Sheffield FridayNightRide

we have nothing to lose but our chains

2013/03/15 Edgelands and Ghost Streets

Thanks to all (approx) 25 of us who got out last Friday.
A dry and cool but not freezing night to travel through Edgelands and Ghost Streets north of the Don.
A great mix of all sorts of us with some newbies who got straight stuck in.
I don’t know about the rest of you but it felt good to get out with a crowd and feel that perhaps this awful weather may end …
Also a ‘punishing’ ride with the number of climbs and falls (approx 1100ft in all over approx 11 miles) we did but it doesn’t feel so bad when you’re with company
and it felt joyous, like being a teenager with no worries, and it was quite a laugh discussing the cinema that has disappeared with two bemused PCs who we badged and carded
and as so many made it to the pub it was a good social drink
I got in at 1 and had a lovely fuzzy hangover all Saturday
we’ll make it up Parkwood Springs another time!

Full ride report to follow

Edgelands and Ghost Streets
Friday 15th March
Start 6.30 pm Barkers Pool
This ride is ON
Weather forecast:
very wet afternoon but dry by 18.00 so we’ll try it.
It will feel cold so wrap up warm and with the cycling you’ll be snug

ooh! and come and find the street where, in 1936, George Orwell lodged when researching the working class for “The Road to Wigan Pier”
Theme: Edgelands aren’t just the outer boundary, they are also the edges where changes in function and use happen. So a week Friday a FridayNightRide to see sheds, parking lots, pallets, panels, disused and unused streets, neglected buildings and structures, urban meadows and feral woodlands, landfill & semi-legal dwellings, places where dodgy things may happen, life on the edge? – with Sir Basil Spence’s St Paul’s Church on Parson Cross thrown in as a contrast, an architectural gem Grade 2 star listed so it is protected as a time capsule of modernism and yet has a tiny congregation who don’t necessarily want to be chained to this structure – is this on the edge?

The book that inspired me is Edgelands by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts- also a Radio 4 book of the week.
The authors came and read from the book and spoke at the Off the Shelf Festival in 2012 so I’ll bring my signed copy along!
You can hear them on a radio programme Open Country, Edgelands from 2011. It’s well worth listening to and may inspire and encourage you to come on the ride and see the wonderful variety of landscapes in your city.
Its really made me think and ponder – is SFNR a liminal activity?
No more, come and ride and chat and take a ride on the wild side.

Heads up: Roads, trails and lots of broken glass! so make sure you have tough tyres and bring a spare inner tube. About 13 miles.
Pub stops Neepsend and Bridgehouses
Google map at

View Edgelands and Ghost Streets (www.sfnr.org.uk) in a larger map

Bikely map with elevation profile

SFNR Edgelands & Ghost StreetsSFNR Edgelands & Ghost Streets

Badge
Edgelands