A few weeks ago, the city of St Albans held its official "opening" of the new mural in one of the underpasses along The Alban Way. Sustrans, as the key partner in maintaining the route for walking and cycling, provided some "entertainment" in the form of a smoothie bike (which promptly broke, as it always does) and more practical assistance in the personage of Dr Bike (played here again by Adam).
The mural was created by young people from the Cunningham Hub Youth Cafe, with community input and under the guidance of a professional artist, and is located on the walls of the tunnel under London Road.
The Mayor of St Albans City and District, Councillor Annie Brewster, talked to local children about what they like about the cycle path and the colourful new mural.
She engages with children really well - speaks to them in a grown-up to grown-up kind of way, asks good questions, listens to their responses, no matter how off the wall.
One of the teenagers involved in the mural-painting project had a go on the smoothie bike.
How's it going?
Speeches before the ribbon cutting...
A closer look at the panels... Everything has a local connection, most of them historical.
And then the Mayor cut the ribbon.
And signed up to receive Sustrans newsletters.
Sustrans volunteers talked to a lot of people that day about what it takes to maintain the Alban Way (more volunteers!) and how they can get involved in cycling activities around the city.
Meanwhile, it was clear that the cycle route is very popular and heavily used.
One of the visitors -- who stopped to chat for a while -- was Ian, a local mobile mechanic who travels on this fine customised machine.
Adam checked a number of bicycles, all of which benefited from some degree of adjustment, usually gear indexing or brake cables. In some cases, the results were such an improvement, the owner felt he/she had a new bike!
All in all, a great day out. Well done to everyone involved with this project. I think it's splendid and can only hope the inevitable graffiti can be kept to a minimum.
* Not all towns in the UK are cities, not even big towns. To qualify as a city, you have to have a Cathedral!
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