Cycling campaigners in Darlington will today be mourning the passing away of a great bicycle advocate. Tim helped found Darlington Cycling Campaign way back in January 2005, and was a leading campaigner throughout our history, as so many posts in our archive show. Early in the campaign’s life, Tim was already leading tours of Darlington’s limited cycling infrastructure, like this one in July 2005.

In 2007, Tim and I cycled together to Bremen on a memorable journey that we documented for this blog. Travelling with Tim was always such a positive experience.

In 2008, Tim led some sterling work on cycling in the pedestrian heart of the town, working on a body of research that showed that there was little danger to pedestrians by allowing cycling. His efforts finally convinced the council to allow cyclists to cross the town through the pedestrianised areas.

But perhaps Tim will be more widely remembered for his cameo appearance in Beauty and the Bike. Taking the film to cinema screens across the world, the warmest smiles (and indeed laughs) came from the audiences as they watched Tim build a flat-pack dutch bike.  His unforgettable dialogue with my daughter Ellie:

Tim – “What’s the rule about pedals?”

Ellie – ” I don’t know. Use them?”

always produced a roar of approval from audiences. But Tim’s razor sharp analysis of the health benefits of cycling was also in there, delivered in his wonderfully clear and precise way. So here, an epitaph for all time, are Tim’s wise words. RIP, Tim.