Jane Weaver – Slow Motion

Lots of layered synths and a cold sounding voice? Well, obviously this is the kind of thing I’m going to go for. I loved the album it comes from (Modern Kosmology) and if I was to pick out a less obvious track it’s probably I Wish where Weaver’s voice is paired with some acoustic guitar for a really haunting track.

ONUKA – Eurovision Interval Medley

The Space Lesbians! Well, that was how one conversation on text referred to them anyway. Eurovision interval acts are quite often a bit rubbish and sometimes as bad as the full Riverdance. So kudos to ONUKA and Estonia for putting on an act with a pretty political outlook, and an interesting take on electronica. I was so taken with this that I pretty rapidly found myself heading for Google to try some more and dissect the medley. Of the medley, the best track is definitely VIDLIK which comes from an EP of the same name themed around the Chernobyl meltdown.

My principal recommendation actually isn’t that you go and grab any of the tracks but listen (and ideally watch) the whole concert ONUKA did with the Naoni Orchestra in May – it’s an expensive and glorious show.

Pet Shop Boys – Live at Bestival

I’d been pondering two things in my head for a while – firstly, if I’d ever go to a music festival of any decent size and secondly if I’d ever see Pet Shop Boys live. So when I idly browsed the Oxfam volunteers page in May and realised I could do both late in the summer at a pretty minimal cost I was pretty keen. The festival was – delightfully – a mud bath but with an added wind which destroyed several tents. The gig was a tad late and perhaps re-rigged due to high winds but was everything I’d wanted. And then I got to sit in a marquee on an exposed hill in case anyone needed a hand. (They didn’t, thankfully)

Graceland – Live at Bestival

It was the day of my second shift and I was stationed on the main gate into Bestival from the campsite trying to get drunken/hungover/tired/wet/scared/etc people to show me their wristbands in the course of a series of huge downpours. So it was nice to move on to a marquee and watch a band from Norfolk overcome some pretty irritating sound problems to play an interesting set. I don’t think their current recordings actually capture their full quality, but I made a note to go to a proper gig sometime.

Jon Brooks – Autres Directions

Since Shapwick I’ve had a real delight in Jon Brooks more conceptual works, so even from just the cover of Autres Directions, I knew I would be keen. This and Shapwick are based on drives in enchanting lands so to me they’re about nostalgia for 80s holidays. I would tell you that Lanverec and Autres Directions are highlights but frankly, it’s the complete work from the opening hiss and bongs of Se Reveiller to the ferry grind of Sortie that really makes it shine.

Jens Lekman – Life Will See You Now

In 2015 I delighted in Jens Lekman’s song a week project Postcards and now after some reworking, sample clearance and a hearty cull he landed with an album of just ten new songs including just two from that project. But the flurry of creativity has worked wonders on his songs, which are now that little bit more honed. Postcard #17 on the absurdity of anxiety.

St Vincent – New York

I’m trying not to go full hipster and say that I liked St Vincent more in her early work, but I definitely felt that after the David Byrne collaboration it just never quite worked for me. But the new album was much more in the space in my head that worked. And it convinced me that if I want to make better music all I need to do is date Cara Delvigne.

Pye Corner Audio – Faten Kanaan – The Darkest Wave / Mirror Lake

Pye Corner Audio with lyrics! Faten Kanaan collaborates with Martin Jencks’ continuingly prolific and yet doom-laden persona.

Pye Corner Audio – The Spiral

Look, I just really like Pye Corner Audio. You should. You must. Honest. Chillwave, synthwave, whatever it might or might not be it is good. I want a show based on Pye Corner Audio rather than some music based on how allegedly awesome Stranger Things is.

ToiToiToi – A Travel Agent’s Dream

It’s a song with a dot matrix printer sampled in it. Of course, I like it. And it’s on Ghost Box so I get plenty of other chin-stroking joyous moments elsewhere on the album. But you can listen to it because it’s The Printer Song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qKJT2YIZPg

Mythologen – Ily

Well, isn’t this just very much my kind of modern electronica? A series of patterns floating over each other. If I was still making mix-tapes for general consumption this would be at the end.

And of course, there are some one-line Honourable Mentions…

Frankie Rose – Cage Tropical: Back on form but it does feel a bit like a pleasant reminder of how good Interstellar was.

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile – Over Everything: A dream pairing.

Future Islands – Shadows: A duet with Debbie Harry. I think I actually want a full album of Future Islands duets.

Orbital – Copenhagen: A relief to know the brothers Hartnoll can continue.

The Emperor Machine – Cheddar Deli: A delight to know Dean Meredith retains access to a wide range of analogue synths and is as gloriously creative as ever.

Moon Duo – Creepin’: Psychedelic rock side project of a psychedelic rock band.

Phoenix – J-Boy: Phoenix doing that Phoenix thing, robustly.

Spoon – Can I Sit Next To You: Spoon doing that Spoon thing, robustly.

Grandmaster Gareth – The Turbulent Thoughts of Gorp: a shining symphony of bleeps from Gareth of Misty’s Big Adventure as he soundtracks the game Loot Rascals. And at Christmas, I found out he also does a good line in writing musicals.

Chris M – Strong Stable Clouds: The inevitable Theresa May / The Orb mashup we were all waiting for. Sadly, lost in a copyright claim.

Young Fathers (featuring Leith Congregational Choir) – Only God Knows: Such a perfect moment in Trainspotting 2, but also probably their best track.

My self imposed rules this year are:

1. No order of importance, but make it vaguely listenable as a mixtape end to end
2. No more than one track per artist, unless they use a cunning disguise
3. Try and pick a less obvious track, or not the one that originally grabbed me

The net result is that the list is long, so feel free to skim and make snap judgements with at best incidental relevance to the music at hand. You can also avoid reading me doing the old “dancing about architecture” below by using the playlist at Spotify or on YouTube.

Metronomy – Night Owl

Metronomy does Chillwave? Summer 08 is that usual pleasing retro and Joseph Mount may have lost his band and run off to Paris, but seemingly the sound remains.

Islands – The Joke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJs–NE-wAo

A crowdfunded album, well, pair of albums indeed from Islands this year. The Joke is from the better of the two, Taste (despite the art work above!). Yes, that is a Morricone-esque flourish in there but it’s the lyric “While the world burns, we just warm our feet” that makes this a 2016 song to linger in the mind.

Haley Bonar – Skynz

I got tired of all of my music and tuned back into 6music around about September and at that time Stupid Face burrowed deep into me. It was the drums first, which are also a bit odd here in a damn pleasing fashion. Bonar’s album Impossible Dream is I think rather brilliant, and the regretful tone and (it must be said) utterly amazing drumming snared me. In a time of Brexit and Trump a song bemoaning complacency from a millennial is right on the money, isn’t it?

The Avalanches – Subways

There was no way the second album from The Avalanches would be anything but a disappointment. But to be able to get even one track that approaches the effort they put into the first album was enough for me, in retrospect. Album never quite grabbed me, but I’m minded to give it a listen free of any expectation.

The Moulettes – Pufferfish Love

The Moulettes’ Preternatural pitched up as a concept album and shows a lot of effort going into their sound as well. The science all checks out here, as it’s based on how the puffer fish mates. I will have to snag them for a pint and see if I can get them to make an album about cycling research. Make that two pints.

Cavern of Anti-Matter – I’m the Unknown

Gane and Dilworth of Stereolab here along with Holger Zapf on synth, but I am just in love with the experimentation here. Which reminds me of Sterolab a lot. There’s even a whole album but I somehow got enough from the mini-EP this was on that I never reached it.

Mogwai – U-235

From the soundtrack album to Atomic, a film marking 60 years since Hiroshima released late in 2015. I found myself thinking as I watched going “gosh, this is getting a bit like Pye Corner Audio” and then chastised myself for not listening to more Mogwai.

Pye Corner Audio – Ganzfeld Effect

A firm favourite of mine for many years </hipster credential seeking> Pye Corner Audio seems to have started becoming a fixture on the soundtrack of Adam Curtis documentaries. Not a bad home for him. His two albums on Ghost Box have I think been the best that label has been able to release and also the most cohesive in his discography.

Head Technician – Zones (listen at Bleep)

Sounding suspiciously similar to Pye Corner Audio, as if he was another name for the same artist Head Technician made a lurid vinyl version of his Zones cassette and managed to improve on perfection. There’s definitely something in the art of fictional creators that helps define some of the Ghost Box / Hauntology kind of scene (that desperately needs a name as simple as chillwave, still). Utterly pretentious twaddle, so of course I love it.

