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Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵
@threadinburgh.scot

Rails to Trails: the thread about how North Edinburgh got its cycle paths On this day, 40 years ago, a councillor cut the ceremonial ribbon and opened a section of cycle path in north Edinburgh. This was a rather special bit of cycle path however as it hadn't been built by the council. It was…

threadinburgh.scotRails to Trails: the thread about how North Edinburgh got its cycle pathsOn this day, 40 years ago, a councillor cut the ceremonial ribbon and opened a section of cycle path in north Edinburgh. This was a rather special bit of cycle path however as it hadn't been built by the council. It was built by direct citizen action: over the course of a single week it had been reclaimed from the trackbed of an old railway a group of volunteers. Wind the clock forward four decades and from these humble beginnings has grown a network of almost 20km (12 miles) of such paths in this part of the city. There's a good chance that you've cycled, walked, jogged or otherwise explored them. The credit for this their creation sits almost entirely with the relentless (and often thankless) hard work of a single, slightly anarchic organisation. This thread is the story of how the North Edinburgh Path Network came to be.

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R ꓘ
@krowmedy.bsky.social

Thanks for sharing. I use these paths on an almost daily basis. Coincidentally my wife and I were just wondering yesterday how these paths were transformed from railways to cycle/walk ways and today morning I was greeted with this wonderful article!

Verona Campione
@rickhough.bsky.social

Epic! Very fond memories of cycling and running these footpaths during my time in Edinburgh. In fact my youngest learnt to ride on Hawthornvale! Had no idea of the epic decades long struggle to develop them!

Paul Davidson
@elementalpaul.bsky.social

I'd forgotten that the Rodney Street tunnel only reopened relatively recently. I run on these paths regularly and I'm very grateful for them but I sometimes find it hard to imagine what they were like when trains used them.

sbarlster
@sbarlster.bsky.social

💯 build more. 40 years later Colinton Rd and it’s environs are still waiting for 1 metre of active travel lane. The 4 high schools, 2 activity centre and 2 uni sites linked by a 4 lane road with free parking along its length. Such a wasted opportunity!