Guided Busway Bridleway
March 2018:
The County Council have informed SDBA that there will be four vegetation cuts of the busway during 2018. (I think there were 2 last year and one cut did not include the Swavesey to St Ives end). SDBA will continue to monitor the busway to ensure the Swavesey to St Ives end receives the same attention as the city end. This is especially important as the Swavesey-St Ives tarmac path is just 3 metres wide whereas the Swavesey to Cambridge section is wider at 4m. SDBA is also continuing to press (for the sixth year running) for the County Council to remove the self-sown crack willows which are springing up 6" or less from the tarmac edge in several places (between Swavesey and Fen Drayton, between Fenstanton and St Ives) as these in time will become massive trees which will completely obstruct the tarmac path and their roots will break up the surface.
June 2017:
The County Council have appointed a new contractor (as of winter 2016/17) who are doing a beautiful job of keeping the busway verges cut back so that the whole width is usable and the cats-eyes solar lights aren't overgrown with weeds. Well done Contractors!
March 2015: Guided busway vegetation clearance
Vegetation clearance has been completed for this winter with verges both sides now clear of both horizontal and vertical/overhanging vegetation, giving full width on the bridleway. Many thanks to the County Council and their contractors for getting this done.
February 2015: anti-skid covering on drain cover on west side of River Ouse bridge on bridleway
The anti-skid (black) covering on the metal drain cover on the west side of the top of the River Ouse bridge on the bridleway has worn away. SDBA has reported this to the County Council.
November 2014: Vegetation overgrowth
After SDBA reported overgrowth of vegetation onto track, obscuring cycle-solar lights and narrowing the path width, the County Council employed contractors during November and December to strim back the verges both sides of the track. SDBA has since contacted the council again regarding the overhanging brambles, and branches from hedges and trees which were not cutback at the same time. We have been told this work will be done during February/March 2015, ahead of birdnesting season.
August 2013: The guided bus team at the County Council inform us that the relevant staff (contractors, councillors) conducted a site visit last week to inspect the surfaces. Our local County Councillor is now on the case too.
9 July 2013: Public bridleway crossing of busway at Fen Drayton.
SDBA has reported to the County Council's Guided Busway Team Leader that the nearside eastbound red grippy surfacing has come away completely (like an old snakeskin) and is lying further down the busway in a gap). We have received a reply. The contractor is corresponding with the sub-contractor over the issue as there seems to be an issue over the warranty for the original works.
Friday 15 February 2013: BHS Access Awards presented to Cambridgeshire County Council. Swavesey Bridleways' Tina Yates and Sue Rogers presented BHS Access Awards to Bob Menzies (on behalf of the Guided Bus Team), to Kate Day (on behalf of the Rights of Way Team) for their work in creating the guided busway bridleway from Cambridge to St Ives.
We also presented County Councillor Mandy Smith with a BHS Achievement Award for her work in identifying county-farm owned land and thereby finding a route for a much-needed link from the busway bridleway to Over village. Well done Bob and Kate and their teams, and Mandy too.
Thursday 24 November 2011: Guided Busway Bridleway completed and fully open from St Ives to Cambridge!
The bridleway is now open for public use. The St Ives to Swavesey section has been surfaced, its level raised in places to aid drainage/lessen flooding, and the metal join on St Ives side of the Ouse bridge has been given an anti-slip coating. Get out there, ride, walk or cycle it and enjoy both the bridleway and the access it gives us to other parts of the Cambridgeshire bridleway network between St Ives and Cambridge. Well done everyone for all your hard work over the years in working to reach this point!
Thursday 27 October: update on St Ives to Swavesey Guided Busway Bridleway closure:
The bridleway should re-open to the public at the end of November 2011. The surfacing will be the same as the Swavesey to Cambridge section - blacktop tarmac with extra grit rolled into slopes. The metal join on St Ives side of Ouse bridge has been given an anti-slip surfacing.
Friday 2 September, some lovely comments from riders using the new bridleway:
1. from a Swavesey rider: I rode along the busway again today (31/8/11), for a fair way towards Longstanton and back, and all the bus drivers, without exception, slowed appropriately, and were smiling and cheerful (I was waving and thanking them). Please pass this on - it is much appreciated.
2. from a Fen Drayton rider: Could you convey to the busway people, especially bus companies, that I have been very impressed with the way drivers have responded to their training. I am finding them all slowing down very considerably when they see me and Lily, and waving cheerily when I wave to them.
