Shouldn't your title read ex-MP?

It should indeed! 😳

Don't be silly, he wasn't blocking trails - he was just out looking for Badgers...

Not his first error...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1424188/Moments-of-madness-that-ruined-Ron-Davies.html

More moments of madness then?

Booby trap? There's enough timber there to build a cottage! Maybe he was cottaging?

Just read that brief bio. Bloke is unhinged. He clearly needs help and I hope he's getting it.

Not again Ron. Caught in the woods, wood in hand.

Darrell from Cwmdown is suggesting re-naming that trail 'Clapham Common'.

My only surprise is that given his previous form he wasn't over the way in Forrest Fawr.

Didn't think he was into booby traps.

I heard he was helping some friends to box up their sugary confectionery products.

Maybe he was just doing some gardening as he worked his way up the hill?

He was planting nurse logs!

Watching some more badgers, eh?

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Dirty boy!

He's on 5LIVE now.

Seems he's upset by illegal trail builders and inconsiderate riders.

And the only logical response is to try to physically harm them?

His 5Live interview was...interesting.

He clearly has a bee in his bonnet about mountain bikers, so much so that his demeanor slowly slipped from 'I wasn't doing anything wrong' to full on anti MTB rant in a couple of minutes.

However, letting him finish the interview with 'mountain bikers are an aggressive, abusive and inconsiderate minority', on national radio, was pretty unfortunate for us lot.

Darrell from Cwmdown is suggesting re-naming that trail 'Clapham Common'.

😆

Don't worry, he will probably use the "moment of madness" defence to wriggle out of any potential consequences of hurting someone. Or deny being there at all, until confronted with evidence then claiming to be badger watching.

What worries me more is how someone so clearly unhinged ever got into positions of power.

He really needs to get some help with his issues.

He's a nationalist rotter.

I cant see the difference between that and stringing barbed wire across the trails really, if you came down there at speed you could come a cropper. I wonder if SW Police are looking into it.

Not his first error...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1424188/Moments-of-madness-that-ruined-Ron-Davies.html

That bio makes me think of [url= http://www.livescience.com/21345-t-gondii-parasite-suicide-attempts.html ]Toxoplasma gondii[/url]

Telegraph article in full:

Ron Davies's political career was destroyed as much by his reluctance to tell the truth as by his risky way of life.
His career peaked as leader of the Labour party in Wales after Labour came to power in 1997. First he was the architect of Welsh devolution. Then he became the architect of his own destruction.
The events of the past week, culminating in his announcement that he will leave politics, had eerie overtones of when he left the Cabinet after what he termed a "moment of madness" on Clapham Common, in South London, in 1998. Both times, his story changed.
The Sun reported that last Monday Mr Davies, 56, had engaged in a sex act in daylight with a stranger at Tog Hill, a picnic area eight miles north of Bath, Somerset. It was only 17 days after his third wife, Lynne Hughes, 36, had given birth to their first child, Gwenllian.
The newspaper had received a tip-off and sent a photographer whose published pictures showed Mr Davies leaving the bushes and whose unpublished pictures reportedly captured the act. Mr Davies told the Sun: "These allegations are completely false and without substance." He said he had driven to London that morning, did not leave the motorway and was not near Bath.
The local Labour party stood by him. On Wednesday, he changed his version of events. He said he had stopped to use the lavatory at an area he now knew to be Tog Hill then had a walk in woodlands alone.
History was further revised the next day. In a BBC interview, he said he had been to Tog Hill "watching badgers first thing in the morning . . . two or three times". He had had "a brief conversation" with a stranger. He threatened to sue the Sun.
But his constituency chairman, Jeff Cuthbert, now said: "This is very different now and I will have to reflect on it."
Then came yesterday's announcement, ending a political career which began unravelling on Clapham Common, a night time meeting place for gay men, in October 1998. Journalists were summoned to Downing Street and told Mr Davies had resigned as Welsh Secretary after admitting to the Prime Minister "a serious lapse of judgment" on the Common the previous evening, but denying any sexual element.
He first claimed he had been mugged, then admitted he had been robbed by a Rastafarian, whom he had just met but was about to dine with, in the presence of others. His car, telephone, wallet and Commons pass were stolen. Six people were arrested. Mr Davies went on television that Friday, to apologise for his "moment of madness". On his hand was scrawled "sorry".
He ducked questions about his sexuality, but the following Monday, in the House of Commons, said cryptically: "We are what we are. We are all different, the product of both our genes and our experiences." Downing Street said it still found gaps in his story "baffling".
After that, he devoted himself to winning a seat in the Welsh Assembly in 1999, but was distraught not to be given a seat on the eight-strong executive.
In June 1999, Mr Davies disclosed he was bisexual and said he was having psychiatric treatment to curb a "compulsive" quest for risk.
That summer, he and his wife of 18 years separated. They later divorced. He married again last summer.
He left Westminster at the 2001 General Election to focus on his career in Welsh politics, representing Caerphilly.

