Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 128 total)
  • Country File NOW -Greenlaning!
  • stumpyjon
    Full Member

    They’ve just done the case for Green laning with a very nice elderly gent who likes to ‘drive in autopilot’ in his Landrover. Fir balance the case against is coming up.

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    All it highlights is just how out-of-date pretty much all our countryside access laws are! I mean, having banned 4x4s from pretty much 99% of the off orad network, people are now surprised that drivers of these vehicles (and mountain bikers too) are taking to “illegal” trails instead……..

    (not to mention the fact that the vast majority of people seem to think that “muddy” is equivalent to “destroyed” (the so called “chocolate box” countrysiders as i call them (who generally live in the town and like to drive out to perfectly manicured parts of the countryside in their cars, and go for a short walk making sure their inappropriate shoes don’t get muddy) For example, take the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire, how muddy do you think that was in say 1650, when it was used to move 150,000 cattle and sheep a year between market towns??)

    geoffj
    Full Member

    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist
    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist
    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Getting the Godwin in early there!

    Comparing the plight of this lot;

    to the Holocaust seems a bit ridiculous.

    Nick
    Full Member

    Thought my brother in law did a good job with Ellie and the Black Grouse.

    oldnpastit
    Full Member

    The Ridgeway used to be really unpleasant until they banned 4×4’s from it. Massive ruts put in by people charging around.

    I suspect 150,000 animals wouldn’t actually do that much damage: compare the horse-power of say, a horse, to that of a 4×4….

    nickc
    Full Member

    And of course in the days of livestock movement by droving (and before the enclosure act) the ridgeway wasn’t just the 5m wide track at the bottom of the ridge it is now.

    green laning is a anachronism

    geoffj
    Full Member

    Thin end of the wedge innit.

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Thin end of the wedge innit.

    John Craven has just annexed Poland, as it happens.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Thin end of the wedge innit.

    not even close.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    I’m in the thin end of the wedge camp here. 4x4s have a right to use (some) green lanes, and are facing pressure to stop in many places due to conflict.

    We have a right to ride bridleways, but come under pressure in areas of conflict…..

    tuffty
    Free Member

    Where was that trail in the Peak District where that lady was interviewed stood by the gate? Looked interesting

    onlysteel
    Free Member

    20 years ago the Ridgeway was a hideous, rutted mudbath to be avoided.

    nickc
    Full Member

    20 years ago the Ridgeway was a hideous, rutted mudbath to be avoided.

    For a couple of months a year at worst 😆 and bits of it were kinda fun, although TBF it is much better now they’ve banned vehicles

    JAG
    Full Member

    We (4×4 and MTB’s) are all in the same boat as it were.

    Countryside access is a big issue and if we don’t all stand together we’ll all lose out.

    CaptainFlashheart – talk about missing the point 🙄

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Countryside access is a big issue and if we don’t all stand together we’ll all lose out.

    I agree in full, and I’ve not missed the point. I have made the observation that comparing land access with the Holocaust is utterly, utterly ridiculous. Bordering on offensive, in fact.

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    The local council have spent god knows how much money trying to improve the drainage of the brown lane opposite me because it gets constantly chewed up by plonkers in 4x4s ‘living the dream’. There’s more technical challenge driving up the pot-holed road to get to it,than can be had driving down it.
    If it’s the ‘thin end of the wedge’, then someone lend me a ****-off big hammer to smash it home.

    iain1775
    Free Member

    Where was that trail in the Peak District where that lady was interviewed stood by the gate? Looked interesting

    Top of the track that goes from Brushfield down to the Monsall trail and Upperdale near Monsall Head
    Here – http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=417895&y=371782&z=115&sv=417895,371782&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=791&ax=417895&ay=371782&lm=0

    It’s a pig of a climb in the Vertebrate White Peak mountain biking book, Cheedale and the Wye Valley ride, as a descent, yes it would be very interesting, it’s steep and very rocky

    geoffj
    Full Member

    First they came for the 4×4 drivers
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a 4×4 driver
    Then they came for the off road enduro riders
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a off road enduro rider
    Then they came for the horse riders
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a horse rider
    Then they came for the mtb riders
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a mtb rider
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me

    nickc
    Full Member

    We (4×4 and MTB’s) are all in the same boat as it were.

