Oh my god, Lord Nobham has far too much money and time to be persuing this with tracking people down and sending letters & wasting the time of the police who should be out catching real criminals like the chavs that broke into my neighbours last week.
Crazy as the majority of mtbers are law abiding citizens living within his parish!!
I saw something about 6 months ago in the stourbridge news where he was having a moan that riders are using Wychbury hill and the trails and that he was against it,trying to get them blocked off etc. on the premis of damaging/eroding the hill/trails, i get the feeling he thinks mountain bikers are all chav yobs, i have been riding the area for the last 20 years, & think this is a step too far, really cant be done with people trying to restrict you from using what is countryside for all to enjoy…
How the hell did he find out where you live? did you park a car close that they got your reg via a camera? or maybe they have spys in the woods of some sort?
He is currently trying to sell off land to get about 200 houses built in Hagley to fund upkeep of his mahoosive house, i personally have signed the petition and hope he doesn’t get his way, hopefully in an ideal world at some point he will run out of cash & the house will be bought by the National trust, there is so much of his estate that is out of bounds to the public, like pretty much one whole side of Clent hills, all with an elec fence around apparantly to protect deer inside…it should be opened up for the public to enjoy like the rest of Clent.
As for Clent it needs a designated all weather trail putting in there as there are so many good trails, but the NT dont like riders it seems….there were some great hidden trails but the last time i went up the NT have cut down huge trees to block off all the fun stuff.
So your left to bridleway riding though 1ft deep of horse shit!
On a separate note my mate got bitten by a dog up there the other night, the owner thought it was attracted to the bike light, then thumped my mate stating he had no right to be up there on a bike at night !!
Next thing police will be thinking that bike lights are UFO’s or something…(yes, that was in the recent press too).
Clent can be quite scary night riding alone, especially when you know about the Devils Huntsman.
An old story states that Harry-Ca-Nab, the devils huntsman, kept his pack of hounds at nearby Halesowen – (‘hells-own;’ perhaps in Dog Kennel Lane)? Riding on ghostly white bulls Harry-Ca-Nab and his pack hunt wild boar and lost souls over these hills. Those who climb the slopes at night in search of extraterrestrial encounters and UFO’s witness only Old Scratch and his companions reel across the heavens.
Its even been in Doctor Who so it must be true!
Checking through his memories the Doctor recalls the legend of the Devil’s Huntsman hunting lost souls on the Clent Hills.
http://www.drwhoguide.com/whobb936.htm