For anyone in scotchland Laggan is shutting down at the end of oct….they’re planning a bit of a goodbye hurrah( do you call it that?) should be a bit of pr flying about it as the plans develop..the weekend of the 21st

Thanks for the nice bacon roll Gail….I’ll miss you when you’ve gone

What exactly do you mean Laggan is shutting down? The cafe/shop not the whole centre surely?

Yep the cafe and shop….

That.

In fact, there are moves afoot to build more trails, a new cafe, a camp site and other facilities.

Is there any more news on the replacement/new facilities?

Does appear I have that day off, need to go up and pay my respects.

Yep the cafe and shop….

Righto, the OP is slightly misleading! 🙂

According to the cafe owner there’s no plans but who knows….it’s a great place and deserves better facilities….

So the good bits are staying then…..

Sorry didn’t mean to mislead….. Just thought it could do with a plug on here…

New visitor centre plans are afoot, but running very very slowly

http://www.lagganforest.com/projects.asp

Uplift already stopped running 😥

Yeah was up there a few weeks ago and it looks pretty run down facility wise, hope they don’t go down the Glentress road, bit ott for me prefer it to look a bit more rugged than hotel toilets and costa style cafe. (my opinion) 🙄

Totally agree, I’m happy with the trails but the small commercial site that grew at the bottom of Glentress is a bit out of place. I like MTBing partly for the feeling of being in the wild, not the feeling of following a manufactured route in a giant bike park.

But you went to Glentress?

Yeah it’s the easy option with friends who don’t cycle much. And it’s fun, but it does feel a bit…manufactured. The problem I worry about is that the more trail centres get expanded and the more accepted they become, the less accepted people will be on natural trails. Call me paranoid, but it’s basically happened that way with kitesurfing. It was considered risky and people (in England) started getting together and saying “as a club/society/group we’ll stick to using this beach mainly”, then a year later it was “but you’re dangerous to other users, can you stick to this bit of that beach?”…yeah…now it’s “you’re banned from all beaches but this one”.

When the West Highland Way was first proposed in Scotland there was an outcry from the hillwalkers, climbers and ramblers worried that having such defined trails would result in an erosion of the “right to roam” which had been taken for granted and that we’d all be shepherded down these defined corridors.

We know how that panned out 🙂

I can take or leave trail centres but there is no doubt that they are a great introduction to mountain biking and a fantastic place to hone ones skills.

Wish I shared youre optimism. Biking is already being cut down left right and centre across England in places where historically there have been great trails with little care from the landowner. Same attitude prevails with cycle lanes on roads – you’re meant to be in there, don’t ride here. I guess the big difference with walkers vs landowners in the countryside in scotland is walkers were large in number relative to landowners and most of the public felt they could be walkers. MTBing isn’t a sport all feel they could be and most adults seem to think of it as a kids sport, so I don’t think it gets quite the same support.

Not sure I agree with that. We are seeing more and more trail centres – Golspie, Laggan, Glenlivet, Grantown and even the Innerliethen Uplift – being developed by local communities as they attract “tourist” spend. Mountain Bikers are relatively well-off and spend a lot when they visit – certainly more than the walking/climbing crowds. On top of that there are things like signposted cycle routes – e.g. the English C2C. I don’t think the businesses along that think of it as a kids sport.

Say “scotchland” again. I dare you.

What happens if you say scotchland more than once?

an angry ginger lunges out of your mirror and spits irn bru at you?

Nick – Member
What happens if you say scotchland more than once?

Another swing voter decides to go with Mr Salmond’s way and it becomes more likely that people from Englandshire have to bring their passports to use the expanding and excellent mountain biking facilities in Scotland!

I love it when someone brings some witty nationalistic humour to an otherwise unhelpful thread about mountain biking in the highlands. ‘Scotchland’. Brilliant. I am struggling to keep my haggis porridge down it was that funny.

