Catha's Seat - some history on the campaigning work of Catharine Keegan

I thought I would share an excerpt from some of the letters we've been sending out to build support for the project. This brings together juicy research I found out about mum's campaigning from conversations with Catherine Hughes, Sue Powell and dad. Seems like she made quite a stir locally.....

Catharine Keegan (Gilmour) was a particularly active member of the community within Ashford Borough and in the village of Wye. As an architect and planner, she dedicated a considerable amount of her time to local planning issues and sustainable transport initiatives. She was instrumental in the early work on Local Agenda 21 and the Wye Village Design Statement, the first Community produced Village Design Statement in the Borough, which is dedicated to her. 

She also made a number of representations to the Ashford Borough Local Plan on cycling and planning matters, which according to Catherine Hughes, the programme officer with ABC at the time, were considered a “benchmark” of good written representations by the Inspectors examining the Local Plan. In fact, her work was admired to the extent that she is - uniquely for a document of this type - mentioned in the introduction to the Inspector’s Report into the Ashford Local Plan 2000:

• “31. Although I do not usually identify any particular individual that has taken part in the Inquiry process, I do wish to record my appreciation to one person. It has come to my attention that Catharine Gilmore [Gilmour] who represented a number of objectors at the Inquiry and in written representations, died unexpectedly earlier last year. Although I may not have agreed with all of her representations, I found her professional approach to be of the highest standard and presented in a friendly and efficient manner.”

Another picture from the archives - Mum in action surveying at Ashford International Station (photo courtesy of Sheila Webb)

Meals on wheels - the Coop have the right idea!

Spotted in Wye......

Coop pedal powered marketing - wonder if they'll take a ride up to Catha's Seat?

Catha's Seat Marketing Mission!

Catha's Seat fliers have literally been flying off the shelves! Over 300 have been distributed to date so the message is getting out there!

They have now been spotted in a number of popular Stour Valley locations - why not hunt one down!

Flier with your pint? Propping up the bar at the Woolpack in Chilham, the Artichoke in Chartham and the Barber's Arms in Wye

Nestling into the community. Fliers hanging out on Wye Community notice board, in Wakelins Butchers and Delicatessen in Wye, and Wye Station

Many thanks to the following for displaying leaflets and promoting the project: Wye Bakery, Ticketyboo in Wye, Botanic in Wye, the Artichoke Pub in Chilham, the White Horse pub in Chilham, Perry Court Farm Shop, the Kings Head Pub in Wye, the New Flying Horse Pub in Wye, the Barber's Arms micropub in Wye, Wakelins Butchers in Wye, Wye Surgery, the Woolpack Pub in Chilham, Wye Station and the Dolphin Pub in Canterbury.

Chartham Wanderers hit the New Wye Lane and take a virtual rest at Catha's Seat!

Sheila guided a walk yesterday along the new section of Route 18 with sixteen intrepid members of the Chartham Wanderers. 

We were very glad to hear that they were impressed with the improvements to the path and with the location of Catha's Seat - they even took a virtual sit down as you'll see below!

They were treated to some sweltering weather so the shade of the trees above Catha's Seat provided some welcome relief.

The Chartham Wanderers taking a virtual sit down at Catha's Seat (photo courtesy of Shelia Webb)

This is great stuff - exactly what Mum (Catha) wanted - people using the Route for enjoyment as well as a sustainable way to get from A to B. If you haven't given it a try yet then get your tyres pumped up or your walking boots on, while the weather is still fine!

The group were handed copies of our Catha's Seat leaflet and I understand a number of donations were made, for which we are very grateful. We hope that they will continue to follow the project and join us when we are able to celebrate the installation.

Thanks to the Chartham Wanderers, their organiser Ruth and also Sheila for showing us the enjoyment that can be taken up on the new section Route 18. 

Catha's Seat R&D - the original Sustrans sleeper seats on the Bristol to Bath

At the end of July we went up out west to visit our friends Mez and Anne-Marie. 

We hit the B2B Bristol to Bath cycle path along an old railway line - a great day out if you are in the area - 17 miles of dedicated cycle path with nice stop offs in old railway stations that have been converted into Cafes. 

The B2B features two of the original Sustrans seats, made out of old railway sleepers - the design that inspired Sheila's Family seat and Catha's Seat. 

Look mum, no feet!

Being in the suburban areas of Bristol unfortunately these beautiful seats have had a fair amount of abuse. Catha's Seat will be further out into the countryside so we hope it will have a more gentle treatment however, the design we are using has no expense spared to ensure robustness and longevity. The highest quality solid green oak beams will be individually selected, finding pieces with the fewest faults and no knots. These will be carefully joined and tied together with metal cables and strips. The timbers will be fixed deep into the ground.

The fashion shoot pose!

For a full view of one of these original seats follow this link http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publicart/fullsize/CP145-b.jpg

Official Launch of the new link of Route 18 - 31st May 2013

Apologies for the drought in posts recently and this latest one is a bit on the old side but nevertheless very important news that needs to be aired......

