Bike rack closure during royal period of mourning has many scratching their heads

Locals are confused after Norwich Town Council posted signs closing bike racks for two weeks for the royal period of mourning. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8th, signs appeared on bicycle stands outside of Norwich City hall, saying they could not be used.

The sign read: “Advance warning. Royal period of mourning. If you leave your cycle here between these times it may be removed. We apologize for any inconvenience.” The notices did not say why this was done and but said bikes would be removed if locked there between September 9th until September 21st, the official period of mourning.

Because of the royal period of mourning, you can’t lock your bike to a cycle rack in Norwich. pic.twitter.com/QuFYmUizLj

— Jeremy Hutchinson (@Themightyhutch) September 11, 2022

Many on Twitter could not believe that the racks were unusable for two weeks. “Yeah okay, that’s stupid then. Unless there’s going to be a big crowd in Norwich during that time, then there’s no reason to close down a bike rack. If there was going to be a crowd, I’d understand it, but otherwise stupid,”
@saphelii posted.

@MulberryCoates was equally confused. “So it might be removed by, I imagine, someone actually working? And effectively not observing the gravity of The Period of Mourning? Schrodinger’s bike rack.”

According to a report in Metro, a Norwich City Council spokesperson said the decision was made to honour the late Queen. “As part of our careful and respectful response to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II we have closed one cycle rack outside City Hall which is within the designated area where people can lay their floral tribute,” they said. “The sign is in place to help ensure the flowers that people have so carefully laid in place to pay tribute to the Queen aren’t damaged by people accessing their bicycles.”
‘Similarly, a second bike rack outside City Hall is also closed as this is in the area where people queue to sign the book of condolence to the Queen,” the spokesperson said. “All other cycle racks in the city remain open, including those just a few feet away from City Hall. To clear up any misunderstanding, we’ve replaced the signs with new ones to make things a little clearer.”