Rode there this afternoon and the dh that runs down towards the village of Cranham with the little kicker jump at the bottom had alot of obstructions. Not a problem in daylight other than stoping every 10meters to clear the trail. More concerned for the night riders. All the turns had branches and trees pulled across the exits and the bottom jump had a whole load of dead trees pilled up on the landing. Just be careful in the dark.

It would appear to be the son / nephew / grandson of the new owners of the house by the saw mill who now own the land in the triangle above the sawmill including the Shrine. He was up there on Saturday pulling branches across the trails, snapping sapplings and pulling branches across the trails, and in one part off the main road had built a 3ft barricade of branches with a note pinned to it sayin “Stop trespassing on our land losers”. In a Childs writing. I removed the notes before it blew off and became litter. I have heard rumours they want people off it so they could arrange shooting over the land and put some pens down.

If tis keeps up either someone will get hurt or this lad will get a slap.

They are ok with dog walkers, ok with horses, ok with runners, just not bikes…..

Maybe some contact by Bigfoot MTB or similar body could be worthwhile. We have ridden these trails for over 20 years, they need to recognise it will be hard to stop.

just to add a load more land is up for auction, not sure where and whether it affects the riding, but there are some for sale signs up. It is towards birdlip and says woodland, farmland and buildings.

think it might be

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=07&salerent=0&pid=10011914

and as a comment, looking at the details it does affect the riding,

this sounds like Teachers and I didn’t think that land had been sold..

I’ve ridden down teachers a few time recently and someone had taken a lot of time and effort to try to block the trail – in my eyes causing a real hazard to peoples safety. I remember it happening a year ago too.

Veering a little a way from the main point of the OP

They still have a responsibility to protect the welfare of whoever is on their land .. whether legal or trespass

Why do you think it’s against (certain) laws to put glass on top of walls now?
Why do you think fenced off reservoirs still have to have loads of life belts.
Same reason it still makes headlines when a private individual decks a burgler in their own home.

My missus works in commercial insurance field. If it’s private land land and someone gets injured even in the act of trespass .. they’ll surely have to pay. unless they can prove appropriate care, warning and safety procedures are all in place. If anyone has a dialogue may well be worth pointing this out to the players in question.

Think of the comp on (god forbid) a cyclist with a broken neck. especially as there is a precedent of ‘public’ trail use

EDIT: check with council or environmental health.

Im off on a night ride tonight that way, so ill see what the deal is.

NB has all the felling been cleared from the racetrack yet?

not as of yesterday, but they are making progress and from what i saw they were clearing the path as they went. As for the section i mentiond, that indeed is not part of the new owners land.

Rode Cranham yesterday and the work continues to try and prevent us riding there. In fact it is spreading and the section of single track at the rear of the George in Birdlip has been affected too. The bomb hole near the gate a the far end had a massive log in the bottom,straight across the trail, luckily I saw it on the way up so moved it but would have ridden in blind and once committed to that there would be no way out. I would say this is getting pretty serious, without being dramatic about it that could break a neck or worse! be careful all, particular on night rides.

😯

Rode Cranham yesterday and the work continues to try and prevent us riding there. In fact it is spreading and the section of single track at the rear of the George in Birdlip has been affected too. The bomb hole near the gate a the far end had a massive log in the bottom,straight across the trail, luckily I saw it on the way up so moved it but would have ridden in blind and once committed to that there would be no way out. I would say this is getting pretty serious, without being dramatic about it that could break a neck or worse! be careful all, particular on night rides.

I dropped into that yesterday without a care in the world. Glad you got there before me! (I was on my way to Lecky at about 2.00PM ish…..broke my forks on the way back 🙁 )

How long has the more “official” sign been up at the end of the wall?

Just to add to the woes, I was up there yesterday morning, and got stopped by somebody who appeared to be from natural English nature or whatever they call themselves now. He was putting a sign up saying something about no bikes, he said to me that I cant ride in the woods anymore because there are too many tracks being made by bikes. I thanked him for his advice and rode off past his quad bike. This was abit further towards cranham corner where the road does a Sharp turn with the big house on the corner. Ho hum.

