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Somebody sent me this link the other day.
[url] http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/mbb/mbbc30.htm [/url]
I always thought that the canal had collapsed after it had been drained but apparently it was a little more spectacular than that! The section that drained is a good few miles long too. The trail runs along the bottom of the canal and along the top of the breach.
Hehe - "nob end" 🙂
Mine used to be a WWI fighting/training camp thing.
Lots of the Dartmoor trails are relics from the tin mining industry. Given the number of medieval and prehistoric relics on the moor, it's perfectly feasible to assume that some of the trails and BW's are very ancient.
The Chilterns exist because of High Wycombe's furniture industry's requirement for a locally sourced supply of timber. I ride around what is effectively a giant outdoor stock warehouse...
A clue to the origin of the name Swinley comes from the Doomsday book which in 1086 referred to ‘Swinleie’ as pannage for pigs or swine. The forest had been granted by the Saxon king Edmund to the Abbey of Abingdon in 942 and during the pre Norman period the Forest was the home of wild boar, wild ox and red deer which were introduced by William I who "afforested" the area (brought it under Forest Law) in 1079.
One of my trails used to be a railway line, still has the tunnel through the mountain (although this is barred by a very secure steel gate).
There's alot of old bronze age settlements (remains) and cairns around the mountains here (S.Wales).
And alot of damage from the age of steel and coal.
Some of my local trails have been created by mountain bikers building routes that go downhill fast for fun. I wonder if they will last as long as the ones previously mentioned. What will Afan be like in several hundered years ??
Sheep made all of mine. I know that because they are still on them.
Most notably Wycombe's reliance on beech & hazel. You can't beat a good downhill run through beech woodland.The Chilterns exist because of High Wycombe's furniture industry's requirement for a locally sourced supply of timber. I ride around what is effectively a giant outdoor stock warehouse...
I was really disappointed to find that Phantom's Cleugh on my local loop doesn't actually have any history at all- there's a story about a phantom path-builder but it turns out it was made up by the local rangers in lieu of anything more interesting. Fail!
Some of my favourite local trails are based around the Antonine wall.
mine are all miltary trainning ground and have been since around the time of the first world war and still are now