Tree felling work to begin at Glentress this winter.

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Forestry Commission Scotland will be starting an eight month tree felling programme at Glentress Forest and is urging visitors to follow the diversion signs on biking and walking trails.
The work will be starting on the 20th October and continuing until May 2015.

Not very hard to miss, these things. Just be careful.

Throughout the works, the Commission will be working hard to minimise disruption to biking and walking trails but temporary trail closures will need to be put in place around felling locations.

Katie Jarvis, Recreation Manager for Glentress Forest, said;

“This is a very large programme of tree thinning which is aimed largely at improving the forest structure and its biodiversity. We plan to improve an area of forest equivalent to 100 football pitches.

“For public safety we’ll need to temporarily close off sections of our trails whilst we do this work. We’ll keep everyone updated on these diversions on our website and in the main car parks to the forest.

“We’d like to thank everyone in advance for their patience whilst the work is being carried out. “

The thinning out of the forest is necessary to increase the amount of light and space under the tree canopy. In turn, this encourages the trees to grow and allows new seedlings and plant life to thrive. Once the work is complete it will create a more open and welcoming setting for forest visitors and promote more wildlife in the forest.

The Buzzards Nest Car Park and the road leading up it will be closed from the middle of November to the start of the Christmas holidays. During this time there’ll be no access for vehicles past the Falla Brae Car Park, which will remain open.

During the felling, every effort will be taken to protect the trails from damage and once the work is fully completed all repairs will be made so that the trails are back to normal.

To keep up to date with temporary trail closures and diversions check www.scotland.forestry.gov.uk/forest-parks/tweed-valley-forest-park/glentress or http://www.7stanesmountainbiking.com/Glentress—Innerleithen

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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Comments (5)

    It’s just as well the bottom car park is so massive and has so much spare capacity eh. Ah, hmm.

    To be fair, end of November til January aren’t going to be that busy at GT. The overflow will hopefully deal with the additional traffic.

    We need to be aware that GT is a working commercial forest, and without the thinning we’d have more wind fall, and more trees over the trails.

    To be fair., the only way Glentress is going to be quiet over November December January is if it’s snowing. Then the tree felling will take longer, fingers crossed we don’t get snow. The car parking is a joke!!! The parking charges are the same. When using the overflow you can’t really use the changing rooms etc as they are to far away when your frozen cold and it’s pissing down with rain!!!!!. Perhaps if there were more trails they could manage the closures of the trails better. While am having a rant it would be great to see some trail maintenance done. At the moment it’s zero. The small kicker jumps have all now disappeared brake bumps ditches etc on the red & black routes have taken the flow out of trails so much!!!. Come on Glentress what used to be one of the best trails in the uk is now way down that list of trails. Spend our parking charges on the trails please.

    I’m gutted Ewok village has never been replaced and recently the hut just before it is now gone (I’m assuming it was rotten).

    Not just the hut and ewok village. Double x has had all the wooden steps removed and never replaced, the little bridge on deliverance which had the little plank to ride up it was replaced with what could only be described as wheel chair access. I remember hearing promises it would be all be replaced but in truth the blacks all but been abandoned for the last decade, Britney Spears and the boundary trail have standing water in them even in the dry spells meaning water logged boots for 10 miles when you should be enjoying the rare fast and dusty fun. How hard can it be to repair them? They managed to do it for that ever growing mud monster on the tower climb and that was just a few ditches needing dug off the side. Sorry bit of a rant, but had a bit of a soft spot for GT, could go there a few times a week but rarely bother now.

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