Jean, Martin, Oli & Patric from DCG *bravely* volunteered to establish the extent to which there was a commuter-friendly cycle route to the ‘East Midlands Gateway’, Segro Logistics Park opposite the M1 at Kegworth and just North of EMA, at the request of some of our friends from Sustrans. The idea was to investigate a possible route utilising some of Sustrans already existing off-road cycleways, including the inspiring Cloud Trail Greenway, running from Swarkestone Rd. to Worthington. As one of the runners whom we met on the ‘airport trail’ that surrounds EMA and overlooks the park on its Northern boundary commented “it’s easy to get from Kegworth, Long Eaton and even Nottingham but Derby?”
Starting from outside Derby Council House we headed down the cycle path on Riverside Gardens under Holmes Bridge and followed it to Alvaston Park where we forked right to Wilmorton. There is often glass and other debris under Holmes Bridge on this side of the Derwent heading out of town. It’s also a bit of a blind bend, both entering and exiting the path under the bridge. This can be avoided by going down this part of the path on the other side of the river, joining it again via the bridge from Meadow Rd to Bass Rec. The path goes across London Rd and Harvey Rd (Penalton Close) onto Derby Canal Path – across Sinfin Moor Lane, and over the new vastly improved bridge at Infinity Way/Cuttle Brook; then into the tunnel under the road and on to Swarkestone Lock. Just over the bridge at the Lock we headed along the Trent & Mersey canal path in the direction of Melbourne, which is the first “caveat” to a possible route. Pleased to note that currently this canal path is being improved and widened – whilst it is closed in the interim, it’s best to use Swarkestone Road. The path, however scenic, can be busy with pedestrians, dogs, anglers, and, cyclists coming from the opposite direction. It can be muddy in inclement weather and is narrow in some places. For more experienced and confident cyclists who don’t mind traffic, leaving the path at the Lock or at the first canal exit, to join Swarkestone Rd heading towards Weston, can pick up the beginning of the Cloud Trail Greenway heading towards Worthington/Loughborough on the right-hand side of Swarkestone Road. In fair conditions on a sunny September morning we continued along the canal path turning off towards Melbourne to join the Cloud Trail Greenway, a former railway line that is peaceful, spectacular and in good condition for cycling, coming off at Forty-Foot Lane near Wilson, cycling through the village (shout out for the Bull’s Head!) heading out of Wilson via Slade Lane. The Cloud Trail Greenway bisects Slade Lane further on beyond the Wilson exit – however there are some fairly steep wooden stairs up to the level of the road from the cycleway that would mean lifting/carrying a cycle.
Where Slade Lane ends at the junction with Melbourne Road and across from Donington Racecourse, we turned right and then left into Station Rd heading at Patric’s suggestion into Donington Park. The benefit of going through the park is to avoid the airport freight traffic on the A453/Walton Hill at the end of Melbourne Road. The aim was to establish whether there is a straightforward route through the park, following Station Road and keeping to the tarmac without the road being blocked by gates that could potentially be closed off depending on events taking place at the Racecourse. In fact most major gates have a gap at the side to allow for cycles to pass, and we are fairly confident that the road through to the West side of the airport is straightforward and accessible. Turning left upon leaving Donington Park and continuing on the road round the boundary of the airport we crossed two small roundabouts at the South end of Castle Donington (where there is some cycling infrastructure), and keeping to the right of the second we picked up the Airport Trail and stopped to note the Aeropark Museum, unfortunately closed but which warrants a visit on another occasion.
