Links Road, Whitley Bay

OS 1937-61

Modern Map

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

Date opened/built:

c.1939.

Length:

0.48 mile (0.77kms).

Width:

9-ft (2.74m).

Adjoining footway:

Yes.

Road type:

Urban dual carriageway.

Surface:

Period concrete.

Both sides of road:

Yes.

Adjacent to social housing:

No.

Start:

https://goo.gl/maps/BTMuSdCrmAG4eCxQ7

End:

https://goo.gl/maps/NEH2VXfDNBDUZZJf8

Period mapping:

OS 1:2,500 NZ3574, surveyed 1959, published 1960. Cycle tracks marked and labelled. (Not online.)

OpenCycleMap status:

https://www.opencyclemap.org/?zoom=17&lat=55.0604&lon=-1.45512&layers=B0000 Cycleways marked both sides; footways not marked.

Sources:

Period maps, period newspapers, period films.

Other:

Video, 6 mins 45 seconds, https://youtu.be/7fyxWKIwxS0

Cycle tracks on both sides of the Links road, Whitley Bay.

“Concrete, lawns and flowers harmonise well on Whitley Bay’s new dual carriageway,” remarked a local newspaper in 1938.

“Cycle tracks and footpaths will soon be laid to complete the picture,” it added. This suggests that the cycle tracks and footways may not have been finished until early 1939.

The tracks, footways and dual carriageway are seen briefly in British Film Institute-hosted amateur footage dating from 1950, see still on the left. Cars are seen on the road, people are walking on the footways but there are no cyclists using the cycle track.

Large-scale OS mapping of Links Road, Whitley Bay, labels “Cycle Track” each side of the road.

NOTES

“Concrete, lawns and flowers ... Shields Daily News, 18 November 1938.

The tracks, footways and dual ... The 12-second clip starts at 55 seconds: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-whitley-bay-1950-online

Explore the tracks

Northwich Bypass, A556, Cheshire

Planned in 1930, then halted in 1935 after the Ministry of Transport demanded the inclusion of 9-ft-wide cycle tracks, the Northwich bypass — or, at least, a three-mile central section of it — was finally opened on 25 May 1939. Read more

Mickleham Bypass, A24, Surrey

The bypass of the village of Mickleham is near Leatherhead, 25 miles south of London. Mickleham is close to Box Hill and its Zig zag road, popular with cyclists and used for the road cycling events in the 2012 Olympics. 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

Gloucester Road North, A38, & Gipsy Patch Lane, B4057, Filton

Gloucester Road North was straightened and widened after 1937, and equipped with footways and cycle tracks at the same time. 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

Harpfield Road, Stoke

The 6ft-wide cycle tracks on Harpfield Road in Stoke were installed some time after September 1935. Read more

Forge Lane, Bassaleg, Wales

There is a prominent white line on the west side of Forge Lane visible on Google Earth’s 1945 aerial layer, left, and it’s likely this is the cycle track mentioned in the Western Mail in 1937. Read more

Totton Bypass, Southampton

“The scheme to by-pass Totton by the construction of a road to the south was also among those schemes postponed in 1931 in order to curtail expenditure after the majority of the property had been acquired and work had begun,” reported the Hampshire Advertiser in 1937. Read more

Farnham Bypass, nr Aldershot

“Work will begin immediately on Farnham, Surrey, by-pass, plans including a ‘fly-over,’ cycle tracks, pedestrian footbridges, and subways,” reported the Portsmouth Evening News on 25 June 1938. Read more

Stonebridge Road, A446, Coleshill

“A dual-carriageway by-pass road, on the main Lichfield-Leamington route, spanning the Cole Valley at Coleshill, is being constructed and, it is expected, will be completed within the next 18 months,” stated the Tamworth Herald in January 1939. Read more