Cycle Shrewsbury's trip to Southport July 2009

All the cycling towns get together every few months to share their ideas and see what other towns are doing. Shrewsbury is in the "northern" group and we hosted the other towns in March, so we were looking forward to our visit to Southport and being the guests instead of the hosts.

Cycle Shrewsburys Anna Morris riding a Pashley bike Emma bullard on the pier in Southport

Southport has seen a lot of change during its history as a seaside resort. For one thing the coastline has moved away from the town. From our rooms on the 5^th floor of the hotel we could just about see the sea, but the long pier now ends in the middle of an enormous expanse of sand.

The cycling town project is aiming to get visitors cycling. There is a hire fleet of comfortable and user-friendly Pashley bicycles which you can pick up from the Park and Ride car park or from a number of hotels. We cycled along the promenade on these bikes and looked at priority schemes for cyclists, and signposts showing cycling times as well as distances.

Cycling along the sea wall Cycling in Southport

We saw bits of modern Southport like public sculptures and a new bridge, as well as remains of its past like a derelict roller-coaster. There are plans to redevelop this site as a sort of eco-holiday destination with lots of cycling – of course.

Statue of a cyclist in Southport Derelict rollercoaster

Southport are also encouraging more school pupils, especially girls, to cycle to school, and we attended the red-carpet premiere of a DVD made by girls at a local school which looked at reasons why fewer girls cycle, and how this might change.

The cycling town team have very strong working relationships with a whole range of people both within and outside the local authority, and we were impressed to see what they have already achieved.

Our next meeting will be in October in Derby, where the Cycle Derby programme had been running since 2005.

Find out more about Southport and Derby's cycling town projects.