3. from an Over rider: I have had nothing but good experience on the busway and have found the drivers extremely polite...all those that I have come across have slowed
right down. Others I have ridden the busway with have also been more than happy with the courtesy of the drivers
4. from a Swavesey rider: I hit the busway on Sunday for the first time, between Swavesey and Fen Drayton. Delighted that both horses Pete and Gem were totally at ease with the buses. I found busdriver on the whole were polite and if they were travelling on the track nearest us took the trouble to slow down, some significantly.
5. from a Fen Drayton rider: Please would you pass on my thanks to all the bus drivers on the Guided Busway ... I have a large Suffolk Punch horse, 17H2 and thanks to the drivers consideration and courtesy he has quickly adapted to the buses, even the double-deckers. Again, my thanks to all who have worked to make riding beside the busway a pleasant experience. From the faces of the passengers, I think they enjoy seeing horses at close hand too.
6. from a Willingham rider: this new bridleway is absolutely brilliant. It really opens up the off-road riding in our area to us.
7. from a Swavesey rider: The busway bridleway is brilliant - it opens up so many new new off-road routes for horse riders, enabling us to explore the lovely Cambridgeshire countryside without having to negotiate busy roads between villages. The bus drivers have been fantastic with the horse riders, many many thanks to them.
As a cyclist too, having a safe smooth route to commute to Cambridge on is a relief, and will be even more so on dark winter evenings. There's always another cyclist to chat with and share the journey too. And walkers - dogwalkers, families, people on roller skates, birdwatchers, tourists from Cambridge taking the opportunity of a daytrip on the guided bus into the "countryside". On Bank Holiday Monday a young family on holiday in Cambridge got off the bus at Swavesey and asked me "where can we
go to see real cattle, sheep, horses? We want to see the countryside". The buses themselves are fantastic, such a quick journey, and so wonderful to have evening public transport to St Ives and Cambridge from our village. It will be an absolute boon on dark winter evenings to be able to go out to either place, have a meal or live music, and then catch a bus home.
Monday 30 August, partial temporary closure of St Ives to Swavesey section of Guided Busway Bridleway:
Hi everyone,
***Info from Diana Buddle at Cambridgeshire County Council received Friday 26 August - despite the contractors' erection of signs on Thursday 25 August saying this section is closed from 22 August and despite the new piles of crushed limestone along the route and contractors telling people the route is closed, it is NOT closed until 30 August. Public access is allowed over this Bank Holiday weekend***.
The busway bridleway between Swavesey and St Ives will close on Tuesday 30 August for several weeks to allow the replacement of the crushed limestone surface with a blacktop (tarmac) surface, same as between Swavesey and Cambridge. The width will be 3m. The work will take several weeks (probably 6-8 weeks). The existing crossing points (Fen Drayton public bridleway, Holywell Ferry Road Fen Drayton, Mow Fen and Middle Fen Droves in Swavesey) will be kept open to allow people to cross over the track.
There will be very heavy machinery on the track, probably accessing it from the Swavesey or St Ives end.
- Dumper trucks full of material to raise the level
- The huge tarmac laying machine
- Rollers to flatten the tarmac
- Diggers
- Various council pickup trucks, 4x4s and cars.
Please stay off the busway during these works for ours and others' safety and for good public relations. Horsepoo is a dead giveaway that horses have been trespassing, and horse hooves will sink and leave an impression in newly laid tarmac!
To ride between Swavesey and Fen Drayton, you have two other off-road routes, an on/off road route and an on-road route:
1. Off-road: Mow Fen Drove Swavesey takes you from Taylors Lane (carpet shop) up past Constables Rood community garden (big boulder in entrance), to cross the busway and carry on over Covills Drain, then step over a metal horse stile onto the permisive RSPB lakeside track on north side of busway which takes you through to wooden horse stile exitting you onto Holywell Ferry Road, Fen Drayton.
2. Off-road: Mill Way Swavesey past the windmill/kennels, then turn left onto John Johnson's permissive field-edge grass bridleway, exit via bridleway gate with right turn onto concrete RSPB track and follow that to Holywell Ferry Road, Fen Drayton.
3. On/off-road: go via Swavesey village, School Road or Moat Way, then turn right onto concrete RSPB track and follow that to Holywell Ferry Road, Fen Drayton.
4. Go via Swavesey village, School Road, Fen Drayton Road past College Farm to Fen Drayton.
To ride between Fenstanton and Fen Drayton, I believe there is only the on-road route so from Fenstanton, take Headlands out to the Fenstanton Road, then along past the Shell garage and turn left down Mill Road and follow round into Cootes Lane Fen Drayton.
