markshanahan.bsky.social
Political historian into US & UK politics. Associate Professor at the University of Surrey, sometimes on the radio/TV. Follower of the mighty Wycombe Wanderers & the underperforming Middlesex CCC. Into books, theatre & jangly guitars.
706 posts
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Getting Started
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Lib wish is that these, + State-level political push-back, can sustain that hope through to the Midterms. But with the Dems near nadir, hope of a blue tidal wave in November 2026 may still be forlorn. The Dems best bet is a GOP implosion - not out of the question with the warring tribes around 47.
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Not so much. My students, when they do read, still prefer physical books. But they tend to source them second hand online. In subjects such as Law and Engineering, core texts are astronomically expensive - so academics are encouraged to get licences for E-versions for key chapters. Model has shifted
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The loss of bookshops on campuses is a feature across the UK - I was really sad when Blackwells closed their Reading Uni store when I was there. It followed two trends: libraries going digital-first, and students arriving with no background in long-form reading.
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Ah no - predictive text. I thought I'd typed lycra. I'm just an Abingdon resident as opposed to you, a pretty nasty, angry bully. And a blocked one too.
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It's part of the dev plan for the new Culham Village. Someone posted it earlier. As ever, it's ifs and buts. More concretely, the gov announced a multi-billion £ investment in Culham Campus in the Spending Review - the nuclear science centre. This is a direct transport link from Abingdon to there.
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Indeed - as those who actually live here and actually use it have told me. About half is perfectly good while oe section is narrow and poorly maintained. However, it exists; could be better and has a plan for improvement. That, to me, if executed sounds like a win for all.
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Although overgrown only for a very short stretch. At the Causeway end, it seems a poor surface and lack of barrier from the road is more the problem.
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Indeed. And the potential to get the issue fixed.
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Don't think 'lucrative in a twist' is mine? Do you actually know the road & the traffic that currently uses it? I think you've deliberately misconstrued my original question which others have answered sensibly. If all you're going to do is attempt to bully, I have no plan to engage with you further
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It's passable but for a couple of pinch points. but I wouldn't want to be a mum with a toddler at the moment with someone riding full-pelt at me. Several of the cyclists who passed me breezed by with a bell ring warning - a couple slowed til I stepped aside. It should be wider.
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My initial question was why aren't ppl using it - I received several sensible answers. Action required seems to be that short term OCC should cut back the borders & do some pothole repairs, + they should pull their finger out & use development/gov money to widen the path sooner rather than later.
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Any use if I post some up to date ones over the weekend?
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I won't bother then - I'll just look at the 'carefully curated' pictures the obviously not-biased cycling fraternity post. What they don't show is that Abingdon - Culham is generally a solid jam from 7.45-9.30 with the reverse from 4-6.30, so a cycle lane is a positive. Keep it real...Gaz!
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No mate, I'm taking the piss out of a zealot who's stuck his oar in from 200 miles away.
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Yes - it would need work beyond the Culham Campus and there's no cycle provision as far as I recall from the Clifton Hampden turn up to Notcutts. Perhaps we need more cross-country routes like the Sustrans fro Abingdon - Thrupp Lakes?
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To be fair to whoever took the picture, you're seeing the very worst bit right at one end. If I get a chance tomorrow I'll take/post a few pics along the full length. I note it's difficult to judge from 200 miles away.
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It's different to cartwheeling too.
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Very fair points - would you use it more if it was widened/resurfaced as per the outline plan?
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I walked it today - both ways - mercifully safe from the 44 tonne lorries passing me on the narrow single carriageway beside me. 6 bikes passed me on the path coming from Culham to Abingdon (2 on road). The four bikes heading from Abingdon were all on the road. I'm an occasional cyclist.
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Yes without kids - I walked it today, and other than any overgrown bit at the end of the Causeway, it's fine, and less dangerous than competing with a 44 tonne artic.
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Absolutely no experience of marshaling a bike bus - my youngest is 25. I have both walked and cycled along the path many times though, ever since I first lived here over 30 years ago.
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I agree cyclists have a right to use the roads - and also have passionately activist keyboard warriors to support them. The point here is that there's an underused cycle path running alongside an arterial road. What's emerging is it's narrow and overgrown. But there's a plan to widen it. Great!
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You really have got your lucrative in a twist. Have a lovely day.
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They could walk, get the bus or cycle on the path. I think the Bike Bus is a great idea, and would work even better if the cycle path was cleared. I've just been along it and it's not anything as bad as the picture portrays - mainly one very overgrown patch toward the end of the Causeway.
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Yet people do cycle along it every day - though I would suggest no more than 40-50% of users. And I fully agree that at the Causeway end it needs to be much better maintained.
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See my previous response.
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Whereas your 'I've never actually been there' argument is meant to carry more weight? Take your helmet off and give your head a wobble.
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Maybe come and have a look before offering up unsubstantiated opinion. Ta.
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Have you used it?
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I'd far rather see the cycle path improved - using developer money and/or a tiny fraction of the government money being invested in the Culham Campus. Clearly the Causeway end needs widening, but many cyclists still ignore the perfectly good cycle lane from the school to the Culham Campus. Why?
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The path is there. The plan is there - the demand is only going to grow & motorised traffic is not going to diminish on the A415. Accelerating the pathway improvements is surely a win/win?
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If it was maintained properly, it would be much safer than the road. And if the widening plan could be implemented in this council cycle (no pun intended), it would be massively beneficial for all. I regularly sit in a Culham-Abingdon jam early evening that makes cycling on the A415 near-impossible.
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Crumbs, you are discontent aren't you? This is a matter of safety and utility. There's an existing cycle path beside this fairly narrow and windy arterial A road. However, the path's quite narrow so cyclists are choosing not to use it. There is a plan to widen the path - I thoroughly support that
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It's an existing cycle path on the north side of the A415 - with the expansion of the Culham nuclear science campus and plans for new homes, there's a plan to widen it. It would be excellent if action could be taken now, as the need is there at present and is only going to grow.
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Well, we now have a designated councillor @emilykerr36.bsky.social... For once, it would be good to get the infrastructure in first - not least as there's so much money being pumped into Culham too.
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Could the current path - designated/signed as a cycle path - be widened? Given the size and volume of traffic on the A415, it would surely be safer to separate cyclists from the motorised traffic.
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You have a cycle path, safe from traffic, all the way from Abingdon Bridge to the school. Isn't it a bit selfish, never mind less safe, not to use it? The bike bus could easily be strung out a bit longer with a marshall in the middle.
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Or that their shared racism isn't an issue in the Reform echo chamber, and only becomes one when it goes public and they are forced to realise their extremist views are not actually the societal norm.
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Interesting. I wonder what India's reaction will be and where this leaves the Trump/Modi relationship?
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I hope you're enjoying September.
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I've written about 24/25 marking experience on LinkedIn - majority of students (especially 1st Yrs) leant too far into AI in the worst-possible way. For those I've spoken to, it was often through a fear of failure/belief that Gen AI would deliver a better product www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...