Kentish Express Ashford & District
Cycle route keeps mum’s memory alive
Jane Blatt, Patrick Keegan, Nick Keegan and Sheila Webb sit on one of benches in memory of Catherine ‘Catha’ Keegan, right A cycling promotion group is offering grants to encourage people to get on their bikes.
The Catha’s Seat Group is offering up to £500 to schools, individuals and community groups which promote use of bicycles on the Ashford to Canterbury section of National Cycle Route 18.
Organiser Nick Keegan, 31, said: “The awards can be for those using it as a training route and need money for helmets and high-visibility jackets.
“Or it can be for handcycles for people with disabilities.”
The launch took place last Saturday at the third annual Catha’s Seat picnic, which was attended by 85 people.
Catha’s Seat, near Chilham, consists of two sculptured oak benches with built-in cycle stands.
They are named after Mr Keegan’s mother, Catharine ‘Catha’ Keegan, who was involved in the planning of the local section of Route 18. She strove to create safer cycling passages and encourage their use.
The picnic is held for people to discover the route, as well as the enjoyment and benefit of cycling and walking in the countryside.
Mrs Keegan, from Wye, died of lung cancer, aged 54, in July 1998, but in 2013 a resurfaced section of the route, off the A28 between Godmersham and Chilham, was opened.
Mr Keegan and his father Patrick, now 71, decided to have the seats put up in her memory.
Mrs Keegan had been a keen cyclists who had been commissioned by the charity Sustrans to survey Route 18 to help make it a safer off-road and traffic-free path.
The Catha’s Seat Group was set up after she died to continue her work and the awards give grants between £100 to £500.
It is given to those that promote Route 18 as a safe passage to schools and workplaces, for people with disabilities, for health and leisure and as a sustainable form of transport.
Nick, who grew up in Wye, is now an energy consultant who lives in London.
For further details of the Catha’s Seat Group, and its new grants scheme, visit www. cathas-seat.org