    No, we’re not. Don’t be lumping us together in an effort to put the fear up, or get cyclist to support the cause of 4×4’s.

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    ^^Lame poetic recreation^^

    tuffty
    Free Member

    Thanks Iain 1775

    monksie
    Free Member

    “Because I was not a mtb rider”

    You’re on the wrong web site fella

    geoffj
    Full Member

    No, we’re not. Don’t be lumping us together in an effort to put the fear up, or get cyclist to support the cause of 4×4’s.

    Where should the line be then? Engines, wheels? You’re being very naive.

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Where should the line be then?

    The Polish border, perhaps?

    nickc
    Full Member

    where should the line be is easy, you said it yourself, engines.

    People want peace and quiet, when was the last time you saw a plan for any bit of BW that actively encouraged 4x4s? Councils are falling over themselves to provide cycling provision…Have you noticed how popular it is?

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    No 4×4 access without land owners permission works well in scotland.

    And thats from someone who goes offroad in his offroader.

    I would hate to see billy bob and joe attop a hill in their 4×4 having to put in effort to see the scottish country side is a good thing even if that is just paying the land owners a large sum of cash

    geoffj
    Full Member

    Councils are falling over themselves to provide cycling provision…Have you noticed how popular it is?

    Councils don’t provide cycling provision – at best they stick up a few signs and employ an access officer.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    I think geoffj is making a valid point, surprised your not getting it Flashy, not like you.

    I don’t like noisy 4x4s chewing up the bits of the countryside they are allowed on, but I’m reluctant to support excessive restriction of them because the same arguments can – and have – been levelled against MTB use in places.

    And as for councils encouraging general off road cycling provision – not talking about tourist trails, trail centres or multi user resurfacing of bridleways – I’m not seeing any round here.

    Nipper99
    Free Member

    Our does, CC Swansea and Sustrans have a great job in upgrading the Swansea Valley cycle path – even have a direct link specially built to connect our village, all tarmac and properly signed.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    So not actually encouraging MTBing then?

    Which I think is the point we are trying to get across.

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    FFS, I do get the point, I just very strongly disagree with the delivery method!

    Comparing it to the Holocaust is utterly stupid.

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    Using the Holocaust verse was trite, maybe. If he’d posted the second version in the first place, that would have been clever (imo)

    And you do seem grumpy today? International demand for paper clips not what it was? 😉

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    And you are do seem grumpy today?

    Yoda? Is that you?

    orangeboy
    Free Member

    The 4x4s are limited to a very small amount of the rights of way network
    And imo the motor bikers us and the 4×4 should make an effort to work together for our access

    There will always be tossers who spoil things no matter if they ride a bike or drive but do not apply that to all

    ollybus
    Free Member

    Was speaking to a green lane motorcyclist the other day. He put forward an interesting point…where do we stand with electric enduro bikes?

    slowoldgit
    Free Member

    I remember the Ridgeway being rutted such that it was unrideable. And it presented risks of broken legs to walkers and horses, the deep winter ruts having dried and hardened into something close to concrete. So their ‘sport’ left the route unuseable by others.

    Using the holocaust is either offensive, ignorant or both.

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    Wanting peace and quiet in the countryside is fair enough, but it’s not going to happen when it’s where our food factories and quarries are located.

    However, it’s not unreasonable for most recreational countryside users not to have their days ruined by the noise from the relatively small numbers of recreational offroad motorbikes and vehicles. The solution: carry on greenlaning, but electric only from now on.

    Edit: cross posting with ollybus.

    nickc
    Full Member

    but I’m reluctant to support excessive restriction of them because the same arguments can – and have – been levelled against MTB use in places.

    I know of at least 4 places where 4×4 have been banned (Oxfordshire, Kent, Wales and Lakes) where the banning was specifically because of the excessive damage that lots of 4×4 did, and in all cases the relevant authorities were quick to point out that it was business as usual for everyone else, walkers horses and bikes. They simply don’t see MTBs in the same way as 4x4s, the whole “it’s us now, then it’ll be you” is propaganda put out by 4×4 groups.

    orangeboy
    Free Member

    The counrty side is a working place , not just an attraction for those that don’t live there

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 128 total)

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