To ride between Fenstanton and St Ives, there is only the Low Road on-road option unless you have permission from a local landowner to ride his offroad route, though this loops round from Fenstanton village centre and exits onto Low Road so it's quicker to use the Low Road on-road option.
Update: Monday 22 August:
If any of us do have a query with the busway, please tell SDBA first rather than the County Council or the bus companies as SDBA may be able to answer or channel our query more quickly.
Please be mindful that the County Council DO have the power to CLOSE the bridleway to horseriders. The bridleway is an aside to the multi-million pounds busway which is part of the local government's development plan for the county and ties in with all the house-building planned over the next decade. The busway comes first. Hacking alongside fast traffic may be a new experience for some of us but it is not unusual in England. It is up to us to either accustom ourselves and our horses to it sensibly, or to avoid using it. In our county alone, there are several locations where fast traffic runs adjacent to popular bridleways:
1. The vet school bridleway at Madingley runs alongside and over the 4-lane 70mph M11;
2. The Shelford bridleways run alongside, over and under the 70mph 4-lane M11 and under the London-Cambridge railway;
3. The Peterborough bridleway runs alongside and under the 70mph 4-lane A47;
4. The Nene bridleway runs alongside the steam railway;
5. The Newmarket bridleway runs alongside the railway line;
6. The Abbots Ripton bridleway runs alongside the 120mph high speed rail link.
7. The Hauxton bridleway requires riders to wait for a gap to cross the 50mph 2-lane A10.
8. Light aircraft take-off alongside riders on the landing strip parallel to the training gallops at Newmarket (no fence).
Even though some of the above routes are fenced there are gaps in many of those fences. They are "rider frighteners" as much as "horse frighteners". To ride safely on the busway bridleway, we and our horses should be confident at meeting
- double decker buses at slow and faster speeds from in front and behind on the adjacent busway
- single decker buses at slow and faster speeds from in front and behind on the adjacent busway
- cyclists overtaking us from in front behind on the bridleway
Hacking is a skill, the same as dressage and jumping. There are lots of sources of info/help and it's no embarrassment to ask for help. Here's a few ideas:
1. Find ourself half-hour to stand with our horse, mounted or inhand as we prefer, at any of the bridleway crossings of the busway, let them graze and watch buses go by. Once we're happy with that, progress to crossing the busway or riding along a short stretch of it with (3) or (4). Gradually build-up until we are happy riding lengths of it in company.
2. For some people, there's even the opportunity of renting grazing alongside the busway and acclitimizing their horses that way.
3. Take a partner with us on foot, on cycle, with a leadrope and polos. Being put on leadrein at the age of 46 is no great shame!
4. Take some sensible riding partners with us, or our trusted partner on his/her bicycle, for our first short trips alongside the busway. Polos and leadropes ready if necessary, keep the pace to an unexciting walk and keep the ride short and successful. Build on that.
5. Look at the bus time table and choose our time carefully. Sundays see the least buses and the slowest (leisure cyclists).
Monday-Friday 7am-9am and 5pm-6pm see the most buses and the fastest (commuting) cyclists.
Bank Holiday Monday will be, we think, a Sunday service for the buses, with leisure cyclists out and about.
6. Ask our regular riding instructor to give us a lesson on acclimitizing us and our horse to the busway, rather than an ordinary lesson in the arena.
7. Ask our local BHS riding/road safety officer Liz Wright for advice.
8. Ask SDBA for a riding buddy (we've got on-foot, on-cycle and on-horseback ones to help us).
We are extremely fortunate in having got the bridleway alongside the busway. There's been many times in the past 11 years when I thought it would all fall through and just be a cycleway. It could still go that way at any time if we're not careful when using it so we must please be sensible and safe at all times when using it.
Sunday 7 August: today is the official opening date from Cambridgeshire County Council for both the Guided Bus and the parallel 18km Public Bridleway.
Wednesday 13 July: SDBA members met with CCC's Bob Menzies to snag the "furniture" from a horserider perspective. Briefly, the issues raised were:
1. BUS SPEEDS AND SLOWING DOWN FOR HORSE RIDERS ON BRIDLEWAY. Bus drivers (Whippet and Stagecoach are the two operators) should be slowing down for horseriders as bus drivers will be following the Highway Code when on the busway, so riders should expect approaching buses to obey Highway Code Rule 215 "Horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles. Be particularly careful of horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles especially when overtaking. Always pass wide and slowly. Horse riders are often children, so take extra care and remember riders may ride in double file when escorting a young or inexperienced horse or rider. Look out for horse riders’ and horse drivers’ signals and heed a request to slow down or stop. Take great care and treat all horses as a potential hazard; they can be unpredictable, despite the efforts of their rider/driver."
