Street in Greater Manchester + The Legal Fight to Remove Cycling Barriers YouTube video by Walk Ride GM

A very interesting interview with Ryan Bradshaw, a partner at Leigh-Day solicitors, about his pro bono work to remove illegal anti-wheelchair (anti mobility scooter, anti-baby-buggy, anti-handcycle, anti-cycle etc ...) barriers from the pathways of Greater Manchester.

youtu.be/Dc-wH8nWLiw?...

A sign for a cycle route pointing up a fight of steps in Skegby, Notts. The route is the "Teversal Trail".

A sign for a cycle route pointing up a fight of steps in Skegby, Notts. The route is the "Teversal Trail".

My weird sign photo for the day.

A cycle route leading straight up an ancient flight of steps into the church yard of St Andrews Church, Skegby.

No. I have no idea what is happening.

AFAIK the Teversal Trail does not even go there. There is one 100m away, but it is the Skegby Trail.

A quote from Douglas Adams. They flew out of the cloud. They saw the staggering jewels of the night in their infinite dust and their minds sang with fear. For a while they flew on, motionless against the starry sweep of the Galaxy, itself motionless against the infinite sweep of the Universe. And then they turned round. ‘It’ll have to go,’ the men of Krikkit said as they headed back for home. On the way back they sang a number of tuneful and reflective songs on the subjects of peace, justice, morality, culture, sport, family life and the obliteration of all other life forms. Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe, and Everything

The full Douglas Adam's quote from "Life, The Universe and Eveything".

These type of structures on pavements make active travel, especially for people wheeling, difficult.

There are 101 reasons why Councils (make money) & owners (make money) like them, but I say they have no place on pavements.

In the words of the Men of Krikkit on the universe:
"It’ll have to go."

Am advertising board placed across the pavement, blocking half the width, on Sheaf Road, Sheffield.

And here's the twin obstructing the pavement on the other side of Sheaf Road.
I think this one is just a pavement, not a "shared pavement".
maps.app.goo.gl/butR3YTqXVRM...

An advertising board half blocking a shared pavement on Sheaf Road near Sheffield Station.

Photo of the cross-pavement advertising board. This is a shared cycling / walking pavement, and it obviously obstructs plus obscures sightlines.

The binding ruling in Herrick vs Kidner seems relevant.
www.oss.org.uk/landmark-jud...

@openspacessociety.bsky.social @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk

Google Maps Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

I've been a bit dormant here, but this is a question for Cyclists and Mobility Aid users in Sheffield.

These cross-pavement advertising boards in Sheffield (eg near the station on Sheaf Road) - how much trouble are they?

And are there a lot of them?

Streetview:
maps.app.goo.gl/X1BzcVDtv6jm...

Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture – The White House January 20, 2025 MEMORANDUM FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE GENERAL SERVICES    ADMINISTRATION SUBJECT:

Trump issues order banning "non-classical" architecture.
ie Hyacinth Bouquet discovers the Mussolini Playbook.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential...

I've compiled the core of a "Bash the Barriers" Starter Pack, for:

People, or groups, who are involved in, or interested in, removing anti-wheelchair, anti-wheeling, or anti-cycling barriers from footpaths and public rights of way.

If this is you, PM me & I can add you in.

go.bsky.app/DhPmbJx

Happy Christmas everyone.

Very pleased that @wheelsforwellbeing.bsky.social are now on here. Definitely worth a follow and a share if you have any interest in #ActiveTravel, transport, infra, #disability rights or cycling!

On the Walking & Cycling APPG Parliamentary Enquiry on Active Travel and Mobility Justice.

They can take photos in evidence, in the statement, or as an appendix Link below.

e.g. a Green Flag park being barriered off, excluding wheelchair users.

https://buff.ly/3D2LofH
https://buff.ly/3BqRXIc

Insurance for cycling.
There are at least 3 options:
1 - Rely on your house contents insurance.
x.com/mattwardman/...
2 - Get insurance from eg membership of Cycling UK. £50 or so per annum give or take.
3 - Get a standalone policy. From ~£30. road.cc have a tool.
insurance.road.cc/bicycle-insu...

