The National Trust recently launched a ‘Cyclists Welcome’ project, led by the Trust’s active travel advocate Zsolt Schuller.
The project aims to make cycling to Trust properties easier and more enjoyable. (We hope this also means safer and more accessible!)
Unsurprisingly, most people drive to Trust properties. This does not align with the Trust’s mission to protect the environment.
By supporting cycling, the Trust wants to help reduce emissions, ease pressure on car parks, make properties and places accessible to those who don’t own cars and, of course, make visiting more fun!
The ‘Cyclists Welcome’ project was the brainchild of Huw Davies, the National Trust Head of Data. In the summer of 2022, he took a sabbatical and spent the summer cycling to over 600 National Trust properties.
At each of the properties he visited he did a bit of mystery shopping, recording his experience of arriving as a cycling visitor.
Huw’s experiences highlighted that the Trust was inconsistent in welcoming cycling visitors. There was poor information and cycle parking was often hidden away or not fit for purpose.
Huw used this information to make the case for a role to create an improved and more consistent welcome to encourage more visitors, staff and volunteers to cycle to the properties and places in the Trust’s care.
This new role was filled in June 2023 by Zsolt, a transport planner specialising in active transport.
Zsolt has been working to develop a fuller picture of the current cyclist experience and the potential that different places have to improve their ‘welcome to cyclists’.
This might be through better pre-visit website information or improved cycle parking.
The Trust is currently in the ‘test and learn’ phase of the project and will be working to scale up across other properties and places during the coming years.
The project is split into three components:
Getting To – Improving pre-visit information and where possible working with partners such as local highway authorities and others, including Sustrans and Active Travel England, to create high quality active travel connections to places in the Trust’s care.
Arriving At – Installing secure cycle parking, opening new walking and cycle access points if possible and improving signage on properties.
In addition, it’s about raising awareness of the needs of a cycling visitor amongst staff and volunteers. Some local authorities are supporting the Trust with this, for example by providing cycle parking and grants for new facilities.
Now You’re Here – Around a dozen places have off-road multi-use trails, and some have cycle hire too. This is a great opportunity for the Trust to offer leisure cycling in an inspiring environment and to become active in cycling advocacy.
Research shows that a positive leisure cycling experience can be a good first step back into everyday cycling.
Zsolt stressed that it is important to be clear that the project isn’t going to be a quick fix and the Trust needs to collaborate with partners to identify funding to make improvements.
Teams on properties need support as they have lots to do and numerous priorities. The Trust is also working within the wider context of trying to improve their offer around broader sustainable travel.
The RCC’s Thoughts
Reading Cycle Campaign hopes this initiative supports people of all ages and levels of experience to have the opportunity to enjoy cycling as part of their National Trust visits.
This might be families with children, people using non-standard cycles or experienced cyclists wishing to pop in for coffee and cake.
Providing e-Bike charging facilities should also be considered. We appreciate this has some challenges; however, e-Bikes do allow more people to enjoy cycling longer and further, facilitate cycling with children on board, and are very popular with older cyclists! 😊
More than half of all National Trust properties are within four miles of a train station, so there is huge potential for integrated active travel. We just need train operators to offer more and better space for transporting bikes…
Overall, it is really good to see this bastion of conservation embracing the need for change in our travel choices. Let’s hope more organisations and businesses feel inspired to follow this initiative as cyclists certainly mean business.
Your Chance To Meet Zsolt At The RCC AGM
Luckily for us, Zsolt, who previously lived and worked in Reading, has agreed to speak at the RCC AGM in October. Come along to hear more about the NT’s plans and what’s available locally. Zsolt is also interested in hearing feedback on your experiences of cycling to National Trust properties. Send any comments to me at publicity@readingcyclecampaign.org.uk
Save the Date: Wednesday 15 October 2024
RCC AGM, 7pm at RISC
With guest speaker Zsolt Schuller, the National Trust’s Cyclists Welcome Manager
You’ll find out how the National Trust is embracing active travel as a key strategy to reduce car dependency and promote sustainability.
National Trust Properties You Can Cycle To From Reading
- Basildon Park – A stunning 18th-century house set in 400 acres of parkland and woodland trails
- Greys Court – A picturesque Tudor mansion with walled gardens and peaceful countryside walks
- Nuffield Place – The former home of Lord Nuffield, founder of Morris Motors, preserved just as he left it
- Maidenhead & Cookham Commons – Over 800 acres of meadows, woodlands, and riverbank trails
- The Vyne – A former Tudor palace with lakeside walks and ancient oak trees
You can plan your trip using these maps and routes as shown via the chart below:
More Resources To Help You Further
Reading Borough Council’s Cycle Routes Map: Offers downloadable and interactive maps showing cycle-friendly paths, gradients, and connections to key destinations—including National Trust properties like Basildon Park and Greys Court.
Sustrans National Trust Properties: Here are some local National Trust properties you can reach via NCN routes or connected cycle paths.
Komoot’s Top 10 Cycling Routes Around Reading: Features detailed route breakdowns with elevation profiles, surface types, and user tips.
Bikemap’s Reading Cycling Trails: Discover over 700 community-created routes, including loops to Basildon Park and The Vyne, with options for road, gravel, and leisure cycling.
Susan Children
RCC Publicity Coordinator
