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and the relevance/point of knowing the names of inbred cheltenham's average is what exactly?
😛
Hey Jo is a nice girl, and blessed if you know what I mean.
Dimmandan you from Whiteway?
Bit of an update.
We are meeting NE (and the land agent representing the landowner of Buckholt Wood) this Friday (23rd). The site meeting we had last week went pretty well and we felt that we made progress in terms of getting more tracks to be considered. A bit frustrated that they seem to insist we should "sacrifice" some though. Seems spiteful to me personally. And they seem insistant on some form of written and signed agreement. However we go into this week more optimistic than last week for sure. Easter is fast approaching and they will be made aware that our time will be up by then. Roger.
Rog - not sure if they have been already or not, but is it worth getting some of the FOLK guys (Thinking Julius perhaps) to speak to NE et al, to explain the impact we have on a place like Lecky and how the agreement works which we have there?
Aftershock, no I am not a Whiteway boy, just know Viv and the family.
Roger, looks liek the woods have seen increased wheel action over the last week or so. Shrine, TheOneWhoWaits, Racetrack and the wall all have nice and fresh tyre tracks on.
FOLK have sent a summary of how MTBing is managed on Leckhampton Hill to NE. Julius is a great help to us.
HEADS UP......
There will be a Natural England arranged work party carrying out work in Buckle / Buckholt woods this weekend. We really could do without a NE / MTB encounter at this time. Give it a wide berth and spread the word.
Another meet with NE / land agent on Friday afternoon. We will know for sure this time what the potential for long term agreement is. We hope the walk of some of the tracks with them last week will have made a difference. Lock 'n' load...
Another meeting was held on Friday with the Natural England representative and the agent representing the land owner of Buckholt Woods. We fed back the outcome of discussions at the Royal William rider meeting earlier in the month and a revised proposal was offered to us.
We left this meeting today with the view that we now have a workable agreement to move forward with into this year and beyond. A formal statement will be issued by Cheltenham & County CC and Bigfoot MBC shortly giving more details on agreed routes and ongoing liaison with NE and the land owner. Once we have issued this statement we anticipate riders may have some questions and we can address these then.
Please can you continue to support the call to stay away from Buckholt Wood until Easter while we continue to work on getting the agreement in place as we do not want to jeopardise the good progress we have made so far. Once again your patience and support is really appreciated. Thank you.
Cheers Roger and the team.
WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT...
Last Friday (March 23rd) representatives from Cheltenham & County CC and Bigfoot MBC reached what we considered as a workable riding agreement with Natural England and the forestry manager (representing the landowner) for accessing Buckholt Wood. Included within this agreement is a code of conduct that we request all riders that access this woodland to respect and abide by. See extracts below. The agreement is not a formal signed document but a statement of how the riding community will conduct itself.
Our code of conduct
We have agreed to promote some simple but important rules that riders should make themselves aware of:
• Please be considerate towards other trail users - slow down near walkers, dogs, horses etc, let them know you are there and pass them carefully. This includes trails considered as singletrack - cyclists do not have exclusive use of any trail
• Please do not build new trails, jumps or other constructions, dig berms, cut down trees or remove branches.
• If there is a problem with a trail please get in touch with Roger Smith corrective@blueyonder.co.uk so it can be resolved through Natural England and the forestry manager
• Cycling on the trails is with the landowner’s permission, this does not imply any right of way
• Cycling is not allowed on the permissive horseways in Buckholt Wood - these are not bridleways with associated rights of way
• Trails in Buckle Wood and Cranham Wood are not covered by this agreement
Other aspects
• We intend to review this agreement after a period of time - at this point we can assess how it’s working and whether any changes are needed.
• We will continue to use the lines of communication established between the cycling community, Natural England and the forestry manager to resolve problems or make changes. This might include:
- Where seasonal or temporary variations need to be made, for example during forestry operations
- Where the precise route of a trail needs to be modified
• We agreed it would be good to give something back to the woodlands we ride in - we intend to help Natural England with their volunteer working parties in Buckholt Wood through the winter months (say monthly or every two months, October to March)
• All CC-CC and Bigfoot members taking part in organised club rides will have third party insurance (provided by CTC or equivalent)
BUCKLE AND CRANHAM WOOD
Please be aware that Buckle and Cranham Woods (owned by Mr and Mrs Tyson) are NOT in this agreement. Tracks in these woods include The Shrine, Spooky Wood etc. CC-CC and BMBC will not be taking official club organised rides through these areas and we urge riders to respect the landowners wishes. If we can engage in access negotiations with them we of course will pursue this but we cannot make any promises on getting a similar agreement in place soon.
