Dry Drayton, Madingley, Cambridge route

A campaign has been started to improve cycle facilities between Bar Hill, Dry Drayton, Madingley and Cambridge.

In the meantime something needs to be done to improve safety for cyclists on this route. Between Dry Drayton and Madingley and between Madingley and Cambridge there are several blind bends, poor road surfaces and crumbling road edges. On most occasions when driving along this route you can expect to encounter between 2 and 6 cyclists. Given the nature of the road, motorists need to leave a minimum of 6 feet between themselves and a cyclist when overtaking. So why is it that whenever you travel this route and drive at 40mph, a safe speed for the circumstances, there is always some clown wanting to overtake and drive at 60 mph?

Shouldn’t there be a clear 40mph speed limit on this route? Dry Drayton residents can help keep traffic speed down by driving at 40mph themselves.

Let’s hope the new campaign for the cycleway brings about the desired effect. Good luck to the campaign.

Dry Drayton in Worldwide Pinhole Photography Exhibition

Dry Drayton features this year, for the first time we think, on the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Exhibition website. On this site are photographs from over 50 countries, all taken on World Pinhole Camera Day, April 27th, 2008. These are all taken using cameras without lenses.

The exhibitors say of the collection “They also share an additional and less formal characteristic: the sincere enthusiasm of their creators who, by participating in this collective event, shared individual visions and techniques. Hence the amazing diversity of subjects, cameras, techniques and photographic materials combined in this exhibit!. Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day was established to celebrate the joy of simple creativity using the medium of lensless photography. We want to show that, from a device as simple as a cardboard box with a tiny hole, you can create inspiring images. Minimal technology and cost: Maximum Passion and Sensitivity!”

The Dry Drayton image was taken at the top of Madingley Road on 27th April. We hope that it has not compromised the security of the very important resident who drove up demanding to know why a photograph was being taken in her village, because she didn’t want anybody to photograph her house.

The image is here: http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2008/index.php?id=1250

 

Madingley to Cambridge Road

We were saddened to see from the Cambridge News on Tuesday that the incident on this road on Sunday was in fact a fatal accident and that some of the people involved were from dry Drayton. A witness from Madingley told the Cambridge News “The road is particularly dangerous and they’ve done some surfacing work there recently to improve it”. How, we wonder, does this stack up with our local Councillor’s statement in the most recent Village Newsletter that: “The cycle route from Bar Hill and Dry Drayton to Madingley Road Park & Ride is great and we hope cyclists take full advantage of the route and enjoy the great outdoors while encouraging people to do their bit for the environment.”

Anyone who uses this road will agree with the Madingley resident that this is indeed a dangerous stretch. Although the victim of the fatal accident last weekend was not a cyclist, anyone who has cycled the road knows that cars swoop past just inches away and at ridiculous speeds. The edge of the tarmac falls away sharply in places, making any mistake difficult to correct. As if this isn’t enough, during term time, some motorists heading for Cambridge in the morning thrash through Madingley to try to re-join the traffic jam on the Madingley Hill a few cars ahead.

Isn’t it time Cambridgeshire County Council tried out some traffic calming here, and perhaps introduced the kind of “quiet lane” policy introduced by the Countryside Agency and practiced in Norfolk and Kent – where vehicles have to travel slower and give way on designated quiet rural roads to cyclists and walkers? This should also be applied to the Dry Drayton to Madingley Road – then this could become a great route for cyclists.
 

What a weekend..

Strange things were happening in and around Dry Drayton this weekend.

A night shift worker from Dry Drayton – one of those excellent essential workers who keep the major London hospitals working – had a scary trip to work on Saturday night. Arriving at Cambridge Railway Station at about 7pm to catch the Kings Cross train, she found that there were over a hundred unhappy travellers herded outside the station by the British Transport Police. A security incident was in progress – all trains to London up and down the line were halted and nobody could say for how long. A fast drive to central London saved the day and she arrived just in time for an 8.30pm start – her kind driver facing a hundred mile trip instead of a quick turn-around in Cambridge. Try getting compensation for that from the train operator!

Then on Sunday it snowed again, for the second weekend running. Some sort of serious incident happened on the back road from Madingley to Cambridge as police closed the road.

You would think you might be able to find a passing reference to these newsy items in the Cambridge News, but our venerable local paper seems to have missed them.