Turning right on Diseworth Road at the end of which the so-called “Airport Trail” (that runs parallel to EMA and Wilder’s Way in the centre of the Serco Park) – and it was here that the fun began. We followed the “Trail” the full length of the park to the beginning of Wilder’s Way, the Amazon Fulfillment Centre and the entrance to the park via the A453/Kegworth Bypass. The Airport Trail is a trail in name only. The path has its moments to be sure – these vary from teeth-chattering gravel disintegrating into what Martin described as a rabbit track through a muddy field. I did abandon riding the bike at points on the trail a) because I didn’t wish to wreck it and b) I wanted my bones to be in the same places and conditions they were in when I began the ride. There were people walking and running on the trail, but it’s fair to say we didn’t meet any other cyclists. The views towards Castle Donington and over the park are spectacular and/or a bit spooky; an aesthetic perception heightened by our coming across a partially overgrown cultural landmark/art project on the trail that acquires distinctly neolithic connotations beside the commercial “barrow” or trench dug out of the earth that it overlooks…
Things were much better on the ground in the Park itself. There is not only cycling infrastructure running the whole length of Wilder’s Way, but a ‘proper’ tarmac path that runs over the hill at the opposite end from the fullfilment centre and the A453 roundabout. This is signposted, is a good road surface and turning right at the bottom of the hill and bearing right at the junction with Hemington Hill leads directly through Hemington Main Street, Rycroft Road, up to the A50 Shardlow junction and the B5010 through Shardlow and back to Derby. Before leaving the park it remains to note how cycling and active travel have been implemented. There would appear to be good bus links that make use of the airport buses running from the major towns in the Midlands. Oli did some research on our behalf that indicated that there was a free “Bike Hire” (30 free minutes bike hire via the ‘Donkey Republic’ app – nice name) scheme operating in the park for those commuters who come by bus to then cycle to their place of work; as the distances between the warehouses are considerable this would seem like a good idea – however on the ground there seems to be only a few bikes as compared to car parking spaces for a projected workforce of 1,250 people. Oli, Patric & myself came back to Derby via Hemington. At the A50/B5010 Sawley Junction roundabout we made use of an off-road path that runs around the junction. It’s perfectly usable but probably on foot rather than the bike as you need to give way to the traffic at all times. When we reached London Road, we cycled past Shardlow Manor and The Dog & Duck and turned right into Ambaston Lane, turning left to avoid Ambaston Village and right onto Ball Lane towards Elvaston. After passing Silver Lane and Castle Court on the left we cut through Elvaston grounds via Elvaston Lane exiting via Bridle Gate Lane and onto the A6 bypass cycleway, exiting at Raynesway back onto the Riverside Path.
Maps and Conclusions
In conclusion and on reflection, the cycle route via the Cloud Trail Greenway perhaps has a few too many cautionary details to make it entirely feasible all year round as part of a commuter route to the East Midlands Gateway. The canal path to Melbourne for the reasons stated above may not always be viable, and we didn’t on this occasion solve how to get from the exit of Donington Park into the Logistics Park without using the so-called ‘Airport Trail’. The route to and from Derby down the Riverside, the A6 bypass, Shardlow via Hemington is possibly the best way to get to and from the Park, but again there are problems that might be solved with better cycling infrastructure at crucial points.
Shardlow Junction is a problem when cycling to the park as there is no path going round the junction in the left-hand direction towards Ryecroft Road. There is a way round this by turning off London Road just before the junction and finding the cycle path that runs under the A50 and alongside Trent Lane (in the opposite direction to the flow of traffic) to Ryecroft Road. It’s easy to ‘overshoot’ Ryecroft here and end up on the new cycle bypass to Kegworth. Cycling through Elvaston and up the A6 would not always be necessary if the section of the Riverside path from Raynesway to Elvaston was in good repair – it would certainly make for a more pleasant journey in daylight hours.
In working all this out it’s very useful to have on hand a range of good maps. We all used different sources; Strava, Google Maps, Komoot, and the Ordnance Survey. Komoot was the map that was most up to date in terms of indicating correctly where the cycle paths were and what the status of the path was – paths that are designated for cycling are clearly distinguished from those that might not have a suitable surface. Google isn’t up to date but is good for road names, which can be useful. Strava doesn’t always distinguish between suitable roads even if it does show you where people have travelled.There is a cycle map provided on the website for Segro and East Midlands Gateway that outlines cycling and walking routes to the park in a schematic format that indicates levels of cycling expertise/difficulty required for the routes. When transposed with a better map it is actually quite useful in pinpointing where the problems are.
So is the comment that it’s not that easy to get to the East Midlands Gateway from Derby an accurate assessment? Perhaps what this last map partially demonstrates is the absence of reliable through and direct cycle routes from Derby City both out to the periphery and more importantly linking up with other cities. We enjoyed working out the logistics to ride out to the Logistics Park, and hope that there’s enough information in this article to encourage others to go and explore the area, whether for work or just the sheer pleasure of getting on the bike.
