SUSTRANS Millennium Milestone - Bishopthorpe, UK - Made for the Millennium on Waymarking.com

This milestone is on national cycle route 65, which stretches 136 miles and connects Hornsea on the east coast to Middlesbrough.

SUSTRANS is an organisation that promotes the use of cycles as a green form of transport. A national network of cycle routes is being developed in conjunction with local councils. Wherever possible the routes avoid roads, but in some places have to share the road network.

This particular section stretches between Riccall and the outskirts of York and was the first SUSTRANS route to be developed. Due to mining subsidence a section of the East Coast Mainline railway line was diverted. The North Yorkshire branch of the Cycle Touring Club raised a petition of over 1,000 signatures to convert the disused railway into a traffic free path. The petition was successful and Selby District Council carried out the work to convert the former railway line to a 7 miles long path. The path was completed in 1987 and since then SUSTRANS has in combination with other councils extended the network of paths throughout the UK. This particular path now forms the majority of the northern section of the 370 miles of the Trans Pennine Trail and as already stated is part of the National Cycle Route 65.

The Milepost

As part of the millennium celebrations 1000 mileposts have been installed at various positions throughout the whole SUSTRANS network.

Sustrans commissioned four artists from the four countries of the United Kingdom to design cast iron ‘Millennium Mileposts’, but each design was spread throughout the network rather than being only installed in the country of birth of the artist.

This English Style milepost was designed by Brighton based Jon Mills, entitled “The Fossil Tree”. The post takes the form of an abstract tree with relief imagery of fossils depicting the passage of time from early primitive creatures to the ultimate demise of fossil fuel driven technology.

SUSTRANS encouraged local communities to paint the milestones in a colour scheme of their choosing. In this case most of the milestone is painted black with highlights such as writing and the fossils picked out in a variety of colours.

This milestone is at the northern end of the original 7 miles of path, on the outskirts of York.

Can you tell us who created the item: Jon Mills Condition of the item: Great So what did YOU do for the millennium?: Attended a party Related web site: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To record a visit to a Millennium Waymark, please:

Take a photo of the item during your visit.

Describe your visit and what you thought about the item.

Please also mention what you personally did to mark the new Millennium. Was it a night to remember?

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.