Since the rider consultation meeting at the Royal William on March 8th and a walk of some of the trails a week later, we did get NE to make some compromises to their original agreement proposals. "Teachers" is now within the agreement, as well as the trail that runs parallel to the small stream at the bottom of it. Additionally it was agreed that we did not need anyone to SIGN an "Access Agreement".
The trail known to some as "Bunny Run" we tried hard to get but on this occasion it didn't happen. There is a wider track near to Bunny Run that we have agreement to ride and we will be leaving it to NE to clearly mark this route up so there is no confusion. We hope in time after the landowner gains confidence with our partnership we could approach this again.
WHEN CAN WE RIDE IN BUCKHOLT WOOD???
As from Good Friday (April 6th) riders may access the tracks identified in the agreement.
This is just the start of our partnership with the landowner of Buckholt Wood and so we will continue to keep as many local riders informed as possible about issues in this and neighbouring woods. Please take our requests seriously and prove to NE that we are a responsible user group in this woodland. And of course thank you all again for your support in this whole process since it started in October last year.
Cheers, and enjoy.
Roger Smith
Mike Purnell
Graham Foot
Roger, I only get down to see my parents now and again (they live in Whiteway) when I do I like to bring my bike and ride in these woods as its easy access from there house. Problem is I have no idea of the names of the tracks I ride, does any one have a GPS map (or similar) marked up showing the areas we are allowed to ride so as I don't go somewhere that has been agreed off limits?
Thanks
Shaun
Shaun
follow the links here [url= http://www.cc-cc.co.uk/news/newsitem.php?id=72 ]cc-cc[/url]
Shaun.
We have requested that the names local riders use are added to the map that Natural England have produced for us. It is their map and we cannot customise it ourselves. The current maps will be on www.cc-cc.co.uk quite soon, as well as on Bigfoot MBCs website no doubt as well.
Thanks.
What are you calling the BunnyRun not the track that goes to the field where they have tents in?Is the track down to Cranham Corner still ok by the road Junctions.
So what we have is Racetrack/Wall/.Track down over the planks is that out?.
Oh pope woods DH i shall miss you 🙁
good work with the agreement though all 😀
Is Popes wood out then?
Oh pope woods DH i shall miss you
I don't think the downhill tracks to the NW of the hill top are included in the area covered by this agreement - doesn't look like it on the maps anyway 🙂
The agreement only covers the central section of the woods, Popes wood, the Shrine area, the Race track, all these are not in the area.
Coopers hill isn't covered either, although bikes were banned anyway from most of it.
Excellent work by Roger et al. Well done guys, just goes to show what a mature, responsible and open approach can achieve.
I, indeed we, owe you a pint.
MRMO,
MRMO,
any idea on the areas of coopers hill, as i ride from top of the wall back to the roman villa to get back home on a ride...it'd help if i know where to avoid!
V666ern, technically all of it. There are signs if you come up fiddlers elbow in the car park telling you no bikes. But if your coming from the wall you don't pass any signs....
There is a bridleway that goes from the villa, and meets the road/track but that is about it as far as i seem to remember.
(the rules and where i ride may or may not match)
cheers mrmo, ill keep an eye out!
Coopers Hill has always been a No-No got hell of a bollocking there in 1995.Hay-Ho.Doesnt look great for Cranham.Least the FOD isnt to far away.
Thats quite p00 as i now live it witcombe, and my little forays through coopers hill were rather pleasant
drat and blasts, the road it shall be then!
