Friends of the Earth Birmingham Action Briefing Oct 98/Nov 98

Four Go Mad in Warwickshire / Gloucestershire / Wiltshire...

Continuing a long(ish) running tradition, four conference delegates from Birmingham FOE (including myself) cycled the journey to this years Local Group Conference in Bath.

Taking advantage of the integrated transport opportunities afforded by Centro trains (ie. you can take bikes for free) our intrepid travellers took the train to Stratford on Thursday 10th September and cycled south from there, camping overnight at (aptly named?) Broken Down. On the train journey itself we participated in a Centro user survey. In her capacity as Midlands Board Member for National FOE, Beverly Cumblidge was able to cite herself as a company director with a staff over 130 - all true! I wonder how this compares with Centro's average user profile?

Total distance cycled was 85 miles with nine and a half hours in the saddle (aren't cycle computers handy gizmos?). Our efforts did not go unnoticed by many of the delegates from other local groups and Underwood Street staff as we rode right up to the door (hey- we nearly missed lunch and it was a hard ride over those hills; refreshment was needed and the canteen was just about to close!). A very enjoyable journey and a wonderful preface to the weekend of conference that followed.

Richard Partridge