[Closed] Calling South Manchester Riders (Trail Building/Advocacy)

Aye possibly. It'd just be on a turn up and dig basis though.

Potentially.

Any particular area that you have in mind?

Yes a potentially from me , I'm Stockport way. Where exactly is Mersey valley ?!

Maybe where you thinking?

Yeah count me in. I ride up and down the river from Chorlton area to Stockport a fair bit, I take it there's nothing along there already worth checking out?

There are some bits as you come west of chorlton but they are short and quite spread out. There is potential though so it would be good to know of any specific areas the o.p has in mind.

I was thinking a loop around
[url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4175314,-2.2687634,16z ]Kenworthy woods[/url] would be a good place to start. I'm hoping we'll be able to build in a number of similar locations if the Kenworthy woods trails get a positive response and we don't get into any bother with the dog-walkers etc.

I've walked the site a number of times, I reckon a decent, albeit small, loop (almost) could be made, which mostly avoids footpaths and doesn't require vast amounts of undergrowth removal.

Wasn't there a few bits of cheeky stuff near Cholton water park where the bridge crosses the river, I remember the council removed it all.

Great idea. There is already a bit of cheeky in the hilly bit in Kenworthy woods but it's 100m approx in length. There is also a bit of cheeky the other side of the m60 where the bridge crosses it from Sale Water Park.

OP can you give us more details on the location of the proposal?

Here's a [url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4179904,-2.2715253,16z/data=!4m2!6m1!1szra51KQjp3lw.k8ZmJWv4jDbI ]rough trail map.[/url] I haven't even thoguht about what features should go where, I figure that probably better done on the ground level with a few different inputs. This route avoids the environmental sensitive areas and can (kinda) be made into a circular loop, with some footpath linkage. Like I said, I've only had the early stages of council interaction, so this might be a way off.

that's about a mile from my house so it'd be rude not to!

That's not dissimilar to the Midweek MTB madness route, maybe, i'm not too sure, my memory is clouded by pain

So there is a slight gradient where your trail map hits the M60 and along the orange line - id make as much use of this as possible.

There was also a mountain bike race around there last year, i think it was one of the Red Kite Events. Perhaps consult them for some route info?

I run and cycle around there a lot so happy to help in any way I can.

Definitely interested. I ride round there a couple of times a week and there is definitely some scope for work. As above there's a fair bit of cheeky stuff but it's very soggy in winter and quickly overgrown in summer.

Email in profile if you want to start a bit of an email circulation.

Edit: might also be worth trying to get the support of that bike hire place next to Jacksons Boat (assume its still there) or maybe even NWMTB.

Will definitely be up for digging. What's your email?

Glad to see there's a good bit of interest. I'll start a facebook group tomorrow night and post a link on this thread. That way I don't have to spam STW with crud. I'm thinking the first informal discussion could be held in a week or so in the Horse and Jockey in Chorlton - sound reasonable?

Sorry but I don't do Facebook.

Also interested to help as not too far away, will keep an eye on this thread...

I'm interested in this as well - never done any building before but do own a spade :P. I live not too many miles away near Fallowfield.

Yeah, I'm keen to get involved, have had similar thoughts in the past.

Used to live round there and as far as I know most of that land through the mersey valley is old landfill. Be careful how far down you dig!

^ the landfill is north of the Mersey next to Chorlton water park. They are always capped with at least 1m of clay (or a gcl/hdpe barrier - but these weren't around when this landfill was built (I used to engineer landfills)).

Can't make a meeting to the H and J in the next two weeks as I'm away with work in Germany.

Alright, I've set up an email, so I can update people with progress and (eventually) dig days: southmanchestertrailsgroup AT gmail.com

If you drop me a line there, I'll make a list an you can receive a newsletter type update every so often, obviously sparingly since I don't want to spam everyone.

I'm still monkeying around with the facebook group, so I'll post that tonight. Even if you're not a facebook user, it'll be fully public so you should still be able to read everything posted there, for regular updates and related gubbins.

Nice one.

I've ridden around here for 20+ years and also live about a mile away, so happy to get involved. There use to be a couple of jumps in Kenworthy, and some raised wooded sections in between Chorlton water park and the golf course a good few years ago. They seemed well built but got pulled down fairly quickly. My only concern would be local scallies preying on people and even vandalising hard work.

v.interested, happy to support, live close by. will email you.

I'm up for this - will send an email.

P.S Would rather meet in the Beech than the H&J.....

I'll second the move to the Beech....

email sent....

Agree with HP, scallies could be an issues, but if we don't try then we'll never know, shouldn't let the idiots deter us.

Excellent, also not on Facebook, but will keep an eye if it's a public group you set up.

Email sent with details.

Maybe worth discussion at the meeting, but if folks approach things with an us vs them mentality then there will inevitably be issues. How about working with locals to get some of them digging or riding instead?