So quick question folks, on the map which way do you ride teachers...is it top to bottom (on the map towards cranham)
usually my route is left to right main trail, down the wall then onto painswick so reversing the route coming back down teachers then left to right back up the map from cranham back to the road - does that make sense / is correct - never rode teachers! 🙄
Yes teachers is top to bottom.But is now of limits.Its the one Jim liked the best to put branches over and break tree branches so he could fold over the track at head hight nice man.Bloody dangerous if you are nightriding.
Teachers is OK to ride.
Cheers BW at the meeting they said NE said at the end of teachers was a SSi.Just read above.Thats good.Love the jump at the end.Jim wont be pleased.
V666ern not easy to see the start of teachers but once you are on it its very obvious.Near the end there is abit of a fork with a jump so be carefull to see that not big.You can go either side.One of the best in Cranham and one of the longest.
Sorry for not checking the forum for a few days. There should be a new agreement map going up on http://www.cc-cc.co.uk/content/?PageName=Mountain%20Biking very soon that has some names on it that might help some. It has been sent to all our contacts and local bike retailers. NE will be marking our route up in a similar fashion (we believe) to the horse routes, ie some form of stenciling on trees. Not sure when they are getting this sorted, might be now or weeks to come. In the meantime as the weekend (Good Friday included) is fast approaching, any questions I might be able to answer for you??
Nice ride this morning checking out the allowed trails with Rog. Good to be back on the Wall and Teachers. 🙂
Well, after five months I sure have missed riding here!!! First proper MTB ride out for my two lads as well so a great morning indeed. All seemed OK out there, no trail blockage issues anyway. I was pleasantly surprised with the trail we have been given in the SW corner of the Wood. OK not tight twisty technical type stuff but narrow and undulating in places. Better than nothing for sure. I know CC-CC and Bigfoot will be passing through Saturday AM and we will be both considering some form of group splits if we have large attendances. Although we have agreement to ride the trails we do want to try and promote some informal dispersal of riders if we can, but that is for our clubs to try and manage. Happy Easter everyone!!!
Cheers roger,
Got two runs of the wall in during my Twins nap time ride. 🙂
The climb up from buckholt road hasn't got any easier though
Now that we have got an arrangement with the landowner to ride Buckholt Wood it occurred to me that there may be some other users of the wood that are unaware of this. In time there will be some markings indicating where cycling is allowed but I doubt if these will be in great abundance. I'd like to recommend that regular riders of the wood print off a copy of the map showing the agreed trails and keep a copy with them as proof of our agreement. It may sound a bit over the top but if we can minimise any arguments on the trail then that has got to be a good thing. Not that anyone in the past has ever confronted me but I guess there may well be individuals opposed to what we are doing.
Go to the following link and the go to the bottom of the page: http://www.cc-cc.co.uk/content/?PageName=Mountain%20Biking
I am in the process of printing and laminating some mini versions of the map that will easily fit in my back pack. I will hand these out to CC-CC members as and when they request one.
The weather hasn't been great since we were allowed back in but if anyone has any useful feedback that they think is relevant, or questions, please let me know.
Cheers, Roger.
would it be worth pinning some up at the start of trails to show trail users / walkers etc that were allowed to be there...just temporary before the signage goes up
i can help spray some trees one evening with you and can make some templates if you like?
can we do a no entry sign with jim bowen in it?! 😆
We could get all Banksy on it 🙂
Might not be a good idea that if you get walkers who are anti MTBikes!Doing the Wall/teachers/racetrack when do you ever see walkers?.
Teachers needs using to get some of those leaves flatten down.All the trails were in good nick Good Friday.They have fell alot more in Popes Wood.All fine there to.Did see quite a few people out.
Plenty still using the Shrine 🙄
Popes Wood is no go for us bar the section of The Cotswold Way leading to Painswick Beacon. Sorry.
Is it going to be discussed with NE at any point?
Popes Wood is no go for us bar the section of The Cotswold Way leading to Painswick Beacon
Not quite sure I understand - there's public Bridleways through Popes Wood to the north of Kites Hill all the way to the far end by the main road.
The Cotswold way isn't a Bridleway.
Or are you saying that this section of Popes wood doesn't come under this agreement as its not part of the Cotswold Commons Reserve etc anyway?
Interested, as I have a route I like doing from Randwick car park in Standish to the far end of Buckle wood and back, using Popes wood each way.