F***ing Wonderful!! Add in that the board of conservators are getting funny about Cleeve, this really is getting stupid.

So all the riders will now end up of Lecky the place least suited to hoards of riders!!

@mrmo
That’s exactly the problem with NIMBYs selfishly trying to keep mountain bikes off particular sites. Instead of dispersing bikes over as many sites as possible, thus reducing the pressure on all of them, it tends to concentrate riding on a limited number of sites.
Leckhampton Hill is also a S.S.S.I., so any action that Natural England is taking (as lookmanohands suggests) that pushes traffic towards Lecky should be seen in that context.
If any of the trails being ridden are bridleways, obstructing them is illegal. Likewise, deliberately creating hazards can render a landowner liable for any injuries. The difficulty is proving who has created the hazards.
Don’t let anyone drive you out of Cranham, or the surrounding woods.

Very true but it wont stop them trying.As you say they push it to fewer areas then they can ban it easyer.Just look at the way the Rupps went!!.Mind doesnt stop me using them either.So will still use Cranham least on a MTB you dont have a number plate.

Is this private land you’re talking about?

Is this private land you’re talking about?

er… some is private, some is common and some open access, all has decades of use by all groups.

excuse me i don’t know the area, and I agree about the silly & dangerous obstructions, and yes natural england are a pain that want to pickle the countryside as is is in their imagination, but is it private land that you are talking about onjecting to people trying stop the riding on.
If so, surely if the landowner wishes to allow free access, all well and good, if not, surely without a right of way they are within theor rights to say please don’t?

drillski, the land is a mix of common, private and open access, there are some bridleways but there is a more extensive network of other paths.

Alot of the area is SSSI in fact most of the riding in the Cotswolds is SSSI, basically the area is urban, farm or SSSI, and some bits more than one.

The problem is increased because the land in question at Cranham has been ridden and walked for well in excess of 20 years, i have documentary evidence of horses using the area in 1880.

Recently one area, Cranham has seen a change of owner and the new owner is trying to change the access. Natural England have designated one area the cotswolds commons and beechwood SSSI this is also referred to as Cranham. NE are owners of a lease on a different part of the wood, not sure who the owner is,it was under the auspices of the Diocese of Gloucester or Prinknash Abbey at one time.

So briefly, Cleeve Common, Common land, the board of Conservators are trying to change the access rules, this is currently being discussed with them, so hopefully an agreement can be reached. For those who have ridden the HONC, it is the open grass land that has featured the last few years.

Leckhampton and Charlton Kings Common, owned by Cheltenham Borough Council, i believe, though managed via FOLK a local group. There is a successful MTB relationship going on but it is not a bit area and an increase in use is probably not the best way forward.

Cranham/Buckholt Woods, this consists of a number of different plots all privately owned, one was sold early this year, a second is for sale, and a third section is currently under management of NE. The sold plot has seen the new owners try and ban mtbs, the NE part is seeing the same, and the third? time will tell. The woods as a whole have been used for years by walkers, cyclists and horses.

It would seem to me that someone is stirring things up in the background. It may just be a coincidence that there is a new landowner on part of the woods that I met last February – He quite clearly didn’t want us there and also blatantly lied about how much of the area he had bought – I had a look on line and quite easliy found a map of the area that he bought.

Anyway I would think someone has started to stir things up by getting support from local groups. First stop would be the Cranham Parish Council, attend thier meeting, raise a point about mtb’s in the wood. Next contact Natural Britain and raise concern over damage to trees etc by mtbs. Then something called the Cranham Corner Management Commitee (found them online). There’s probably nobody within these groups that supports mtb’s nobody to support us and slowly a movement begins to oust us from that area.

What’s needed is contact and representation at the Parish Council to start with and find out whats going on. I did have a look at thier website online but couldn’t find any meeting minutes to see if mtbs have been raised as an issue.

