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Big Society Award for Herne Hill Velodrome

PM recognises efforts of locals and volunteers to keep open las remaining 1948 Olympic venue

Local residents and volunteers who saved the famous open-air Herne Hill Velodrome in south east London were recognised yesterday by Prime Minister David Cameron with a Big Society Award.

Herne Hill Velodrome was the last venue from the 1948 Olympics still operating and today is used by a wide range of cyclists from racers to school children learning to ride.

Three years ago local residents and volunteers got together with British Cycling to save the velodrome, which was facing closure due to resurfacing work required for the track. Led by local resident Hillary Peachey with a group of friends and Velo Club Londres, the ‘Save the Velodrome Campaign’ began in 2010.

A year later, more than 750 people attended a public meeting at Dulwich College to show their support, pledging time, money and commitment. Thanks to the contributions of The Dulwich Estate and British Cycling the resurfacing of the track was completed in 2011. Further improvements to the facilities, including track lighting, were completed in 2013 with funding from Southwark Council’s Olympic Legacy Programme.

The velodrome is now full to capacity with holiday clubs, open race meetings, sessions for local schools and sessions for the disabled - due to the efforts of volunteers from VCL and the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust, the charity set up to steward the full regeneration of the Herne Hill Velodrome site.


Herne Hill Velodrome has a sunny future thanks to the efforts of local people to save the 1948 Olympic venue (CC licensed by Yersinia/Flickr)

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “It is great that there is still a legacy from the 1948 Games in South London.

“Thanks to the hard work of local people and a bit of help from inspirational cycling heroes, cyclists of all ages and abilities can now enjoy using Herne Hill velodrome and maybe one day follow in the footsteps of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Chris Froome.

“Herne Hill velodrome is a fantastic london landmark and an excellent example of the Big Society.”

Hillary Peachey, Chair of the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust, the charity set up to help save the historic site, said:

“Thanks to all our partners, volunteers and supporters, we have completed two phases of the project. It is great for us all to be recognised by the Prime Minister for our efforts. We will launch a fundraising campaign in September for the third phase, the development of a new pavilion on the site. We desperately need new indoor facilities - space for specialised training sessions, for clubs and user groups, for showers and toilets, for changing rooms and for a cafe .

“The track itself is thriving and we want to inspire a greater range and ability of cyclists, from toddlers on balance bikes, women and disabled riders on hand bikes. What better 125th birthday celebrations could we have in 2016 than to celebrate the opening of a new pavilion?”

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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2 comments

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BearstedCC | 10 years ago
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Well done everyone who assisted saving the track...

Chapeau...

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antonio | 10 years ago
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Makes me feel like putting my name on the 'Save Herne Hill' petition was really worthwhile, great result.

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