John Carpenter – Utopian Facade

Well, maybe the whole Ghost Box etc. thing should be known as Carpenterism? I’d missed John Carpenter’s first album of Lost Themes in 2015, but found both it and the sequel this year (Vortex was really good on the first). It is astonishing he’d never managed to release music in his own form until now.

The Pattern Forms – Black Rain

Ghost Box does Chillwave. Sort of. Or maybe they’re just going more John Foxx. Or is it Italo Disco? I don’t know, I haven’t scratched my chin enough but it’s good stuff with a surprising number of shifts through the song especially when the beat comes in the first time. But maybe it’s more Friendly Fires does The Advisory Circle as that’s the actual collaboration. Maybe we need a whole indie roster to pair up with the Ghost Box artists for a special album? Alright, maybe I need that.

VHS Glitch – Chrome Death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NA0GcbrDSo

Discovered courtesy of the excellent Project Moonbase podcast (though I can’t remember if it was the Stranger Tunes or the Escape edition of their imaginary 80s universe). VHS Glitch is a frighteningly prolific man in Japan. Maybe it’s just really 80s there. Chrome Death actually is a retro game as well, but I’ve yet to give it a try. Maybe once I finish Portal, as that’s become quite retro for me to still be playing anyway…

Trentemoller – Circuits

I really have fallen into a hole of retro sounding music haven’t I? Oh well. This should be the soundtrack to some kind of continuation in the Lotus series of driving games for the Amiga perhaps. Or some kind of really amazing scrolling shoot-em-up.

Concretism – Normal Service Will Be Resumed

In a rare event, a friend suggested I should be listening to Concretism and I actually hadn’t come across him yet. I love the relaxed approach to a retro electronic sound here. The title is perfect and you can feel this being the moment of a slightly classier intermission in some regularly programming. At first I feared this artist was being too contrived in doing the retro aesthetic but I actually think they’ve just mastered it in a subtly different way.

SHXCXCHCXSH – SsSs

The album cover looked pleasing so I gave this a try. It’s incredible – crunchy loops a bit like Boards of Canada (sampling them even?) but with a really hard edge. The guys behind it are beautifully obtuse but I fear for the day when I discover there’s a Pete Waterman style svengali behind all of this stuff I seem to like so much.

Steve Hauschildt – Strands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SqNxSncgJU

Oh, this was about the album cover as well. Someone should really tell all the vinyl heads that little thumbnails on websites do in fact sell albums (after a quick preview listen). What got me about this is that now even 90s targeting retro is doing that analogue distortion thing – which is weird. I guess we just want it to sound like fading memories rather than fading cassettes.

DJ Shadow – Bergschrund (feat Nils Frahm)

I would take a whole album of Nils Frahm and DJ Shadow. This just works obscenely well – beats underneath, distorted spacey electronic over the top and a nifty breakdown.

Clarke:Hartnoll – The Echoes

Vince Clarke and Phil Hartnoll produce what you’d sort of expect though some have said it sounds more Orbital than Erasure. It is bloody good, but they do need to get a bit better at sharing their work online. All I can do is embed the lead single, but it is quite good as well:

Teleman – Superglue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s82nI9W5Th8

Yes, don’t worry I am still weak and feeble when it comes to resisting indie when it involves lost and confused lovelorn men and a bit of fragile guitar and a synth. And especially when it’s Thomas Sanders late of Tap Tap and Pete and the Pirates. Pity he’ll never top Codeine, though.

David Thomas Broughton – Plunge of the Dagger

David Thomas Broughton is as the documentary about him made plain, a rather ambiguous and prolific character. But screw that, it’s his experimental nature I love and Crippling Lack was a lot of interesting experimentation and collaboration. Luke Drozd’s spoken contributions here crack me up every time, especially the mid-way “When I am dead, I will sleep forever. It will be amazing! I won’t have to get up or anything. I can’t. fucking. wait.”. It’s an indulgent nine and a half minutes, but I bloody love it.

Meursault – The Fix Is In

Meursault are back. That’s about all that matters, really. Annoyingly I can’t make you skip to The Fix Is In which stuck in my head most, but the Simple is Good EP works better end to end anyway.

The Strokes – OBLIVIUS

I tried arguing myself out of including this on the grounds that it’s The Strokes and it’s a bit derivative and something like that, but screw it. I actually like this more than anything else they’ve done. Is it good enough to click through from the embed due to daft restrictions in playback? Probably, at least for the first 30 seconds. The daft lyric video style suits this rather well.

Justice – Safe and Sound

Lyric videos are clearly the in thing. Maybe it’s a karaoke thing. Anyway, it’s a video with a cross in it, and more frenchy electro fun.

Pet Shop Boys – The Pop Kids

“Remember those days, the early 90s” this starts and we’re off into a strange half-imagined half-true (or is it alternative fact?) based story of a pair of boys meeting and sharing a love of music. Delightful stuff.

Barry Hyde – Monster Again

Remember those days, the early 00s? Well, The Futureheads are over, but Barry Hyde has recorded a solo album. Part of the Malody Suite and illustrated above with a rather cute little animation this is Barry working through material that could once have been a Futureheads vampire musical (that and more in this Guardian interview) into a heartfelt use of his (still!) stunning voice to let out the demons within. It’s stripped back, it’s simple and it bloody works. Monster Again is only part of a wider whole, but it reminds me a lot of what I loved in The Futureheads – sparse lyrics delivered strongly working far better than any endless series of verses and choruses.

Field Music – How Should I Know If You’ve Changed?

Also in Sunderland, Field Music keep going. and Commontime was a really bright sounding selection of songs that made this XTC fan quite happy for relatively obvious reasons.

Clark – Omni Vignette

Actually a Clark soundtrack album, but it all works remarkably well. Omni Vignette is at about 2:30 in this, and it’s just Clark mixing a very simple piano line, but it’s cracking.

Aphex Twin – 2X202-ST5

New Aphex Twin, hurrah. At least he’s not naming the songs after computer viruses this time or taking the piss and just releasing a song based on a picture of himself. On the other hand, I have to share the video for a different song from the Cheetah EP because it’s all that’s online. Oh well.

Of course, what’s also remarkable is that this is a video from a 12 year old fan in Ireland who also made this piece of brilliance.

Helen Love – Thank You Polystyrene

Poly Styrene was a bloody wonder. Helen Love are a bloody wonder. Mike Read is a bloody wonder. My love of this song is inevitable and I have nothing more to say.

Let’s Eat Grandma – Eat Shiitake Mushrooms

If it was still the late 00s and I was still going to something like the Brainlove all-dayers this is the kind of thing I’d have seen then wondered what happened to it (come in Octagon Court, your time is up!). However, it’s 2016 and I’m an old man so I heard about a strange pair of young women from Norfolk by listening to NPR’s best of 2016. It’s purposely young and experimental, probably tries to do too much and tries too hard, but that’s what I like. So, never mind. The YouTube video has complaints it was overhyped but reading that six months later when you just got hooked by one odd song seems a bit off. I hope they at least get enough pop stardom to afford mudguards for their bikes.

Mathew Bourne – Alex

Using a specially altered Moog, this is remarkably lovely and it is in no way a coincidence that I wound up picking a track from the album that matched my name.

If you made it to the end well done. Too many men in there, alas. But 2017 appears to be starting with me listening to female helmed electronica so maybe I’ll adjust course.

There were near misses in the past week as well, with combinations of luck and bystanders intervening saving lives not once, not twice, but three times. And then there are the incidents that don’t make the news including one close to home on King Street in Hammersmith. I’d expect all of these to likely be classed as KSIs, as they involved either a death or a serious injury. I suspect my merely being run over on Hammersmith Gyratory and receiving road rash on my face was a ‘slight injury’, for at least my life wasn’t in danger (the measure of a KSI) – or was it? Had I landed a lane either side I would have been swiftly run over, but I digress.

My face after a slight accident.

Each of the collisions I’ve linked from the last week have taken place on a main road. Many in the centre of a city where by far the majority of people are not using motor vehicles for transport. Three of them have take place along the Cycle Superhighways. On those and many others we have roads where space has been reallocated since the 90s as part of providing bus priority and tram schemes.

We have spent decades trying to use paint, training and advertising to encourage more people to cycle. However there is no comprehensive programme, plan or standard with which roads are to be designed which cycle campaigners can say delivers safety. London, and the rest of the UK needs to urgently reassess the way in which space upon main roads is allocated.

Why should we alter our main roads for cyclists? Even this morning as LBC (London’s Biggest Conversation, a radio station) tried to discuss cycle and pedestrian safety they and their callers showed again that whilst the idea of segregation or “going dutch” is reaching beyond the cycling community the wider ideas have not been understood. It is hard not to get angry that whilst they talked up the danger, their presenter confessed he hadn’t researched how bus drivers are trained. This meant he relied on the view of a single recently trained driver who phoned in. Though by far the most bizarre moment came as in a discussion of bus safety with Leon Daniels where a figure was quoted for KSIs per kilometre and he took him to task for using the metric system. Thankfully then the hour of LBC my radio alarm had inadvertently given me was up and the radio switched off.

