What is active travel? Essentially, walking, cycling and wheeling. Like many British towns, Woodstock’s road network has been designed very much with the car in mind, making walking or cycling the less convenient options. There are few dedicated cycle lanes and, in some places, pavements are too narrow to accommodate prams or mobility devices.
A narrow pavement along the A44
High levels of car dependency negatively impact society – encouraging sedentary lifestyles, creating congestion and worsening social isolation. As a consequence of our inactivity, in England, the estimated adult obesity rate is 26.2% and among children it has risen to 22.1% of Year 6 pupils. Little wonder that successive UK governments are actively promoting active travel, which includes walking, cycling, and wheeling, as the preferred mode of transport for many journeys.
20 is plenty
Children joined our 20mph campaign
Sustainable Woodstock successfully campaigned for the default speed limit in our town to be reduced to 20mph. Studies have shown that the speed reduction in towns and cities barely impacts the length of road journeys but leads to significant decreases in the number of casualties. The 20mph limit also makes our roads more appealing to those opting to walk or cycle. The new rules came into force in 2024.
Making Woodstock more cycle friendly
As a group we actively encourage cycling for short journeys. As well as all the other benefits that cycling brings, it can reduce the pressure on parking in Woodstock town centre and, hopefully, boost trade. In the past year we have seen new cycle stands outside the Co-op and the Oxfordshire Museum. These are being well used and we hope to see more in the near future.
The LCWIP
The narrow shared-use path on the A44
A public consultation for a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Woodstock and the surrounding area closed on 5 March (the draft plan can still be viewed on the Let’s Talk Oxfordshire webpage). From the various responses, a consultation report was produced and submitted, along with the finalised LCWIP, to Oxfordshire County Council highways chiefs for their approval on 24 April. While many of the recommended cycle-route improvements focus on connectivity between Woodstock and surrounding villages, we hope to see some infrastructure upgrades within the town itself where the prospect for everyday cycling is highest. Watch this space!
An off-road path from Old Woodstock
For residents in Old Woodstock there is no alternative route to the schools and the town centre other than the A44/Manor Road.
Manor Road carries about 15,000 vehicles per day, of which 7% are HGVs, and is on a gradient. Cycling the route – even with the new 20mph limit – is only for the most courageous but even walking to town has its hazards. n places, the pavement is less than 0.75 metres wide (a child’s pushchair is 0.66m wide) and walls and buildings lining the road offer pedestrians no opportunity to step back behind the path for safety. The situation will become even more acute with the proposed Hill Rise development, which will add 48 new homes north of Old Woodstock.
Working with landowners Blenheim Estates, we are proposing an off-road shared-use footpath from the planned new development at the back of Hill Rise across the new woodland area planted by Blenheim. The path will cross the River Glyme, linking into the public road network in Glyme Close, and thence via safe and quiet roads to the town centre, the schools, the surgery, the swimming pool and all of Woodstock’s services.
The Village Travel Network (VTN)
The VTN sprang to life during the pandemic, inspired by an initiative that allowed children in local villages to cycle to school in Woodstock through Blenheim Park. It raised the question: what other opportunities might there be for active travel between Woodstock and those villages – Stonesfield, Combe, Bladon, Long Hanborough, Glympton and Fawler?
The VTN comprises parish councillors and other stakeholders from Woodstock and the villages, as well as representatives from Blenheim and the consultancy VeloCity. The group’s accomplishments so far include securing a Community Path through Blenheim Park from Long Hanborough to Bladon, which provides a key off-road link to Hanborough railway station. The VTN was also instrumental in attaining the LCWIP. You can read more about the group on its website here.
Encouraging ‘active travel’
What is active travel? Essentially, walking, cycling and wheeling. Like many British towns, Woodstock’s road network has been designed very much with the car in mind, making walking or cycling the less convenient options. There are few dedicated cycle lanes and, in some places, pavements are too narrow to accommodate prams or mobility devices.
High levels of car dependency negatively impact society – encouraging sedentary lifestyles, creating congestion and worsening social isolation. As a consequence of our inactivity, in England, the estimated adult obesity rate is 26.2% and among children it has risen to 22.1% of Year 6 pupils. Little wonder that successive UK governments are actively promoting active travel, which includes walking, cycling, and wheeling, as the preferred mode of transport for many journeys.
20 is plenty
Sustainable Woodstock successfully campaigned for the default speed limit in our town to be reduced to 20mph. Studies have shown that the speed reduction in towns and cities barely impacts the length of road journeys but leads to significant decreases in the number of casualties. The 20mph limit also makes our roads more appealing to those opting to walk or cycle. The new rules came into force in 2024.
Making Woodstock more cycle friendly
As a group we actively encourage cycling for short journeys. As well as all the other benefits that cycling brings, it can reduce the pressure on parking in Woodstock town centre and, hopefully, boost trade. In the past year we have seen new cycle stands outside the Co-op and the Oxfordshire Museum. These are being well used and we hope to see more in the near future.
The LCWIP
A public consultation for a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Woodstock and the surrounding area closed on 5 March (the draft plan can still be viewed on the Let’s Talk Oxfordshire webpage). From the various responses, a consultation report was produced and submitted, along with the finalised LCWIP, to Oxfordshire County Council highways chiefs for their approval on 24 April.
While many of the recommended cycle-route improvements focus on connectivity between Woodstock and surrounding villages, we hope to see some infrastructure upgrades within the town itself where the prospect for everyday cycling is highest. Watch this space!
An off-road path from Old Woodstock
For residents in Old Woodstock there is no alternative route to the schools and the town centre other than the A44/Manor Road.
Manor Road carries about 15,000 vehicles per day, of which 7% are HGVs, and is on a gradient. Cycling the route – even with the new 20mph limit – is only for the most courageous but even walking to town has its hazards. n places, the pavement is less than 0.75 metres wide (a child’s pushchair is 0.66m wide) and walls and buildings lining the road offer pedestrians no opportunity to step back behind the path for safety. The situation will become even more acute with the proposed Hill Rise development, which will add 48 new homes north of Old Woodstock.
Working with landowners Blenheim Estates, we are proposing an off-road shared-use footpath from the planned new development at the back of Hill Rise across the new woodland area planted by Blenheim. The path will cross the River Glyme, linking into the public road network in Glyme Close, and thence via safe and quiet roads to the town centre, the schools, the surgery, the swimming pool and all of Woodstock’s services.
The Village Travel Network (VTN)
The VTN sprang to life during the pandemic, inspired by an initiative that allowed children in local villages to cycle to school in Woodstock through Blenheim Park. It raised the question: what other opportunities might there be for active travel between Woodstock and those villages – Stonesfield, Combe, Bladon, Long Hanborough, Glympton and Fawler?
The VTN comprises parish councillors and other stakeholders from Woodstock and the villages, as well as representatives from Blenheim and the consultancy VeloCity. The group’s accomplishments so far include securing a Community Path through Blenheim Park from Long Hanborough to Bladon, which provides a key off-road link to Hanborough railway station. The VTN was also instrumental in attaining the LCWIP. You can read more about the group on its website here.
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