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thought you were a bit quiet yesterday - once again thank you for your work chap!
OT when did that bl00dy great fence turn up at the top of lecky! 😯 that was unexpected in the dark!
That sounds promising Roger, keep up the good work.
v666ern, for info the fence is because the dexters are going to be roaming over the hill rather than kept in little paddocks. So be aware of small black cows in the dark.
😆 wish id known that last night!
v666ern.
Leckhampton Hill is my other "land access" hat that I wear. I'm the rider rep that sits in from of FOLK and the landowner Cheltenham Borough Council. All works very well and we hope to replicate this type of relationship with Cranham landowners / NE etc. Happy to put you on my email contact list for Leckhampton Hill if you like?? We also have a yahoo group called Lecky MTB that is supported by Cheltenham & County CC for the benefit of local riders. Prefer not to dilute this Cranham discussion with Leckhampton ones if we can help it. Cheers.
Roger,
Can you add me to the lecky email list please, BTW i was the chap with the metallica t-shirt at the meeting and i think i met you at bushy a while back digging
all the best
only just picked up on this post, I lived in Whiteway for most of my life but now live in the Wirral. I am coming back soon for a short stay to see my parents who still live in Whiteway and intend to bring my bike.
I was hoping to put in some miles around Cranham, am I still able to do this? and if so does anyone have a GPX route they could send me?
If you're coming down before Easter, stay clear of Cranham. We're keeping off whilst discussions with the land owner and NE progress.
After Easter, well, who knows...
Cheers, will stay away and go to the forest instead.
The Forest is amazing now.Best its ever been.So much to choose from.Does your parents sell campers in Whiteway?
Few gates up lecky too spoils the climb up sandy lane now you have to stop 😥
No mate but I know who you mean, on the right just as you enter the village coming from the fostons ash, I think his name is Viv Wilkings if memory serves me correct.
I was only joking.there seems to be 2 lots of campers there these days.Often pass there doing road rides from Cheltenham.Nice spot.There is a BIG Plastic Parrot by the road dont know what that is about up on a hedge.
I know him lol, just as you go down the hill. He conned everyone in the village when he arived by telling them he was a antiques dealer, turns out he deals in bric a brac 😆
Thats a good one!!!!!!!!!!!maybe its a big antique parrot :lol:Not very Cotswolds WHAT.I like it.
Viv has a daughter called Jo who is now married to Duncan and have a son called James!!!!!!!!
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. 🙂