Lost lanes

How Carlton Reid uncovered a national network of 1930s cycle lanes hiding in plain sight

“How did the Dutch get their cycle paths?” This is an often-asked question on cycling social media, usually followed by “And why don’t we have them in Britain?”. I can date the answer to the follow-up question – the rot started in 1948, with the introduction of what would become the Special Roads Act. The Act, ushered in by Labour’s Minister for Transport, Alfred Barnes, a one-legged former silversmith, eventually led to the creation of Britain’s motorway network, but it also promised “special roads for cyclists”. Barnes believed that national highway authorities should pay for major motoring roads, but “special roads for pedestrians and cyclists” should be paid for by local highway authorities. And these “special roads” were deemed to be recreational rather than for practical, everyday travel. In one…

You're reading a preview of

Cycling Plus (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.