Good point rhbrhb, apologies if my post came over that way, would be interested to hear how you think we could approach that. As you say maybe a discussion to be held over a pint.

ha, i've lived in chorlton for 10 years and seen trails come and go around there, but always wondered about this kind of venture.
sadly, i'm moving to Horwich in the next few weeks so i don't think i can really join in (not much point when i'll have Rivi on my doorstep soon!).
best of luck with it, and yeah I reckon the scallies will be the biggest challenge...

You couldn't drag me into the faux middle-class H&J.

Beech and I'm in.

Scallies and locals are a different thing - I grew up on the Old Moat estate in Withington. Would be good to get the local yoot involved as much as possible.

Edward2000 - You might be surprised just how much of it is landfill-
EA Whats in your backyard linkage: [url= http://tinyurl.com/lvxmlz5 ]EA WIYBY[/url]

Without going into the detail, a few of them do have gas collection and there's no chance you'll [i]officially[/i] be allowed to dig them. If you find somewhere where all the trees are suspiciously the same age its a fair bet there's something unsavoury underneath.

Worth checking with the council first though...

^ Well I didn't know that!

Yes, would like to help. Nice idea this - it just needs a few branches and dead tree trunks moving out the way and there's potential for some fun and swoopy woodland trails.

Scaled - yes, Kenworthy Woods did form part of the Mid Week MTB race last year.

There are some parts of the woods further from the river, nearer the M60 that aren't as popular with walkers, could be a place to consider.

I've been riding round that area for few years, looking for new trails, etc..I sometimes think it's a bit dodgy, near to Northern Moor/Wythenshawe, but can't be any worse than Clayton Vale 😉

Never had a problem with scallies round there. TBH its mainly featureless that scallies would get bored walking towards it and head off somewhere else. I only ever had a problem with one set of scallies which led me to discover theres a social club on the canal side above part of the waterpark :laugh: Again- right at one end. The middle tends to get runners, bikers and walkers with dogs only.

Fair point Hora, I wouldn't want to put anyone off going there, and it's not as if I've had any problems living nearby for the last 15 years !

I hope the council considers this plan. There's already been some investment in the 'health walks' scheme around the Mersey, so branching that out for bikes would be great. There are also horse riders to consider around Kenworthy, and it's likely they'll share any trails with bikes, as I doubt the council would consider a dedicated 'bikes only' trail centre.

Better still, create a network of mini-trail centres, all linked by the Mersey towpath. That way you can even stop off at the 'beach' section near Didsbury for a paddle !

Never ridden there, been down the Mersey a few times! should be able to lend a hand. I'm well up for helping out any community lead Cheshire/Lancashire based trails.

About the chavs, I've never had a problem there, not really seen many of those types too when I've been on my bike or on foot. But I imagine, built it and they will come!

You'd expect to see droves of them around Velodrome in Sportcity- the only ones I saw were on nicer bikes than me 😐

So we'd be fine. Saying that theres a well known Mr Big who lives just up the road from the Mersey. He has a Border Terrier with a jewelled collar and is said to have killed many men in combat.

Only ride round the Mersey with the kids, trails a great idea to liven up the area, have emailed that gmail address.

Plenty of chavs about. Seen a fair few burnt out cars on the Bridleway under the pylons next to Kenworthy, and cars regularly get broken into on Fairy Lane as there's an easy escape route across uni footy fields and the M60 into Northern Moor.

Kenworthy wood always seems a lot quieter than the other areas around the Sale & Chorlton water parks, I wouldn't be too concerned about scallies.

Anyone seen the jumps that appeared in Priory wood last year?

Anyone seen the jumps that appeared in Priory wood last year?

There's still a couple there. On and off they've been built and rebuilt for the last two or three years.

I am from the other side of Manchester, but I am willing to help

[url=

e's the facebook pages.[/url] Hopefully, i can use this number of 'likes' on the page to demonstrate interest from local people in the project and convincethe council that it's a signficant group, and not just me wanting somewhere to practice my hobby on my jack jones.

There's likely to be more updates than via email, but I'll try and keep everyone updated with the important stuff.

Regarding scallies, the parks guy from the council said they had issues with motorbikes on the trails. Sometimes they'll saw through the barriers and stuff to get easier access. Obviously this isomething we want to discourage, hopefully our increased presence will help a bit.

Regarding the pub, I'm fine changing the location. I just picked somewhere ok and nearby. We can do a straw poll here or facebook.

Edit: I appear to be mistaken about the accesibilty of the facebook page to non-facebook users. I'll have to keep everyone not on facebook updated by email. Just drop me a line at southmanchestertrailsgroup@gmail.com to ask a question or sign up for the mailing list.

Me and my mates kids helped build the jumps in Priory Gardens. They soon get trashed really and could do with a bit of work.

joined

The first casual meeting of the Trails group will be at the Beech Inn, Chorlton on Wednesday, the 4th of March starting around 8.30.

Some people on facebook suggested a night-ride, but no details are forthcoming and I can't make it anyway. I'll update the time and starting point if/when those appears.

I imagine the group will be readily identifiable by a large concentration of Endura kit in one place.