Our Hometown
Warner | Community Trails
Clip | 3m 52sVideo has Closed Captions
Tim Blagden shares how Warner’s abandoned rails became a community trail vision.
After a family bike ride sparked his curiosity, Tim Blagden helped envision a new life for Warner’s defunct rail corridor. In this episode, he shares the story of collaboration with landowners and the dream of a 34-mile trail that connects community and conservation.
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Our Hometown is a local public television program presented by NHPBS
Our Hometown
Warner | Community Trails
Clip | 3m 52sVideo has Closed Captions
After a family bike ride sparked his curiosity, Tim Blagden helped envision a new life for Warner’s defunct rail corridor. In this episode, he shares the story of collaboration with landowners and the dream of a 34-mile trail that connects community and conservation.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Back in 2013, my wife and I were looking for a day activity to do with the kids, and, we went, we ended up going down to the Londonderry Rail Trail and having a fun time looking for that trip I discovered the Bike Walk Alliance of New Hampshire, saw they were looking for an executive director threw my resume in, and went for the bike ride.
And, I had no bicycling background.
I was in sales and business development in high tech for many years.
So I started, looking to see if there was a railroad corridor locally that could become a rail trail because there really a lot of fun for people of all ages and all abilities, and communities that have them just cherish them.
So I did discover that there was the former Concord and Claremont Railroad line here that was completely abandoned.
So we knock on a landowners door.
We say, this is your land.
We have no claim to it.
We will support your right not to work with us.
But would you like your back yard to be 34 miles long?
Maybe there's something to talk about here.
Maybe it's a chance for legacy project, so you could sell your property, but still be able to come back and visit this portion of it because you've donated an easement to the rail trail.
So our easements allow for the quiet sports.
So it's walk, run, bike, snowshoe, cross-country ski, ride, your horse musher, your dogs.
All of that's in the easement and explicitly excluded is motorized wheeled vehicles, because we're putting down a stone dust trail, and the torque and weight of the machine would rip up the surface.
So we want everybody to come, but just bring the right toy.
Like a lot of railroad lines, you know, the railroads needed to get to the town centers to pick stuff up from the mills and take people to the town centers.
These towns are located close to each other.
So our tagline is "ice cream every 45 minutes".
And if we get the trail built and you're riding a bike, you're going to come to another town center every 45 minutes.
Now it's just as true to, say, libraries every 45 minutes.
But it seems that ice cream gets people's interest and a 45 minute out and 45 minute back with a break in the middle.
Any family can do that.
So we think it's going to bring some tourism, local tourism dollars in, as we build it.
And then, with rail trails, if you get more than 100 miles of contiguous rail trail together, you don't get that many more people.
But what you get is overnight guests.
And there's, folks already that are commuting, on the rail trail.
We've got people who live down in Davisville who have work in Contoocook Village.
They take the rail trail.
One person who's got a business down there, he's got grandchildren at both ends.
He's helped us build gates.
In his welding shop.
And, you know, he rides the trail.
I see employees from, walking on the trail at lunchtime.
So it's a good commuter route, and it will just get better as we go, and get longer sections.
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