Cheers
st george do you have a route, id like to be able to do that to randwick then back!
ps my main interest is the 3 or so DH routes through popes wood
Haven't got a gpx file or anything as fancy as that! I just use OS maps and follow trails, but I'll try and explain.
Start off in car park at Randwick end of Standish Wood, go up to bombholes and keeping to right join official waymarked singletrack route, follow to end then to car park at Shortwood end of Standish wood.
Go out of car park and turn right up hill on road. 200 yards there is a junction from left, go into wood by wall and follow track parallel to road towards radio mast.
There's various routes and some nice singletrack through this wood all the way to EDGE, just a matter of following your nose. You should come out at the very tip of Maitlands Wood at the road junction.
Does this make sense so far?
If there are signed bridleways then of course we can ride them. As far as the network of XC / DH trails in and round the Popes Wood area we do not have any form of agreement to ride there. Yes, we thought it strange that NE allowed us to officially use the Cotswold Way. We did explain that we felt it better that we kept away from such paths but they insisted that some damage was being done by cyclists here. When we review our agreement we will of course be wanting to negotiate more trails.
Hi there, we as a group/club have stayed away whilst all this negotiating has been happening, great job on securing the trails by the way, I have looked over the map and am pleased to see the Wall and Teachers are in agreement, however because this is not a big riding area for us I am now struggling to put together an aloud loop/s etc, so if any out there fancies hooking up for a blast round the woods and showing us some hook ups, great, Hitch.
yeah finally found teachers tonight, that was fun!
very happy to see that racetrack is all clear though i may have to go and clear the last bomb hole as they've left that full of branches 😳
A big thanks to all those involved in securing this agreement. Have yet to ride either The Wall or Teachers (my riding having been confined to Lecky, the Shr*ne and R*cetr*ck) but will make my way over on Sunday and check it out. Hope I can find Teachers!
Thanks again for the hard work.
found em and rode em. Superb, especially the Wall. My "usual" ride has just got 3 miles longer!
right lets see if this works...
this is our loop starting from the prince william
[url= http://g.co/maps/dqga3 ]Cranham loop[/url]
and before anyone critisises (SP) my skills it was just a quick 10minute doodle at lunch!
awesome bike logo tagging peeps!
is cranham actually dry yet? ben past a couple of times recently on the road bike and still looked very wet. I have no interest in riding there until the ground is dry and the trails won't be cut to shreds, which a) reduces the fun when it is dry, and b)won't help the longterm cause of keeping access.
racetrack was fine, the very bottom of teachers (down by the stream) was muddy and the wall was ok
hasnt rained hard for the past week so it was pretty mud free
might go for a night ride and have a look later.
Lecky is ok bit puddley at end of Cotwolds way towards 7springs.Gates are pain looks more like farm land up there now with cows all over the place.Hay ho least you can still ride everywhere up there.
I trust all is going well our in the woods?? Bumped into a group last Saturday who were armed with our agreed routes map that they downloaded from the Bigfoot website. Good to see. Was too muddy in some places there last weekend really.
Very nice and dusty this morning Roger 😀
Cranham is ace at the moment. Got a nice little loop coming together and another one came to mind which takes in two runs of the Wall so will be trying that soon.
Any "interesting" news from the Cranham riding area anyone wants to share?? Any objectors to you riding there? Seen the Tysons? How deep was the mud in the summer??!!
Some of you might remember that when we formed our agreement with Natural England and the landowner of Buckholt Wood we said we would assist with some of their scrub clearance days in the area. We have provisionally agreed to support one of these in Cranham Common on [b]Sunday 11th November. Tools and gloves will be provided. I believe we are looking at 1000 to 1400. Where to meet etc is still to be announced but I wanted to get a feel for those could help support this?? If you are keen to come along and help please let me know so I can get an idea of numbers.
Plans are also in place for a Buckholt Wood specific day on Saturday 19th January, and this is likely to involve any works to the trails themselves. More to follow on this one though.
Thanks in anticipation.