Yeah got to admit it’s a good place for newbs but doesn’t represent the majority of trails and can leave people expecting more from other trail centres, also IMHO I think they have made it too easy, Smoother surface than the fire road? no rock section and all the red feels a bit samey, I think laggan has got is good mix on it’s trails, the black is a good place to learn some skills especially on a ht.

Yeah was up there a few weeks ago and it looks pretty run down facility wise, hope they don’t go down the Glentress road, bit ott for me prefer it to look a bit more rugged than hotel toilets and costa style cafe. (my opinion)

In one sentence you appear to bemoan the fact that Laggan’s facilities left a bit to be desired and GT’s are too posh…it just goes to show, you simply cannot please some folk.

I think what he meant that the facilities at the moment at Laggan are not being maintained, as in the shop has next to no stock and the toilets are a disgrace TBH. The actual facilities are just what’s needed for mountain bikers just if they were up to scratch.
Glentress has it’s plus points and negatives, the washrooms etc are clean, warm and well lit which is great to get yourself sorted after a long ride but the shop and cafe are appealling to a different (weekend warrior) crowd not the sort that liked the rough and ready approach of the old Hub.

Surely the story here is that the existing cafe and shop owners don’t think the site is commercially viable.

Discussing plans is all a bit theoretical, an existing business closing is very real. A bunch of cyclists spending a few quid one or two days a week isn’t sufficient.

Wasn’t the cafe crap anyway? I’m sure there was a thread or two on here complaining about the food, service and attitude of the staff?

Which is why it really needs to be “developed” into something which has broader appeal.

i think its a big pity…gail and lindsay have spent a good chunk of theyre lives trying to develop something positive and battled with locals/forrestry com/droping usage both of the cafe and the rental/shop..ive always found the food/service to be good and very welcome after a wet/windy ride..

very sad seeing all the cladding/decking being ripped up,should make a good bonfire though!

The Monadliath Hotel should see a wee increase in trade. I believe it’s up for sale should anyone want to take a pop at running it 🙂

Lagan’s a tricky one, great trails and a big draw for experienced riders but it’s also in the middle of nowhere with respect to other stuff.
I.e. Tweed valley, Aviemore area, Ft William, Dumfries etc all have a lot going on in a fairly small area, both bikes and walking/watersporting/nature bothering etc etc so attract larger numbers of people who hang around in the area = £.

Lagan’s a bit lonely, even if it is just off the A9, it’s miles from any big towns so the facilities only attact people who go specifically to ride its trails rather than people that have gone to the ‘Lagan area’ or do outdoorsy/tourist stuff in that area which are obviously much fewer than at other trail centres.

It’s hardly an epic journey down from places like Aviemore though, and it tends to be rammed with people during the summer. I’d have thought Laggan filled an obvious gap between the anodyne marked trails through Rothiemurchus that are pleasant family cycles but hardly a challenge to serious MTBers, and the more serious eroded/mudfest trails that the “beardie trekster” crew adore as proper mountainbiking.

There’s always Laggan Stores for trail-treats or the cafe in the Pottery just down the road for that apres (pre?) ride coffee.

One of the things I liked about Laggan is that the loops are quite short so if you are there in a (mixed-ability/fitness) crown you can opt to have a lap off for a coffee/food and then join in next time. It’ll not be quite the same without having that option.

i think the monalidith has been sold as we tried to order takeaways and they said it was sold/no food stock…had to eat in newtonmore

They had food menus on the tables on Saturday afternoon (just the pizzas I think).

aye they were still doing food in the hotel but wouldnt do our group which was 15 peeps…

j40aja – Member

the shop and cafe are appealling to a different (weekend warrior) crowd not the sort that liked the rough and ready approach of the old Hub.

I know I’ve said this before… But the new cafe is probably most appealing to the sort of person that likes to be able to get in the cafe. I liked the old one; I just didn’t like sitting in the rain, or finding there was no seats at all. That’s a very basic fit-for-purpose issue.

I liked Laggan’s cafe but I can see exactly why so many didn’t.