661-Pete wrote:Should we perhaps, rather, be campaigning for these trails to be reinstated as railways?
Eventually, probably, but cycleways are cheaper and protect the corridors from further erosion by enclosures and building. At first, they'll probably become single track railway with a cycleway alongside, then when there's enough people for double-tracking, there should be some nearby carriageway we can recycle into the diverted cycleway!
Most of the converted railways round our way, I can't really cycle on, because I only have a couple of road bikes and the surface isn't suitable. But they certainly make excellent routes for the properly-equipped.
It varies wildly. The stretches in West Norfolk and Norwich City boroughs are tarmacked, but the stretch in Broadland district includes small-fist-sized gravel, deep sand and dirt track in places which IMO are not road-bike/all-weather but others disagree with me on that. I really want us to get more routes and more of the existing ones upgraded to all-weather.