Interesting chap.

On his hand was scrawled "sorry".

😯 😯 😯 😯 😯

Bloody awful interview by Nicky Campbell, he obviously couldn't give a stuff about the news item & made no attempt to challenge Davies. Likewise where was the was no attempt what so ever too offer a pro mtb point of view.

When you experience how he has spoken to us in the past, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find others have been abusive and aggressive towards him and his cronies.

Many years ago I met the Godfather of Welsh Devolution at the bottom of Machen/Rudry woods whilst I was out on a ride. I think he lived in Draethen at the time, hence the naming of the "Ron Davies Ring" circular mtb route. He opened the gate for me and said "good morning" etc. This was after the Clapham Common incident. He genuinely was walking his dogs. No badgers in sight.

Harry_the_Spider - Member

He's on 5LIVE now.

Seems he's upset by illegal trail builders and inconsiderate riders.

They're not illegal - NRW is happy for riders to use the mountain, they just want everyone to get on.

They even offered to legitimatise some of the more man made stuff, but someone destroyed the notices.

He stated he was removing obstructions from the footpath but at the end of the day we shouldn't be building illegal trails in woods, this has been discussed numerous times and it isn't right. Now if we were riding footpaths then that's fair game as I think we should be allowed too but digging in woods that we have no permission is shite.

The interview was shit as well.

this has been discussed numerous times and it isn't right. Now if we were riding footpaths then that's fair game as I think we should be allowed too but digging in woods that we have no permission is shite.

I agree to an extent - but there are established guidelines on unauthorised/wild trails management, and NRW ought to be making clear that it's an issue for [b]them[/b] to deal with within those guidelines, not for vigilante action by people who do not know what trails and activities are and are not tolerated.

He was trying to bring some bikers down, clearly.

Then he could come across them on the trail.

Bloody awful interview by Nicky Campbell

Isn't that a given? Are there any other kinds of Nicky Campbell interviews?

Then he could come across them on the trail.

coffee meet keyboard....

So it's ok to have a laugh about someone who may be struggling with his sexuality is it? He clearly isn't a fan of mountain bikers, and maybe his experiences give him reason but that doesn't mean it's ok to have a laugh at his sexual preferences. The video and interview hardly suggest he was booby trapping trails, it's just sensationalist journalism.

This has the potential to be a good one.

So it's ok to have a laugh about someone who may be struggling with his sexuality is it?

When he is struggling with common sense, honesty and empathy along with it, then yes, it's fair game.

Do you believe it's all a misunderstanding?

On his hand was scrawled "sorry"

It clearly kept slipping his mind why he was there.

For someone with a [i]"compulsive" quest for risk,[/i] Caerphilly seems a bad choice of constituency.

So it's ok to have a laugh about someone who may be struggling with his sexuality is it?

