Owler Nook
@owlernook.bsky.social
Award-winning active travel campaigner Stockport and Manchester
🎉 Happy 15th Birthday, Dutch Cycling Embassy! Founded 15 years ago with one mission: cycling for everyone, everywhere. Since then: ThinkBike workshops worldwide, 500+ study visits, countless events, and 100+ partners driving Dutch cycling excellence. Thanks to everyone cycling with us!
Jacques Wallage in the early 1970s was part of an intake of idealistic twentysomethings into the Groningen City Council. They were going to upend car supremacy in the city with a 'traffic circulation plan'. 1/
How Groningen invented a cycling template for cities all over the world
Motorists woke up one mid-70s morning to find new one-way streets made direct crosstown journeys impossible by car. Forty years later Groningen boasts two-thirds of all trips made by bike … and the cl...
theguardian.com
Back when i was editor of @lonrec.bsky.social the BBC asked me during an interview if i thought the Elizabeth line would be Sadiq Khan's big legacy for London. i said: "no. it's ULEZ expansion." they looked at me like i had three heads. Every year though there's more and more proof I was right.
Caroline Russell@carolinerussell.bsky.social · 11h agoULEZ was never a crack down on people driving, always a push for better respiratory health. 🚗 💨 “Examinations of London schoolchildren before and after the introduction of the city’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) found a restoration of lung capacity […] stunted by exposure to pollution”.
Here's Dean Wareham performing his Galaxie 500 classic Tugboat in Olympia, WA at the weekend youtu.be/7kNfWSR6KUc. You can watch the full concert recording at www.youtube.com/live/Tjw5WCa... (H/T to @fullofwishes.co.uk)
Dean & Britta - Tugboat (Galaxie 500) - Olympia, WA 16th August 2026
YouTube video by A Head Full of Wishes
youtu.be
I have put £150 behind the counter and today @allgoodbookshop.co.uk will give away free books until the money has gone. But there is a catch. Two, actually.
Today I learned that New York Bakery is owned by a company called Grupo Bimbo.
Owler Nook@owlernook.bsky.social · 2d agoSomeone please tell the New York Bakery people that pre-sliced bagels are an abomination. If I wanted the inside to be stale I'd slice them myself and leave them out for a couple of days.
I see the children are using Bluesky lists to commit defamation again.
CDF isn’t just about big legal battles. Tom Bosanquet was prosecuted for 'inconsiderate cycling' after allegedly delaying traffic for seconds. CDF covered his legal fees, and the CPS later dropped the case. 👉 Read Tom’s story and help keep CDF ready for the next cyclist: cyclinguk.org/cdf-tom
Just published: scoping review of evidence on public and local attitudes to active travel changes in the UK, by me & co-authors Useful for researchers & local governments thinking about why some changes supported and others end up delayed, watered down or cancelled bmjopen.bmj.com/content/16/8...
Scoping review of public attitudes to government active travel interventions in the UK
Objective Low physical activity levels are a public health concern. Active travel is a potential strategy to increase routine walking, wheeling and cycling across populations. However, governments in ...
bmjopen.bmj.com
Need a pithy German word to describe the relief that stems from being aware of Bluesky discourse but having entirely missed it.
Given the worrying way that history repeats itself, does the government have a plan in place for when the AI bubble bursts? We have enough problems with the far right without another Great Depression.
Road closed, pavement open, so where should we put the sign?
Someone please tell the New York Bakery people that pre-sliced bagels are an abomination. If I wanted the inside to be stale I'd slice them myself and leave them out for a couple of days.
This year has NOT been good for cycling, due to various health misadventures. But last night, I dragged my bike out the shed, gave it a clean, pumped up the tyres, and pootled down the Middlewood Way. So good, and everything still works (including my legs). And I saw a badger! More, please.
A lot to unpick in this thread. But I am having a quiet Sunday so I'll be locking my replies.
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 3d agoOddly comic consequences of modal shift: more bikes on the road equals same number of people experiencing road rage, but more likely on a bicycle. Two cyclists just zoomed past, effing and jeffing at each other about who had cut up.
Bit sad this. A post on the London subreddit asking what people are doing now Zipcar has left. Many in the replies say they just bought a car. reddit.com/r/london/comments/1vowijv/what_alternatives_to_zipcar_have_people_been/
CALL TO ACTION: Tameside Council has announced a new consultation for improvements to the A560 that include wider footpaths, resurfaced roads and footpaths, improved pedestrian crossings, safer junctions, better bus stops, and new separated cycle lanes.
This is another big opportunity to improve our region, so don't sit on this while objectors steal the narrative. Seize the opportunity while it’s here and add your voice to positive change for our health, wellbeing and quality of life. www.walkridegm.org.uk/2026/08/15/s...
Irrational word hatred: behove/behoove. Awful word. Remove it from your lexicon.
In a more rational world we'd be having a conversation about motor manufacturers paying reparations for all the avoidable harm they've created, not delaying the marginal de-grotification of their business model because they'd find it inconvenient
Reactions to the alert are a solid intergenerational signifier. Incidentally...
The Specials - Man at C&A (2015 Remaster)
YouTube video by The Specials
youtube.com
Nothing brings my feed together like the government doing an emergency alert.
Oh great they're using the four-minute warning about wildfires.
Disposable BBQs are now subject to a temporary government sales ban as wildfire risks remain high. Please help protect Stockport's parks and green spaces by enjoying the outdoors safely. 🌳🚒 Read more: www.stockport.gov.uk/news/stockpo...
I worry that 'Please respond to this consultation' will be my epitaph.
Owler Nook@owlernook.bsky.social · 5d agoThe push to EVs is virtually the only significant thing the government is doing to decarbonise transport. Reducing the targets makes no sense (unless you make cars). Please respond to this consultation. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
