National Cycle Route 725

Last updated

National Cycle Route 725
Great North Cycleway
Location North East England
Established2011 (Not yet complete)
Trailheads
Waymark UK traffic sign 967.svg 725
Trail map

Contents

BSicon MASKa.svg
BSicon lBST lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Blyth
BSicon lBST lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Cramlington
National Rail logo.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Hazlerigg
BSicon KHSTa lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Newcastle upon Tyne
National Rail logo.svg
BSicon HST lime.svg
Gateshead
BSicon HST lime.svg
Low Fell
BSicon HST lime.svg
Angel of the North
UK traffic sign 967.svg 11
BSicon HST lime.svg
Birtley
BSicon KHSTe lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Chester-le-Street
National Rail logo.svg
BSicon KSTRa lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
BSicon KHSTe lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Pity Me
BSicon lBST lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Durham
National Rail logo.svg
BSicon KHSTa lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Mount Pleasant
BSicon KHSTe lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Ferryhill
BSicon KHSTa lime.svg
BSicon LSTR lime.svg
Coatham Mundeville
BSicon KHSTe lime.svg
Darlington
National Rail logo.svg

The National Cycle Route 725, also known as the Great North Cycleway is a partially-complete regional cycling route that forms part of the National Cycle Network (NCN) in the United Kingdom.

The route is proposed to run around 70 km (43 miles) from Darlington to Blyth, in North East England. Although some parts of the route are shown on official NCN cycle maps [1] by the network managers Sustrans, and some parts of the route have been created and signposted by the local authorities that it passes through, [2] [3] large sections of the route are missing or incomplete.

History

The Great North Cycleway was proposed in 2011 and was initially expected to take two years to complete [4]

The proposed Great North Cycleway is named after the Great North Road, historically the main highway between London and Scotland (until road building in the 20th Century routed motor traffic onto bypasses and motorways and away from urban areas).

In 2015, Newcastle's John Dobson Street was converted from a dual carriageway back into a single carriageway road, using the reclaimed space to create a segregated cycleway, which forms part of the Great North Cycleway. [5]

As of 2019, large sections of the route are still unfinished.

Route

Between Darlington and Newcastle, the route is largely proposed to follow close to the historic Great North Road, many parts of which are numbered here as the contemporary A167 road.
The proposed route starts in Darlington, heading North close to the A167 road and crossing the over the East Coast Main Line and the River Wear as it approaches Durham. The route follows historic 1930's cycleways north out of Durham. [6]
The route passes through the centre of Chester le Street before crossing under the A1(M) motorway at Birtley and passing the Angel of the North.
The route follows the A167 Durham Road into Gateshead [7] before crossing the River Tyne on the Tyne Bridge.
Next the route passes through the centre of Newcastle, [8] past the Civic Centre and through the Newcastle University campus.
Heading North out of Newcastle, the route follows close to the B1318, to the outskirts of the city, passing Great Park and Hazlerigg [9] before heading North-East through Cramlington to Blyth.

The proposed route crosses or meets the existing National Cycle Network several times along its length:

Map

Map of the route using OpenStreetMap data - Great North Cycleway highlighted on Waymarked Trails

The route is shown on cycle network maps produced by Newcastle and Gateshead councils:

Related Research Articles

The A1 is the longest numbered road in the UK, at 397 miles (639 km). It connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It passes through or near North London, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Biggleswade, St Neots, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, York, Pontefract, Wetherby, Ripon, Darlington, Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gateshead</span> Town in Tyne and Wear, England

Gateshead is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, and has on its outskirts the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Network</span> Bicycling route network in the UK

The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. However Sustrans themselves only own around 2% of the paths on the network, these rest being made of existing public highways and rights of way, and permissive paths negotiated by Sustrans with private landowners, which Sustrans have then labelled as part of their network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A69 road</span>

The A69 is a major northern trunk road in England, running east–west across the Pennines, through the counties of Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Cumbria. Originally, the road started in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne then later near Birtley, but since the creation of the A1 Western Bypass around Newcastle upon Tyne, it now starts at Denton Burn, a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle railway station</span> Mainline railway station in Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Newcastle Central Station is a major railway station in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the East Coast Main Line, around 268 miles (432 km) north of London King's Cross. It is the primary national rail station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, with local rail services provided by the Tyne and Wear Metro network to which the station is connected to by Central Station Metro station, situated beneath the national rail station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A167 road</span> Road in north east England

The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was re-routed with the opening of the A1(M) in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birtley, Tyne and Wear</span> Human settlement in England

Birtley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is situated to the south of Gateshead and is physically linked to Chester-le-Street across the county boundary. Until 1974, Birtley and the adjoining areas of Barley Mow, Vigo and Portobello were part of the old Chester-le-Street Rural District in County Durham. Since 1974, these neighbouring areas have been considered part of 'greater' Birtley. Birtley was a civil parish with a parish council until 1 April 2006, after a local referendum agreed to abolish it. The former parish had a population of 11,377 in 2001. The ward of Birtley in the Gateshead MBC had a population of 8,367 in the 2011 Census.

