It has finally happened, what I had been dreading for a while! The council has ruined the best most interesting descent coming down from Mellor cross just before the zig-zags. What there is now (work has just started) is a 2 m smooth path down on the left side to the split, so far so good, maybe that can then channel other trail users up that way so we don’t collide and mountain bikers and motocrossers can use the right descent which is the more interesting side….but no!! The council had decided to “fill it in”. Almost felt like crying when I saw it. Anyway they aren’t finished yet and it remains to be seen what the finished result is going to be but I’m not hopeful.

Can only hope the motorbikes make a good job of eroding it as quickly as possible!

Let’s hope they don’t do what they did about 7 years ago and just put down a load of aggregate, which was so loose that even the horses struggled up and down it.

On the last STW pootle, everyone loved that descent.

I shall try and have a look tomorrow, have a feeling I’ll shed a tear too.

NOOOOOOOOOOO, I loved that descent. 🙁

It probably was ripe for ‘repair’ though, as it was always loose and eroded and given the number of stables around that area, it is not too surprising that it will be changed.

Gutted 🙁 I remember the last time they did it.

😥

Oh heck, not again.

O.K.
I went to have a look today. The top of the Banks (where you pop in beside the golf course) is blocked up with mud from the digger. The left side road bit is indeed totally flattened and they’re going to put drainage in. As Ndt above says, there is a way to get into the original zig zags at the top, or will be when the work men have left. The zig zag bit as yet hasn’t been touched – phew. So I was able to ride down to the lane as normal with the drops, berm bit and loose gravel.

Our next worry is the Linnets clough descent that starts at the Mellor campsite. This is a stream at the moment and far worse than I’ve seen for a long time. Will this be flattened next?

Yes, I did shed a tear.

is that the bit with the really loose gravel?

comes out on the road that you can either turn right to roman lakes or straight on and cut through the golf course?

i was up there last night, gutted to see the big pile of earth at the run into the right hand route, didn’t look at the left route but the drop off at the start used to be good and fired you onto the loose surface just nicely,perhaps they’ll put some extra berms & drops in while they’re doing,if only!

jools182 – correct.

Hmmmph.

What do you get if you widen the path to 2 meters and make it look smooth? Delivery men following their satnavs trying to drive their delivery vans down the Banks! Watch out for the big Ocado van that is stuck halfway down! Won’t be the last one I’m sure!

Jane,

Is Julian going to contact Stockport, in his IMBA capacity? I shall speak to them on Monday.

Paul

Is Julian going to contact Stockport, in his IMBA capacity?

Work’s done now, nothing I can do. I contacted them last time and they said “tough, we know best, it’s built to the appropriate standards and will last a lifetime and anyway, we;re not in the business of building trails for MTBs”.

They do seem to think if they destroy the trails, we’ll just stop riding.

just come back from this.. its an absolute mess.

might just have to start using the footpaths more

Don’t worry chaps, as soon as they leave, I’ll go up there with my shovel to “put things right”. They have no interest in the righthand side of the slope anyway so I don’t see why I couldn’t discretely build some drops, jumps, berms etc to make the descent down a bit more interesting! After all it is only a 15 meter section so a few days work could sort it all out!

What should I aim for? Making it impossible for the crossers to go up it…. the evil in me think so, or making it possible to ride down for not so skilled mountain bikers…I have to say I’m leaning to the first option as there will be a 2 meter wide chicken run for those who don’t like jumps etc.

Whens the dig day ;0)

Option 1

Work’s done now, nothing I can do. I contacted them last time and they said “tough, we know best, it’s built to the appropriate standards and will last a lifetime and anyway, we;re not in the business of building trails for MTBs

Would this last time be when they filled the zig-zags in with chippings. Are they working in dog years? Atleast it didnt last a life time. Just proves rights of way is a real lottery – Derbyshire County Council seem to have managed not to make a hash of Aspenshaw and the one to Bearddwood farm nr New Mills.

I was being ironic, but they did assure me it was absolutely the best way to do it. I was as adamant they were wrong but then I’m not employed by ROW or highways so what do I know?

Aspenshaw is beginning to give way, but in an interesting way. Took the tandem up there today.

Yay – No discerning taste.

