Cumberland News: Cycle path named in memory of Harry, five years after he died

A Wigton pathway has been dedicated to the man who worked tirelessly to persuade the council it should be used by cyclists. Cyclist Harry Scott was killed five years ago while doing what he loved. He died, aged 47, when a car veered onto the footpath on the Wigton bypass near Waverton.

Now, a path designated for cycle use has been named in his memory. The cycle path running alongside the river and allotments from Burnfoot to Station Road will now be known as Scott Way. Town council clerk Elizabeth Key said: “Harry was instrumental in getting evidence for the county council, so that it would be declared a designated a restricted byway. “Normally people collect just a handful of forms to show people are using the path, but Harry got 50 – it was exceptional.

“It was finally declared a restricted byway two months ago, and many people now use it to bike to work.” The name is clear for all to see on a new wooden signpost. The occasion was marked at a ceremony on Monday night, which was attended by about 20 friends, family – including his proud son Chris, 25, and daughter Heather, 24 – and councillors. Harry’s widow, Elaine, of Kirkland Meadows, was presented with a salver by Wigton town council, which Mr Scott had been involved with in the 1990s.

Mrs Scott said: “When the path was closed he got a bee in his bonnet. He said the people of Wigton had always used it as a right of way and he was determined they would again. “It is quite an honour – not many people get a path named after them. He wouldn’t have expected it. He would just have been pleased and satisfied to get it open again.” Wigton mayor Donald Graveson said:

“Harry was a real traditionalist. He loved Wigton, he was born and bred here. “We thought it was fitting to name the path after him because it was his instigation.” A member of the Wigton Wizas cycling group, Mr Scott worked at the UCB factory, now Innovia Films, for 31 years, where he was said to do everything with a smile.