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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.