Derby Road, A6, Hathern

OS 1937-61

Modern Map

View this cycle track's location on the big map.

Date opened/built:

c.1939.

Length:

1.6 miles (2.57kms) to end of dual carriageway; track north, for 0.49 mile (0.8km) may be period.

Width:

6-ft (1.83m).

Adjoining footway:

None today.

Road type:

Rural dual carriageway.

Surface:

Modern asphalt.

Both sides of road:

Yes.

Adjacent to social housing:

No.

Start:

https://goo.gl/maps/6Suq4h7B6SBhgQjK9

End:

https://goo.gl/maps/uk9UnZLFFYK9STtr7

Period mapping:

OS Six inch, surveyed/revised pre-1930 to 1954, published 1955 https://maps.nls.uk/view/189227652 Road shown as sterilised, no cycle tracks or footways marked.

OpenCycleMap status:

https://www.opencyclemap.org/?zoom=15&lat=52.81128&lon=-1.25403&layers=B0000 Cycleways marked both sides of road; no footways marked.

Sources:

Period maps, newspaper reports.

“Sections of the London to Carlisle road (A6) are to be reconstructed by Leicestershire County Council to a width of 100 feet or over,” reported Leicester Evening Mail in 1937.

“This is one of the trunk roads which will be taken over by the Ministry of Transport next April, but to enable work to begin at once Mr. Hore-Belisha has made a grant in aid from the Road Fund,” the newspaper continued.

“A stretch of 2,500 yards between Hathern and Kegworth will be reconditioned [and] the road will have down the centre a grass reservation. There will also be a dual carriageway, six foot cycle track, and a footpath.”

It is likely — but not yet proven — that the road and cycle track were built by 1939.

NOTES

Explore the tracks

Raynesway, Derby

Derby’s Raynesway — initially known as “Town Planning Road No. 4” — was opened by Alderman Edward Paulson, Mayor of Derby, on 28 September, 1938. It was named for Alderman W. R. Raynes, long-time chairman of the Derby Estates and Development Committee. Read more

Durham Road, Sunderland

With its original concrete surface and kerbing the Durham Road cycle track is one of the best preserved in the country. Read more

Neville’s Cross, A167, Durham

“A section of 1,063 yards of the Al road in Durham county, near Farewell Hall, is to be reconstructed with twin carriageways and 9ft. cycle paths,” reported The Cyclist in November 1936. Read more

Great West Road, London

A 1937 photograph taken from a long gone footbridge outside Osterley station in north London shows the Great West Road soon after it was widened and fitted with cycle tracks and footways. Read more

Lostock Road, Urmston, Manchester

In 1936, Cycling magazine published a photograph of a young woman riding on a wide, concrete-capped cycle track on Lostock Road, Urmston. This dates the creation of the track to before that date. Read more

Sealand Road, A548, Chester

“A section 0.85 miles long of the Sealand Road [in Chester] has been widened to 60 feet, at cost of about £17,500,” stated the government’s annual road fund report for 1936-37. Read more

Deddington, Near Banbury

Under the headline “Construction of cycle track,” the Banbury Advertiser reported in 1936 that the Oxford-Banbury road, north of Deddington, would be widened for 1.75 miles “so as to provide for the construction of a cyclists’ track.” Read more

Weeley Bypass, Essex

The Weely bypass, opened in July 1939 as part of the A133, was itself bypassed by the new A133 opened in 1995. Read more

Bellsdyke, A905, Near Falkirk

In April 1939, the Highways Committee of Stirlingshire County Council discussed the widening of the A905 from Grangemouth to Kincardine Bridge Road, including cycle tracks and a footway. The understanding was that another carriageway would be added later. Read more

Ellon Road, Bridge of Don, nr. Aberdeen

According to a 1937 newspaper report there was to be a widened road from the Bridge of Don, north of Aberdeen, to Murcar, a distance of two miles. Read more