What are we seeking? Well, the idea behind “Love London, Go Dutch” and now Space4Cycling is relatively straightforward. It is to remind ourselves that the layout and structure of our roads, our cities and communities is not fixed. We have seen many changes in London but in most cities over the years. Some have favoured buses, some the private motor car, and in places like Edinburgh we see the issues already from trams (as yet not in passenger service) being added to a city with a modest cycling level. We have no problem as a country, or cities in changing our roads but what we haven’t done is any comprehensive programme to handle that for cycling.

As a campaigner it’s always hard to know where to begin, but let’s take the main roads, and look at the history of superhighways to understand where we are, and where we could be. Superhighway – what do we mean? Looking at the diversity of treatments in London it is easy to conclude that the ‘Superhighway’ is only branding beneath which modest changes have been made. That said, no interventions on main roads for cycling in London have had a higher budget than the superhighways. 

The TfL programme for Superhighways first became public near the end of Ken Livingstone’s second term in early February 2008. The plan then was for one in place by 2010 with five in total by 2012. Here’s a video of Ken launching bike hire and cycle superhighways. You may spot Jenny Jones in the background who at the time was Deputy Mayor of London.
Watch this video on YouTube.

At that time Ken spoke of “dedicated routes for cyclists, where they won’t be in competition with Heavy Goods Vehicles” i.e. segregation in some form “linking up suburban town centres” which is rather like the mini-holland programme underway now and that “for every person who cycles in London there’s another seven who’ve got a bike at home they don’t use” a statistic probably still fairly similar now five years on. I can’t embed it, but there’s a longer version of the launch here, in it the presenter questions Ken Livingstone and asks if the routes will be consistent for long journeys though dangerous junctions. Ken was very clear that you needed funding of £500m to do exactly that. He noted that boroughs would have to be brought on board. The explicit problem there being that responsibility for the roads is split between local authorities and TfL. The implicit problem being that London isn’t a city state and must work within the Department for Transport rules.

Ken then lost the election to Boris Johnson, in May 2008. Amusingly, as so often in British politics the colour of the hire bikes changed and went from “a distinctive London bright red bike” under Ken Livingstone to blue under Boris Johnson. TfL say the colour used on superhighways was chosen primarly for wayfinding reasons, as in this FOI request states. Through Boris’s first term the hire bikes were a pretty rapid and clear change in cycling in the centre of London, the superhighways meanwhile terminated before they reached the centre of town. Ken’s view of this approach was not particularly favourable.

Watch this video on YouTube.

He wondered about the cycle hire scheme and said of it that they “don’t know where that went wrong”, and that the cost was excessive. Boris would insist that due to his inability to get advertising around the bike hire as in other cities.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Regardless, this meant a lot of cycling money was spent on proving hire bikes rather than providing safe routes.

Speaking of safe routes, the superhighways saw slow progress. The rough plan as it emerged in Boris’s first term was to have a ‘clock face’ of routes with numbering roughly in clock style. You can see the borough boundaries on the map here, on the ground some of the lengths of road used by TfL for the superhighways were under their control, and some weren’t. The first pair of pilot routes (CS3 and CS7) were delivered in 2011, and at the time that it was being delivered Jenny Jones AM reviewed the in progress Cycle Superhighway 7 near Oval.
Watch this video on YouTube.

Jenny stands next to the nearly finished Superhighway 7 and says (2m5s in): “i think it’s obviously going to have to be improved before the launch … I just don’t know what’s going to happen up here at the traffic lights where the cyclists have got to move over to the right, into the traffic.” But what happened? this. Blue paint in the bus lane, but as the cyclists need to go straight on they simply see blue paint disappear from one lane then appear in another, and have to negotiate over to follow it. However, as they have joined a lane which is both a lane for going ahead and left they come into conflict with left turning traffic. This was observed in action, as seen in 2012.
Watch this video on YouTube.

These are not issues that can be overcome I feel by training, hi-viz or lights. The issue is the design of the road. TfL under Boris was changing the design of roads, but it was too timid in the changes it made. Some of that was the wider framework they operated under within the UK, but they didn’t do much to challenge it.

Superhighway 2 was also delivered to a very poor standard. I won’t rehash the arguments of how poor that was, as I think the example I’ve given of Superhighway 7 shows the kind of failings that occur when you rely on blue paint to provide cyclists with safety and priority. It was Superhighway 2 that proved to cause the biggest trouble for the programme. In the space of three weeks in late 2011 there were two deaths near Bow Roundabout.

Campaigners who had been concerned at the quality of the superhighway programme have naturally campaigned before and since these and other deaths. TfL meanwhile has reacted slowly, first offering changes at Bow Roundabout, then agreeing with the London Cycle Campaign on changes at Aldgate. Then in tragic timing first launching plans to rework existing superhighways the day after a death on Superhighway 2 and holding a conference on cycling on the same day as the death in Croydon. It barely needs pointed out, but action from the Mayor has come slowly and clearly should have come sooner. Even now TfL are launching extensions to CS2 they remain unhappy with,
that they don’t see as perfect, and little wonder why. To be effective the Superhighways and all other delivered routes need first to be adequate for the task in hand by being continuous and safe through whatever transitions in style of provision may be necessary. But also they must plan to ensure they update and improve what they deliver regularly. That is part of what the Netherlands does so well, beyond the high basic standard to which they deliver all cycling infrastructure. The job doesn’t end on the day you open a superhighway or improvements to it, it merely continues.

Now, the latest plans build on proposals made in the Mayor’s Cycling Vision which did represent the start of a step forward. Since the launch of the vision there have been extensive trials at the Transport Research Laboratory, a large scale project to rework the London Cycle Design Standards and discussions with boroughs on various plans. The problem is that as much as there has been progress, many boroughs are still being resistant especially at the political level. Standards are still being reworked and action is needed now. Whilst TfL must try to balance competing demands it continues to appear that cycling is not yet being designed into their plans, and plans risk being watered down. At some point in the near future the Department for Transport must decide upon the way forward after the trials TfL has funded, and which interventions will be approved. We risk further compromises and the while we are paying dearly for the time wasted in Boris Johnson’s first term. It’s a terrible situation, but I have no sympathy for Boris Johnson as he is currently in a situation he was repeatedly warned of. That said, we must not overlook the veto that the Department for Transport effectively has and has had on tackling safety in London.

City Hall admits the Department for Transport has not yet signed up to the new cycle junctions. @itvlondon — Simon Harris (@simonharrisitv) November 6, 2013

Compromises in London and elsewhere feel to me to have had two effects:

1. Placing those cycling on main roads at a higher risk than otherwise.
2. Depressing the cycling rate by making it less attractive.

Now, we shouldn’t either overlook the block that local councils represent to making change happen on London streets. Regular cyclists know the borough boundaries well, they’re where provision often ceases or suddenly declines in quality at present. This is still set to continue. A great example of this local to me is the Cycle Superhighway 9. This was/is set to run from Hyde Park to Hounslow. It has run into remarkable resistance in Kensington and Chelsea. Rather like with the Bow Roundabout there are few conceivable alternate routes.

[osm_map lat=”51.504″ long=”-0.203″ zoom=”14″ width=”600″ height=”450″ marker=”51.49922,-0.1977″ marker_name=”bicycling.png” type=”CycleMap”]

The map shows Kensington High Street and surrounds with local cycle facilities (mostly on street lanes) in blue. Note where they stop. The yellow cycle symbols are bike shops, other than those and bike parking bikes simply aren’t welcome. No cycling is permitted in Holland Park, and at its western edge it runs all the way from Holland Park Avenue to Kensington High Street. There isn’t a sensible alternative nearby to avoid Kensington High Street. Even if there were, the streets in the area are aligned in ways that mean even a prioritised route would inevitably be much slower than using the main roads for East-West journeys. The only conceivable solution to cycle safety is to deal with the main roads. The likely main flow is always going to be on the main roads here. Kensington High Street is inevitably where many people who cycle are, but cycling along Kensington High Street is a heightened and terrifying experience. It doesn’t need to be.

