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Deviations from the route

As this is an ‘official’ cycleway it’s not up to a guidebook author to tinker with the route, but I have suggested one or two slight deviations where these seem to make sense.

The Priory Church, one of the glories of Lancaster’s Castle Hill (Stage 1a)

There have been a few, mostly minor, modifications to the official route in the last decade. The most obvious is around Buckshaw Village (Stage 11 of the Southern Loop). What was a virtual wasteland when the first edition of this guide was published is now a large community, with hundreds of houses, shops, industry, even a new railway station.

One factor of growing importance is the spread of dedicated cycle routes, whether purpose-built or adapted. Where these provide traffic-free routes which link comfortably to the rest of the Cycleway, this is generally most welcome.

However, such provision can encourage the misguided (and thankfully rare) view that cyclists should only be on dedicated cycle tracks, not on the roads at all. When, and only when, cycle provision in this country is on a par with that in the Netherlands or Denmark, can there be any justification for such opinions. Meanwhile, and in the foreseeable future, we have every right to ride on all normal roads apart from motorways. Every time you or I make a journey by bike instead of by car, we are reducing congestion, not adding to it, for which any reasonable motorist can only be grateful.