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A blue plaque was recently unveiled at Coventry Rugby Club's Butts Park Arena to celebrate the life of Eileen Sheridan (1923-2023). Sheridan was a competitive cyclist who raced with Coventry Cycling Club, and set a total of eleven records. Her time of 20 hours, 11 minutes and 35 seconds to ride between London and Edinburgh - set in 1954 - is still yet to be broken.
Butts Park was Coventry's Velodrome between 1879 and 2001, where Sheridan trained and raced. Coventry Rugby Club were based there in their early years, returning in 2004 after the closure of the velodrome and construction of the club's new stadium.
Pictured above from left to right:
Also pictured is Sheridan's 1954 Hercules Maestro cycle, kindly brought to the unveiling by Coventry Transport Museum.
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British Cycling in partnership with Coventry City Council will be providing cycling activities for children during half term. If your little one needs help riding a bike, or just improving confidence, the sessions below may be just what you need!
- Wednesday 30 October, 10am - 6pm – free drop-in session at Daimler Powerhouse, bikes provided
- Thursday 31 October – Cycling included in daily activities at On Side holiday club, Walsgrave (bikes provided, booking required)
In addition to our popular and ongoing adult cycling training scheme, Positive Youth Foundation is hosting a ladies-only cycling session. This session is free with bikes and equipment provided, and all abilities are welcome.
The next session takes place on 27 October at 10am in Foleshill
Positive Youth Foundation (PYF) are also hosting free family cycling sessions soon. These will take place on 9 and 16 November.
There will be an open session for all the family on each day, followed by dedicated sessions for children and young people. All sessions will require booking.
Sessions will provide an opportunity for people to learn to ride – or just practice – with help from coaches and their peers. Doctor Bike will also be in attendance on each day to carry out minor repairs free of charge.
Booking is not yet open, but keep an eye on PYF's event page.
Get to grips with mechanical gripes by coming along to a free Learn to Fix event. An expert cycle technician will help you learn how to carry out your own repairs.
These sessions are provided by Cycling UK as part of their Big Bike Revival initiative.
- 25 October, 10am - 12noon - Broadwell Heights, Westwood Heath
- 30 October, 10am - 6pm - Daimler Powerhouse, Sandy Lane
- 8 November, 10am - 12noon - Edgwick Park, Foleshill
Get your squeaky brakes tweaked for free at a local Doctor Bike session!
Minor mechanical issues can be fixed quickly and for free at one of Cycling UK's upcoming Doctor Bike sessions, led by an expert cycle repair technician.
Transport for West Midlands is offering eligible people 300 free minutes usage of the Beryl Cycle Hire scheme.
This offer is open to:
- Full-time students
- People on low income
- People not in education employment or training who are supported by an organisation
Transport for West Midlands are asking local people in Coundon, Foleshill and Hillfields about street issues in their area. The process is community-led, and findings will be reported back to the council for consideration in future work.
Take a look at the engagement sites below, and have your say:
The engagement is open until the end of November.
Whether it’s better roads, improvements to parks, support for carers or helping people who become homeless, there are services in Coventry that are more important to different people.
Councils across the country are battling rising prices and increasing demands on their services and Coventry is no different.
This adds to the pressure on the 700 services we deliver every year.
At the same time, as a Council, we know that we cannot do everything we would really like to, but we can make sure that we give everyone the opportunity to have a say in how we build our budget for 2025 and 2026.
That’s why we want to get feedback from you, about where to focus our spending.
We would like to hear your views about the things that concern you and your family; to help us understand where we should focus resources as we work to improve lives across our city.
We have put together a survey to help us understand from Coventry residents your views and ensure they are embedded into our future financial plans.
If you can spend a few minutes to respond to us, we would love to get your thoughts.
For information on learning to ride, routes, bike shops visit www.coventry.gov.uk/cycling
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