Did find a survey carried out by cranham residents in 2009 and one section had 49% against MTB’s in the woods and 51% was split into didn’t mind or were supportive.

I would put it down to the new land owner who is probably very aware of how to get what they want in the countryside. Parish councils carry alot of power and lots of influence/contacts. Gain their support and things can happen.

But then again that works both ways. 😉

now you mention it there was always one bloke down by cranham corner who was always a little agressive.

and are parish meeting minutes on the record, can they be requested?

mrmo, you sound like you know a thing or two. I’m concerned about loosing Cleeve access as I ride there regularly. You say that it’s been discussed with the board of conservators, do you know who’s representing cyclists?

currently discussions are going on between cheltenham and county cycling club and the conservators (or their agent), the concern is plant and animal life and there being a potential for damage being caused by riding off the main bridleways. (of which there are actually very few)

Update;

All,
Some of you will be aware that the recent change in ownership of some land within Cranham Woods has resulted in some of the long established MTB tracks coming under threat from closure. I have been on a bit of a fact finding mission to see what the state of play is and how we can minimise any loss of trails in this area.

Which area of Cranham are we talking about?
Coming from Birdlip, where the road splits, taking the right turn to Painwick (Buckholt Rd), the area starts here, on your left, and continues all the way down past the Sawmill, the Little Red House and to the post box on the left where there is a turning. I’ve linked the start and end below.

For those familiar with the trails, this includes “The Shrine” and the twisty DH trail that comes off it and the short section from the Sawmill to the open area where there are signs for no fly tipping / dumping. There are also tracks that cut through here from when you come from the Campsite direction and cross the Slad road into it.

Why has this situation recently arisen?
This land has recently been purchased and the new land owner who is not in favour of Mountain bikes using it. This is combined with Natural England’s displeasure having a duty to look after it as it forms part of the Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods SSSI.

Do cyclists have a right to access this land?
Others may have their opinions and know more on this but there are no legal rights of way for cyclists, although walkers are allowed some form of access by right (I think). Put simply, this is private land and the owners do not want us using it, although they have expained the reason for this as environmental concern.

What contact has been made with the owner / Natural England about this?
I have spoken to Mrs Tyson who now owns this land (with her Husband). She was appreciative that someone from a cycling group has made contact with them as it gave her an opportunity to explain their reasons. It appears it is the large quantity of MTBers that are using the trails that is the issue. She is concerned that track construction is uncontrolled and damaging to the woodland. The digging of some jumps there is a big concern. I have suggested that we could assist their duty to help conserve the land by assisting with work parties to clear unwanted scrub and other work they need to do. Natural England’s rep Paul Hackman is also concerned about the damage to this SSSI.
The response I got from Mrs Tyson was that they were not prepared to negotiate and if we wanted to, come back to them in a couple of years when things had calmed down.
I have got the address of the Tysons for reference so we can make a formal appeal to them.

So what now??
Signs are apparenetly being put up by Natural England stating no cycling in this area.
Policing this ban will be nearly impossible by the land owner although they could try and tear up the trails / block them.

However….
I think we have, as a responsible organisation, a duty to do our best to work as hard as possible towards an amicable solution. The Tysons will soon see over time that trying to alienate riders from tracks they have enjoyed for many many years will only cause themselves and riders hassle. The way I see it, if we can get agreement (and possibly financial backing from the club) to have a select number of tracks to ride there we make them as sustainable as possible and this might mean importing stone onto areas that traditionally “bog up” and then some signage indicating where riders are allowed to ride. We can have regular meetings with the Tysons to hear concerns thay may have and help out with some non-bike related conservation work there too.

We can’t force riders to stay clear of this area until such time we have a mutually beneficial agreement in place (if we get one…) but I think we should at least make riders (club and non-club) aware of the current situation. If we as riders start getting ugly about it, it jeopardies our chances of settling this in our favour.

I will be speaking to the Club Committee about making a formal representation to the Tysons and at least getting a meeting arranged so we can argue our case.