The Pennine Cycleway is a Sustrans-sponsored route in the Pennines range in northern England, an area often called the "backbone of England". The route passes through the counties of Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Northumberland. It is part of the National Cycle Network (NCN). Sustrans founder John Grimshaw calls it 'the best National Cycle Network route of the lot'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cade's Road</span>

Cade's Road is a Roman Road in north-east England. It is named after John Cade of Durham, an 18th-century antiquarian who in 1785 proposed its existence and possible course from the Humber Estuary northwards to the River Tyne, a distance of about 100 miles (160 km). The road's Roman name is unknown. Although evidence exists for such a road on some parts of the proposed route, there is still some doubt regarding its exact course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 1</span> Route of the National Cycle Network in the UK

National Cycle Route 1 is a route of the National Cycle Network, running from Dover to Tain. The 1,264 mi-long (2,034-kilometre) cycle-path is located in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 76</span>

National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 76 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Kirkcaldy. The route is 168 miles (270 km) in length and is fully open and signed in both directions. Between Dunbar and Kirkcaldy the route is known as the Round the Forth.

National Cycle Route 14 forms part of the National Cycle Network in North East England. It connects Darlington in County Durham with South Shields on the River Tyne. The route has currently (2016) a length of 86 miles (138 km). Much of it uses paths along disused railway lines and is thus free from motor traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Tyne and Wear</span> Overview of transport in Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan area covering the cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, as well as North and South Tyneside, Gateshead and Washington.

The Derwent Valley Railway was a branch railway in County Durham, England. Built by the North Eastern Railway, it ran from Swalwell to Blackhill via five intermediate stations, and onwards to Consett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 166</span>

National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 166 is a Sustrans regional route in the Yorkshire Wolds between Kirkham and Hunmanby. It is one of 5 NCN routes that make up the 146 mile Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route. Created in 2011 it is fully open and signed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 10</span> Cycle route in the United Kingdom

National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 10 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Cockermouth to North Shields. The route is 217 km long and is fully open and signed in both directions.

The A1 road around Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne after arriving from the south as the A1(M) from its origin in London, currently runs from the A1(M) terminus at Birtley. It then swings to the west of both Gateshead and Newcastle via Coal House, Lobley Hill, Metrocentre, Swalwell, Blaydon Bridge, West Denton, Fawdon and Wideopen to Seaton Burn interchange before continuing north towards Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Cycle Route 141</span>

National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 141 is a Sustrans Regional Route. It is 11.2 km (7.0 mi) long. It provides a connection between Route 14 and Route 72 along the south bank of the River Tyne through Gateshead. The full length of the route is part of the Keelmans Way. It is fully signed and open; however, the section between Wylam and Ryton Golf Course is currently closed due to a landslip.

References

  1. "Tyne & Wear Cycle Map (34)". Shop.sustrans.org.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  2. https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/media/3855/Cycle-map-Gateshead-North-/pdf/Cycle-Map-Gateshead-North.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  3. https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/media/3856/Cycle-map-Gateshead-South-/pdf/Cycle-Map-Gateshead-South.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  4. "New cycle route from Darlington to Northumberland". BBC News . BBC. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  5. "Work has started on Newcastle's biggest cycling project to date". road.cc. 16 August 2015.
  6. Reid, Carlton (9 May 2017). "How 80 forgotten 1930s cycleways could transform UK cycling". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  7. "Great North Cycleway launched to connect existing routes". The Journal . Newcastle upon Tyne: Trinity Mirror. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  8. "Great North Cycleway - Proposed improvements to Market Street/Pilgrim Street". Let's talk Newcastle. Newcastle City Council . Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  9. "Great North Cycleway aims to get people on their bikes". Evening Chronicle . Newcastle upon Tyne: Trinity Mirror. 22 June 2011.