Greno Woods Dig Day

Dust off your shovel, polish your pick axe and prepare the mattock; it’s time to get the trails in shape for the summer. If you’re around Sheffield way then Ride Sheffield need a hand putting the finishing touches to a new trail in Greno Woods.

The trail is just the first part of the planned XC loop being built by BikeTrack.org in conjunction with The Wildlife Trust for Sheffield and Rotherham. The aim is to have this section ready to ride for Steve Peat’s Steel City Mini DH race on April 21st.

If you’d like to lend a hand, then get yourself Wharncliffe Car Park on Woodhead Rd this Saturday 24th March by 10.30am or head down on the track if you’re late. Big Stone will be providing lunch and refreshments anyone that turns up, but if you’re a hungry type you might want to bring extra. There will be some tools, but if you can bring your own then that would be appreciated.

Ride Sheffield would like anyone interested to head to their Facebook page and let them know they’ll be coming to give some idea of numbers.

This comes off the back of the news that the Trust have been successful in their efforts to buy Greno Woods. With the help of the Viridor Environmental Credits Company they’ve managed to purchase the largest portion of the woods, 143 hectares of land, which has been held by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for the past 18 months.

The appeal still aims to raise the full £1m needed to purchase a total of 169 hectares, repair and improve footpaths and bridleways, replace some of the coniferous trees with native wildlife-friendly broadleaved species, control the encroachment of bracken and birch onto rare and valuable heathland habitat and start a programme of public events and activities to encourage people to learn more about the ancient woodland. You can find more about their efforts here.

The profits from last year’s Steel City DH were donated to the Trust and Ride Sheffield plan to do the same this year – and with entries selling out within three hours  it should go some way to helping.

A side note; Ride Sheffield have requested that people steer clear of riding the track until it’s totally finished, so help preserve the work that’s been done already and try the large array of other trails in the woods instead..