Sheffield bike trail plan moves up a gear

Plans to create a new £45,000 mountain bike route on the edge of Sheffield have taken a big step forward.
Annie Last and Steve Peat on the Lady Cannings Bike TrailAnnie Last and Steve Peat on the Lady Cannings Bike Trail
Annie Last and Steve Peat on the Lady Cannings Bike Trail

The Ride Sheffield group is running an appeal to build a 1.8km trail from Redmires Road out to Stanage Pole, aimed at novices and more experienced riders.

A crowdfunding appeal has collected almost £12,000 in pledges, but now Sheffield company Vulcan Engineering has offered to pitch in with £22,500, half of the funding needed.

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Henry Norman, from Ride Sheffield, said it was a ‘really big step’.

“We’ve got approximately £9,000 left to raise now,” he said. “It gives us a huge boost. Being a bit closer to the target helps in terms of asking more people for crowdfunding.”

The project - called RADmires - will be the follow-up to a similar bike trail at Lady Canning’s Plantation in Ringinglow. The 1.4km route at Ringinglow opened in July 2015, and was the first phase of a three-part, 4km trail expected to be finished next year.

Around £75,000 was raised through public donations, local businesses and Sheffield-based firm Go Outdoors.

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Work on the next two phases is set to begin later this year.

Henry said Lady Cannings had been a ‘huge success’.

“The majority of the first phase was crowdfunded, and the second and third have been supported by Go Outdoors,” he explained.

Fundraisers are planned in aid of the Redmires route, including auctioning off 10 places for a ride with professional downhill mountain biker Steve Peat, and selling special T-shirts.

An opening date of spring or summer 2018 is envisaged at Redmires, ‘just to find the rest of the money and get the work done,’ said Henry.

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“There’s a small chance it could be next summer but in a way it’s nice to space these things out. You don’t want the next thing to be too close!”

n To donate send money via Paypal to [email protected], or to the following bank account: sort code 40-31-02, account number 91574205.