Last week’s preview from TfL of a future North-South Superhighway

Like Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea objected to the use of blue paint in what they considered to be historic streets. Today’s mock-ups of the north-south superhighway give a rough idea of the kind of thing that TfL has proposed to Kensington and Chelsea in response, and sadly they have also objected to. It would involve a segregated track on one side of the road, with bus stops over that in lay-bys along with cycle parking and then a narrowed road on the far side. This removes a huge number of potential conflicts for cyclists and those that remain are clearer. For example, drivers turning off this road would enter a highlighted section for leaving the high street. It’s impossible to comment further without specific plans to review but that’s an idea of what concerted changes could achieve on Kensington High Street alone, and this is a route which would also need to address issues along miles of route from Hyde Park to Hounslow.

So how would I round up? I’ve been run over on London’s roads – twice. It has only deterred me but I know of few who regularly and happily cycle in my city. Fewer still by proportion in my country. I have seen for myself what a comprehensive network of cycle facilities looks like by visiting the Netherlands. It isn’t segregated lanes door to door, but it also isn’t just whacking down paint in the edge of the road or adding cyclists in conflicting directions to pedestrians at traffic lights. It is a network rather than a series of disjointed routes. It is about having a comprehensive plan and objective to make cycling as safe as possible, and then reaping rewards ranging from health to a more pleasant atmosphere whilst more directly controlling the more dangerous traffic. It doesn’t mean taking away anyone’s car, nor should it mean destroying the bus route you depend upon but it does mean finding a safe space in our roads where cycling is a genuine option, for all. But to explain that in detail is another post entirely and – I fear – quite a lot of video.

The London Cycling Campaign are organising a protest tonight at Bow Roundabout. They’re calling for changes to the roundabout there for both cyclists and pedestrians. The Bow Roundabout has seen inadequate and compromised changes before. It has now seen three deaths in two years, both before and with those changes. We need to get changes right, and avoid compromise.

The White City Opportunity Area Framework is currently in a second phase of consultation, it covers the area above. Comments are to be made by Friday 2nd August 2013, you can email them to whitecityOAPFconsultation@lbhf.gov.uk, ensure that you note which sections you are responding to in your comments.

As I’ve looked over this I’ve had an eye on how it is possible to deliver Space For Cycling, in keeping with the Mayor’s Vision For Cycling and LCC’s own commitments to Go Dutch as signed up to by Boris Johnson in his campaigning for the second term as mayor where he agreed that future major developments are a priority to deliver good segregated infrastructure. There isn’t much commitment in the framework as it stands. It is enormous document and not particularly easy to digest, so I’ve reviewed the details and here are the edited highlights of issues relevant to cycling.

Chapter 0

As an introduction, little to object to here but note their wording in this section

The economic health of the historic Shepherds Bush Town Centre will be revived. It will be a thriving destination in its own right, with an invigorated market, theatre, refurbished common and focus on The Opportunity Area will be fully integrated within the wider local area. The area will be a model of high quality urban design, sustainable architecture and construction situated within a first class, permeable and inclusive public realm to encourage walking and cycling. Many people will choose to both live and work in the area, reducing the need for commuting and demand on the public transport and road network. The majority of new trips in and out of the area will be made by public transport, walking and cycling, to avoid adding to road congestion.

Fine words, naturally, but a good overview of the idea. Bear in mind that Cycle Crossrail is also set to land in the White City Opportunity Area heading West along the Westway (segregated!) towards Hyde Park and central London and East alongside the A40 corridor to an as yet unknown destination likely somewhere beyond Ealing.

Chapter 3

An important aspect to be aware of is that there will be some green space in the new area north of Westfield. This will be designed for use by those on foot, on bikes and (perhaps surprisingly) on horses to access nearby stables. The framework has highlighted Hyde Park as an example of this working well. However, Hyde Park’s present paths were built to be used as pedestrian facilities alongside sandy tracks for horses, with cyclists added later with a particularly narrow (1m wide) path delineated by a white line. This is far below good standards in the UK let alone being Dutch. If there are to be parallel paths for walking, cycling and equestrian use, it would be better for them to be planned to have some form of segregation or much wider width than the Hyde Park illustration they have used.

There are set to be new roads delivered north of Westfield. The most interesting of these is White City Lane, which is intended to be usable by all road users but with a priority cycle route. This would run from Wood Lane north of the Westway through the new Imperial College site, under the Westway and through the middle of the site north of Westfield, before rejoining Wood Lane close to the entrance to TV Centre. Cyclists, however would be able to cycle over the new green (roughly similar to Brook Green in style) and further south either side of Westfield or over either a new bridge over the West Cross Route or on a (hopefully better) alignment (a large ramp over existing roads) towards the existing cycle bridge over the West Cross Route which uses lifts and a very tight series of zig-zags.

Chapter 4

There is a lot of concern in the framework about the increased demand for car trips both seen as inevitable in future and due to growth due to this development and the existing Westfield development. This means they are proposing interventions around Shepherd’s Bush Green which they are terming “junction improvements”, this is counter to the flow of the ideas in Chapter 3 where new bridges, new routes and changed approaches to street design are planned to provide unspecified but seemingly better cycle provision.

Chapter 4 sees these interventions as the following:

• Pedestrian and cycle connection below West London Line north of Westway
• Pedestrian and cycle connection over A3220 and West London Line south of Westway
• Pedestrian and cycle connections over the Central Line cutting
• Extension of TfL’s wayfinding strategy (Legible London) that is co-ordinated with other/existing signage
• New and enhanced walking routes/ connections throughout the OA
• Pedestrian Crossings enhanced on identified desire lines
• Provision of docking points for the Mayor’s cycle hire scheme within the OA
• Integration of Cycle Superhighway 10 and “Cycling Crossrail” within the OA and improved links to and from them
• Introduction of safe cycle priority at junctions and cycle crossing facilities on highly trafficked roads to ensure integration with the wider London Cycle Network
• Provision of safe, secure and accessible cycle parking at all new developments, both for occupants and for visitors, including end of journey facilities.

There is very little detail on quality, sadly, or what any of this might look like. They are broadly good words. Though I would prefer we were specifycing ‘safe cycling throughout the area’ rather than ‘safe cycle priority at junctions’.

Appendix B

It is worth at this point heading into Appendix B and flicking to page 95. Here there are “indicative junction improvements”. Now, they are not final, and they are very sketchy. However, no harm in responding clearly to these at this stage.

And here’s the first ‘indicative’ junction improvement. This increases the lanes on the West side of Shepherds Bush Green from 4 to 5. This would also replace the single lane north into Wood Lane with two traffic lanes and remove a cycle lane. From Wood Lane heading South this would remove the cycle lanes both on the left and the right. Note that this would remove access to Wood Lane from Shepherds Bush Green by bike. Note also that there is not even an advance stop line for cyclists heading north into Wood Lane from Shepherd’s Bush Green.

Note that this is the original junction design from when the cycle paths were implemented in the late 1980s, there are no longer two-way dedicated paths on Shepherds Bush Green and instead there are parallel paths all around the green and considerate cycling is permitted throughout. What that means is that there is an existing cycle contraflow around the edge of Shepherds Bush Green, and thus the key link to reach from Wood Lane is commonly the north/south link towards Hammersmith Road and Goldhawk Road. The new plan would make access this mean taking the right hand lane exiting Wood Lane coming south, and in so doing negotiating with traffic. There is no feeder lane for the advance stop line so cyclists would either wait an additional phase or overtake into oncoming traffic. This is a step backwards. I am not convinced that two lanes for general traffic here are compatible with either cycling having good access to the Green or the volume of buses which use this route.

For the junction of Goldhawk Road and the Green we see an extra lane going around the gyratory. This reduces the size of the island here, which as you’ll see from the image of the scheme as delivered in the 1980s may reduce space for cycling.

This is a particularly complex junction. Both this and the previous junction adaptations really only cater to north/south cycling through Shepherds Bush Green. The primary flows currently are east/west. With cycle crossrail landing near Wood Lane and the new developments perhaps flows will shift with more traffic heading north towards these developments making these links more important. I would like to see good cycle facilities to navigate this gyratory in all directions. It was good that we had some segregated infrastructure delivered in the 80s, but we are now essentially three decades later and should be developing what provision there is.

As a moment of added fun, TfL also suggest having the bus station at the southern interchange of Westfield run in reverse. This could well remove cyclists from using the bus lane to enter Westfield, leaving them with a bike lane that usually has a van and plenty of pedestrians parked in it (it’s on the pavement and poorly marked).

I have queried these indicative improvements with the council as part of the local LCC group and been given the following response by an LBHF Officer (Matthew Veale) – “Provision for cyclists will be a high priority in the further design of these highway interventions and Hammersmith and Fulham Cyclists will be consulted on the detailed proposals.” There will be further consultation. I think it is up to us  to think about how best to retain and enhance space for cycling here with a mind to making the road space around Shepherds Bush Green less of a barrier and more of a link. It is of note that gyratories of similar style are proposed to be removed throughout London such as Aldgate and Elephant and Castle and it appears Hammersmith Broadway could be revamped as part of the Flyunder proposal to replace the Hammersmith Flyover. In that context, fiddling with the edges of Shepherd’s Bush Green to increase the number of general traffic lanes appears rather old, and on that note bear in mind the TfL study is already a year old and predates the Mayor’s Cycling Vision and the Roads Task Force report.