31st May 2013 was a very exciting day for us. It was the official launch of the new link of Route 18 organised by Kent County Council and Brompton Dock. The latter were also unveiling their new facilities outside Ashford International Station. 

It was an interesting sight... the suited and booted figures of Press, Councillors, Politicians and Company Executives mingled with the lycra and hi-vis cladding of the local dedicated cycle bods; an impressive turnout considering it was a weekday morning.

The MD of Brompton Dock unfolds cycles for dignitaries to try out - apparently his record for setting one of these up is less than 10 seconds!! A Brompton Dock is essentially a set of lockers each with a Brompton folding bicycle inside, which you can hire, making your onward journey form Ashford Station quick, cost effective, healthy and sustainable - a fantastic idea. There are 4 stations in Kent with these facilities (as well as 15 other UK locations) including Canterbury West. This means you can jump on Route 18 at either end - what a great way to see Kent if you are down from London (DFL) - rent a Brompton and cycle the route!

After a fair few late nights to finish off and print a first run of the Seat Leaflet before this event I was running on caffeine alone! Dad and I worked the crowd to get our leaflets and message out about the seat project. Luckily my events skills learnt during my time in sales at powerPerfector put me in good stead, and dad just has a good charm factor, so we ended up getting over 30 flyers out, meeting some exciting movers and shakers including our local MP, Damian Green.

Following the press photo shoots it was time for the serious business of the day, the inaugural ride Ashford to Canterbury on the newly enhanced Route 18, led by Spokes East Kent Cycling Campaign Chairman Steve Fawke. 

Steve kindly let me take the reigns for the ride out of Ashford and gave me the opportunity to say a few words to the group when we arrived at Catha's Seat - many thanks to Steve for accommodating this at short notice.

Time to let the photos do the talking......

Spokes Chairman Steve Fawke leads the peleton out of Ashford on the dedicated cycle paths through the Little Burton estate.

Riders approach Wye via the backroad part of route 18 that goes through Hinxhill and Naccolt. It is hoped that a new section of dedicated cycle path proposed along the Stour between Ashford and Wye will reduce the mileage and improve safety in the future.

New signage - points to the start of the new "traffic free" section off Eggarton Lane in Godmersham

The first tantalising section of freshly surfaced cycle path just off Eggarton Lane

Looking back along Route 18 towards Wye from Pope Street - a very tidy job!

The chicane safely stops riders coming out on to the road at Pope Street too quickly - avoiding any altercations with motor vehicles!

Riding the Great Stour Way closer to Canterbury. This was opened in 2011 and has the surface has settled in fantastically - it's a pleasure to ride; pedestrians and cyclists use the facilities in harmony and there are plenty of seats here! The Gentleman in the orange jacket is a committed cycle crusader in Scotland who joined us for the day - he rode the rolling contours of the route on a single speed brompton, with ease!

A well earned drink after 17 glorious miles. Luckily the Bishops Finger Pub greets you just as you finish Route 18 in Canterbury.

Congratulations to everyone who has been involved in making this new link happen over the last 20 years - the 31st May 2013 was truly a milestone for Kent cycling.

Catha's Seat - Artists Impression and Campaign Acceleration

It has been a while since I have been as excited as I was, when I opened the email from Phil at ARC Creative Design, which included an artist's impression of Catha's Seat!

After quite a considerable amount of time unsure about whether we had the right concept, or if anyone would like it etc., this image made me feel like we are on to a winner and I hope you will agree.

Without further ado; please see the wonderful images of how we expect Catha's Seat to look when it is complete, and for comparison the current view of the ready surfaced site.....

Sneaky peek - An impression of Catha's Seat by the fantastic Phil Rutt of http://www.arccreativedesign.com/

The ready surfaced site in the sun

The artist's impression, combined with a firm budget, really allows us to put the foot on the accelerator for this campaign. We now have an information / fundraising leaflet*, which we got ready just in time for the Route 18 launch ride on the 31st May (more to come about this in next week's post).

We also have the height of high tech (!); PayPal donation functionality on the blog, a fundraising thermometer and embedded location maps (see right---->)

The major task now is to complete the fundraising. We need to achieve a total of £10,000. So far Dad and I have committed to cover half (£5,000) between us and if all the pledges come in we have £6,500 in total, meaning £3,500 left to raise.

So, If you have made a pledge, please can you make your donation at your earliest possible opportunity. Bank transfer or cheque are preferred (as they do not charge fees) but PayPal is also available for convenience.

If you haven't made a pledge but would like to contribute, you can now skip a step, and go straight to making a donation using the methods mentioned above. (My contact details can be found in the Catha's Seat leaflet)

Please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested. Email a copy of the Catha's Seat official leaflet* and send a link to this blog. If you would like some hard copies of the leaflet to hand out please get in touch with me.

We are aiming to complete the installation in September and we are planning an exciting launch ride and event on the weekend of the 5th / 6th October 2013, so please block this out in your diaries.

News from the 31st May launch event for NCN Route 18 coming soon......

*Note regarding the leaflet download - for some reason google docs is not showing the colours properly when you click the link. Please download the file to your desktop and open with your normal .pdf viewer to get the right colours.