Can anyone who has the knowledge explain about the damage to authorised trails and what's going on with it? Logging has at the very least severely altered the nature of the trails and if they're not already ruined, most will suffer really badly when the weather turns. I don't know if the Friends can even fix them but I've wondered for a while what sort of talks have gone on over the mess that's been made.
While I'm not in a position to speak about the machinations of the land owners and FOTH, there are differences in opinion about the use of mountain bike trails on Hurtwood land. Not from the landowners themselves or from FOTH personnel however.
BKB was always going to be a difficult trail to protect and the Forestry personnel did a reasonable job, an improvement over what happened to reservoir dogs last year. You will also note that no tree thinning happened close to the new ending of BKB, that's because it was Surreyhills AONB money that was used to build it and they wouldn't have been too happy if that part of the trail got damaged. So it got left alone.
We are also seeing more deer locally as they are being forced out by a landowner that claims to be leaving the area for air and exercise for all
On the contrary, once you start thinning out the forestry this gives more sunlight access to the forest floor and as a result more undergrowth will grow, resulting in an increase in the numbers of deer feeding on it. You are seeing more deer because of the increase of food.
It all seems to be managed a lot better at Swinley with Gorrick/Crown estate by comparison.
Swinley is partially paid for by having the lookout(Bracknell council)/go ape type stuff on crown land. Other money comes from the permit money that Mountain bikers should pay when they use the land, this covers insurance and Trail maintenance costs I'm led to believe.
Thats how i always thought it should be done! theres no evidence of replanting yet though
Replanting only happens a few years after the trees are cleared. Some of the areas that are now de-forested will stay that way.
oh and the amount of logging on winterfold is thoroughly depressing.
Only the top of Winterfold is looked after by FOTH. What the landowner does in his part of the woods is up to him.
Some of the trails have gotten so wide (e.g. BKB) that they could do with being closd for a bit.
As long as there is a decent attitude towards building/resurrecting trails after logging, then I'll remain a member.
There is a decent attitude from FOTH, now I know some will point out the recent closure of a trail on Holmbury hill, but FOTH has stated that no new trails are allowed to be built. The hills are for all users, not a free for all for mountain bikers.
With regards to whether you become/stop being a member, the money you pay will be used to fund the upkeep of the land for all users.