Conclusion

So, as with most of these rather large proposals what we see in the framework is a number of goals which (admittedly) conflict and a balance is being sought to be struck. I’d recommend as many people who are interested in how they will cycle, walk and indeed drive let alone live or work in the area respond to the consultation. There are some good ideas, but there is a problem in the commitment to quality of those. All new cycling provision needs to be capable of heavy usage given that Westfield’s present cycle parking runs at near 100% use by the main entrances at most peak times (except some racks right by the bus station which have no safe route to reach them). So I’d recommend we ask for

• A commitment to high quality cycle infrastructure with streets where cyclists are to be prioritised delivered along lines similar to those seen in the Netherlands. Safety needs to be built in early and be there subjectively. I don’t want models to tell me the junctions are safe, I want cycling to look appealing and enticing so that you’d almost feel a fool not to be doing it.
• Careful planning for the sections where people on foot, cycle and horse are expected to mix. In particular this appears to be an issue for the north/south green route at the right of the site.
• A rethink of the plans to increase capacity around Shepherds Bush Green, it seems unlikely these will reduce congestion in the longer term and it could involve removing cycle facilities. A plan to replace the gyratory and discourage certain shorter journeys may be of more benefit. The TfL modelling admits whatever happens the roads will be saturated by demand even with the slated improvements.

Any better ideas are welcome in the comments, closing date is tomorrow 2nd August, but I understand from the London Tenants Federation that some comments may be accepted up to the 9th.

First mention of cycling comes from Michelle Dix of TfL – “we want to encourage people to use public transport, or of course cycle”

And of course we get a motorist chatting back from behind the wheel – “how to get people out of their cars, I don’t know whether you can.” We then see some enforcement of yellow box junctions via CCTV and police catching drivers using waste ground beside a dual carriageway to escape a jam via a backstreet. “Drivers are not the only ones who are breaking the rules to speed up their journeys”, says the strangely sober voiceover and off we go to the cyclists section.

We start with an aerial shot of cyclists negotiating a multi lane gyratory, this is legal.

and carefully setting off through some lights which have just gone green.

We are introduced to the experience of cyclists by… a bus driver, who says various things before saying “cyclists, ah they’re terrible, not all of them. Yeah, all of them. They just go through red lights”

And cue video of a cyclist going through a red light (note the cyclist in the distance obeying the red light).

“The number of cyclists in London has trebled in the last ten years” says the voiceover. Sounds impressive.

And an HGV driver “That one there, I just saw one there.”

“You’re like totally surrounded by them. They’re everywhere” What, by one cyclist in a bus lane? That’s surrounded is it? I wonder what the cyclists think of the vehicles surrounding them? Perhaps we’ll ask one…

Back to the bus driver: “Slows you down a bit, yeah.” No, no cyclist voice in this yet…

“Watching over this tribe on London’s roads is a specialist cycle task force.” Cyclists are a tribe are they?

“Today PCs Tony Austen and John Harrison are targeting Elephant and Castle roundabout in South London. A notorious spot for red light jumpers.” Elephant and Castle is also a notorious spot for cyclist incidents, but the narrator forgets to mention that or that, as TfL’s own twitter feed noted, it is set for overhaul (after much delay).

TfL is redesigning Elephant & Castle’s northern roundabout to make it safer and accessible for everyone #routemasters pic.twitter.com/ekPXTMTTvK

— Transport for London (@TfLOfficial) July 23, 2013

TfL’s Roads Task Force has this to say of Elephant and Castle: “The roundabout has the worst collision record for all comparable junctions in London, experiences significant levels of bus congestion, and has poor facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.“

They don’t blame the bus congestion on the cyclists either, as it happens. So TfL and the roads task force are concerned about the safety of this junction and to help that safety our “cycle task force” are talking to cyclists and fining them. How does this help, exactly?

PC Austen: “It’s good to see more people around cycling and keeping fit. I just wish that they adhered to the laws and stopped at the red lights. But… as you can see… oh… they have stopped. I was going to say that they’re not, but they have stopped for once.”

No prejudice there then…

PC Harrison: “Once one person does it at the front of the pack, others will be tempted to do it. You can punish people, and hopefully change their behaviour.” Hmm, this is over a couple of cyclists jumping whilst a good crowd don’t jump. Not a word about safety or the view expressed by TfL and others that Elephant and Castle is unsafe and unpleasant.

So the majority obey the red light, but why are some people on bikes jumping red lights? Let’s see if the documentary crew talk to anyone. Here we go…

PC Harrison, jumps into the road and says “STOP!” at a cyclist. “What happened there?” Mr Bike: “I just find it easier to go through the lights than…” PC: “well, it may be easier but the lights are there for a reason” Hang on, he was trying to say something. What was it?

Mr Bike: “I think certain traffic lights are different.”

Mr Bike: “If you’re joining a busy road like that fairly quickly then I think it’s safe to do so.”

Mr Bike: “But if you wait for that light to go green you’ve got an HGV behind you, you’ve got 20 other cyclists, it just gets a bit messy.”

Mr Bike: “So I find it, I think it’s safer. I know it’s wrong, and I can’t really disagree with him, so… and he’s bigger than me. I’m just going to have to pay my 30 quid I think.”

And off he goes to rejoin London’s traffic. So, have the police listened or do they have their own particular view of what’s going on?

PC Harrison: “They’re on a mission, they’re on their way to work, they’re trying to beat their personal best time of getting to work and traffic lights are an inconvenience, and they’re the people we need to target.” Right, whereas that nice big lorry sharing the roads with them behind you has NOTHING to do with the problem, right?

And off to the cycling superhighway!

PC Austen: “you versus a car or a van who do you reckon will win?” he says to a woman he’s pulled over. Ah, so safety is an argument then.

PC Austen: “He’s had fines already and he still jumps red lights.”
Cameraman: “So, does enforcement work?”
LENGTHY SILENCE
PC Austen: “Most of the time, yes. But for people like him, when he said ‘I’ve had fines’ probably not.”

Narrator: “With a cycling revolution happening on the capital’s streets, Transport for London’s traffic controllers must now also contend with this new breed of user.” People have been cycling on London’s roads longer than Transport for London has existed. Who writes this drivel?

Andy D: “We’re expecting a cycling demo, called Critical Mass, and we don’t know much about it until it actually happens.” Yeah, that’s how it works, well done. “When they do set off they cause quite a bit of disruption to the network.”

Now, Critical Mass –  almost 20 years old in London has waxed and waned over the years. It’s very simple. Cyclists turn up by Waterloo Bridge on the last Friday of the month at 6PM and set off at a relaxed pace around town. At one time there were multiple London rides (here’s an archived report of a West London one), but now there’s just one. It started in 1992 in San Francisco and was quickly a global phenomenon. Like most public gatherings, it is popular because a group of people agree with its aims.

Critical Mass is disorganised and self organised. It is essentially a large number of cyclists trying to use their city with wheels, mostly on bikes. At different times it has been a safety protest, a desire for space or just a desire to have a good time. Almost as varied has been police involvement ranging from ignorance to assistance and usually just tailing the ride (effectively capping the size of it). Now it appears that there was undercover police involvement in at least the August 7th 1996 mass (contemporary report here). And of course, after the Olympic critical mass the police served many members with orders banning them from cycling in Newham, which didn’t impress the UN’s Special Rapporteur.

“Hundreds of cycle activists are assembling on the South Bank of the Thames, keen to show their strength, and bring the city to a standstill” Um, who is writing this script? The aim is usually only to have the ride and keep it together. It is not possible for cyclists to bring the city to a standstill and TfL’s employee says it will cause “quite a bit of disruption.” No more, no less. I wonder if we’ll hear from some cycle activists now, perhaps the London Cycling Campaign at some point…

… well, we get a rider: “um, it’s like one day a month where we get priority on the roads so… it’s a nice change.”

“At 7PM the cyclists enter the busy evening traffic.”, and for the first time in the programme we see cyclists with a safe route through a gyratory in London.

“It’s not long before the cyclists start to antagonise the motorists.” Is it? Looks to me like a taxi’s pulled out whilst a bunch of others are passing the other cyclists too closely.

There’s much talk of ‘gridlock’ and a ‘standstill’, bear in mind this is London traffic after 7PM on a Friday evening. It’s not usually that brilliant anyway. Again, here are cyclists able to ride in safety around a gyratory which currently has no cycle facilities, this time outside the houses of parliament.