Roger.
ill be there, ill bring the jcb for that 60foot kicker ive got planned 😉
Thanks to those who have expressed an interest in the scrub bashing day on Sunday 11th. We've had an excellent response and I've been in contact with our Natural England representative who is running this event to firm up details of where to meet.
The area we will be working in is across the road from Cranham Village Hall. If you approach Cranham village from the A46 / Buckholt Road end it is on your RH side going up the hill as you exit the village. Go past the turning for the Black Horse pub and it is on the corner of the next RH turn. Apparently there is no proper car park near to the hall but there are lay bys in the village. There is a small car park before you get to the village on the LH side, then a 5 minute walk. Obviously if you are coming by bike there won't be any issues.
Tools and gloves are provided but as someone experienced with these kind of events, I would recommend some for of eye protection (sunnies or your riding glasses would suffice) as we could be dealing with vegetation that has a tendency to flick all over the place when cutting or carrying it!!
So 1000 start but if you are coming later no problem. My number is 07840 823655 if you need to get hold of me.
Cheers, Roger.
want to ride over...little 'worried' over leaving my bike attended though...is the village hall going to be open do you know...
i know its hardly the ghetto 😆
Will we be able to build some new trails 😆
Well we had a decent rider turnout to help some of the locals with the work party on Cranham Common. We had great fun hacking away at scrub and small trees and then setting fire to them!! Our assistance was definitely appreciated by the Natural England representatives there.
Interestingly, the landowner of Buckle and Cranham Wood (where there is the "Shrine" track amoungst others) who has to date not wanted to engage with us was helping out as well. I spent some time discussing issues surrounding access and I am hoping after his witnessing our efforts today he might change his stance in the future. Only time will tell.
There is another work party planned for January, but in Buckholt Wood this time. I'll keep everyone updated with that in due course.
Cheers, Roger.
twas fun, cheers rog, still surprised to see mr t there...pleasantly so though 🙂
rog,
whens the jan date? 😐
The 19th 🙂
Hi all
Firstly, Happy Christmas!!
After the success of the Natural England workparty we supported in November on Cranham Common, we are calling for volunteers again to help out in Buckholt Wood on [b]Saturday 19th January 10am. The workparty will be meeting at Scout Centre in Cranham, the link below will show where this is. NE are not sure on the exact areas we will be working on but it will be in and around the areas we have agreed access to on bikes.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=51.816694,-2.153492&spn=0.003077,0.006856&t=h&z=17
Tools and gloves are provided, but make sure you have some sturdy footwear (and may be old clothes). There may be refreshments but I suggest you are self sufficient on the drink and snack side in case. You can lock bikes up at the Scout Centre although anyone riding over might want to bring their bling machines with them in the woods, your choice really.
Looking forward to a good response from CC-CC, Bigfoot and other local riders with this one. To help NE with tool provison, could you let me know directly if you intend to come along??
Cheers all.
Best wishes,
Roger
I have been informed by Natural England that [b]our planned workparty this Saturday morning has been cancelled due to the forecasted weather conditions in the coming 48 hours. As soon as another session is arranged, I will inform you of where and when. Thank you to those who have been expressing interest in attending this event.
Cheers, Roger.
Massive MASSIVE boo...there's only an inch at the bottom of the hill!
Subscribed 8)
OK we're on again!!!!!
We now have a revised date for this workparty. SATURDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 10AM. The workparty will be meeting at Scout Centre in Cranham, the link below will show where this is. NE are not sure on the exact areas we will be working on but it will be in and around the areas we have agreed access to on bikes.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=51.816694,-2.153492&spn=0.003077,0.006856&t=h&z=17
So we can get an idea of the potential numbers involved, please drop me ae email if you intend to be there.
Hoping for a good turnout!!!
Cheers,
Roger
Well, I hoped for a good turnout this morning on a cold dank Saturday, and by heck did we get one!! Many thanks to over 20 volunteers who came along to help with Natural England's programme of scrub clearance in Buckholt Wood. We weren't to far from "Teachers", not that I saw anyone riding though. All the sawing and lopping has taken its toll on my arms, been knackered this afternoon.
Well that is our help done until the Autumn I guess, well, in terms of work parties anyway. Roll on some drier conditions because it was a bogfest in there today.
Cheers, Roger.