Potholes and Pavements by Laura Laker

This is a Stanfords, London event

Join them with Laura Laker talking about her new book Potholes and Pavements: A bumpy ride on Britain's National Cycle Network.

A unique journey around the UK’s National Cycle Network and one journalist’s quest to investigate the state of the country’s cycling.

What if we were less reliant on our cars? What if there were safe cycling paths to take us places instead? What if those paths led to the next town, the next village and the countryside beyond?

This was the dream of a group of Bristolian idealists in the 1970s when they founded Britain's National Cycle Network, which now runs to nearly 13,000 miles across the country. Journalist Laura Laker sets off on an odyssey around the UK to see where the NCN began, and where it is now.

What has gone right - and wrong - with this piece of national infrastructure? Why is it run by a charity whose CEO once admitted ‘we’ve had enough of it being crap, we need to fix it’? Laura lifts the lid on this maddening, patchy, and at times dangerous network, and the similarly precarious politics and financing that make it what it is.

She discovers beauty, friendship and adventure along the way, from the Cairngorms to Cornwall, from the Pennines to the South Wales coast. On her mission to pin down what the NCN is and what it means to those who use it, she also meets up with high-profile travelling companions, including Chris Boardman and Ned Boulting.

In a country where 71% of trips are less than five miles, two thirds of Britons say they want to cycle more and doing so could help our climate, health and wellbeing. Laura is on a mission to see if we can make that dream a reality.

‘Laker lays a finger on the nation's cycling pulse, and finds, despite it all, there is a lot of life. A beautiful homage to a wonky network.’ Ned Boulting

With a passion for both cycling and words, there are a few more qualified to paint a picture of its potential, than Laura Laker.' Chris Boardman

‘In a pedal-powered journey of discovery, Laura Laker tells the surprising story of how Britain got its bike paths: the good, the bad and the down right ugly. Along the way she meets the early visionaries and today’s activists engaged in what’s become an unlikely new front in the culture wars.’ Jack Thurston

‘An absorbing, and often surprising portrait of Britain’s cycle ways, a call to arms for active travel – and a compelling history of the greatest national institution you’ve never heard of.’ Emily Chappell

‘Just wonderful — two wheels good, Laura Laker brilliant’ Jeremy Vine

About the author:

Laura Laker is one of the most respected cycling journalists in the UK, with decades of experience and unparalleled connections across politics and campaign organisations. She co-hosts the Streets Ahead podcast with Adam Tranter and Ned Boulting, is the co-founder of Active Travel Media Awards, and has written for the Guardian, Sunday Times, road.cc, Cyclist, Cycling Plus as well as the Guardian's highly popular bike blog.

Follow - @laura_laker

The event will start promptly at 7.00pm.

Tickets £7

Includes glass of wine/soft drink and a discount off the book when purchased on the evening.

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