Still, if they’re causing havoc in the traffic, I’m sure you’ll be able to keep tabs on them easily with your super duper traffic cameras and computers.

Andy: “um, we’ve lost them again, basically.”

Narrator: “After three hours causing havoc in the city the cyclists have dispersed” – um, I think you’re overplaying what a few hundred cyclists can actually do in London with this narration.

A bit later we sit in Linda’s car as she drives 12 miles to work (every day) which takes her an hour. She gets annoyed about light phasing, I wonder what a cyclist would say? I’m still wondering because they didn’t bother to ask one.

Back at TfL “Andy (a nerdier Andy than the last) is teaching the super computer how to prioritise one user over another at junctions giving buses and bicycles more green time than cars at traffic lights. At key junctions the computer is recalibrating the city in favour of buses and bikes, changing how we choose to travel.” Sounds like a lovely TfL press release, but I can’t relate that back to reality at all. Surely they would need bicycle specific signals to give bikes more green time, and there are very few of those, if any, on TfL roads. I’d love to know how this works and where TfL thinks it makes a difference.

Back to the cycle task force, who are on the cycle superhighway, yes the blue strip of paint under the bus. (this segment is online as a standalone clip)

And now here are the cyclists, who for reasons of safety find themselves riding just outside the blue stripe but still in the bus lane.

“John and Tony are from the cycle task force are watching over London’s newly prioritised cyclists.” Ah yes, they’re weaving around the bike someone’s parked at the edge of the lane.

And dodging motorbikes who are also allowed to use the bus lane.

PC Harrison: Cycling is what we’re trying to promote. That’s the way that things have to be.” Stirring enthusiasm there.

“They are on Cycle Superhighway 7, part of Transport for London’s new £1bn scheme to make cycling safer.” (don’t worry, CS7 is a bit longer than the piece shown in this shot)

Narrator: “But despite these new lanes, tempers still flare between drivers and cyclists.” You’d think they were just ineffectual paint, wouldn’t you?

Annoyed man on bike: “Him mate, it’s him!”

Narrator:”A blue van and a cyclist have nearly collided”

Van driver: “how many lanes do you want?”

Annoyed man on bike: “I want you to say away from me”

PC Harrison sends him off to PC Austen down the road, where he’s met by the van driver.

Van driver: “All I did was to beep him to get into the cycle lane and stop weaving into the different lanes.”

Annoyed man on bike: “He had an issue with me on a bike in front of him. Tooting me, passing way too close in heavy traffic. Waving his fist, making rude gestures.”

Note that the van driver has now parked his van ON TOP of the Superhighway leaving space in the parking bay. Great job!

Van driver: “I did give him a couple of hand gestures, because he was in front me and weaving.”

PC Harrison: “We got to share the roads, and it doesn’t always work”

Van driver: “But they don’t share, they take over roads. That’s what causes problems.

PC Harrison: “Yeah!” *nods*

Van driver: “Cyclists are militant!”

Cyclist: “I’m completely loopy yeah, that’s why I cycle in London”

Right, so how do the police deal with this situation, having spent quite some time talking to them both?

PC Harrison: “I don’t know if you want to shake hands. He’s prepared to.” Hmm, didn’t exactly challenge the driver, did they? Still, I’m sure the van driver can do this without screwing it up.

Van driver: “Look I’m sorry and I didn’t know you’ve been knocked off before”

Cyclist: “well, it shouldn’t really make a difference.” Oh well…

Van driver: “Motorists get angry because at the end of the day they get away with blue murder. We don’t. Just both of us got het up and… watch out for each other, I think.”

And nothing more from the cyclist because… PC Austen: “There is an accident further down the road.”

“A bus has collided with a female cyclist at a junction. She has been rushed to hospital.”

Lee Vehit, Network Operations: “It’s a female cyclist, she’s got significant injuries to her legs.”

We then jump to the woman, Conchita Williams recovering from her injuries at home “And then I looked down and I saw my legs. Under the front left wheel of the bus.”

“The bus run over Conchita Williams, crushing one of her legs and severely damaging the other.” we are informed.

“I’m very lucky to be alive. But I’ll never be walking properly again. They’ve already told me that. These sort of things could be avoided. ”

“Boris Johnson is encouraging cycling and I agree with him because it’s good to cycle. But it’s very, very dangerous, as I found out for myself.”

“Personally I think that the roads can be improved a lot. They should change things, because there are accidents very often.”

Lee Vehit: “If everybody behaved, and uses the roads sensibly between themselves in theory there should be no problems but we don’t live in an ideal world.”

Another guy from TfL: “I mean I was driving buses in the 70s and the traffic is phenomenal compared to what it was then. I wouldn’t like to do what they do. I’ve never seen so many cyclists. we have just got to be mindful of each other. You know. Just be a little bit more careful out there I think.”

Conchita: “People have got to be less selfish and be able to recognise that we’ve got to share the roads.”

“In 2011, 4,500 cyclists were injured on London’s roads.” (and 16 died)

“So on a rain-drenched piece of tarmac in rural Berkshire Transport for London has come up with a radical new idea to transform the most dangerous junctions.” Um, their original radical idea was some duff shared space with cyclists and pedestrians sharing the same space and zebra crossings. This idea is from cycle activists responding to the consultation for that (at Lambeth Bridge North roundabout).

“We’ve built ourselves a roundabout in the continental style here where the drivers and the cyclists are separated.” (in this case by paint, so quite British depressingly but I’ve used the roundabout and it varies depending on which trial exit you use)

“On this so-called Dutch roundabout the cyclists have priority, cars must stop for them, not the other way around.” Now, a lot to unpick here… certainly on previous solutions for cyclists off the carriageway they have had to give way (crossing a roundabout in Richmond takes a crossing phase for each carriageway on each entrance and exit for example). However, this does make it sound like cyclists get in the way and slow everything down, which is not how these work.

“But will today’s guinea pigs understand this revolutionary idea from Europe?” Or are the British too stupid. Indeed, isn’t the trial there exactly to test this? I’m sure they won’t just jump on the first failure and mock it, will they?

“And some cyclists still prefer to ignore the rules completely, going the wrong way around the roundabout.” Oh well. Actually, I know plenty of roundabouts where you’re somehow expected to go around it the wrong way if you’re a cyclist, like the one in Richmond I mentioned earlier. The Dutch roundabouts are smart because they usually (though not always) have everyone going in similar directions but separated at a distance.

So let’s end by asking a car driver on the trial “What are cyclists like in London?” “Maniacs, they can come from anywhere. I couldn’t describe it.” It’s as if they need some… I don’t know, space for cycling?

Shall we talk to a cyclist? Nah, better not.

And off we go to a car accident after the least comprehensible explanation of a Dutch Roundabout ever. If only the BBC had access to a nice aerial camera and lots of brightly coloured cyclists. Maybe then they could make a really neat explanation… Nah, it’d never happen.

So, other than channel idents, when will the BBC pump money into presenting a pleasant view of cycling? Answers on a blog comment to an address somewhere not too far from Wood Lane.

p.s. If you want a good video of a Dutch Roundabout, try this one:

In summary: leaving Waterstones on 16th March. Chosen to leave to pursue other interests; might take on new projects, might take time out…
— Alex Ingram (@nuttyxander) February 10, 2012

… sad to be leaving, but too many ideas in this head knocking around I’ve yet to have a go at properly. Ten (mostly) excellent years.
— Alex Ingram (@nuttyxander) February 10, 2012

Of course, I then promptly got hired by Apple and spent a year doing maternity cover. So all those plans went on hold, but with that over I’m back into the pile of ideas and trying to strike on with a few things. I’ve already blogged about one of those, my attempt to write up the family history into something more biographical (and perhaps even fact checked for accuracy). There are some other little plans, so I have F Yeah! Dead Imprints! back up and running as I delve through my bookshelves.

Anyway, I’ll be on here from time to time craving your indulgence for whatever’s taken my fancy. For those of you in the book trade, I will be floating around the London Book Fair (as I was advised to a year ago!) and you can of course nag me if you want to catch up there.

The notes I took that first attempt were short, and filled with questions. Did Granny Good go to Bletchley in ’41 or ’42? How did she get there? Where did Grandfather Good serve in the war? How did he meet some of the more famous people mum remembers from her childhood? There were no answers to hand. I decided that it was probably about time someone try to write more of the history down and test it against the remaining evidence, and grudgingly I realised that someone was me. A good part of this also needed to involve scanning and archiving what remains into a digital form, not least so that I can study it when I’m not at my parents.