A What3words screenshot showing an anti-wheelchair chicane partially blocking an underpass through a railway embankment at Lansdowne Road, Urmston. It is at what3words location ... verifying.fencing.skills . https://what3words.com/verifying.fencing.skills Screenshot by @MattWardman / @BashtheBarriers. May be reused with attribution to mattwardman.bluesky.social

I promised an EPIC barrier location at 8am. (I'm on mid-Atlantic time today).

Here you go. An anti-wheelchair chicane in Lansdowne Road, Urmston at What3words .. verifying.fencing.skills.

I couldn't design it better myself. 😁

buff.ly/3B20MIm

Does anybody else have any more?

I've just found perhaps the most EPIC & appropriate What3Words location for an anti-wheelchair barrier in the entire world.

It's in Lancashire.

Just wait until 8am tomorrow morning.

It gets "interesting" and depends on the type of path.

eg For PROWs we have caselaw that restricting access for lawful users is not appropriate as a technique for controlling ASB. Principle is clear, but this is unlikely to be a PROW afaics.

Thanks.
Does it stop motorcyclists is, I guess, the key question?

TBH that whole shebang looks dodgy from an accessibility point of view.
Can a handcycle, a cargo trike, or a class III mobility scooter (eg the Trampers you find available at NT properties) get through comfortably?
If not, it's not EA2010 compliant.

Checking a bit more, it's an historic documentary first released in 2009, with much historic footage - hence, I surmise, the Rara skirt fashion look.

Ah .. nostalgia.

I'll be watching this UK cycling compared to Continental cycling documentary with my lunch today.

This is a good process for dealing with attitudinal barriers to accessibility by Amy Kavanagh.

Polite. Persistent. Assertive. Uncompromising.

There's much to learn from that.

To borrow a phrase from 19C Usonia: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."

This is an important one.
A wider, more strategic legal action to aim to get all of these unlawful barriers removed.
We're on a journey, and we start from here * .

(* HERE being somewhat further forward than it used to be.)

It seems - from the Times report, which is a .... Times report - potentially to be rushed and untidy.
A huge disturbance for a smallish potential benefit.
The effort IMO would be better spent on service improvement.

The number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills.

Norway - 0
UK - 0
France - 0
Spain - 0
Portugal - 0
Denmark - 0
Australia - 0
Iceland - 0
Italy - 0
Finland - 0
Ireland - 0
Germany - 0
Netherlands - 0
Sweden - 0
Japan - 0
Canada - 0
United States - 643,000

IMO one of the positive features of this activist space over the last couple of years has been a convergence of walking / wheeling / cycling.
We have challenges eg conflicting needs for different groups that need to be balanced.
There's a lot to keep talking about. 🤔

4 - Social media abuse when reporting it on Twitter. (Sean needs to be on Bluesky 😁 - I trust we have accessibility here).

We know enforcement - EA 2010 actions are limited to the actual person victimised & are an obstacle course.

Such a restaurant should risk its license without resolution.
2/2

'Refused service again with my guide dog, I'm done speaking out' Sean Dilley is inundated with abuse on social media whenever he posts about discrimination issues.

"Barriers of any sort".
This good BBC story by Sean Dilley has many barriers for blind people:
1 - Restaurant / Tesco attitudes: "no Guide Dogs Allowed" (illegal since 1995 iirc).
2 - Selfish attitudes: 'you are disrupting our lunch.'
3 - Difficulty of enforcement.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
1/2

Bluesky Starter Packs - Bluesky Directory Browse a list of Bluesky Starter Packs. Discover and connect with your community on Bluesky

This *may* help if one is clsoe enough.
blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...