People in Sandy can now use a new walking route around the town, after it was launched at the Bedfordshire Walking Festival last weekend.
Central Bedfordshire Council has worked with Sandy Town Council and the Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity to create the Green Wheel route, which provides a pleasant walking circuit around and near to the town.
More than 70 people attended Sunday’s launch event, at which the deputy mayor of Sandy Councillor Martin Pettitt cut the ribbon to mark its official opening.
They then joined one of two guided walks – a six-mile guided walk around the whole Green Wheel route or a 2¼-mile walk, which was aimed to be more family-friendly.
The Green Wheel forms a linked loop of publicly-accessible green spaces and paths.
It is formed of a ‘rim’ of connected paths supported by ‘spokes’ of linear paths, and sections leading from the towns and villages out to the rim and the wider surrounding countryside.
To create the Green Wheel, the partner organisations have improved and upgraded existing local public paths and worked with landowners to create new additional routes, to provide a continuous circular network of public paths.
Arlesey ward councillor Ian Dalgarno, executive member for community services at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “The Green Wheel will help encourage residents to go out into the countryside more, and enjoy the beautiful rural scenery that Central Bedfordshire has to offer.”
The Bedfordshire Walking Festival started on September 8 and concluded last Sunday.
As well as the Green Wheel launch, it included a informative walk around Biggleswade, starting at Jordans Mill, as well as a tour of part of the Shuttleworth estate that is currently being restored at Old Warden. There were around 50 walks in total, led by ramblers.
For more information go to centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/leisure. For specific Green Wheel queries, email Greenwheel@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
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