So in the middle of March I sat down at my parents and started to look through everything. The good thing is that both my mum and her ancestors kept a lot. The bad thing is that with one thing and another we’ve never gone through them. The rough initial inventory was one old suitcase stuffed full of correspondence, two boxes full of slides, and another couple of boxes of photographs. Setting up to start archiving and reviewing all of this I realised I was missing the scanner power supply. Off we went rifling under beds and in drawers and before we knew it we found some old notebooks and a large wallet. I open the wallet and look through, in seconds I’m holding a letter complete with this passage:

Yes – typical – in about half an hour of effort for the first time I have a clear letter that lets us know when and how my granny made it to Bletchley. And it’s been sat in a drawer of a room I’ve slept in several times for many years. Irritating and yet rewarding to have finally found it, though there was plenty more. No diary to clear everything up, but plenty of scattered fragments to help fill in the details. Having known less about him, my grandfather’s surviving wartime documents were even more interesting. There were sections of his naval history, and plenty of notes on radar, but it was his photos of Bermuda and his radar work that fascinated me.

So very quickly, I had all of my war questions answered. I knew where they were and when, and I now know what threads to follow up to see if I can get more detail. All told I wound up with a few hundred photos, and a few hundred pages of correspondence to review, more than enough to keep me busy before I even try to look into official archives. Now to draft up the first version of a biographical history.

The main item being focussed upon in the Evening Standard is the proposed ‘Crossrail for the bike’, a fifteen mile route from Hillingdon to Barking designed to be continuous and largely segregated. In particular people are focussing on the proposed change of use of a lane on the Westway from cars to cycles, it appears my blog was ahead of the curve on this!

Just imagine it, take all the money you’d spend on something like Crossrail (£12bn+?) and for maybe £1bn we could have a suspended cycleway running east to west

My Kinda Westway, February 2008

It might be tight in London, but that shouldn’t mean we can’t find the space for a single dedicated East-West route for bikes. And if we really can’t, why not take the vision of Crossrail into another mode and make something elevated or tunnelled if we must. Cyclists aren’t going to go away.

Lucky Seven, February 2012

This was idle talk five years ago, it was hopeful talk one year ago – it’s a heavily promoted part of a plan today. However, we are not talking about an entirely elevated route such as that mooted as the Skycycle or that I first mentioned. Instead this would reuse an existing part of the Westway which has seen a reduction in motorised traffic and hence space is available for reuse.

The front cover of the vision, a city of brightly coloured cars ands proper bike lanes. Utopia?

However, the primary mock-up being used to promote the route is that of a reworked Embankment just down from the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. It is a decent vision, but nothing is yet being said about how junctions will be handled other than better. It must be understood that the eccentric nature of this route is due to the reality of who controls which roads in London. The only way to build a continuous route under Mayoral control is to heavily use TfL network roads.

The TfL Road Network – TfL roads are highlighted in red, borough boundaries in black

The proposed ‘crossrail’ cycle route map

There are other proposals contained in this document. There are large scale changes to the cycle superhighways programme. The standard of these is to be improved to ‘closer to international best practice’. It is likely that superhighways will themselves be either semi-segregated or fully segregated from traffic. The superhighway network is to be complete by 2016, perhaps looking something like this map.

The London Cycle Superhighway Map, last sighted in 2012 rarely published by TfL at the moment…

The intent is for superhighways to be faster routes, with the implicit idea that they are for faster more confident cyclists, especially commuters. Ordinary cyclists are to be expected to start on the Quietways – routes along backstreets using filtered permeability, two way cycling on one-way streets and consistent signage to deliver what the original London Cycle Network (LCN) and LCN+ failed to. There are good commitments as part of that on p14 and p15

Barriers and ‘Cyclists Dismount’ signs will be removed as far as possible

The Thames bridges are some of the few main roads that are completely unavoidable for cyclists. We will improve provision for cyclists across them, including segregration on some bridges.

An important difference in approach for the Quietways is that these will not focus as much on segregation but rather permeability and a clear straightforward way through London’s many villages. Here is the only commitment to remove gyratories. These are set to start in 2014 with announcements of routes as boroughs agree to them.

There is a concept of mini-Hollands, which is jargon by now impenetrable to all but the hardiest of cycle campaigners. In essence this is the improvement of local town centres in London to make them places that embrace the bike. This is where understanding David Hembrow’s blogs on places like Assen is likely to be most instructive as to what is possible.

There is a strong commitment to making the newly developed routes connected and easily understood. This is about mapping and naming. Routes could be named after bus routes, tube routes and well known roads. This is to be applauded, we shouldn’t need a cabbie’s knowledge to know how to navigate our cities. I know I find it a complete chore and I’ve lived here for almost nine years now. Navigable cycle routes are non-trivial and this will be very hard to get right. The Legible London strategy and elements of the superhighway signage point the way.

For me a telling comment is this (p28/29)

We will do our best to improve some new schemes, such as the Olympic Park, that were given planning consent under previous regimes with insufficient provision for cycling.

That’ll be the olympic park that was originally planned as a Velopark and heavily funded by British Cycling. This is a reminder of how little has ever been delivered, and how poor any cycling ‘legacy’ is in London to date.

A great example of it going wrong – cylists directed first to dismount then into a narrow space with pedestrians at Holland Park Roundabout, February 2013

An interesting commitment just after is that (p29):

We will monitor roadworks and building schemes to avoid unnecessary disruption to cycle routes. Following the standard set by the Crossrail works at Farringdon, we will try to ensure that even when a road is closed to motor traffic, passage is still provided for bikes.

When it comes to safety there are two key areas of focus. One is junctions, where in fact this proposes a complete rethink of the junction review. The issue with junctions is that 75% of cyclists deaths happen here. A strategy for cycling in London which merely speeds more cyclists between the junctions without changing them will lead to an increase in deaths, and arguably already has. The proposal here is to spend rather more, but to focus on fewer junctions bringing them to a higher standard. I think this portion of the vision is insufficiently detailed to take a proper view on, at best I can say the intentions are good but I’ll need to see some reworked junctions to judge.

The second area of focus for safety is lorries and other heavy vehicles. It is sad that Boris twice had election campaigns which loudly commented on the danger of Bendy Buses (which never killed a single cyclist) and yet ignored the construction vehicles and HGVs which cause the majority of London cycle casualties. TfL has over time, along with London councils been particularly strong in this area. Crossrail has taken good safety measures, but several other construction projects have not. The idea here, supported by a current LCC campaign is to use the purchasing power of local government to improve standards. This is slightly odd, really this is something for EU and UK standards to deal with. However, it is welcome and right for local government to take responsibility and many councils of many hues are already doing well at this. TfL is proposed to help push this by making cycling funding dependent on councils signing up to stronger safety standards for lorries. Enforcement by funding rather than governance, but could that mean boroughs who don’t support cycle safety actually get even worse? It’s a strange tactic.

An interesting commitment here is the funding of eight full time Metropolitan police officers (bottom of p20) to investigate HGV collisions with cyclists. This is an approach aimed at enforcement and hopefully will ensure that the guidelines on lorries are much more than mere commitments.

It is vital that this does not become another report where a lack of money or willpower to implement the details destroys the overall vision. And in that, there is much detail that Gilligan, TfL and the local councils of London (all 32 of them!) and others must provide.
Boris’s foreword states on p6:

I do not control the vast majority of London’s roads, so many of the improvements I seek will take time. They will depend on the co-operation of others, such as the boroughs, Royal Parks, Network Rail and central government. I do not promise perfection

Undoubtedly some of the responsibility here lies with us all as citizens. We must pressurise, suggest, cajole and criticise. It is not enough to just read blogs like this and nod, none of this is a given until it is delivered, maintained and a part of London for good. I think the Royal Parks in particular have a long way to travel in accommodating cycling.

It is interesting having reviewed the proposals that this is very much an exercise in politics as the art of the possible. To my view it is a good example of why devolved power in London should be different. Perhaps we’d have seen this earlier if the Assembly had power rather than merely the Mayor. And perhaps splitting responsibility between 32 boroughs and the City of London doesn’t help with consistency. Democracy is always hard though, and it will always be somewhat ungainly. It may well not be popular. There is a lot more in the full document, and it’s well worth a read.

Some say that a number of strong voices in the London Cycling blogging community have made a difference, and I agree. My involvement in London campaigning started due to the vigil in December 2011. I was blogging about cycling, but I wasn’t doing anything. I still feel like I don’t quite do enough, but I do enjoy being part of my local cycling campaign.