I had to laugh about the Waitrose van getting stuck.

My boss has just mentioned seeing the Ocado can stuck 🙂

It was a can?

Aspenshaw could do with the waterbars beefing up midway down – nice rolling aggregate mound would do it.

I’m sure the Aspenshaw track’ll disintegrate again before long, it always does. I take heart from the gradual deterioration of the Roych and Chapel Gate and the increasing ‘interestingness’ of Lockerbrook and stuff like Coldwell Clough as fairly convincing proof that the Peak has sharp enough teeth to render most trail repairs pretty temporary.

Arse. Anyone got pictures?

Been up there again today.
There is a way around the mound of mud (at the top where the golf course is), which of course is very slippery. I managed to go in at the top and just walk the bike past the mud mound and ride most of the usual route to the bottom. Judging by the tyre tracks I’m not the only one.

Speaking to the workmen again today, it sounds like they are going to flatten the right hand side as well, I wasn’t sure if this meant all of it, just the top or just the bottom.

No pictures snowslave, but No discerning taste may put some up when she’s time.

I’m sure the Aspenshaw track’ll disintegrate again before long, it always does. I take heart from the gradual deterioration of the Roych and Chapel Gate and the increasing ‘interestingness’ of Lockerbrook and stuff like Coldwell Clough as fairly convincing proof that the Peak has sharp enough teeth to render most trail repairs pretty temporary.

Its just a lack of after care, Pennine Bridleway could do with a fixing session on most of its drainage to hold it in its current state. South of Roych Clough is falling to bits at quite a rate now the drainage below the rock steps is full of sediment.

South of Roych Clough is falling to bits at quite a rate now the drainage below the rock steps is full of sediment

I know it’s brilliant isn’t it 😆 makes the riding actually interesting.

Few of us riding round mellor tomorrow night. So basically you can still get onto the zig zags by riding around the pile of soil yes?

Harumph! I rode down there on Sunday, it’s a ruddy mess isn’t it?

Ignoring the fact that the LHS is now history, the top of the RHS looked as though they were using it to store in mounds what aggregate material they had yet to use, or the waste from their work on the LHS. I can’t see them burning time & resources filling in the sweet and short descent on the RHS though, unless they really do have nothing better to be getting on with.

My (hopeful) guess is that they’ll spread what material they have left over around the top RHS in a half-arsed attempt to block entry and leave the descent alone; at which point some kind soul on 2 wheels will probably come along with a shovel to save the day and rebuild the entry line.

Snowslave – yes you can if you go to the right of the pile (if it’s still there) and into the little gully descent to the top of the zig-zags. Just follow the tracks left by others.

Ta for that naranjada. An opportunity to use the newly invented twisted wheels bike plough attachments (pat pending). I’ll take a camera….

Snowslave- went up there today at about 1.30 pm and at that point it was still possible to ride around it, just keep right and you can actually find a different line altogether and still pop out on the last rocky drop if you wished or to do the original route just join the track again immediately after the big pile of soil.

Rumour has it that they are putting huge drainage pipes in the ground to take the water down and channel it into the quarry that is to the right of the right hand path. If that is what they intend to do expect even more disruption.

Naranjada – it must have been your tyre marks that I followed today. Did you ride it after we met you on Sunday on the return journey from Rowarth?

Ignoring the fact that the LHS is now history,

All abit dramatic, they rebuilt the LHS about 5 or 6 years back and look how bad it was in that time, in two years or less you;ll barely know they;ve been there. This is stockport council, it’s not like they;re going to do a good job now is it?

I heard they were building a multi-storey car park on the RH line. And a new runway for Manchester airport on what’s currently the golf course. And flooding Roman Lakes to form a new reservoir.

Impossible. That would conflict with the nuclear recycling plant and chemical weapons testing facility.

No, that’s been relocated to Rushup Edge, forgawdsake keep up!

No wonder it’s boggy there at the mo. That’ll be the anthrax

there you go – pics of the council’s piles of mud from last night. There are indeed two

Pile 1 from below:

IMG_0255 by snowslave, on Flickr

And pile 2 from above:

IMG_0263 by snowslave, on Flickr

There’s clearly more to come as said above