21 April 2005

There is another way!


Cycle Lane to Heathrow (M4/A4 corridor)
David A. Smith, 2005
(Nikon Coolpix 4500 handheld)

Does this have to be? We are consuming vast quantities of fossil fuels to power heavy vehicles in all-too-crowded roads designed in generations past. Fortunately, London planners have constructed many miles of segregated bicycle lanes. I am researching an article for a cycling magazine on access to London's Heathrow Airport by bicycle. Yes, there are actually cycling routes and the total time required to reach the airport from Central London (75 minutes at around an 11 mph average speed) is comparable to a typical multi-modal journey (taxi to Paddington transferring to the Heathrow Express) considering waiting time, walks to and from the trains, traffic delays, etc. Not to mention saving 40 pounds and burning a few calories.


13 April 2005

Goslings on Regent's Canal


Canadian Geese Goslings on Regent's Canal, London
David A. Smith, 2003

Geese, mallards, coots and herons are increasingly active on London's canals as the breeding season begins.



Support the South Downs National Park Designation


Bee on South Downs, David A. Smith, 2004

England's southern 'lip' is a chalk ridge rising to over 800' above sea level and running east-west just a few miles north of the English Channel in Sussex and Hampshire counties. This has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has been proposed as a new national park. Farming, grazing and recreation co-exist on the South Downs in a world seemingly very distant from nearby urban centres. Follow this link:

South Downs Virtual Information Centre



03 April 2005

Dunwich Dynamo, 1 August 2004


David A. Smith, 2004

Suffolk, England - 1 August 2004. Just after sunrise on a misty, cool morning somewhere east of Coddenham. Two cyclists overtook me as I stopped to take a photo of the old oaks. The Dunwich Dynamo is a loosely-organised overnight bicycle ride scheduled each year on the weekend nearest the full moon in July. Starting in London (Hackney, London Fields) around sunset, riders travelled northeast through the Essex suburbs and countryside with a middle-of-the-night food & rest stop at the Village Hall in Great Waldingfield, just east of Sudbury, Suffolk. From there, riders continued northeast - about 20 miles to the location of this photo - and on to the North Sea coast at Dunwich. The last few miles pass protected heath land and the shore is something from a bygone era.