So how can you help make this happen, or have it changed more to your liking? Get involved in your local cycling campaign, in London or wherever. Take notice of your local council’s consultations. I’d encourage you to help improve the conditions for cycling as part of making our cities more liveable for everyone; this is not something that’s just for cyclists to do.
In the words ascribed to Boris on p5 he says:

I want cycling to be normal, a part of everyday life. I want it to be something you feel comfortable doing in your ordinary clothes, something you hardly think about.

and the report’s final key outcome is summed up as:

Cycling will transform more of our city into a place dominated by people, not motor traffic.

The very point of this is to improve the fabric of the communities in which we live so that we can all live happier and healthier lives. You may only end up riding into work on a nice day, or taking the kids down to the shops but remember the choices you don’t take because of the fears you already have and confront them. We can all live in utopia, and maybe (partially segregated) cycle tracks will abound there. This report doesn’t do everything – it is a vision, not an implementation plan – but I think it has just cut a few years off the time it will take to make London that utopian dream.

If you want to read some other people’s views I’d heartily recommend these blogs:

• Cyclists in the City: Game-change for cycling: Boris Johnson announces a ‘Crossrail for bikes’
• iBikeLondon: Next stop: mass cycling. Here comes London’s Olympic legacy for cyclists!
• John Dales: THE MAYOR’S VISION FOR CYCLING IN LONDON
• London Cycle Campaign: Mayor’s new Vision for Cycling is “Ground-breaking”
• GB Cycling Embassy: The Mayor’s Vision for Cycling in London
  

Frankie Rose – Know Me [Spotify] [iTunes] [YouTube]

I’m not sure you can “waste your time in fiction or rhyme”, but at first I thought this was the lead track off a magnificent debut. Later in the year I realised this was in fact a difficult (or indeed, much improved it seems) second album. “Know me, don’t know me” is my singalong chorus of the year.

Benjamin Schoos – Je ne vois que vous (feat. Laetitia Sadier) [Spotify] [iTunes] [YouTube]

Featuring the singer from Stereolab the fabulously named Benjamin Schoos has a very summery vibe backing lyrics which basically boil down to “I see you”, bloody everywhere. Though it’s prettier in french, obviously.

Internet Forever – Happy New Year [Spotify] [iTunes] [YouTube]

In a just and indie-pop fuelled world this would be the song of the new year. As it is we get a nasty mix of U2, some duff pop hits and Pulp if we’re lucky. I endorse any song which sings the praises of drinking tea and staying in bed. Though I do get odd looks when I mutter “I’ll follow you wherever you go” as I walk around town. Natch.

Belbury Poly – The Geography [Spotify] [iTunes] [YouTube]

Yes, I’m still hooked on the Ghost Box label. Belbury Poly got a new album out this year, and it was quite soft and pastoral. This I particularly love because the singing sounds almost like some kind of tender Bollywood hit, but against the tender synths it generates a wonderful sense of spring rising. In far less imaginative hands this would sound so much less than the sum of its parts.

The Dø – Slippery Slope [Spotify] [YouTube]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYXUVSC–Fs

Driven from the drums up with some glorious rolling rhythm, this is a lovely sequence of chanting. I must admit I missed this in late 2010 when released. “goldfish in a bowl, both my hands covered in blood, and I cannot stop this haemorrhage”, you’ll either love it or hate it.

Major Lazer – Get Free [Spotify] [iTunes] [YouTube]

Major Lazer is of course Diplo, who was the great MIA collaborator way back. Perfect I’m at the end of my tether music.

Moulettes – Are You Going Away To Sea? [Spotify] [iTunes]

Not a song from their latest album, but rather popped out as a b-side this is a more stripped back Moulettes letting Hannah Miller’s voice carry most of the song with a lovely leisurely arrangement of bassoon and violin follow on. The humble tale of a woman who’d rather be a pirate than be left to rot by her moneyed (and no doubt landed and land lubbing) baronet. The air of desire for a different life is palpable, and I am a total sucker for a lyric like “He’s in love with his money and I never did trust a clean-shaven man.”, gives me hope. If you follow a link to listen to one track on this page, make it THIS one because there’s nothing I can embed (and it’s ACE!).

The Futureheads – The Beginning of the Twist (Acoustic) [Spotify] [iTunes] [YouTube]

It’s a cover, I know. But ALL the best bands cover their own songs in manners like this. It’s my rotten luck that even the bloody Futureheads are now playing the Cello to mock my decision to give it up, but y’know I don’t mind when they make one of their own songs this open and involving. They are also unashamedly having FUN in the new arrangement and how they perform it, which makes it all the better.

Andrew Paul Regan – Spy Numbers [Spotify] [iTunes]

Pagan Wanderer Lu rather remixed his name in 2012 to become the rather more hard to follow Andrew Paul Regan. Along the way he decided to make an album of stories, which took a while to absolutely chime with me but is I think really very successful. A tale of spying and not being able to go back to where you’ve left, this is a fantastically vivid soundscape and idea which just works so well.

Pye Corner Audio – Electronic Rhythm Number Eighteen (retransferred by The Advisory Circle) [Spotify]

I’d been having a rough-ish day, I needed out of the office and I had got ready to dash the streets of Soho to get to the cinema to meet some friends. Somehow I wound up on this track. I was just starting to ‘get’ Pye Corner Audio but it wasn’t quite sticking with me. Seven minutes later, I was hooked. In fact I hung on a corner to listen to the end of the track. Like much of the Ghost Box label (though this was self released) the parts are very simple, almost elegant, but there’s just something about the way this teases and builds and fades that makes the perfect blend of something that both chills and stirs in equal measure.

The Chemical Brothers – Theme For Velodrome – Radio Edit [Spotify] [YouTube]

Like many things to do with The Olympics this shouldn’t have worked. At first it felt bloody cheesy. But actually, this is easily one of my favourite Chemical Brothers tracks and the atmosphere was actually lifted by it when I finally got inside the Velodrome. And hey, it wasn’t that bloody Muse song. *shudder*

Boney M. – Daddy Cool [Spotify] [iTunes] [YouTube]

I spent most of the year watching Top of The Pops 1977, and one day I hope to be as good a dancer as Bobby Farrell. Look at those moves! But in all seriousness, you overlook Boney M’s music at your peril.

Albums next… there’s twelve of those as well!

Soundhog – The Delian Mix

I’ve loved Soundhog for years. One of the most notable members of the UK bootleg scene,  if there was such a thing, his remixes and longer mixes were great (dig around his site if you’ve never heard of him). For this mix he was marking Delia Derbyshire’s 75th birthday. I’d been contemplating attempting a mix of radiophonic workshop material myself, but my half arsed efforts are nowhere near the majesty of his creation. Combining short pieces, interviews, her best known and most interesting works along with those of her collaborators this is more like a wonderful hour of audio celebrating her than just a humble mix. Anyone who claims to love old Dr Who even a little, or who likes any form of electronica should give this a listen.

Soundhog – The Delian Mix : Radiophonics and Electrosoniks by Soundhog on Mixcloud

Radio Belbury – 10

“with my hardback book in hand, and my sandwiches of ham” is obviously the lyric that jumped out at me from Trevor Billmuss’ Sunday Afternoon In Belgrave Square. Radio Belbury is an excellent companion of the Ghost Box/Beard Stroking/Old sort of radiophionic/library music/fake nostalgia/real nostalgia of sorts that I’ve fallen into loving as a form of early middle age. Taking in artists such as Trever Billmuss and his forgotten 70s songs and then blending against modern works such as Benjamin Schoos as he nicks Latetia from Stereolab this was a mix I could pick and play on repeat forever. In truth though some of this was from getting so keen on the new Pye Corner Audio track in here which presaged his new LP Sleep Games. Even if you don’t buy into the whole Ghost Box label, I’d say Radio Belbury is always a decent hour of obscure and entertaining music.

Programme 10: “Happy Returns” by Radio Belbury on Mixcloud

Project Moonbase – Facial Hair Special

SHOCK! as Alex likes some songs about beards. I’ve been listening to Project Moonbase for over a year now. Fronted by two nerds from Edinburgh who are almost certainly friends of friends of friends if not friends of friends, this is a show dedicated to music, nerdery and themes. With a decidedly retro outlook to the future they turn in this case to consider Movember and the musical celebration of hairy faces. As ever, they picked out a range of songs relevant in lyrics, name or outlook and in turn made a delightful hour of radio. Impressively they’ve now racked up 108 shows of similar quality (I mean this in a good way) and the whole archive is worth a listen, not least to hear more unnecessary news than you may ever need. To me this is everything Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone should be but isn’t (i.e. highly listenable, random and welcome). I think my favourite thing is that they firmly embrace internet culture, so a song like Sophie Madeleine’s Beard Song a minor YouTube hit, just slips in nicely.

PMB103: Facial Hair by Project Moonbase on Mixcloud

Anyway, that’s three mixes I’ve loved from folk I follow. Who am I missing?