“Just read it all and it appeared to be all a storm in a tea cup, mainly rumor on here (surprise, surprise) being taken as gospel. And then nobody beleived the guy who was actually talking to the estates manager”

Yes it appears it was, for this year, but its a classic example of private woodlands gone wrong. Aspley Woods/oak wood/stockgrove/rushmere 4 bits of woodland that if they were FC would be joined up and used by every one, instead we get:

1. Aspley where you go with the permission of his lordship, everyone doff your cap, else you won’t be using it next year, where of course you need permit number 1.
2. Oak Wood , yes that’s permit number 2.
3. Stockgrove, with no access, and
4. Rushmere, despite greensands being well meaning still has no access 12 months+ after being purchased (when they could have had a permissive bridleway inserted on day one). Will this be permit 3?

All that within just 5 miles. Now multiply up by all the new private woodlands being created , what will that be permit 4, 5, 6, 50 , 100, 200 all with different rules, all with different insurance companies.

Total madness, for the sake of a few quid in government coffers, which won’t even pay for a couple of days of uk debt payments.