2. RIDER COURTESY. Riders, please also obey the Highway Code rules for horse riders. Please also always thank the bus drivers for slowing down if you can, as a cheery smile or wave or nod go a long way towards maintaining good relations.
Riders are asked to treat the public bridleway and proximity of passing buses in the same way that they would treat taking a horse onto the public highway, ie dress sensibly and visibly, correct tack and if the horse is lacking in training or experience, then take the necessary precautions such as being accompanied by more experienced horses/riders or persons on foot or cycle, and introduce them to the buses gradually.
3. PUBLIC BRIDLEWAY CROSSINGS (Over, Rampton-Longstanton, Fen Drayton, Cambridge). Some horseriders have complained the red anti-skid paint on the concrete surface is slippery for horses. CCC are investigating and it is likely a replacement surfacing material will be fitted in the very near future, though not by the opening date. We are hopeful that it will be highway standard beige gritty anti-skid surfacing such as on Holywell Ferry Road crossing or also seen at roundabouts (eg Longstanton golf course) and traffic lights (eg Oakington crossroads). Buses have priority on these crossings so please wait and give way to any oncoming buses.
4. EXPANSION JOINTS ON RIVER OUSE BRIDGE. SDBA noted the absence of an expansion joint cover on St Ives side of bridge as this was on order. SDBA clarified that the cover must be anti-slip for horse shoes. The cover has now arrived and has been fitted and SDBA members will ride out to inspect it for suitability in the near future, but not before Sunday 7 August.
5. ROAD CROSSINGS. Road crossings are controlled by traffic lights with buttons at both rider and pedestrian height, and chicane-barriers.
6. VEHICULAR DROVE CROSSINGS (St Ives Lakes, Holywell Ferry Road, Mow and Middle Fen Droves, Histon). These are give-way. Buses have priority.
7. PRIORITY ON BUSWAY (NOT BRIDLEWAY). Buses have priority on the busway. If you are on horseback, cycle or foot and wish to cross the busway, please give way to any oncoming buses.
8. BUDDY LIST. SDBA has a list of riders with experienced horses who are happy to "buddy" any horserider visiting the busway bridleway for the first time, free of charge. Please contact the committee for further details.
9. OVER CROSSING AND OVER BRIDLEWAY. The new bridleway from Over (it skirts around southern edge of Norman Way Industrial Estate) should open too on Sunday 7 August. This, with the Over crossing, enables the busway bridleway to be used to effect off-road riding from neighbouring villages into Over.
Unofficially, it is also possible to deviate from the busway up the track alongside western edge of Norman Way Industrial Estate to reach Over and District Riding Club field. It is not possible to follow that track through to Over village as it is gated at the road end unless there is an ODRC event in the field the same day.
10. BLACKTOP BETWEEN SWAVESEY AND CAMBRIDGE. This is mainly 4m wide. In places there are grass verges. The blacktop will be unsalted in winter apart from any overspill from the busway. Where there are gentle slopes (eg between Swavesey and Over), extra grit has been rolled in (giving it a pinkish tinge) to those slopes to provide extra grip for horses.
11. BLACKSTOP BETWEEN SWAVESEY AND ST IVES. Currently the surface is allweather, crushed limestone with severe ponding/flooding in a few places. This will be replaced over the coming months by a blacktop surface, 3m wide with a crossfall into a ditch, soakaway or drainage system as necessary (same as Swavsey-Cambridge) to ensure it sheds water properly. Where the ponding occurs, the new blacktop surface will be raised. SDBA have asked that where possible, 2m of either crushed limestone or grass verge is maintained along the outside edge to provide an allweather surface for horseriders with a little bit of "give". This part of the bridleway will be closed in part or whole during those works.
12. OUSE BRIDGE APPROACH SLOPES. SDBA has requested that the sloping blacktop approaches to be fitted to either side of the Ouse bridge should be finished with the highway grade anti-skid surfacing such as mentioned in (3) above, rather than by just having extra grit rolled it. We request this because the bridge slope gradients are likely to be steeper than the slopes in (10), and the length of those slopes is much longer than in (10).
13. STONY BRIDLEWAY SECTION BY DRAYTON LAGOON, FEN DRAYTON. (Section of old bridleway on north side of busway, running from "windsurfing beach" to Public Bridleway crossing of busway. SDBA has requested from CCC that this stony surface be replaced with the crushed limestone surface currently in situ on the new busway bridleway south of the busway.