Nope, but when they trot out preposterous lies in a bid to disguise the truth and make themselves look a total numpty in the process I think it is fair game to question their judgement and conduct. Remember that he explained his actions as a personality disorder that led him to actively seek out 'risky' situations. So we might be able to categorise him as a bit of a stirrer.

He's clearly got an issue with this and he is the type of person who won't let it go, and will actively court controversy to get his point across.

It really isn't his business in the first place.

So it's ok to have a laugh about someone who may be struggling with his sexuality is it?

Nope, but its open season on a narcissist who practices sexual acts in open spaces. It'd be the same if he was caught dogging

how do you ride down a hill in Wales ?

Caerphilly

I'll get my coat

Maybe he wants men in Lycra to fall off so he can jump out from behind a tree and administer first aid with his healing stick?

Isn't that what he did in Clapham Common?

I've got nothing against the guy having issues with sexuality or a differing view on how mountain bikers behave, but I'm massively prejudiced against anyone in politics, in particular a New Labour MP of that era.

So I can only conclude that he is a massive throbber.

I can only hope that he gets to engage in a reasoned exchange of views with mountain bikers sometime and is given the opportunity to challenge his own views on the subject.

I can only hope that he gets to engage in a reasoned exchange of views with mountain bikers sometime and is given the opportunity to challenge his own views on the subject.

That's one of the real arts of the narrow-minded NIMBY, though, isn't it?

Avoid putting yourself in situations where you actually have to justify your views or actions in a reasoned atmosphere. Far easier to provoke confrontation then claim that any subsequent comments are 'aggressive' and 'confrontational'. Many NIMBYs adopt this approach.

If the local riders are re-naming tracks, how about "Imaginary Badgers" as another one?

coffee meet keyboard....

Bugger. Tea meet keyboard.

Maybe he's hoping one of the riders hits a log and jacks off over the bars in front of him.

Ron's NoTubes.

Imaginary badgers effing brill 🙂

Well it's a real shame 🙁 I've spoken to Ron a few times whilst out on the MTB and always found him very polite and friendly. People I know who've worked for him rate him very highly as well. I can only think his mental state isn't as it should be. But he does live in the area of the trails mentioned and probably walks his dogs in the woods daily. I certainly hope his experiences of mtb'ing recently hasn't caused his change of attitude.

Confused by NRW here.....and if someone is laying traps why aren't SouthWales police e involved.

Tonight on the news Davies is claiming that he was actually moving a boulder out of the way - it wasn't me, guv.

And then he let slip that extreme sports shouldn't be practiced in an area with vulnerable wildlife. Always with the badgers, Ron?

(Conveniently ignoring the fact that the only reason he's there is so that his dog can leave toxic waste everywhere.)

So, does what the bloody hell he likes, gets caught out, then lies about it when asked to face up to his actions. There's a pattern developing here. He might as well invest in a scribbly tattoo of the word "sorry" on his hand, it will save writing it every couple of years when he fibs about something he is bang to rights on.

The main issue is that his tosspot-ish actions will embolden other tosspots to act similarly. As with everything, it's best we just stay under the radar. Once someone establishes that there is a 'problem' (there isn't actually one), then the news will carry stories about 'problem mountain bikers' and the 'mountain biking issue'. We may even become a 'scourge'. What it is is all a smokescreen for is NIMBYs who think they own the countryside. They cannot stand the thought of people enjoying the outdoors unless they are on foot.

I love the idea of them renaming local trails, though. People like Davies deserve to be mocked.

I enjoy the challenge of trundling over a few new obstacles.

What it is is all a smokescreen for is NIMBYs who think they own the countryside.

Don't be so mean about dog walkers

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Apologies for the American spelling, obviously.

Hey all, caught on to this post a little late I guess. I've been involved in a group that are in talks with NRW about the possibility of an official trail in this area. Early days but there's a petition which if you could support that would help quantify user numbers and support for the proposal. https://www.change.org/p/natural-resources-wales-recognised-mountain-bike-trails-in-caerphilly Thanks!