Tag: Aberdeen
-
Recap of the Sustainability Festival in Aberdeen
I had a great day at the Sustainability Festival in Aberdeen yesterday. I was there with Hoss, my new e-cargo-trike, and lots of literature from Cycling UK. The very lovely Fiona from Cycling UK also came to lend a hand. I was amazed by how many people had not heard about the campaign for a…
-
Aberdeen Sustainability Festival
I’m representing Cycling UK at the Sustainability Festival in Aberdeen on Saturday. The festival is a celebration of sustainable living and a first for Aberdeen so I’m not 100% sure what to expect. There’ll be lots of wonderful produce from local farmers and also green community organisations like Aberdeen Climate Action and Cycling UK. I’ll…
-
Bikes and mikes
I gave a talk at the monthly climate cafe last night about my petition for a bike path on Union St. It started badly. The microphone was too short and in my attempt to adjust it I dropped the clicker to advance my slides. When it hit the floor the back came off and the…
-
Pedal on Parliament 2018, Aberdeen
It was the Aberdeen Pedal on Parliament today. The Pedal on Parliament is a demonstration for safe cycling infrastructure throughout Scotland. The main event was in Edinburgh on Saturday but there were two smaller events, one in Aberdeen and the other in Inverness. It’s the fourth year running for Aberdeen and we had 80-100 people…
-
Aberdeen City Council to report on the bike path for Union St petition
Yesterday I got to speak at the Operational Delivery Committee at the Aberdeen City Council to argue the case for a bike path for Union Street. This is following on from the petition I submitted in February. It was initially meant to be discussed by the Petition’s Committee in March but this meeting was cancelled.…
-
Pedal on Parliament Aberdeen 2018
When: Sunday 29th April at 11am Where: Starting at Rubislaw Terrace Gardens and cycling along Albyn Street, then Union Street and finishing up at The Town House on Broad Street. Pedal on Parliament is an annual event to promote bike-friendly cities in Scotland. The Scottish government wants to increase rates of cycling but money has…
-
Emotional attachment to a place and good bread
Have you ever felt an emotional attachment to a place or even a landscape? A feeling of belonging when you go there even when you’ve never been there before? I feel that way about Scotland and to a lesser extent, England. It puzzles me a bit because the environment I grew up in was so…
-
The Beast from the East
We haven’t been as badly affected as other parts of the country by the extreme weather. We’re close to the sea which always helps to moderate the temperature but we also haven’t had the huge snow drifts they’ve had elsewhere. No one is panic buying food and it hasn’t been particularly cold. That said, we’ve…
-
First day of spring
I’ve never seen so much snow outside our front door before. Aberdeen is looking gorgeous this morning for the first day of spring. I flew back to Aberdeen from Nice yesterday afternoon and I’m very lucky to be here. All other airports in Scotland were closed and all BA and Flybe flights in and out…
-
Bike path for Union Street
Which of the following two photos do you think looks better? Union Street without a bike path: Union Street with a bike path: The second photo is an artist’s impression produced by Cycling UK. It was a year ago last month that I discovered the city council had no plans for a bike path through…
-
Is this our “Stop the Child Murder” campaign?
I organised my first ever protest yesterday and it went really well. The protest was to call on the Aberdeen City Council for a protected, segregated bike path on Union St. I don’t want to say it was a success just yet because there is still no commitment from the City Council for a protected bike…
-
Calling all Aberdonians!
Where: At the King Edward statue, corner of Union Street and Union Terrace. When: Saturday 3rd February from 11:30am – 12:30pm. Aberdeen City Council wants to pedestrianise the city centre but there are no plans for a protected bike path on Union Street. The best way to get more people on bikes is to give…
-
The mighty River Dee
The River Dee is looking particularly beautiful today. I’ve never seen it with so much ice, not this close to the harbour. Much of Scotland has been blanketed in snow over the past week except for Aberdeenshire. We’ve had crisp, dry, cold, but sunny days. If I can’t have snow then my second choice is…
-
An almost frozen pond at Duthie Park
After a very mild Christmas the temperature has suddenly plunged. There were a few flakes of snow today and the pond at Duthie park is starting to freeze over. It’s funny how enthralled the kids are by a bit of ice. It won’t be cold enough to freeze the River Dee. I took this photo…
-
Ice-skating at the Christmas markets
Sometimes life feels like Groundhog Day. Has it really been a year since we went ice-skating at the Christmas markets? We went again today and it felt like we just did this yesterday but it has been a full year. I love ice-skating. What I like most is the physical activity without all the sweating.…
-
Sledging bloopers
We had a fun time sledging today. Snow turns every hill into a playground. I took a short video of some of the fun, including a bit at around 30 seconds where Elizabeth careens into a tree. Ben also falls off at one point and he gets up afterwards with the speed of someone who…
-
Winter wonderland
We’ve been so lucky with the snow so far this winter. It’s another winter wonderland outside this morning. Elizabeth told me that when she sees all the snow outside it makes her feel good. I know exactly what she means because I feel happy when I see it too. Here’s the bike path today: There…
-
Snow in Aberdeen!
Yesterday there was lots of snow in Aberdeen and the Martin household was jumping with joy! It’s very pretty when it snows. There was much excitement in the school playground with snowballs flying in all directions. Somehow I managed to avoid getting hit. Today was a different story. It rained on the snow yesterday afternoon…
-
The Christmas markets and some new boots
The Christmas markets have opened in Aberdeen already. I’m sure they start it earlier and earlier each year. This year it’s a little bit special because it’s on the newly pedestrianised Broad Street. The Aberdeen City Council has been promising pedestrianisation of the city centre for about a decade now and finally they’ve managed to…
-
Aberdeen’s Climate Café Series
About 6 months ago I started volunteering for a local community organisation dedicated to inspiring real action on climate change. The organisation is called Aberdeen Climate Action and my first task has been to build them a website which promotes sustainable living. It’s still a work in progress but it’s looking good so far. Feedback is…