I will be liaising with Bigfoot MTB who I know built many of the trails in this area and seeing what their opinions are on this. If anyone is aware of other “clubs” or “groups” that regularly ride this area, please let me have their contact details and I will inform them.

This is not for me to decide, but I think it would be prudent to avoid the area for the time being on club (or non club) rides. I’ll leave that decision to individuals.

Cheers, Roger.

One of the locals went up there today to get a feel for what was going on and the affected areas are a lot bigger than initially thought and basically covers nearly the whole of the woods. Natural England is putting signs up saying no MTBing or a £20,000 fine and people walking who spot bikers should report them to the police.

This link shows where – basically anything within a black line

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006044.aspx

The local club is looking to work with the owners etc via an amiable approach to try and show them that we’re actually not that bad. So please if you can try to not to piss them off for the time being.

Thats pretty well every area of Cranham covered then, no more local riding…..

Natural England are a PITA, can’t we get CallMeDave to abolish them 🙂

What mandate do they have for their actions ?
Who appoints/elects these people ?

Goz – just reminded me, phone auto dialled you yesterday while it was in my pocket. How’s things though?

Pretty good mate, elbow doing fine, but no mountain biking quite yet….sticking to the road bike and the turbo……long time no see, how about a local ride, say Cranham!

Lol! Yeah, stealth mission!

I’ll pop by soon for a catch up

Just an idea, if they ban mountainbikes from the woods, how about riding them on a cross bike…..it could be the future.

Well night riding is the best way to experience cranham anyway.

To get the “true” night time experience of Cranham you dont need a bike, you might bump into one instead 😆

i hadn’t meant that sort of riding.

If anyone rides as a group/club in cranham and wants to support the effort to retain access drop me a line for more details – barnt at hotmail dot com

Isn’t that half the problem, large groups of bikes using the woods? Clubs like Bigfoot, cheltenham and county etc performing ‘trail maintenance’ to improve trails. Small groups of riders are not going to attract much attention but 15+ mountainbikers (I’ve been confronted by this many before) are gonna raise more than just an eyebrow from the red socks. Keep the numbers small, no more digging, business as usual!

Maybe this is the group/forum we need to engage with and gain representation on?

Gloucestershire Local Access Forum

Meeting attendees seems to be made up of land owners & rights of way users along with council reps. Minutes at the bottom of the page list points of discussion and problems at coopers hill, leckhampton etc.

Their is also a LAF Members profile doc of who sits on the forum and their background.

Last meeting was on the 13th October but those minutes are not on view yet. I’m guessing that Cranham may very well be mentioned there. It also states several new members recently appointed, would be interesting to find out who they are?

They also seem to be in discussion with Natural England.

Anyway here is the link:

http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3819

I am representing CC-CC over this issue and welocome other groups to make contact. Bigfoot are aware. I am liasing directly with Paul Hackman from NE and Before All Hope Is Gone (like a bit of Slipknot..)let me exhaust this avenue. I have worked with Cheltenham Borough and FOLK over the Leckhampton trails and we have a good relationship. We are working with the Cleeve Hill Conservators over access there as well, as this has come under fire recently. Once NE know that bans cannot be enforced, they should see sense, but no guarantees. To avoid confusion, we are not being BANNED, just from the network of secret trails. We can still legally access via bridlepaths, but who really wants to just do that. Not me for sure. Please do not enflame the situation by letting it get ugly out there and try (if you can) to avoid riding the tracks until we can get an agreement drawn up. This is no way lost just yet.

Well looking at the profiles not a lot there to make a cyclist feel hopeful. I mean the bathurst estate its about as anti cyclist as I have come across,

I have spoken to someone from Gloucestershire PROW and they have given me the Chair of GLAF so we as a club can write in with our concerns. Unfortunately their next meeting isn’t until Feb 2012. Apparently a Graham Boking is a MTBer and is on this GLAF, not sure what he is doing for us though. I will aim to get myself on it on riders behalves.

Link to GLAF.
The cyclist doesn’t appear to be a mountain biker and so I suggest we get some representation on this group ASAP.
http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3819